Conmergence

Key content is news from, about, or of interest to National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) in Africa. We request and invite you to submit an item before the 20th of each month capturing:

• News and developments from your NREN and news items of interest to NRENs
• Content networks: how researchers and academics are using the REN infrastructure to enhance effectiveness and efficiency their work and to promote national and international collaboration
• Hot tips about something you have done successfully (organisational or technical)
• A photo that tells a story
• Looking into the future, especially with regards to fibre infrastructure

Submissions should be sent to info@ubuntunet.net

You might want to do some research here http://www.internet2.edu/presentations/jt2012winter/

Applications for Nine Regional Accelerators Accepted Through Sept. 30th

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty today announced that the department is accepting applications for a competitive grant to support nine regional business accelerators across the state. Interested parties are encouraged to file a letter of intent with the department by Sept. 6th at 5 p.m. CST; applications are due Sept. 30th at 5 p.m., CST.

“We are excited to launch our competitive grant process for the Jobs4TN Regional Entrepreneurial Accelerators and see this as the next step in spurring innovation across the state,” Hagerty said. “Our department has just completed a very successful RFI process in preparation for the program and is ready to move forward in establishing an accelerator in each of the nine economic development regions to create a more robust entrepreneurial system in the state.”

The grants will award $250,000 to a regional entrepreneurial accelerator in each economic development region. An information session on the grant opportunity will be held Thursday, Sept. 1st at the Tennessee Tower in Nashville. To RSVP for the session, please send your name, organization and the names of those attending to ECD.Innovation@tn.gov. More information on the session will be sent to you at that time.

The Jobs4TN Regional Entrepreneurial Accelerators were announced in June as a part of Governor Bill Haslam’s INCITE plan The INCITE initiative is designed to drive innovation across the state. Tennessee has partnered with Startup America to form Startup Tennessee, which will form a network of the business accelerators across the state and provide mentoring to entrepreneurs.

Applications and additional information is available online now at www.tn.gov/ecd.

All questions should be directed to ECD.Innovation@tn.gov.

About the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development’s mission is to develop strategies which help make Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs. The department seeks to attract new corporate investment in Tennessee and works with Tennessee companies to facilitate expansion and economic growth. To find out more, go to www.tn.gov/ecd.
###

August 24, 2011
Contact: Valerie Somerville, ECD
Office: (615) 532-1925
E-mail: Valerie.Somerville@tn.gov

XSEDE project brings advanced cyberinfrastructure, digital services, and expertise to nation’s scientists and engineers

A partnership of 17 institutions today announced the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE). XSEDE will be the most advanced, powerful, and robust collection of integrated advanced digital resources and services in the world.

Scientists and engineers use these resources and services—things like supercomputers, collections of data, and new tools—to propel scientific discovery and improve our lives. They are a crucial part of research in fields like earthquake engineering, materials science, medicine, epidemiology, genomics, astronomy, and biology.

“Enabling scientific discovery though enhanced researcher productivity is our goal, and XSEDE’s ultimate reason for being,” explained Barry Schneider, a program director in the Office of Cyberinfrastructure at the National Science Foundation. NSF will fund the XSEDE project for five years, at $121 million.

“For this sort of cyberscience to be truly effective and provide unique insights, it requires a cyberinfrastructure of local computing hardware at sites around the country, advanced supercomputers at larger centers, generally available software packages, and fast networks. Ideally, they should all work together so the researcher can move from local to national resources transparently and easily.”

XSEDE, and the experts who lead the program, will make that ideal a reality.

XSEDE will replace and expand the TeraGrid project that started more than a decade ago. More than 10,000 scientists used the TeraGrid to complete thousands of research projects, at no cost to the scientists.

That same sort of work—only in more detail, generating more new knowledge and improving our world in an even broader range of fields—will continue with XSEDE.

“The TeraGrid really helped invent the concept of having digital resources like supercomputers, tools, and expertise spread across the country and allowing researchers to easily use them,” said John Towns of the University of Illinois’s National Center for Supercomputing Applications. Towns will lead the XSEDE project and also had a variety of roles in the TeraGrid project.

“This is much more than just the same old resources that TeraGrid offered,” Towns said. “XSEDE will take the next step by lowering technological barriers to access and use. We are creating a distributed cyberinfrastructure in which researchers can establish private, secure environments that have all the resources, services, and collaboration support they need to be productive.”

