Documents Contributed by ECAR, Collaboration, and Presentations

Presentation at the Sixth Annual ECAR/HP Summer Symposium for Higher Education IT Executives, June 11-13, 2007, Boulder, Colorado. When Yochai Benkler's book, The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom, came out, Stanford Law Professor Larry Lessig said, "This is -- by far -- the most important and powerful book written in the fields that matter most to me in the last ten years. If there is one book you read this year, it should be this." This work examines the ways in which information technology permits extensive forms of collaboration that may have transformative consequences for economy and society. Benkler's presentation outlines the characteristics of the networked information economy and the roles of collaboration and commons-based production of information, knowledge, and culture, and it suggests avenues to apply these broad trends to education and education-related policy.

Presentation at the Sixth Annual ECAR/HP Summer Symposium for Higher Education IT Executives, June 11-13, 2007, Boulder, Colorado. In 2006, ECAR distributed three surveys: the first was designed simply to ascertain whether the responding institution collaborated in significant ways; the second asked responding collaborators to describe their experiences, views, outcomes, concerns, and readiness with and for collaborations; and the third asked self-identified non-collaborators in IT to describe the barriers to collaboration they face, the cultural assumptions and beliefs of their institutions, and their views about the possible future for IT collaboration at their institutions. The survey responses offer a rich snapshot of how and when colleges and universities collaborate, the nature of the collaborations themselves, and a sense of the effectiveness of IT collaborations in higher education.

Presentation at the Fifth Annual ECAR/HP Summer Symposium for Higher Education IT Executives, June 28-30, 2006, Coronado, California. This presentation describes the study objectives, scope, focus, and analytical framework for ECAR's forthcoming study of IT collaboration.

Presentation at the Fourth Annual ECAR/HP Summer Symposium for Higher Education IT Executives, July 13-15, 2005, New Castle Island, New Hampshire. The potential for IT to take research to new levels depends on our ability to acquire, manipulate, store, render, visualize, archive, and transport unimaginable amounts of data. Realizing this potential also depends on human factors, especially the capacity of researchers from different disciplines to assemble virtually and face-to-face to interpret findings from a variety of perspectives. Ferri manages the new Synthesis Center at the San Diego Supercomputer Center and shares insights about how environments there are being organized to foster dialogue across disciplines.

Presentation at the Fourth Annual ECAR/HP Summer Symposium for Higher Education IT Executives, July 13-15, 2005, New Castle Island, New Hampshire. Scientific and engineering research increasingly involves collaboration across multiple organizations. Technological advances have made such cross-boundary projects possible, yet they can carry high coordination costs. This talk discusses coordination mechanisms that can bring researchers together (physically and virtually) to reduce the potentially negative impact of collaborations involving multiple universities.

Presentation at the Fourth Annual ECAR/HP Summer Symposium for Higher Education IT Executives, July 13-15, 2005, New Castle Island, New Hampshire. This talk focuses on the future role of higher education research in narrowing the innovation gap. Examples and demonstrations of innovations under development through public and private collaborations are presented.

Presentation at the Fourth Annual ECAR/HP Summer Symposium for Higher Education IT Executives, July 13-15, 2005, New Castle Island, New Hampshire. This presentation and discussion explore the pivot points around which transition in the roles of, and opportunities for, IT in colleges and universities are taking place. It addresses such questions as: How are changes in the national research agenda affecting IT? How do innovations in research methods interact with those in IT? Can (or should) IT units keep a distance from interdisciplinary tensions and collaborations within their institutions? And how can faculty research needs be tapped?

Presentation at the Fourth Annual ECAR/HP Summer Symposium for Higher Education IT Executives, July 13-15, 2005, New Castle Island, New Hampshire. As early as 1996, Farber advised us about the internationalization of networks, saying that "photons have neither morals nor visas." In this talk, Farber shares his thoughts on the state of networking and on complex social issues such as convergence and internationalization and the trade-offs between safety and liberty in the network context.