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The brief was to provide a lighting feature that would form part of the partition between the bedroom and the bathroom. It needed to reflect sporting life, especially including tennis and football. Other than that, we were given freedom to choose colours and specific figures, once the design concept was agreed.
This is the set of five panels installed over an almost 5 metre span. The design was a collaboration between Dorte Pape and me. It consists of football players, cyclists, swimmers, runners, tennis players and gymnasts. The forms and shapes they make while playing are graphically represented. We were pleased to note the blue of the glass was complimentary with the blue chosen for the walls.
This view from the window shows how the LED lighting throws colour onto the ceiling adding a third colour to the scheme of the room.
The figures are sandblasted onto both sides of the fused glass panels. This gives some depth and variation in appearance depending on which side the light shines. These panels show gymnasts, tennis players, runners and some swimmers.
These panels show more of the swimmers, cyclists and footballers. Both these bathroom side panels show the different effect of where the light falls as to which side is emphasised.


text:
Throughout her rehabilitation from paralysis at Kennedy Krieger, the dream of one day riding horses again kept Krystal motivated.
Krystal Greco had been an avid horseback rider since she was a small child. But one afternoon when she was 14, a searing pain in her back changed everything.
The physical therapists are always encouraging me, challenging me to do what I can…Being able to ride a horse again was pure joy.
Krystal Greco
"It was a normal Sunday afternoon," Krystal wrote in a blog post for CNN about her experience. "As usual, I had woken up late. I was showering and started feeling some cramping in my lower back, which wasn't uncommon because I was being treated for a stress fracture in my lumbar spine. I was out of the shower and partially dressed when it happened—the explosion of pain."
Within minutes, Krystal lost all feeling in her legs and collapsed to the bathroom floor. She screamed for her mother to help, and her parents carried her to the car. As they raced to the hospital, Krystal repeatedly tried moving her legs to no avail.
After x-rays and an MRI, doctors told her she had a ruptured disk, which had bruised her spine. She underwent emergency surgery to decompress her spine, but despite the surgery, she remained paralyzed from the waist down.
Krystal was transferred to Kennedy Krieger's International Center for Spinal Cord injury, where she underwent intensive inpatient rehabilitation for eight weeks. "It was very challenging," she recalls. "I was doing intense therapy, learning to re-use my body, doing all the daily things that people take for granted."
During rehabilitation, Krystal learned how to be independent, and physical therapy helped rebuild muscle strength and nervous system connections.
Despite her progress, Krystal missed horseback riding. "It was a huge letdown not to be able to ride," she recalls. Her therapist told her about a therapeutic horseback riding facility near her home. So one autumn day, after she was discharged and had gained enough strength, Krystal rode a horse for the first time since her paralysis. It took the help of two people supporting her from the side and another leading the horse, but for Krystal, "It was pure joy. I was beaming from ear to ear," she recalls. "I was ecstatic."
She continued her outpatient therapy at Kennedy Krieger and the therapeutic horseback riding, and after about five months, something remarkable happened. While at an evaluation at Kennedy Krieger, she was able to move her legs for the first time.
Riding a horse and gaining movement in her legs were not the only goals Krystal achieved: She also earned her driver's license. And in June, Krystal walked across the stage with braces and a walker at her high school graduation, an emotional moment that she had been working toward for months. Her physical therapist assistant, Lisa Warwick, feels proud to have played a role in helping her reach her goals. "I feel like a proud parent," she says.
"The physical therapists are always encouraging me, challenging me to do what I can," says Krystal. "They exude positive energy every time I see them."
Now 18, Krystal plans to continue her therapy at Kennedy Krieger and go to college for a double major in equine studies and business. Next on her bucket list? Joining the Paralympic team and competing in dressage.
Krystal has some advice for others facing a disability: "Don't let it get you down. There's always a way to adapt a sport or activity to a disability."
"Having a spinal cord injury doesn't have to mean an end to the hobbies and sports that you love—it just means having a view from a different angle," she says.
Krystal was able to achieve three big goals this past year—horseback riding, walking across the stage at graduation, and getting her driver's license. We definitely had a role to play in that. I feel like a proud parent.
Lisa Warwick, physical therapist assistant at the International Center for Spinal Cord Injury

subset: commoncrawl


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The KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme is well known internationally for its work in improving global health. The Programme has a diverse clinical research programme that includes clinical trials of disease prevention, vaccines, management of acute illness, basic science and translation of research finding into global health policy.
The Programme is searching for a qualified, dynamic and motivated person to fill the following position:
The Programme is searching for a qualified, dynamic and motivated person to fill the following position:
Senior Human Resource Officer
Job Purpose:
HR Business Partner assigned to the Operations Departments (HR, Finance, Information Technology and Facilities and Transport). Works closely with heads of these departments to ensure all HR needs are met. Will attend departmental meetings to advise and follow up on HR matters.
In addition to HRBP role, the SHRO will be assigned to champion HRMIS, Contract Management, Records Management and Separation – across the organization providing leadership on this specialist functions to other members of the HR team while working closely with the Head of HR for guidance and support.
· Implement the human resources strategy within assigned departments taking into consideration strategic goals and objectives.
· Deliver all aspects of HR services within agreed SLAs rand regularly provide reports and matrices on assigned department's performance.
· Provide input to HR policy formulation, implement and interpret HR policy and procedures and ensure effective and proactive communication across assigned departments on policies, procedures and services
· Provide overall expertise in HRMIS, Payroll Processing, Records Management and Separation and be the reference point to the HR team but working closely with the Head of HR
· Own and drive recruitment, on boarding, talent management and motivation needs of assigned departments ensuring each process meets organization goals.
· Manage succession, staff development and workforce planning as essential activities within the assigned departments.
· Ensure departmental data in the HRMIS relating to records management, leave, payroll, medical and other HR duties are coordinated and executed within expected standards
· Ensure effective implementation of performance management processes and systems for the Programme and link these to the Programme's Learning and Development strategy.
· Manage all staff welfare and employee relations matters within assigned departments and ensure timely and adequate resolution of any issues so as to promote a harmonious working environment.
· Lead and supervise HR staff supporting assigned departments, ensuring they have clear objectives and resources need to perform their tasks.
· A Bachelor's degree in Human Resource Management or equivalent.
· Professional HR qualification and membership to a HR body e.g. IHRM, CIPD etc. or equivalent
· At least 5 – 8 year's hands on human resources management experience.
· Experience working with multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams across various sites
· Knowledge of Kenya laws and practices
· Knowledge of employee relations policies, procedures and experience in their implementation.
· Experience in implementing Human Resources Management Information Systems.
· Computer literacy with proficiency in Microsoft applications
· In depth understanding of scientific staff competence requirements, ability to handle fiscal databases and completely integrate budget and planning documents for HR management.
· Ability to analyse problems and devise pragmatic and sustainable solutions.
· Ability to maintain a strategic view but can also conduct detailed analysis as appropriate.
· Willingness to take a hands-on approach to problem resolution as required.
· Ability to build productive and collaborative relationships with varied stakeholders.
· Strong leadership and management skills
· Excellent planning and follow through ability
· Good interpersonal and communication skills
How To Apply:
To apply for this job, please click on the link below:-
Administrative Assistant
· Support activities of the COO's office by providing administrative support services and technical assistance to ensure timely service delivery.
· Manage COO's internal meetings calendar
· Support all Operations local and international travel arrangements, including TAR filing, flight booking and other travel administration
· Maintain Departmental Heads' leave plans
· Support Clinical Services Department with medical electives and medical licences as called for
· Manage Professional Indemnity Insurance for doctors, clinical officers and nurses – ensuring insurance is up-to-date and that incoming staff are added to the cover
· Support Operations Departments' visitors – ensuring sitting space, proper documentation, appropriate access to internal services and itineraries
· Assist in compiling of operations reports, annual budgets and plans for submission under the supervision of the Operations Manager and Compliance Officer
· Proofread and draft routine correspondence
· Support filing and retrieval of files and documents in order to ensure that they are secure and accessible.