The XSEDE User Access Layer, for example, will provide a comprehensive view of the resources available—not just those at XSEDE partner sites, but any resources. It will integrate things like authentication and job monitoring, providing a comprehensive view and single contact point for all the cyberinfrastructure that researchers need to achieve their science and education goals.

XSEDE will provide an array of services to ensure that researchers can make the most of the supercomputers and tools. This will include outreach to new communities that haven’t traditionally used cyberinfrastructure and other digital services. It will also include advanced support for very large, complicated, or novel uses of XSEDE resources.

Initially, XSEDE will support 16 supercomputers across the country. It also includes other specialized digital resources and services to complement these computers. These resources will be expanded throughout the lifetime of the project.

The XSEDE partnership includes: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Carnegie Mellon University/University of Pittsburgh, University of Texas at Austin, University of Tennessee Knoxville, University of Virginia, Shodor Education Foundation, Southeastern Universities Research Association, University of Chicago, University of California San Diego, Indiana University, Jülich Supercomputing Centre, Purdue University, Cornell University, Ohio State University, University of California Berkeley, Rice University, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. It is led by the University of Illinois’s National Center for Supercomputing Applications.

See also How XSEDE will facilitate collaborative science

Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development INCITE Initiative

BACKGROUND

Governor Bill Haslam announced the Jobs4TN plan in April 2011 to accomplish his goal of making Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs.  As the state’s primary economic development agency, the Department of Economic and Community Development (ECD) has been charged by the Governor with overseeing the successful implementation of the plan.  Jobs4TN is a comprehensive plan built around four strategies, one of which is investing in innovation. The Department’s primary innovation effort is the INCITE Initiative, which stands for INnovation, Commercialization, Investment, Technology and Entrepreneurship.  INCITE’s goal is to elevate Tennessee’s profile in innovation-based economic development and drive economic growth via the creation of knowledge-based jobs.  As part of INCITE, the Department will be overseeing a competitive grant process to provide funding to an entrepreneurial business accelerator in each of the state’s nine “Jobs Base Camp” regions, as defined in the Jobs4TN plan.  The goal of the business accelerators is to nurture and support entrepreneurs as they develop business plans and launch companies that have the potential to create a large number of high-wage jobs.  Prior to issuing this grant application, the Department is issuing this request for information (RFI) to gather information that will inform the grant process.

INFORMATION REQUESTED

The Department of Economic and Community Development requests information on the following questions:

1. How should the success of a business accelerator be measured after one, two, and three years?

2. What are best practices in recruiting, training, and supporting entrepreneurs as they go through a business accelerator program?

3. What partnerships should a successful business accelerator form (e.g., with businesses, investors, governments, educational institutions)?

4. How should a business accelerator be governed?

5. Over what time period and using what strategies should a business accelerator be expected to become financially self-sustaining?

6. How, if at all, do successful business accelerators in rural areas differ from successful business accelerators in urban areas?

7. How should the grant applications for the regional business accelerators be scored?  What individuals should be part of the scoring process?

8. Please provide any additional advice you have that might inform the State’s competitive grant process for regional business accelerators.
DATES

Responses must be received on or before July 15, 2011.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Responses must be submitted in written format via mail or email to:

Ryan Gooch, Innovation Director

Tennessee Tower, 11th Floor

312 Rosa L. Parks Avenue Nashville, TN 37243

ryan.gooch@TN.gov

Office: (615) 741-1294

Twitter: @investtennessee
DISCLAIMER:

Responses to this RFI are not considered to be offers and cannot be accepted by the State of Tennessee to form a binding contract or issue a grant.  Information obtained as a result of this RFI may be used by the State toward program planning on a non-attribution basis.  Do not include any information that may be considered proprietary or confidential

Press Release with graphics here.

Africa-Europe research collaboration to be transformed by EC-funded research infrastructure Boost for African research as European Commission injects €14.75M into regional research and education connectivity

Gaborone, Botswana, and Cambridge, UK, 11 May 2011: DANTE, the international research network operator, and the European Commission’s EuropeAid Cooperation Office today announce the signature of a €14.75M contract for support to a sub-Saharan African intra-regional research networking infrastructure which is already interconnected to the pan-European research network, GÉANT. Eighty percent of the project’s funding will come from the European Commission’s EuropeAid Co-operation Office, and the remainder will be contributed by the African partners in the project.

