SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING NEWS
Washington, D.C. — Over 100 leaders from a wide range of disciplines are gathering this week at the Internet2 Sociotechnical Summit to establish an agenda for social science research related to advanced networking. Held at the University of Michigan Media Union in Ann Arbor, the summit will help bridge the gap between advanced Internet technology and its implications for the social sciences. The Internet2 Sociotechnical Summit is made possible through the support of the John D. Evans Foundation, Cisco Systems, Advanced Network & Services and the College of Communication at the University of Texas, Austin.
Just as the Web is transforming research and education, advanced networking will allow researchers and educators to share information, interact and collaborate in ways not possible using today’s Internet, said Larry Faulkner, President of The University of Texas at Austin, and a Trustee of the Internet2 project. The Internet2 Sociotechnical Summit will help lay the foundation for understanding the social and organizational implications of tomorrow’s high-performance Internet.
Douglas Van Houweling, President and CEO of the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development, which is leading the Internet2 initiative, said the Internet has already had an enormous impact on our lives and society, but policy recommendations are being made based heavily on anecdotes, many of which have no proven basis in fact. This summit will help the social science community develop a strategy for research that will provide us with the facts we need to make intelligent policy for the future of the Internet.
Internet2, a project of the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development, provides leadership and direction for advanced networking development within the U.S. university community. Its programs are devoted to network research, technology transfer, and collaborative activities in related fields such as distance learning and educational technology. Internet2 is a collaborative project by over 160 U.S. research universities, in partnership with industry leaders and U.S. federal agencies, to develop a new family of advanced applications to meet emerging academic requirements in research, teaching and learning.
An online discussion at http://www.utexas.edu/coc/i2soctech/ featuring white papers and interaction with Internet2 Sociotechnical Summit presenters is open to the public. Complete proceedings of the summit will be presented at the Internet2 Members Meeting in Seattle, Washington on October 11, 1999. For additional information visit http://www.internet2.edu , http://www.advanced.org or http://www.cisco.com
============================================================