· Maintain an inventory of office equipment in COO's office and raising requisitions for additional supplies
· Any other duties that may be assigned from time to time
· A Diploma in Secretarial Studies, Business Administration. Office Management or equivalent
· At least 3 years' experience in providing support to top executives and senior management teams
· Considerable knowledge of office procedures and secretarial practices including organization, planning, records management and general administrative skills
· Computer literacy with proficiency in Microsoft applications
· Strong planning, organisational and administrative skills
· Strong problem-solving skills with keen attention to detail
· Strong report writing, proofreading and editing skills
· High level of confidentiality and discretion
· Tact, poise and excellent communication and interpersonal skills
· Ability to establish and maintain good working relationships
· Effective time management skills with the ability to prioritise workloads and work within tight deadlines
· Team worker, able to work in a multi-cultural environment.
How to Apply:
To apply for this role please click on the link below:-


text:
Recent columns by Barbara Crossette:
Refugees in Limbo Where the U.N. Isn't Welcome
(December 29, 2003)
"For about a dozen years, tens of thousands of people, claiming to be Bhutanese citizens have been languishing in refugee camps in Nepal. Few officials believe they are all Bhutanese. Then who are these people, now numbering more than 100,000?"
Book on U.N. Creation a Welcome Reminder of Early Lessons
(December 16, 2003)
"Here's the perfect holiday gift for your favorite member of the U.S. Congress."
Too Soon To Count the U.N. in on Iraq
(December 9, 2003)
"The United Nations is not going to jump at the chance to take over the management of Iraq. Too much needs to change not only in Washington but also on the ground in Baghdad."
Sixteen Wise People and the Future of the U.N.
(December 1, 2003)
"This could be a last-chance opportunity to reinvigorate a battered United Nations."
Saving Congo, One Woman at a Time
(November 24, 2003)
"The impunity enjoyed by anyone with a gun, and the savagery of the sexual assaults women suffer as a result, has stunned and sickened aid workers."
Oil for Food: A Great Experiment Ends
(November 17, 2003)
"The oil-for-food program wasn't perfect. It was manipulated by both the Iraqis and the West. None of that, however, should obscure the essential value of the concept."
A New-Look Security Council: What Makes a Winner?
(November 11, 2003)
"The question of which countries might rightly claim new permanent seats is becoming less hypothetical. A group of newly emerging powers is already circling the chamber demanding a permanent presence."
U.N. Notebook.
U.N. Notebook | January 5, 2004
IAEA Chief Out Front on Arms Control
by Barbara Crossette
UNITED NATIONS—Think of Mohamed ElBaradei as one good reason why the world needs the United Nations. Since the departure of Hans Blix from the U.N. scene, ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has been the U.N. system's most visible arms controller, and some Bush administration officials wary of most arms control agreements have begun trying to undermine his authority just as they did with Blix.
IAEA Director General
Mohamed ElBaradei
Last week, ElBaradei was in Libya, helping the government of Colonel Muammar Qadhafi undo a nascent nuclear weapons program—a visit that provoked Washington to insist that the United States, not the IAEA, was in charge. Before Libya, it was Iran, where with help from the Europeans, ElBaradei maneuvered the Iranian government into more intrusive inspections of sites it insists are only nuclear power plants. North Korea could be next.
What helps make an international official like ElBaradei effective in places the Bush administration would rather pillory than negotiate with is, in addition to his wide expertise, his inherent cosmopolitanism. This is an added value the United Nations brings to many crises.
ElBaradei is an Egyptian, but much of his legal training is American—a master's degree and doctorate from New York University. Like certain others among his more memorable contemporaries at the United Nations, such as the late Sergio Vieira de Mello (a Brazilian educated in Paris), ElBaradei moves around the world with ease, conferring with American and European lawyers and arms control officials one day and chatting in Arabic with a wily North African despot the next.
Thomas M. Franck, one of the world's leading experts and practitioners of international law, was ElBaradei's adviser at NYU law school in the early 1970s and he describes his former student in one word, "brilliant."
"He was so good a student that when I went to head the research department at UNITAR [the United Nations Institute for Training and Research] the one condition was that the Egyptian government lend him to me," Franck said. "He was at that time in the Egyptian mission in Geneva. And so they seconded him to me at UNITAR and we worked there together. He helped me run the research department. He was wonderful."
Franck, who has written more than a score of books for both professionals and lay readers on a range of legal issues and current world affairs, said in a telephone interview before leaving for San Francisco, where he will teach this semester at the University of California's Hastings College of Law, that during his time at the United Nations ElBaradei proved to be a skilled diplomat who served as a neutral intermediary with "a very difficult Russian" who had been working for Franck. That was in the early 1980s, when the Soviet Union was intact and Russian-American tensions still marked U.N. life.
ElBaradei, 61, was born in Cairo and got his first academic degree at Cairo University. His father, Mostafa ElBaradei, was president of the Egyptian Bar Association. After attending university, the younger ElBaradei joined the Egyptian foreign service and worked as a diplomat in both New York and Geneva before enrolling at NYU. After earning his doctorate, he went back to Egypt's foreign service before Franck asked for him to be assigned to U.N. headquarters as a senior research fellow. By then, ElBaradei, who also taught as an adjunct professor at NYU law school, was a recognized specialist in international law, arms control and the peaceful uses of nuclear technology.
Probably inevitably, he soon came to the attention of Hans Blix, his predecessor as IAEA director general, who in 1984 chose him his legal counsel. By 1993, his diplomatic skills back in play, ElBaradei had become assistant director of international relations for the IAEA. Unlike many other international civil servants, he developed a good relationship with the media, almost always willing to take time for a briefing or news conference at critical moments.
When Blix retired from the agency in 1997—he would later be named executive chairman of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission for Iraq—there was considerable speculation about who would succeed him at the IAEA. ElBaradei was not as colorful a figure as Blix, who voiced his opinions publicly and scrappily as the occasion demanded—a quality in play last year as he parried Washington's denigration of the U.N. Iraqi inspection system. But many people who had worked in the agency thought ElBaradei would be a good, solid choice.
A lot of politics among and inside countries goes into the competition for a job as important as that of IAEA director general, and there was rivalry for the position, including within Egypt, in 1997. ElBaradei got the job, however, and in 2001, he was reappointed by the agency board for another four-year term. He is now a strong voice for tighter weapons controls generally, at a time when Washington seems intent on weakening a range of arms control agreements.
In an
in November with
Arms Control Today,
ElBaradei called the current system for stopping the spread of nuclear weapons "inadequate" and said that nuclear arms are still relied on "as a weapon of choice."
"I think it is fair to say that it [the system] is under a great deal of stress, and if I am asking for significant changes, it is because the world is going through significant changes," ElBaradei told the journal. "A few years back, the terrorist phenomenon was not the major phenomenon we had to face. Efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction were not with the intensity we see in the last few years. The security threats are changing, and with it our response needs to change."
The importance of having an international figure, and someone from a significant but not overwhelmingly powerful country running a hot spot like the IAEA "is exemplified by ElBaradei, but isn't limited to him," Franck said.
In an earlier crisis in Libya over demands that Qadhafi turn over two Libyan suspects for trial in a Scottish court for the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, Hans Corell, a Swede and the chief U.N. legal officer, did the tough negotiating, and well out of the limelight. Corell ultimately brought the two Libyans to The Hague himself, where an "offshore" Scottish trial was held, accomplishing what American bluster could not.
"There are many things that can be accomplished internationally by our not making it into an America-versus-whoever confrontation," Franck said, "and using highly professional people who have good staffing behind them, who know the facts and who over the years painstakingly built up relations—not necessarily very warm ones, but credible ones—with difficult people in various countries. That gives them a real, marked advantage over your average American politician trying to do that."
"First of all the politicians probably don't know the places all that well," Franck said. "Secondly, they haven't built up those kinds of relations, and thirdly they're going to turn over."