The contract represents a significant injection of capital to develop research networking infrastructure across sub-Saharan Africa and with Europe. The initiative will dramatically accelerate the development of the Information Society in Africa, providing advanced data communications infrastructure and enabling African researchers to collaborate more easily in advanced international research projects. Within the framework of the Africa Caribbean Pacific Islands (ACP) programme, the AfricaConnect project will establish a high-capacity Internet network for research and education in Southern and Eastern Africa to provide the region with a gateway to global research collaboration, the objective of which is to overcome the current limitations of international research collaboration within sub-Saharan Africa and towards Europe, and to foster research and education collaboration and advancement within and between these regions. The project will be strongly collaborative, so whilst DANTE will coordinate AfricaConnect, they will be partnered by DANTE’s regional counterpart organisations in Africa – UbuntuNet Alliance covering Eastern and Southern Africa, and West and Central African Research and Education Network (WACREN) covering Western and Central Africa – as well as the Association of African Universities; existing National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) in Africa (DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia); and several European NRENs (Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and the UK). All will work to ensure that the project benefits all of sub-Saharan Africa.

“We are delighted to see this project underway,” said Cathrin Stöver, DANTE’s International Relations Manager. “DANTE has a strong history of supporting regional connectivity including actions in South America and Asia, and we will build on this experience to support African research and education networks as together they transform the research environment in Africa. DANTE always puts the emphasis on partnership in this kind of activity, and we are therefore excited to be working with such a strong group of partners on a project of this importance.”

Eng. Dr Francis Tusubira, CEO of the UbuntuNet Alliance agrees: “For the Alliance, this support is invaluable, since our challenges run from the macro-challenge of establishing regional connectivity in a geographical area that could contain the whole of Europe several times over, to the comparative micro-challenge of ensuring that each NREN has the human capacity to set up and operate their national network. Achievement of the impossible is our mantra, and we appreciate the support of the European Commission in this respect – their funding makes the achievement of the impossible a whole lot easier!”

DANTE will soon announce an international tender for the connectivity and equipment required for the AfricaConnect project. The infrastructure is expected to be operational by early 2012.

The AfricaConnect project is expected to last for four years, after which time the African Project Partners of AfricaConnect will ensure the sustainability of the intra-regional African research network and its direct connection to GÉANT.

About DANTE

DANTE is a non-profit organisation, coordinator of large-scale projects co-funded by the European Commission, and working in partnership with European National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) to plan, build and operate advanced networks for research and education. Established in 1993, DANTE has been fundamental to the success of pan-European research and education networking. DANTE has built and operates GÉANT, which provides the data communications infrastructure essential to the success of many research projects in Europe. DANTE is involved in worldwide initiatives to interconnect countries in the other regions to one another and to GÉANT. DANTE currently manages projects focussed on the Mediterranean, Asia-Pacific and central Asia regions through the EUMEDCONNECT, TEIN and CAREN projects respectively. For more information, visit www.dante.net.

About the UbuntuNet Alliance

UbuntuNet Alliance is, at both the conceptual and implementation levels, a commitment and movement by member NRENs to unlocking Africa’s intellectual potential by ensuring that African Researchers and Educators achieve equity with the rest of the world in terms of ease and cost of access to the global information Infrastructure as well as opportunities for research collaboration . The UbuntuNet Alliance was established in 2005 and registered in 2006 as a not-for-profit regional association of NRENs in Eastern and Southern Africa and currently has 13 members.

In January 2009, UbuntuNet Alliance established a 1Gb/s IP interconnection with the GEANT network in London. This connection has recently been upgraded as fibre has become available, prices drop and demands from NRENs increase, The upgrade includes a 10Gb/s IP connection to GEANT and a new 10-Gbps link for dedicated point-to-point connectivity, making Sub-Saharan Africa the first world region outside North America to gain dedicated circuit capacity with Europe. Therefore, the AfricaConnect project builds on a proven relationship between Europe and sub Sahara Africa.

NUANCE mailing list

NUANCE@lists.ubuntunet.net

http://lists.ubuntunet.net/listinfo/nuance

From: UbuntuNet Alliance <info@ubuntunet.net>

Date: Wed, 11 May 2011 12:19:35 +0200

To: <nuance@lists.ubuntunet.net>

1) A City Sponsored BOINC Distributed Computing Effort

Zivis is the first “city-wide supercomputer”. The project is run by the Zaragoza City Council, and the Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex System (BIFI) at the University of Zaragoza. The objective is to harness local (and non-local) computing resources for local research; and at the same time to involve the community in the science being done locally. The initial research being done on Zivis is on the subject of fusion plasma (“Integration of Stochastic Differential Equations in Plasmas”) — improved understanding of this could lead to better designs for fusion power stations. (Fusion power is a form of nuclear energy that produces a lower volume of less dangerous waste than traditional nuclear fission power.)

