F R I D A Y , D E C E M B E R 2 , 2 0 0 5 A g e n d a
FOR METROPOLITAN GEOSPATIAL COMMUNITIES
MICHAEL W. MILLS
IBM Business Executive, IBM Learning Solutions
Geospatial information resources, i.e., geospatial data content, location technologies (specifically GIS – Geographic Information Systems) used to capture, maintain and analyze location data; and the best practices in location-enabled business processes, are all essential to functioning the modern societies. In particular, geospatial information resources are critical to all levels of government and public institutions for adequate collaboration in managing large scale emergencies, homeland security, … as well as for comprehensive planning and everyday management of regional communities.
Geospatial information technologies are progressing faster than our institutional abilities to utilize them effectively. As we learn over and over again: solutions are provided by people, not by technology that offers only tools; and knowledge is not the power by itself, but communication and collaboration are. So, for modern society the biggest challenge it seems to be education and knowledge sharing about collaborative business models based on location-enabled business processes. And it would be naive to believe that “geospatial industry” is an exception from the other hi-tech endeavors where the most of job training and knowledge distribution occur through informal channels. This innovation in informal learning is based on the use of collaboration technologies that link communities of practice to a mechanism that provides informal, just-in-time learning for enterprise applications. Through this unique set of IBM Community Tools, end-users can broadcast a specific question to their online professional community for instant performance support from an available expert.
End-users are able to interact with the expert via instant messaging, voice and instant application sharing to quickly resolve an issue or provide clarification. The expert serves as the prescriber of the informal learning event, and talks the end-user through a procedure, or suggests a specific learning object, or resolves a newly identified problem. As the expert realizes the need for new training, a feedback mechanism allows community experts to add FAQ's and author additional learning objects and add them to the database .
The goal of the session would be to invoke addtional conversations on the viability of such a tool within the expansive GIS community of stakeholders in the State of Georgia.