North Korea may reach the stage of having to rethink its decision late in 2002 to expel the IAEA, he said, adding that the North Koreans "know that there's going to be a point when [U.S. President] George Bush is gone, but the ElBaradeis go on forever."
"It pays to establish a reasonable relationship with them," he said.
What do you think? Discuss this article in the
Foreign Affairs
conference of
Post & Riposte
More on
foreign affairs
Atlantic Unbound
The Atlantic Monthly.
Barbara Crossette
, a writer on foreign affairs and columnist for
U.N. Wire,
The New York Times
bureau chief at the United Nations from 1994 to 2001.
U.N. Wire
is a free daily online news service covering news about and related to the United Nations. It is sponsored by the U.N. Foundation and appears on the foundation site, but is produced independently by The National Journal Group. For information on National Journal Group publications, see
Copyright © 2003 by
The Atlantic Monthly Group
. All rights reserved.


text:
US Open Government Directive is Disappointing
by Andrea Di Maio | December 8, 2009 | 29 Comments
Earlier today, the US federal government issued the long-awaited Open Government Directive, as requested in an executive memo issued in January by President Obama.
The directive covers the three principles of transparency, participation and collaboration set out in the executive memo, and outlines a series of actions that agencies must take over the next 120 days and going forward. Amongst them:
- Within 45 days each agency is expected to identify and register via Data.gov three high-value data set that were not previously available online
- Within 60 days each agency shall create an Open Government page on its web site reporting about activities related to the directive
- Within 120 days each agency shall publish an Open Government Plan addressing all the three principles (an outline of the plan is provided as an attachment)
- Within 45 days the Federal CIO and CTO will establish a working group to socialize best practices, coordinate with other mandates around federal spending transparency and recovery, and share best practices about the use of new technologies and insights of people inside and outside government
- And within 60 days they will create an Open Government Dashboard to keep track of progress of all agencies
The directive covers also issues like accountability for government information quality and federal spending transparency.
The suggested components of the Open Government Plan are skewed toward supporting transparency, for which a lot of detail is provided. However also the sections on to participation and collaboration confirm what I have called several times the "asymmetry of government 2.0", i.e. the fact that governments take a one-way approach only to government 2.0 (data from government to citizens and engagement from citizens to government), losing sight that that information and engagement flow in the opposite direction too (information is created elsewhere that government need to be aware of, and government employees engage with external communities).
In fact when it comes to participation, the directive suggests that
The Plan should include descriptions of and links to appropriate websites where the public can engage in existing participatory processes of your agency […] The Plan should include proposals for new feedback mechanisms, including innovative tools and practices that create new and easier methods for public engagement.
While in the section on collaboration it says that
The Plan should include proposals to use technology platforms to improve collaboration among people within and outside your agency. […] The Plan should include descriptions of and links to appropriate websites where the public can learn about existing collaboration efforts of your agency.
It is quite clear that the suggested approach is for agencies to address participation and collaboration on their turf and on their terms.
Also when external collaboration is mentioned:
[…] The Plan should include innovative methods, such as prizes and competitions, to obtain ideas from and to increase collaboration with those in the private sector, non-profit, and academic communities.
it refers to a type of codified, institutional collaboration that has little to do with the spontaneity of "general citizen" communities. (see interesting debate on citizen participation)
For sure, this directive will make social software vendors happy, as it will require agencies to consider some of their tools to support the requirement for participation and collaboration. But, in doing so, the US government just perpetuates the asymmetry of government 2.0.
The picture below, which I used in a previous post, shows what I mean.
The US directive looks only at the flows drawn in black, but does very little to help agencies understand the importance of flows drawn in red for each and every principle set out in the executive memo. This begs a few questions:
- How will agencies know whether open data are being used to the benefit of citizens unless employees can engage in external communities (i.e. communities that citizens themselves establish using their social media of choice?).
- How will real participation be possible unless agencies recognize that data is being created and collected by citizens, communities, private companies, which has the same dignity of government data to support participation?
- How can government agencies collaborate unless there is a bi-directional flow of information and collaboration can take place – depending on topics and constituency – on government and citizen turf at the same time?
- How can participation and collaboration be realized without addressing explicitly the role of government employees, and how can they play this role unless they can access external social media?
Failing to address any of the above and setting so many milestones and reporting obligations for agencies, this directive risks turning into yet another exercise in compliance.
As a corollary to my disappointment, while I was following the live feed on Facebook with the Federal CIO and CTO presenting the directive and taking question, somebody posted the following: Too bad that agency policy prohibits us federal employees from watching this (or using Facebook) at work….
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Category: open-government-data
Tags: government-20 us-federal-cio us-federal-cto
Thoughts on US Open Government Directive is Disappointing
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Andrea DiMaio, Alex Lara. Alex Lara said: Excelent excerpt (some criticism) RT @AndreaDiMaio: US Open Government Directive is Disappointing – http://bit.ly/8nnM9U – #gov20 #opengov […]
The last paragraph is one of the most telling points, so i am glad you included it in your post — the fact that government "doesn't get it' is clear by the policy prohibiting participaiton in 2.0 capabilities. No wonder you are underwhelmed! This would also be another area to include in your upcoming article on government policies in this area — how policies encourage or discourage particiaption in the open government processes
I very much agree with your points. It's easy for many of us to jump on the bandwagon and act as cheerleaders. While these are important steps I doubt that the government will be able to truly curate the flow of information without interaction between employees and citizens.
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by AndreaDiMaio: US Open Government Directive is Disappointing: asymmetry and compliance – http://bit.ly/8nnM9U – #gov20 #opengov…
Interesting outline of the OpenGov directive. I do agree with your assertion that the directive only covers the paths "in black" and very little if any focus is expended on the red paths in your diagram. Particularly like the last two sentences in your post (employee comment on facebook).
In my view, there are some distinct features of social networks/media that make them valuable over other channels in our private lives:
1) Real Time
2) Bi-directional, person to person or multi-directional (one to many, many to one)
3) Human element (as opposed to a web portal)
4) dynamic (networks, topics, content, focus change constantly)
Now consider the fact that most Government organizations are:
1) Typically transactional in nature, not real time (due to a myriad of good and bad reasons)
2) Typically not set up for bi-directional communication (tight messaging, PIO, risk averse, "trusted" information use only, etc.)
3) Bureucracy not human (actually this is the same challenge big corporations face on social networks)
4) Established, static and stable
Clearly there are significant challenges to overcome if Gov2.0 is to maximize the value from Web2.0 and breakdown bureucracy1.0 (from your previous post).
I think this directive is a good first step to formalize the discussions and grass roots work underway in US gov for the past year. However, it is only a first step. I think in order for this movement to be sustainable, the "Red paths" in your diagram need to be nurtured, formalized and appropriate policy/process/risk models updated. Moreover, I think it requires a concentrated and focussed effort to break down the barriers to change as I have outlined above. Without this effort, Gov2.0 will just remain an exotic outlier rather than being the norm.
[…] Andrea DiMaio's more negative reaction. […]
Your analysis of the directive is spot on. Unfortunately, I think the scope of the directive is well aligned with the relative inability of managers in many agencies to understand, let alone embrace, collaborative approaches to agency management. The popularity of blockades to staff access to social media is symptomatic of an organization that has little faith in the effectiveness of staff governance programs (e.g.: if we don't control them they won't behave properly). If an agency struggles with uncontrolled collaboration by staff, they are not ready to deal with a mature collaboration relationship with the citizenry.
Let's hope that this is just a first step along the path to effective interaction of staff and the citizenry.
Andrew Walls' comments are also very insightful relative to this issue though I think they are partially incorrect. I do think that managers do understand collaborative approaches that are possible. The issue is not lack of understanding but rather lack of will.