Start Date: October 2005
Users: 2,359
Project URL: http://zivis.bifi.unizar.es

2) Intel introduces distributed computing to Facebook

Intel has set up a Facebook page designed to induce casual users to sign up for a distributed computing project that runs on the BOINC client system. Now Facebook users can crunch away on any of three DC projects… – Ars Technica

3) HIMSS crowdsources with Clinical Decision Support Wiki

Hello! The HIMSS Clinical Decision Support (CDS) Task Force helps guide and execute HIMSS efforts to ensure that CDS delivers on its promise to improve care delivery and outcomes.

What’s a Wiki? A wiki is an easy-to-use Web site that makes it easy to collaborate. You can use it to run a project at work, plan a trip, teach a class, etc.

Why a Wiki? The wiki provides a forum where stakeholders can come together to help develop, use, and discuss Task Force deliverables. The links below provide access to pages where this conversation and work is unfolding. Please browse this home page and links, and join us on this important performance improvement journey.

The NTIA has awarded $62.5+ million in stimulus funding to Internet2, NLR, Indiana University, the Northern Tier Network Consortium. Together with their vendor partners Ciena, Cisco, Infinera and Juniper Networks, the collaborators propose the construction of the United States Unified Community Anchor Network (U.S. UCAN), an advanced network that will link regional networks across the nation, including other projects funded through ARRA. U.S. UCAN’s advanced infrastructure will—in partnership with regional and state research and education networks—connect America’s community anchor institutions. For more info, http://www.usucan.org.

Funded by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, the United States Unified Community Anchor Network (U.S. UCAN) will be a nationwide, coast-to-coast advanced network infrastructure that, together with state and regional network partners, will enable the connection of America’s community anchor institutions—schools, libraries, community colleges, health centers and public safety organizations—to support advanced applications not possible with today’s typical Internet service. U.S. UCAN fills a critical gap linking community anchor institutions together into a national, open network with next-generation capabilities, operated with end-to-end transparency and the highest levels of performance uniquely suited to the needs of these communities.

U.S.UCAN will provide a network environment capable of supporting life-changing applications such as telemedicine and distance learning for all community anchor institutions, including those in areas previously considered too remote or economically depressed to support advanced network services. Led by the same advanced networking community that has already connected 66,000 community anchors through partnerships across public and private sectors, U.S.UCAN will prepare Americans—now and in the future—to compete successfully in an increasingly competitive global economy.

The network will offer its services to community anchors nationwide through a new not-for-profit organization (also called U.S. UCAN), which will be directed and governed by a partnership of the research and education networking community and representatives of community anchor institutions.

Contacts

General inquiries – info@usucan.org
Media inquiries – media@usucan.org, (734) 352-7037

GLORIAD is built on a fiber-optic ring of networks around the northern hemisphere of the earth, providing scientists, educators and students with advanced networking tools that improve communications and data exchange, enabling active, daily collaboration on common problems. With GLORIAD, the scientific community can move unprecedented volumes of valuable data effortlessly, stream video and communicate through quality audio- and video-conferencing.

GLORIAD exists today due to the shared commitment of the US, Russia, China, Korea, Canada, the Netherlands and the five Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, to promote increased engagement and cooperation between their countries, beginning with their scientists, educators and young people. The benefits of this advanced network are shared with Science & Education (S&E) communities throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas.

