Meeting To Highlight Network-Based Collaboration Technology, Internet2 to Netcast Several Conference Sessions for Worldwide Viewing

The Internet2 community is meeting today in San Antonio, Texas through Thursday to hold its annual Fall Member Meeting. The overarching theme for this meeting is “Collaborations and Resource Sharing in Research and Education: How the economic crisis is fueling the expansion of networking technology, fostering global communities, and driving social change.” Presentations will focus on the elements of network-based collaboration, including--but not limited to--virtual organizations, social networking, and software collaboration tools.

Hosted by Internet2 members University of Texas at San Antonio and the Lonestar Education and Research Network (LEARN), the conference will include a wide variety of sessions and demonstrations including presentations on advances in collaboration tools, middleware and federated identity technology, network research, as well as advanced applications in telemedicine, arts and humanities, K-12 educational programs, distance-learning, among many others.

General sessions will include a keynote presentation by Gary Forsee, President, University of Missouri System and former chairman and CEO of Sprint Nextel, on October 6, 2009 at 10:30am CT who will address the strategic importance of information technology in higher education.

"The need for a more strategic and creative management of information technology in higher education has never been greater," says Forsee.  "IT can provide institutions with a wide range of solutions and opportunities to save money, create new revenue streams, and enhance collaborations across the academy as well as with businesses, venture capitalists and the general public.  And, of course, IT will play an increasingly important role in how traditional and nontraditional students are educated."

Gwen Jacobs, professor and assistant CIO at Montana State University and chair of the iPlant Collaborative Board of Directors will present at the second keynote session on October 8, 2009 at 10:30am CT providing an overview of iPlant’s work to create seamless cyberinfrastructure facilities to support researchers in the plant biology community.

Lastly, the second keynote session will also feature a demonstration, developed by Internet2, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Federal Health Architecture. The demo will use the LEARN, Internet2, Iowa Health System, HealthLINC, and HealthBridge networks to connect a physician specialist in San Antonio with a nurse practitioner in a rural clinic to assist in patient care. The demo will showcase how high-definition videoconferencing combined with the exchange of electronic medical records can significantly improve the delivery of healthcare to patients in rural settings.

The full program can be viewed at the following link:  http://events.internet2.edu/2009/fall-mm/agenda.cfm

Several meeting sessions will also be netcast for worldwide viewing. For access to live streams, additional information as well as archived sessions, visit: http://events.internet2.edu/2009/fall-mm/agenda.cfm?go=netcast