Federal employees are not incentivized to be risk takers (as is further evident in the directive). In fact, to the contrary, there are significant incentives to ensure no screw ups become public. Following the path of Andrea's red lines inevitably leads to nonconformist behavior which most agencies go to great lengths to avoid. They don't want to inadvertently give data away that should not be and do not want to end up in the Washington Post and then sitting before a Congressional Committee.
In an era of gotcha politics, no one wants to do anything that might add value unless it is blessed by the political masters…. most of whom have such a poor understanding of IT that they won't bless anything.
[…] the Sunlight Foundation and OMB Watch, have already weighed in praising the effort. Others, like Andrea DiMaio, are disappointed because while it's heavy on disclosure, it's (in her opinion) light on […]
@andreademaio – No doubt. You are as insightful as always. I agree that the Australian directive is much more progressive.
Having seen the "mcahine" at work from the inside, I tend to strongly agree with John Kost in his comment. When dealing with a limited structured agenda, budgets, and operational goals for agencies, the web2.0 agenda is only successful where the executive leadership has made it a strategic priority for their agency, and have a clear understanding of how this set of "tools" can advance their mission. This is generally the exception not the norm.
The barriers of non-compliance, data breach, inaccurate information, or "unmanaged" disclosure of information are typically far more oppressive than the benefits of individual enagement offered by web2.0. This will undoubtedly change as newer generations take the helm in policy making government positions. However, currently gov20/web20 is considered as the "cool new stuff the IT staff is doing these days". Until this perception is changed in most agencies, meaingful progress will not be attained.
Just my thoughts. I am sure sound minds can discuss this topic for hours in many different lights.
We believe that there are both good/aggressive points in the OGI, and also areas where the Government needs some advice & direction. It is our duty as "Industry" to provide this direction.
At Acquia – as an Open Source company (Drupal) – we are launching a series of Webinars – starting right now, at 1PM around how Open Source technologies can assist the Government in becoming "/open"
The webinar series will be free, as is Drupal (as in "free beer") 🙂 We encourage the community to write to us and leverage partners of ours, such as the New York State Senate, who have achieved their part of the OGI using Drupal and Open Source..
[…] Andrea DiMaio finds the participation and public engagement pieces wanting […]
[…] My post on the directive has been of quite a different tone, partly because I just wanted to counterbalance what I was expecting to be a choir of enthusiastic support, and partly because I was expecting more. […]
[…] in government and highlighted that the citizen backchannel was missing from the plan. In his piece "US Open Government Directive is Disappointing" he points out that the mechanism for agencies to listen to citizens is not only missing from […]
[…] Americana cae también en el defecto de la Asimetría de la Relación entre Gobierno y Ciudadano. Este aspecto es también criticado por Andrea Di Maio. Mientras que tanto Australianos como Británicos apuestan por un flujo bidireccional de […]
Yes, open, transparent, and REAL TIME government is achievable. In government, though, it is not thought of as being the necessity that it should be. There is no reason why a dashboard of some kind can be at the federal, state, and local level and be useful.
I have included our dashboard which has won a number of awards.
The other thing is that according to our State CIO, we are unable to use any ongoing feedback from local agencies because then we could "possibly open up to hackers". Oh please, give me a break, it is just because the IT people at our illustrious DIS is UNABLE to do this.
Kudos Andrea for opening up the dialog.
[…] Seattle's Carbon Footprint: Assessing The Assessment$1.4 Billion Oregon Wind Deal AnnouncedUS Open Government Directive is DisappointingInteresting perspective: the US OGD is incomplete because it doesn't consider data collection […]
[…] Well, first of all it made the top ten, which is not bad at all. Second, this placing does not mean that the work done by the Obama team has not been excellent (see later in this ranking). However it is fair to say that given all the anticipation, the Directive itself is underwhelming. […]
[…] again about how to convey more effectively my point about the symmetry of government 2.0 (see the picture in a previous post). If one side of the relationship is "government as a platform", the other side sounds […]
[…] its long awaited Open Government Directive, which was met with enthusiasm from some, and an underwhelmed "meh" from others. The Administration has asked state and local government to adopt the Directive, but it […]
[…] its long awaited Open Government Directive, which was met with enthusiasm from some, and an underwhelmed "meh" from others. The Administration has asked state and local government to adopt the Directive, but it […]
[…] diMaio kommt in seinem Blog-Artikel US Open Government Directive is Disappointing zu einem ähnlichen Ergebnis: [ … ] governments take a one-way approach only to government 2.0 […]
[…] governments need to overcome the asymmetry that I've highlighted several times (see here and here) and give the same dignity to citizen-collected data as to government-sanctioned data. Only then we […]
[…] they both agree on the importance of open standards (although transparency also seems to annoy DiMaio), they also remind us that tools, proprietary or open source, are a means to an end. An open […]
[…] they both agree on the importance of open standards (although transparency also seems to annoy DiMaio), they also remind us that tools, proprietary or open source, are a means to an end. An open […]
[…] a counterpoint, Andrea DiMaio, a member of the Gartner Blog Network,criticized the directive for being skewed toward transparency giving participation and collaboration short shrift. She […]
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The following are USCCB news releases related to the protection and promotion of marriage as the permanent and exclusive union of one man and one woman, and other related topics. They are ordered chronologically starting with the most recent.
President of U.S. Bishops' Conference Issues Statement on Supreme Court Decision on Legal Definition of "Sex" in Civil Rights Law (June 15, 2020)
Key Truths about Redefining Human Sexuality - Bulletin Insert
Bishop Chairmen Applaud HHS Bringing Health Care Nondiscrimination Regulations into Alignment with Federal Law (June 12, 2020)
Bishop Chairmen Commend Administration Action to Prevent Government Discrimination Against Faith-based Adoption, Foster Care, and Social Service Providers (November 1, 2019)
USCCB Chairmen Issue Statement on Supreme Court Cases on Redefinition of "Sex" in Civil Rights Law (October 8, 2019)
USCCB Chairmen Applaud Proposed Regulations Preventing Government Discrimination Against Faith-Based Federal Contractors (August 21, 2019)
U.S. Bishops' Chairman for Catholic Education Welcomes the Release of Male and Female He Created Them (June 11, 2019)
Bishop Chairmen Welcome HHS Aligning Health Care Nondiscrimination Regulations with Federal Law (May 24, 2019)
U.S. Bishops' Chairmen Respond to U.S. House Vote on Equality Act (May 17, 2019)
U.S. Bishops' Chairmen Join Coalition Voicing Religious Freedom Concerns with the Equality Act (H.R. 5)
U.S. Bishops' Chairmen Reaffirm Authentic Human Dignity and Rights in Letter to Congress Opposing Equality Act (March 20, 2019)
USCCB Chairmen Renew Support for Inclusion Act to Protect Freedom of Faith-Based Foster Care and Adoption Providers (February 1, 2019)
USCCB President: Today's Executive Order Begins A Process (May 4, 2017)
USCCB Subcommittee Chairman Strongly Supports Amending U.S. Constitution to Protect Marriage (February 19, 2014)
USCCB Subcommittee Chairman Decries Marriage Redefinition and Misuse of Pope Francis' Words in Illinois (November 20, 2013)
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All of us are ultimately after happiness. Some of us find it in the simple pleasures of life; some of us try to find it in things and people; and some of us never find it at all. When we don't, there is usually no one to blame but us, because like in most things, the answer is within.
Unfortunately, when it comes to religion, happiness is too often rigidly defined as only being available within the conscripts of the appropriate dogma. This leads to trying to find happiness within self-righteousness, and that turns the quest into a lie. My experience with self-righteousness is that it leads to the happiness of an addict, i.e., the quick fix, and never to anything substantial or lasting. Which is why its practitioners must constantly be at the throats of the people around them. They are constantly seeking the adrenalin rush, and they only way they can get it is to try to force their views on others.
