James Drogan

From /. Slashdot comes an interesting post titled Harvard Prof Says Computers Need to Forget. 

At various time I have blogged here and elsewhere, and spoken in forums regarding the nature of the data, information, and, hopefully, knowledge that is available in an always connected, always on, always transmitting world.  Web 2.0 and user generation of content exacerbates the significance of the issue.

It never occurred to me that a solution, as apparently being suggested by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, a professor in Harvard's JFK School of Government, would be, on some basis, to simply forget.  I've not read Mayer-Schönberger's paper, but will.

An interesting issue, this.  I'm writing a new lecture note on data management for my MIS class and this notion of forgetting will likely be part of it. 

This symposium was held April 27, 2007, and had as its theme: "New Rules: Convention and Change in Communication."  I was once again pleased to be selected as one of the moderators.  My preparatory notes can be found here.

I have, from time to time, called to the attention of my students and correspondents the following quotation of Theodore Roosevelt.

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

"Citizenship in a Republic"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

Dave, who I have mentioned from time to time in this blog, advises me that, while the quote is a good one, it is the entire speech that should be considered.

After reading the speech I agree.  It reminds us of our responsibilities as individuals; it reminds us of those fundamental values that provide the basis for peaceful progress.

I, in turn, recommend it to you. 

Citizenship in a Republic

I have recently posted on ethics in CUNY Conference on Academic Integrity and Ethics, Integrity, Innovation, and the Next Generation.  My students and I have been discussing ethics as it applies to MIS.  During this discussion (that takes place in class on on-line) one of my students has directed me to Complete Guide to Ethics Management: An Ethics Toolkit for Managers.

Someone else can make the judgement regarding completeness, but the Guide appears to be a very useful, concise, and clear reference.

Thanks, Juan. 

I don't recall which of the blogs I scan brought me to Harvard Business Online and can't, therefore give proper credit.  Sorry.

Harvard Business Online contains a number of sections, most of which remain to be explored by me.  I am, however, attracted to The Next Big Thing, a discussion led by Tom Davenport.  One of the issues I face is that of keeping current on the technology management issues faced by senior management.  I'm constantly on the prowl for sources of information that can help me resolve this issue.  Davenport's discussion group may be one of these.

For example, at the moment he is discussing:

1. SOA
2. Enterprise 2.0
3. Analytics

Davenport also seems to be placing an emphasis on the socio-political aspects of managing technology - an emphasis with which I agree.  I was active in the technology field for some 36 years, and have continued, over the last six years, to discuss the subject at the graduate level at colleges and universities.  I have a bit of experience in the area.

In the latter part of my career as a consultant at IBM the issue I continued to encounter in the management of technology was that of culture, the socio-political aspects Davenport discusses.  Currently, I devote two of 14 class modules - one on ethics, the other on culture - to discussing these matters with my students (the latest syllabus for my MIS class can be found here).

Davenport is a welcome source I recommend to others. 

The consequences of the intersection my teaching with other activities (e.g., Schwartz Communications Institute at Baruch) has led to wonder about creating book mashups.   By this I mean the integration of of various pieces of a various books into a different work.

I'm finding that various authors have something to say about a subject, say ethics, that I would like to introduce to my students.  But I'm not interested in all parts of every book, only selected parts.  I don't wish my students to buy all books to get at only parts of the books.  Hence, the book mashup.

I think I understand the copyright implications of this and think that these implications keep us from producing something of value that could aid in learning.  I am not, by the way, trying to represent the work of others as my own.

This would need to extend across publishers.  I ought to be able to provide "connective tissue" that integrates the various pieces. 

Perhaps this is potential outcome from the book digitization projects underway.

EdTechPost has brought me to The Future of Learning Institutions in a Digital Age, a provocative piece about the transformation of learning in the world of the Internet.

It catches my eye in that I am involved at Maritime, as the Director of Online Programs,  in transformation of the learning process.

At stake, fundamentally, is a change in the reach, range, and behavior of the educational system to deliver higher quality learning to a larger, more diversified (culturally, geographically, experience), set of subjects than, in general, has been the case.

The basis for  The Future of Learning Institutions in a Digital Age is HASTAC, an organization with a solid academic and foundational background and hence, in my view, a strong connection with reality and the art of the possible.

I'm reminded, as I write this, of Machiavelli.

“There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new.”

The transformation of an educational system is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks that one can undertake.  Revitalization of an established political system might be another. 

I recorded my remarks at the CUNY Conference on Academic Integrity on an Olympus DS-320 Digital Voice Recorder with the idea that, since I was speaking from bullet points, I would transcribe my remarks, then edit and publish the result.  Your can find the edited transcription here.

On an IT Conversations podcast I had heard of a service called CastingWords.

Great service (one day turnaround; very faithful to the original spoken words) at a reasonable price ($18 for a 23 minute piece).  I'll go back.

What was also revealed was that I need to work on my speaking skills, particularly when speaking extemporaneously or, as was the case here, from bullet points.

All in all, a worthwhile investment of money and time.

In Closing Words - CUNY Conference on Academic Integrity I include the following line. 

"The Internet and the way that we do things are fundamentally changing the manner in which we establish and maintain relationships and their ethical underpinnings."

Reading Irving Wladawsky-Berger's post this morning, GIO 3.0 - The 2007 Global Innovation Outlook, particularly his extended discussion of interactions with students, I am struck by the linkage with my comment.  One line captures this well.

"The students had little sympathy for the media companies' struggles to protect their copyrighted material.  What the media companies call piracy, the students often referred to as sharing."

The world as we knew it is changing.  The old rules, practices, policies, etc. may no longer apply.  This phenomenon has, in part, given rise to the theme of this year's Bernard L. Schwartz Communications Institute Annual Symposium on Communication and Communication Intensive Instruction, "New Rules: Convention and Change in Communication."

I suggest that the notions of ethics and integrity may also need a rethink.

From the announcement for the conference. 

"The members of Baruch College's Academic Integrity Committee hope that this CUNY-wide conference will promote vibrant discussion among students, faculty, and administrators about issues of integrity across the university. Participants will be invited to discuss their ideas and strategies for engendering ethical campus communities. Those who wish to share relevant teaching materials, academic integrity publications, etc., should plan on bringing 100 copies for a publications' table or sending them electronically to aiconference@baruch.cuny.edu by March 2 to be photocopied. This conference is part of Ethics Week 2007 at Baruch, the fourth annual such event at the college. The conference and luncheon are free and open to all CUNY students, faculty, and administrators. All participants will need to register by March 2, 2007."

It was my privilege to be asked to close the conference.  An edited transcript of my remarks can be found at Closing Words - CUNY Conference on Academic Integrity.