PatchA, thanks,
So it only runs on Windows. Linux?
There are probably only a few of us on Mac, but it would be ironic to
discuss the importance of free/open source if the system does not
support free/open source solutions. Could you check please.
I don't think this possible problem would be any reason not to
continue with experiments, but it should not be used for substantive
discussion unless all comments can be mirrored to an open tech
neutral list.
Many thanks,
Adam
>FYI,
>
>PatchA
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: plenary-admin@wsis-cs.org [mailto:plenary-admin@wsis-cs.org]On
>Behalf Of Derrick L. Cogburn
>Sent: Friday, November 07, 2003 6:32 AM
>To: plenary@wsis-cs.org
>Subject: [WSIS CS-Plenary] Announcing the iPC -- Civil Society ICT
>Policy Collaboratory
>
>
>Dear Colleagues,
>
>The Collaboratory on Technology Enhanced Learning Communities
>(www.cotelco.net), a research group at the University of Michigan
>that I direct, and International Possibilities Unlimited, a
>non-governmental organization in consultative status with the United
>Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) directed by Dr. Deborah
>Robinson, arecurrently building partnerships in planning for a major
>inititiative to support civil society's participation in the World
>Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and in global ICT policy
>formulation more broadly. We invite you to help us continue
>planning and building this initiative by joining us on Wednesday, 12
>November 2003 for our first real-time, online organizing meeting.
>The meeting will be held in the our virtual seminar room in
>cyberspace in order to accommodate remote participation from around
>the world. Also at this meeting, we will have a live report and
>updates from delegates attending PrepCom-3a.
>
>This initiative, called the iPC -- the Civil Society ICT Policy
>Collaboratory, builds on and compliments the excellent efforts
>already underway within the civil society sector to use
>computer-mediated communication tools. It aims to enhance the
>effective participation of civil society actors from around the
>world -- those actively involved in global policy processes, and
>those who have yet to participate -- in the multiple and complex
>processes of global governance. The iPC builds on our extensive
>collective knowledge base, developed over the last two decades of
>supporting the collaborative work of scientists across countries and
>continents, supporting the work of graduate students engaged in
>globally distributed collaborative learning, and supporting the
>involvement of grassroots organizations in international fora.
>
>Our approach to the iPC focuses on a collaborative user-centered
>design. This approach allows us to develop a deep understanding of
>users' needs in order to design and deploy the appropriate
>socio-technical infrastructure. While the specific features of the
>iPC will be developed in consultation with you and other colleagues,
>we envision using web-based tools with the following functionalities.
>
>-Synchronous, real-time, video and audio web-conferencing
>-High quality voice and video communication over IP
>-Presence awareness and text chatting
>-Multi-media content delivery (e.g., PowerPoint slides, movies, and website=
s)
>-Application sharing
>-Collaborative white boards
>-Virtual seminar rooms for plenary sessions
>-Virtual break-out rooms for working groups and caucuses
>-Moderated discussions and turn-taking
>-Online deliberation and decision-making tools (polling)
>-Recording of virtual sessions for personal playback later
>
>We see the iPC unfolding over time, using this technical
>infrastructure to enable real-time collaboration between civil
>society members spread out around the world. For example, these
>tools could possibly support the civil society structures in the
>following kinds of activities:
>
>I. Content & Themes (C&T)
>-Debates on thematic contributions and integrating CS positions
>-Administrative meetings
>
>II. Civil Society Bureau (CSB)
>-Administrative meetings
>-Interaction amongst family members
>
>III. Selected Thematic Caucuses & Working Groups (TC&WG)
>-Knowledge sharing (seminars and lectures)
>-Preparing thematic inputs into C&T processes
>-Administrative meetings
>-Debates and discussings
>
>IV. Civil Society Plenary (CSP)
>-Orientation of new participants
>-Updates and information sharing
>-Knowledge development through seminars and lectures
>-Access digital repositories
>
>There are undoubtedly other potential uses of the iPC. In order to
>help explore these and other possibilities, please join us for an
>online orientation meeting live from PrepCom-3a. The meeting will
>be held on Wednesday, 12 November 2003 at 16h00 Geneva time (10:00
>EST; 15h00) using a commercially available web-conferencing tool
>provided by Cotelco. Space in the iPC virtual seminar room is
>limited, and will be open only to the first forty virtual
>participants. To participate, point your web browser to the
>following URL and follow the instructions: http://tinyurl.com/tsh1
>(Unfortunately, Macs cannot be accommodated unless they are running
>OS X and virtual PC). Please run the "System Check" before
>attempting to participate in the meeting. During this meeting, we
>will provide:
>
>(1) An update on progress and activities in PrepCom-3a;
>(2) A brief training session on the collaboration tools;
>(3) An overview of the study and its collaborative action research
>component, and
>(4) A discussion of the possible ways to move forward.
>
>Initial funding for this initiative is provided by the University of
>Michigan and the Alliance for Community Technology (ACT).
>Additional support is currently under funding review at the US
>National Science Foundation.
>
>If you have any questions about this initiative, please do not
>hesitate to contact us. Derrick can be reached at
>dcogburn@umich.edu and Deborah at drdrobinson@ipunlimited.org.
>Derrick will be in Geneva from Sunday, 9 November until Saturday, 15
>November. We would welcome any additional discussions about the iPC.
>Cheers,
>Derrick
>*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
>Derrick L. Cogburn, Ph.D.
>Assistant Professor of Information
>School of Information
>The University of Michigan
>3214 SI North
>School of Information
>1075 Beal Avenue
>Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 48109-1092
>http://www.si.umich.edu/~dcogburn
>+1.734.615.2132 Office
>+1.734.764.2475 Fax
>Assistant Professor of African Studies, and
>Chair, Faculty Advisory Committee
>South Africa Initiatives Office (SAIO)
>Center for Afroamerican and African Studies
>5524 Haven Hall
>The University of Michigan
>Ann Arbor, MI 48109
>http://www.umich.edu/%7Eiinet/caas/
>Director, Collaboratory on Technology Enhanced
>Learning Communities (Cotelco)
>http://www.cotelco.net
>Blog: http://cotelco.blogspot.com
>AIM: CogburnDL
>ICQ: 17862355
>MSN: dcogburn@hotmail.com
>Blog: http://cogburn.blogspot.com=A0
>*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- .
--