That's exactly what's happening on a national scale as we watch two "holy men", neither of whom are acting very loving, push their religious rights into everyone else's face. They both have a perfect right under the US Constitution from both freedom of religion and First Amendment right standpoints to do what they are doing, i.e., one building a mosque close to Ground Zero in New York where it flies in the face of the people still dealing with the loss of loved ones and defeats his message of "good will" and the other burning the Koran to "send a message" of intolerance and self-righteousness. There is no difference in the actions of these two men; they are both choosing to be right rather than happy, and they are dragging a lot of people with them.
In reality, it's hard to see the difference in these attitudes and those of religious terrorists except in scale. All of them are convinced they are right and are willing to fight to preserve that self-righteousness. The terrorists may indeed be more honest in that you know they stand for violence; the others seems to be willing to be passive instigators in the vain hope that any harm they bring they can deny because of their lack of direct involvement. Indeed, one aspect of this situation that is being ignored is that anyone who does act out of violence, even at someone else's behest, is making a choice to do so and is totally responsible for it regardless of the motivation. And, in doing so, they actually prove the allegations being thrown at them and their religion, in the long run doing the exact harm they are protesting.
The whole chain shows only one thing, i.e., that it is a lose-lose proposition for everyone involved.
The devil is as devil does.


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Australia is one of the world's fastest growing markets for methamphetamine. A 2014 Australian Crime Commission report revealed more than 740 clandestine laboratories used to make methamphetamine were detected around the country, 340 of them in Queensland alone. Ice can affect you, your loved ones, your business, or your clients. No ... Read More
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Following the arrest of a 19-year-old Hong Kong gambling boat worker who was part of a drug trafficking syndicate behind the biggest ice haul in WA history, the need for appropriate community awareness and understand of methamphetamine and the dangers it appends to the community. China-born Pak Cheong Cheung has been ... Read More
Methamphetamine consists of a powerful combination of hundreds of chemical substances such as lithium, toluene, iodine, Freon, sulphuric acid, muriatic acid, ether, anhydrous ammonia and pseudoephedrine among others. Poor handling of meth can have catastrophic repercussions. It can easily lead to contamination of property including wallboard, carpets, ceiling tiles, furniture, ... Read More
The Effects of Meth on the Body Crystal Meth is a highly addictive and dangerous man-made stimulate that effects the user mentally and physically. Meth affects almost every part of the users body, including kidneys, lungs, brain, heart, liver, digestive system and teeth. Meth causes a rise is the users body ... Read More
Five men have been charged with drug importation offences after Federal and Victorian authorities seized up to 300 kilos of pure pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient for making methamphetamine. Authorities allege the drug, which is capable of producing meth with a wholesale value of $42 million, was hidden in 160 washing powder boxes, ... Read More
For most prospective home-buyers, building and pest inspections, asbestos inspections and pool safety inspections are the norm. However with the growing ice epidemic that is sweeping the nation, meth testing is now gaining traction. If methamphetamine is has been produced or smoked in a property, chemical residue and chemical by-products seep ... Read More
While it's commonly known the use of methamphetamine, a highly addictive and insidious illegal drug, is a drain on the health care system and a difficult war for health care professionals and law enforcement to win, there is another battle brewing that affects innocent people who inadvertently move into a ... Read More
More commonly known by the street names speed, ice or crystal meth, methamphetamine belong to a group of stimulant drugs called amphetamines. Australia has one of the highest rates of illicit methamphetamine use in the world and the highest use among English-speaking countries. Around 2.5% of Australians over 14 years or ... Read More
The West Australian Government is seeking former ice addicts to be part of an advisory group to assist its efforts to introduce compulsory drug and alcohol treatment. Mental Health Minister Andrea Mitchell said there would be a particular focus on ice addiction. "We're ... Read More
Unlike common street drugs such as marijuana or cocaine which are derived from plant-based substances, methamphetamine is a wholly synthetic drug where the cooking process is not only incredibly dangerous in itself, but also produced dangerous chemicals, biohazard waste and chemical by-products that seep into and cling onto porous items ... Read More


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The celebration began yesterday with a surprise luncheon in my office. I was on my way out the door to meet the hubs for lunch when I was grabbed by a co-worker into our library and everyone sang, "Happy Birthday!" So we're continuing our celebration tonight with our youngest son, David, and his girlfriend, Emma, with dinner cooked by the hubs. No quilting today--but I'm so happy I have family here. Later in the week our oldest son, Jack, will have dinner with us and at some point in the hopefully not too distant future, we'll celebrate our son Ross' birthday--he lives in Memphis so we'll head up the road to continue that part of the celebration.
At the risk of sounding maudlin, the week leading up to my birthday I typically spend a lot of time reflecting on the previous year and the upcoming year--and this birthday is a milestone for me. Today I'm 55--my father died when he was 54, so I can't begin to tell you about the anxiety I have experienced counting down to this day. But as I've said in a previous post, I am going to live my life and dance like no one's watching.
I did get to spend some time in the Bottoms Up! Studio this past Sunday, and I hope to spend the entire weekend in it this coming weekend as a birthday present to myself--there's a lot I want to accomplish this month.
I can drive 55!
Happy quilting,
a primandnotsoproperquilter


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But I do have a huge advantage over the writer who is living paycheck to paycheck, or lonely and isolated, or dealing with a medical condition, or working a full-time job.
How can I be so sure? Because I used to be poor, overworked and overwhelmed. And I produced zero books during that time. Throughout my 20s, I was married to an addict who tried valiantly (but failed, over and over) to stay straight. We had three children, one with autism, and lived in poverty for a long, wretched time. In my 30s I divorced the man because it was the only way out of constant crisis. For the next 10 years, I worked two jobs and raised my three kids alone, without child support or the involvement of their dad.


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Most important games of NFL Week 10
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No game this week has as much on the line in terms of the playoff race than this one. Both teams can see their potential playoff prospects swing fairly dramatically depending on the outcome.
Dallas may hold the sixth seed in the NFC in the "if the season ended today" scenario, but the season doesn't end today, and
according to FPI, the Cowboys face the most difficult remaining schedule of any team in the league. Dallas still has two division games against the Eagles (FPI's top-ranked team), including the home encounter in Week 11, and tough games at Oakland and home to Seattle still to come. When factoring in FPI's projections for the rest of the season, Dallas has a 49 percent chance to
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make the playoffs, seventh best in the NFC. A win would get the Cowboys to a more comfortable 66 percent and a loss would drop them to 32 percent, the biggest difference of the week.
Does the news that the Vikings may activate Teddy Bridgewater and put Sam Bradford on injured reserve really change the Vikings' plans at quarterback if Case Keenum stays healthy?It may seem crazy not to go back to Bridgewater, who was the Vikings' unquestioned starter before an injury sidelined him just prior to the 2016 season, but consider how well Keenum has played.
Keenum ranks fifth in Total QBR so far in 2017, and his 64.4 is higher than Bridgewater's Total QBR in either 2014 or 2015. It isn't a case of being efficient in a small sample, either, as Keenum has added 14.3 points more than the average quarterback given the same playing time, sixth highest in the league. If you were Mike Zimmer, would you hand the keys to the offense back to a guy who hasn't played a competitive game since the end of the 2015 season, or go with the guy who has been one of the five most efficient QBs in the league this year?
Washington, on the other hand, will need a better performance from Kirk Cousins. Cousins did lead the game-winning drive last week against Seattle's strong defense, but prior to that drive Cousins' raw QBR for the game was a 12, and Minnesota has allowed a lower QBR to opposing quarterbacks this year than has Seattle.
There is no team the Patriots have underperformed against more on the road in the FPI era (2008 to present) than the Broncos.
New England has played six games in Denver during that time (including the playoffs) and has won just twice. If we use the Patriots' FPI pregame chance to win, we would have expected the Patriots to win 3.03 of those games -- their difference between expected wins and actual win (-1.03) is the largest of any Patriots opponent while on the road in that span. Sunday will mark the third time the Patriots enter as FPI favorites, and they are 1-1 in the previous
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two games.
Denver is clinging to its playoff hopes despite its 3-5 record. Denver has the ninth-best AFC chance to make the playoffs at 13 percent, but a win would lift the Broncos to 23 percent while a loss would drop them to 7 percent. Denver still has FPI's top-rated defense and will need Von Miller to get to Brady. Only Cameron
Wake has as many sacks against Brady (7.5) as Miller does since Miller entered the league in 2011.
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Trip report E.W.Dijkstra, Mission Viejo, Santa Cruz, Austin, 29 July - 8 September 1979.
On the first half of this trip I was joined by my wife Ria, my daughter Femke, and my son Rutger; for the latter two it was their first visit to the U.S.A., for Ria it was the second visit to the USA, but the first one to California.
On Sunday morning 9.00 the four of us were ready for departure, but the taxi that should take us to the Eindhoven railway station did not show up. After some telephoning we learned that the taxi had gone out to collect —and wake up!— the wrong Dijkstra. The timing of our schedule had been sufficiently pessimistic, and we caught the train we had planned to catch. When we arrived at Schiphol Airport we learned that there had been no reason for hurry or anxiety at all, as the KLM-flight to Chicago would be delayed by at least two hours (awaiting technical clearance). Eventually it became three hours; our schedule could not absorb that, and we missed our connection in Chicago. My main problem was that I did not know how to reach John McClintock, who had promised to collect us at Los Angeles International Airport. I asked KLM to send a message to the gate of United Airlines, where John expected us to arrive. When we did not show up, that message reached him after some ingenuity on his part, and after having waited another three hours at LAX he could finally collect us and drive us to our motel in Laguna Beach. His assistance was greatly appreciated, because I don't think that at that moment I would still have been able to learn how to drive an American car. All its niceties —power brake, power steering, electric windows, and (worst of all!) an automatic gear shift— were explained to me the next morning after a long and untroubled sleep. That Monday was essentially devoted to recovery. On Tuesday the four of us went to Disneyland (not after all sorts of people had assured me that even I would like it): I liked some of the recommended items and admired the technique of controlling large crowds, but it is beyond me how anyone would ever like to go there a second time. On Wednesday my work at Burroughs started.
Because I had not been to that plant for a long time, they had a lot to show to me; these discussions took place in the morning. In the afternoons I addressed three different groups, largely composed of people that had been attracted since my previous visit. One evening we attended a reception given in our honour, the next evening we had a (delightful!) dinner at Erv Hauck's home. It was nice to see how the children could carry on a conversation in English and seemed to feel themselves quite happy.
On Saturday morning the four of us left Laguna Beach in the rented Oldsmobile Royale for our trip up North, a trip that became very nice as soon as we had passed Los Angeles. Only Femke did not enjoy it too much: she was sitting at the sunny side of the car most of the day and fell asleep. We did not hurry and drove that day up to San Luis Obispo, where Burroughs had made a reservation in an excellent motel. We arrived there late in the afternoon; Femke and I each wrote a letter before we went to (a terrible) dinner. On Sunday we went, mostly along the coast, to Santa Cruz: a lovely ride! Apparently most Americans were in a hurry that day, for the road was not crowded at all. As a simple courtesy to the organizers, a main speaker should never arrive late; hence we arrived in the course of the afternoon on the campus of the University of California at Santa Cruz, a campus where I would live —or, at least, try to do so— for the next four weeks. (Week zero: a programming course, weeks one and two: The Summer Spectacular, and week three: a meeting of the IFIP Working Group 2.3 on "Programming Methodology".)
I found the UCSC campus not an inspiring place, and the longer I stayed there, the more depressing it became. The place seemed most successful in hiding all the usual symptoms of a seat of learning. In the four-person apartment we occupied, only one of the four desks had a reading lamp, and the chairs in front of the desks were so low that writing at the desks was not comfortable. Probably it doesn't matter. Can UCSC students write? Do they need to? The notice boards showed ads from typing services "Grammar and spelling corrected.". (One of these ads itself contained a spelling error!) Blackboards were hardly sufficient; there used to be neither bucket not sponge; the acoustics were from bad to terrible; the PA systems in the large lecture hall and in the theatre were inadequate; I did not find a US post office on the —very isolated— campus; all campus maps were incomplete, in mutual disagreement and in disagreement with the campus itself; in the one and only public place where we could meet in the evening —"Idler's Cafe"— conversation was impossible as the result of the summum of vulgarity: a row of noisy pin-ball machines! And —as I am told: even by dormitory standards— the food was terrible. We had to share the food —and what was worse: also the space in which to consume it— with the participants in other "educational" activities —such as a cheer-leaders school and a school of American football— . There were musical instruments on the campus and there seemed to be even a Bösendorfer, kept behind a well-locked door; initially I was annoyed by the fact that access to it was denied to us, but the accessible Yamaha's were in such a terrible shape that within half a month I had developed a certain sympathy for the guy that protected the Bösendorfer against the prevailing misuse.... In short: the place breathed an atmosphere of uncivilization.
Upon arrival we were greeted by Wim Feijen, who had been invited to assist me during the next week, by Netty van Gasteren, who was officially just a student, but gave valuable assistance, by Gary Levin and Fred Schneider from Cornell University, who were to assist David Gries. Originally only David would give a five-day programming course during week zero, but David's course had been so heavily overbooked that Bill McKeeman had asked me whether I could run a parallel session. And so we did. Each evening the five or six of us would meet, collect and compare experiences and make a plan for the next day —a plan from which, invariably, both David and I would depart— . But we kept our classes well enough in phase so that, on the last days, we could combine the troops a number of times in the larger lecture hall.
The audience was of a higher calibre than we had been led to expect on account of David's experience about five years ago, when he gave a similar course. At that time he had a sizeable fraction that knew nothing beyond COBOL. This time it was much better: for each Ph.D., we had two Masters and three Bachelors. We had eight people from various Bell Laboratories, about twelve people with academic affiliations. The reasons for the rise in quality were not clear: its announcement may have been different, the fact that it was presented as a technical introduction to The Summer Spectacular may have attracted a different audience, or the challenge of the programming task may, in general, be taken more seriously. The audience as a whole was, however, still far below the level of what Marktoberdorf has been able to attract: my impression was that 30 to 40 per cent. could only be described as mathematical illiterates, who had never done any formal manipulations in their whole lives. After two days we had to admit that, say, one out of every three was totally unsalvageable, and from then onwards we concentrated on teaching the others. When the week was over, we all decided that it had been very hard work, but that it had been worth the trouble. The audience seemed to be uniformly grateful. The weekend was used for recovery.
Then came the two weeks of The Summer Spectacular, i.e. the International Lecture Series on Programming Methodology, largely to be presented by members of IFIP WG2.3 who, by doing so, could earn their travel expenses. On ten days and nine evenings we gave together 49 performances: the four during the daytime in the large lecture hall, the evening lectures in the still larger performing arts theatre. The 27 lecturers had prepared their talks without any mutual consultation, the result was a kaleidoscopic overview. The set of lectures was as mixed as the audience and the one seemed to suit the other. I thought that more than a third was quite good, and that is not a bad score. I gave one evening lecture and three during the daytime. In the evening lectures we had to address the largest crowds (close to 300, I guess, compared to almost 250 during the day) with the poorer facilities for lecturing: the place was more suitable for "performing arts", and, forced by the circumstances, most of us did just that. (And some of us gave remarkably good shows!)
I missed the first two days of the Summer Spectacular as I went with Ria, Femke and Rutger to Yosemite National Park. We stayed the night in the Silver Top Motel in Fish Camp, a few miles from the Southern entry. In Fish Camp we had an excellent dinner. On the day of our arrival we went to the big Sequoias in Mariposa Grove, and I found them very impressive. My village boasts a tree that is about 380 years old, and whenever I pass it I think it a quite respectable, dear old tree. To face a tree that is undoubtedly alive and of an estimated age of 3800 years is quite a different experience! It is just another example of how big a factor ten is..... On the next three days I listened to Hehner, Backus, Sintzoff, Burstall, Hoare, and Dahl. On Friday morning Ria returned with the children to the Netherlands, Wim Feijen had already left on Thursday.
On Saturday we did almost nothing, on Sunday we took what I can only describe as a misguided tour to Monterey and Carmel. An hour at the Municipal Wharf and one-and-a-half hour on Cannery Row is —in spite of the joined efforts of John Steinbeck and the American tourist industry— just too much, in particular if it implies that later on the Carmel Mission and the 17 Mile Drive with the birds, seals, sea-lions and sea-otters have to be done in a hurry. For Netty van Gasteren and me it was a definite consolation to find in Carmel a good restaurant.
The next Monday I was absent again, as John Backus had invited me to give a lecture at San Jose, early in the morning. The period immediately after breakfast is never my most communicative one and Cadiou asked me all sorts of manager's questions. I did my best and enjoyed the scenery: it was very nice not to have to drive that stretch myself. In the morning Steve Zilles showed me what he was doing: a computer-driven colour TV-screen used to display the kind of diagrams I always skip when I encounter them in a book. This time politeness forced me to look at them —though the combination of bright colours and flickering made it almost a bit painful— . Needless to say I found my prejudices against pictures fully confirmed. After lunch I gave a talk; the facilities, I am happy to say, were adequate. After my lecture Gray explained to me a few of his "distributed processing paradigms", and that was illuminating. It seemed also very sensible: in this (still early!) stage of the game concentration on a few well-chosen (or should I say: carefully designated?) paradigms is almost the best thing one can do. Five people from IBM, San Jose, joined me for dinner in a very special Chinese restaurant that John Backus had selected: I enjoyed the food somewhat more than the company, but the food was very hard to compete with. Thereafter John saw me back to UCSC. A tiring day, but not uninteresting.
On the next four days I listened to Mealy, Turski, Reynolds, and Jackson, and gave my own four lectures (two of which had still to be prepared: material originally intended for The Summer Spectacular had been used during week zero). My lectures went this time very smoothly. (As a matter of fact, at several occasions I was impressed myself!) And for the circumstances —which I regret— that it was sometimes hard to read what I had written or to hear what I had said, I refuse to accept the blame. Views expressed in my last lecture —the closing lecture of The Summer Spectacular, delivered under the motto "Beauty is Our Business"— as to what should constitute the core of computing science would evoke violent opposition the next week, primarily from Jim Horning.
The meeting of WG2.3 left me with feelings more mixed than ever: some of the glue that used to keep that group of individuals together seemed to have dissolved.
One of the main components of the glue —at least: in my limited observation— used to be the shared recognition that, evidently, we did not know how to think, speak, or argue adequately about the problems we had to think, speak, or argue about. The next stage —again in my limited observation— was the shared recognition that (not surprisingly) only the most effective application of the mathematical method —in Morris Kline's sense: "More than anything else mathematics is a method."— could be hoped to solve the problems adequately. The charter was clear: searching for the relevant abstractions and separation of concerns that are specific to programming, and learning how to avoid in general the explosion of formulae when dealing with stuff more complicated than mathematicians had ever formally dealt with before. I found this charter sufficiently challenging to devote my scientific life to it; at the same time this charter was sufficiently unpopular "in the real-world" —the hyphen is not my invention!— to justify the protection of an IFIP Working Group (for what it is worth). I was forced to admit that the glue is no longer what it used to be.
1) A sizeable fraction of the membership —both old and new— had failed to catch up with what has been achieved over the last ten years. Over and over again people tried to "understand" the topics in ways that have already been identified as inadequate at least eight years ago. I should add that many a speaker invited this misunderstanding by thinking himself —and hence presenting his material— in ways of well-identified inadequacy. (The mistakes of trying to "understand" a program in terms of the class of the corresponding computational histories, and of trying to "understand" programming languages in terms of a specific implementation were the most common ones. They caused endless confusion, which were depressing to witness.)
2) Some lecturers did not succeed in attaining the effectiveness required of their mathematizations. There is nothing wrong with that: WG2.3 should be the audience par excellence to offer suggestions for improvement. Sometimes, however, those suggestions were not made, sometimes they were not invited, and for a working group concerned with methodology, both seem wrong.
3) Then there are those members that I tempted to regard more or less as victims of the Educationists with their concern for The Whole Child and their disdain for competence. They cannot content themselves with what science may have to offer to programming methodology and consider the charter as I understood it as too narrow. As a result fruitless discussions on the verge of sociology and/or philosophy were unavoidable.
In retrospect —i.e. after two weeks— my overwhelming memory from this WG2.3 meeting is the very lousy impression I got from Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center). Rumor est —and I have no reason to doubt the rumour's truth— that our chairman Jim Horning has drawn our member W.Teitelman's attention to the fact that he had not attended the previous three meetings and had reminded him of the rule that such lack of interest could terminate his membership. Nothing wrong so far, Teitelman was, indeed, not very interested in attending the meeting, but then their common boss at Xerox PARC, a certain Bob Taylor, exerted pressure on Teitelman on the grounds that it was good for Xerox PARC's status to have a few employees on WG2.3! So far the rumour. And Teitelman attended! At least, he did so in a minimal way: he was present on Monday and wasted our Wednesday morning with a terrible video-show.
On two television screens they played a video-tape showing Teitelman himself at his terminal, playing with "Interlisp" —something I wouldn't dare to show: last year's reference manual for Interlisp is already something like a two-inch thick telephone directory!— . (The show was —of course!— in colour, but its technical quality was abominable: colours shifted all the time, and often the screens showed as much disturbance as interpretable picture. The equipment used, I am happy to say, was not a Philips product. Without having attended such a session it is hard to believe what junk such a gadget-ridden subculture is willing to put up with. So much for the influence of a tool on those that try to use it!) The show itself I can only describe as insipid, and I was relieved when Teitelman showed the last remains of good sense when, with the words "This is too painful." he switched the equipment off before the show was over. This show and a discussion later during the week gave me the strong impression that at Xerox PARC research in computing science is primarily viewed as gadget development, rather than as gaining insight. (Wlad Turski gave a terse comment: "But what do you expect? Truth is not an industrial product.") In view of the fact that Xerox PARC is one of the U.S.A.'s more prestigious "research" establishments —so prestigious, as a matter of fact, that M.I.T. prides itself on mimicking it— this is a rather discouraging observation.
On Saturday morning at 8.15 Bill McKeeman came with his car to take me to the airport of San Jose. Via Los Angeles and El Paso I flew to Austin, Texas, where I arrived at sunset. Dr.Hamilton Richards, who had been so kind to offer me the hospitality of his home, was at the airport, where we rented a small Toyota that would serve me the rest of the week. On Sunday and Monday —Labour Day— the two of us went to the Burroughs Lab., where I met a Dutch student (from Twente) who, as part of his training, had worked there for ten weeks. Both he and the people at Burroughs seemed to be very pleased about the way in which that had worked out. On Tuesday morning and on Wednesday morning I lectured for the people that had been attracted since my last visit there. (My audience reconfirmed my earlier impression that Rice University is a pretty isolated place.) On Tuesday afternoon I had a discussion on a problem about we had had some correspondence since my previous visit; after that discussion I went home and had a little nap. (I am afraid that my body had not been built for the climate of Texas in early September: the days were exhausting and the nights not restoring.) Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning I spent in company of Dr.R.R.Johnson, on Thursday afternoon I visited The University of Texas at Austin where I gave my last lecture of that trip. (I did so in a large auditorium, but this time the PA system was excellent.) The next morning, at 7.15, I was on my way home. Despite all the hospitality bestowed upon me, I did not regret my departure from Austin. (On the first evening Joanne Richards, Hamilton's wife, discovered a scorpion in their little son's bed. Presumably one can get used to such encounters, but I hardly managed to do so in five days and six nights.)
I had a long layover at JFK, most of which I spent reading and writing. I had been booked on KL644, leaving JFK at 22.10 and tried whether I could get a seat on KL642 that would leave New York three hours earlier. At the expense of an additional $100.— this was possible, but I thought it crazy to reduce a six-week trip by three hours at the additional expense of $100.— and declined the offer. On board of the KL644 it became known that the KL642 had had to return to New York on account of trouble with one of the engines! Had I been lucky! We landed at Schiphol on Saturday morning 11.00, where my wife was at the airport with the car. At 13.15 we were home. During the next week I felt that I had been away for six weeks: my problems with the time shift were unusually severe.


text:
Format: Softcover book
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Country: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Publish date: 4 August 2003
Product dimensions: 198 × 12 mm
Language: English
Has pop burnt itself out? Inspired by the video for Kylie Minogue's hit single 'Can't Get You Out of My Head', acclaimed rock journalist Paul Morley is driving with Kylie towards a virtual city built of sound and ideas in search of the answer. Their journey bridges the various paradoxes of twentieth-century culture, as they encounter a succession of celebrities and geniuses —
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The Anti Furry Movement is a discord server aimed on destroying the furry fandom at all costs. We have special ranks for certain types of people, as well as marine divisions, tank divisions and air divisions. We are welcoming any anti furries to join and fight for our great cause.
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|Patient-Centric Technology: Innovation for Health
|Mr. Hani Eskandar
ICT Applications Coordinator, ICT Applications and Cybersecurity Division, Telecommunication Development Bureau of ITU, Switzerland
|SPEAKERS (tentative):
|Dr. Oliver Harrison
Senior Vice President, Healthways International; Consultant to WHO on mHealth for tackling Non-Communicable Diseases, Switzerland
|Mr. Andrés Martin
Head of Digital Strategic Planning, BUPA
|Mr. Sameer Pujari
mHEALTH secretariat for WHO and ITU joint program on mHealth for Non-Communicable Diseases, WHO, Switzerland
|Mr. Simão Ferraz de Campos Neto
Counsellor for ITU-T Study Group 16, Secretariat of the ITU Standardization Sector, Switzerland
|With the fast pace of technology development and the demand of improved service accessibility and quality, disruptive innovation has been having the perfect environment and opportunity to show its potential. Within healthcare, this mainly took form as the now very well-known field of personalized medicine, which allowed information and services to be more accessible to patients, healthcare professionals as well as the overall public and private sectors. Due to higher interaction between stakeholders, health services accessibility and quality will improve and to meet everyone's expectations and needs. These technology advances allowed patient's empowerment as well as the emergence of new services and trends. Special focus has been put on wearable technologies, which with time have been widening its use and purpose besides decreasing in size. Such technologies enabled the self-management of patients with chronic diseases, the improvement of quality of life of elderly and the promotion of healthier behaviors concerning physical activity and nutrition. Smart watches or bracelets track now users' activities, wireless sensors correct a person's posture, ingestible sensors are used for drugs' compliance, biosensing clothing monitor heart rate and activity among many others. Innovation within healthcare has therefore been focused more and more on each person's unique conditions and needs.The objective of the session is to facilitate a dialog between all stakeholders involved, namely government regarding policy-making and standardization requirements, private sector regarding future technology advances and trends, healthcare providers regarding new opportunities and international organizations regarding required global actions to unlock possible bottlenecks and to address challenges that will accelerate large scale uptake of these new technologies for improved health outcomes.
Mr. Hani Eskandar is the ICT Applications Coordinator at the ICT Applications and Cybersecurity Division of the Telecommunication Development Bureau of ITU. Mr. Eskandar is currently involved in providing assistance to several developing countries by advising on eApplications strategies and policies, assisting in implementing technical co-operation projects and developing guidelines and best-practices on eApplications.
Previously, Mr. Eskandar had extensive experience in the field of ICT for Development where he, through his work with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent in Switzerland and, UNDP and other NGOs in Egypt, was involved in several development projects in the fields of Health, Education, Illiteracy Eradication, Community Development, SME development and Micro Credits. This included, among others, introducing Telemedicine services in rural areas, introducing ICT in Schools, creating Community Development Portals, Community Learning Centres, developing e-Learning and training programs for Youth.
Mr. Eskandar has an educational background in Electrical Engineering (Telecommunications) and has completed an MBA from McGill University, Canada and a Master Degree in Social and Economic Development Studies from University of Paris I, France.
Dr. Oliver Harrison is a Senior Vice President with Healthways International, a global health and wellbeing company specializing in population health management based on more than 30 years of experience. He is also a Consultant to the WHO for their joint initiative on mHealth for tackling Non-Communicable Diseases, and Co-Founder of Platform Health (www.platform-health.org), a non-profit Standards Development Organisation and ITU Sector Member. Platform was created to help close the remaining gaps to enable secure "plug and play" health data system interoperability, including mobile.
Until 2013, as Director of Strategy at the Health Authority – Abu Dhabi, Dr. Harrison helped drive a comprehensive health system reform. Progress was driven and tracked using data from pioneering IT systems designed/implemented by the Health Authority team (www.shafafiya.org); these systems have become the blueprint for several additional countries (http://bit.ly/1hQRSMA). Dr. Harrison established the Abu Dhabi Public Health Department, which used these data systems as the foundation to design and implement "Weqaya" – an award-winning population health management programme targeting diabetes, hypertension, and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease (www.weqaya.ae).
Before Abu Dhabi, Dr. Harrison spent five years with McKinsey working worldwide with the healthcare practice. He is a UK physician with US National Board Certification in Public Health, and Masters' degrees in Public Health from Johns Hopkins and Neuroscience from Cambridge University, a Non-Executive Director of Guy's and St. Thomas's NHS Trust, and a member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Behaviour and Cognitive Science.
Andrés Martin Diana was born in Seville, Spain, has academic background in Media and holds a MBA by the IE Business School (Madrid). He has been working in the digital arena since 1997, when he co-founded and managed a pioneering online content start-up. Passionate about healthcare disruption by innovative online services and technologies, he led the digital marketing, sales and services for Sanitas, a leading healthcare company in Spain, until 2008. After that, he was responsible for Bupa's global digital strategy until 2013. He now leads the partnership between Bupa and the WHO and ITU for mHealth, supporting the initiative Be Healthy Be Mobile to tackle non communicable diseases globally. He has been invited as speaker in several international conferences on strategy, digital transformation and eHealth/mHealth
Currently with WHO, Sameer Pujari is part of the mHEALTH secretariat for the flagship WHO and ITU joint program on mHealth for Non-Communicable Diseases; Be He@lthy Be Mobile. With WHO, he has also provided technical advise and support to over 30 countries in the development of surveillance and management information systems. He is also a core member of the Health Data Forum at WHO and the co-chair of the WHO mHEALTH working group. Before coming to WHO, Sameer worked with the US Governments health agency helping various countries build informatics systems for immunization and vaccination programs in Asia Europe and Africa. He started his career working with WHO's National Polio Surveillance Project in India for 7 years, where he led the development and implementation of various information management systems for surveillance across the country.
Mr. Simão Ferraz de Campos Neto
Simão Ferraz de Campos Neto joined the secretariat of the ITU Standardization Sector in 2002, and is the Counsellor for ITU-T Study Group 16 (for standardization work on multimedia services, protocols, systems, terminals and media coding, including accessibility, IoT, IPTV and Digital Signage). He organized several workshops (e.g. Multimedia in NGN, Telecoms for Disaster Relief, RFID, E-health standards; SIIT2005) and was the editor of the first version of the ITU-T Security Manual.
Prior to joining ITU in 2002, Mr Campos worked for 8 years as a scientist in COMSAT Laboratories performing standards representation and quality assessment for digital voice coding systems, and before that he was a researcher at Telebras's R&D Center (CPqD).
A Senior Member of the IEEE, Mr Campos authored several academic papers and position papers, served in the review committee of several IEEE-sponsored conferences, and organized the first ITU Kaleidoscope Conference.