GLORIAD provides more than a network; it provides a stable, persistent, non-threatening means of facilitating dialog and increased cooperation between nations that often have been at odds through the past century. This new era of cooperation will provide benefits not only to the S&E communities but to every citizen in the partner countries through:

These are a small sample of the literally thousands of active collaborations served by both the general and advanced network services provided by GLORIAD. To learn more about the applications using GLORIAD, browse the following pages. This site describes the currently operating GLORIAD network and plans to expand this to a much higher capacity and more capable infrastructure in the years ahead.

http://broadband.ideascale.com/a/rpxAuthentication.do

Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson and their team at GoROWE.com have made it their mission to promote “results-only work environments”. They have a Linkedin GoROWE Group http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2715125 and a blog at their web page. I think it is asinine that as we build out global broadband, cloud computing and distributed computing like World Community Grid, Grid Republic and BOINC, that management refuses to adopt/provide tools which would allow folks (many with disabilities — 70% unemployed) to work from anywhere the work can be done. Sure, there are security and IP issues, but there are rural economic development and green issues, not to mention digital accessibility issues that CANNOT be solved until the mental culture/worldview of C-Suites and their subordinates promote the available technologies. So share holders, proxy holders, institutional investors–let’s start asking about these issues during the next quarterly conference call.

The Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Council has issued a Call for Papers for its 9th annual conference to be held from September 12 – 16, 2010 in Las Vegas, NV.  The 2010 FTTH Conference & Expo is the only gathering of its kind dedicated to the advancement and deployment of FTTH technologies and benefits. This year’s theme, FTTH: All Fiber, All the Way!, will bring leaders, visionaries and decision makers to the Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino to share success stories and lessons learned about the business elements needed to generate revenue with FTTH.

With considerable investments in fiber to the home deployment, the pressure is on for operators to add subscribers and to generate revenue from the subscribers they serve. The stakes are high and so are the expectations. The 2010 program will offer attendees an overview of best business practices for advancing of high speed broadband over fiber optic networks.

The FTTH Council is seeking papers in the following target areas:
Conference Tracks

1.    Why Fiber all the Way – explain the advantages of the all fiber network – for greater revenue services, lower cost of ownership, and economic development. Experience-based service provider submissions will be given first consideration.

2.    Success Stories: Share your experiences as a provider of FTTH services to help others build successful FTTH based businesses. Explain the benefits realized from linking your customers and community to FTTH, to better quality of life and prosperity.  Experience-based service provider submissions will be given first consideration.

3.    New Technology: Educate prospective and practicing network builders on new technologies that enable profitable FTTH services. Target topics include new FTTH standards such as 10 Gigabit PONs, MDU technologies, in-home connectivity, video and IP video, green benefits, and comparisons of FTTH to other broadband technologies. Special consideration will be given to system-level papers that help decision-makers improve the business case for FTTH.

4.    Advanced Network Design, Construction and Management: Explain innovations in efficient network design, construction, installation and testing. Describe new options for efficient management of the network and subscribers. Target topics include network design cost modeling, construction techniques and equipment, testing and tools for managing subscribers.

5.    Finance and Regulatory:  Elucidate the new funding and financing options available, and teach how to access capital.   Explain how to navigate though the application process to reach government loans and grants. Provide insights on the National Broadband Plan.

6.   Fiber 101:  Provide a firm foundation in the fundamentals of FTTH – in the areas of greatest concern to FTTH deployers – content acquisition, technology, installation techniques, network design, or any topic you feel is relevant to FTTH neophytes.

7.  Latin America (Portuguese and/or Spanish only):  Latin America (Portuguese and/or Spanish only) – provide insights to Latin American providers on the opportunities, challenges, and lessons learned in deploying FTTH to help our Southern neighbors launch FTTH successfully to millions of homes in the region.

Abstract Guidelines

Abstracts should be a maximum of 500 words, without pictures, and must be commercial free. The abstract should describe the primary conclusion or results of the paper including pertinent details of the work indicating the significant findings. Learner outcomes must be included. Papers must contain significant new material not presented or published previously.  Papers may range from introductory to advanced, but bear in mind that your audience may be just getting started in this field. As such, “FTTH 101″ papers will also be considered within each category.*

Returning by popular demand for our 2010 Program…we will be offering a track sessions in Spanish or Portuguese supported by the FTTH Council Latin American Chapter.  As a perspective speaker, you may wish to indicate that you wish to repeat your presentation in Spanish or Portuguese during the online submission process.

For complete information on deadlines and submission guidelines go through the newsletter signup/update process ( click here ) and select “Add Me To: 2010 Call for Papers Submission Announcement.”

FTTH 101 Papers do not need to meet the new or unpublished requirement.

About the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council

The Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council is a non-profit association consisting of companies and organizations that deliver video, Internet and/or voice services over high-bandwidth, next-generation, direct fiber optic connections – as well as those involved in planning and building FTTH networks.  The Council works to create a cohesive group to share knowledge and build industry consensus on key issues surrounding fiber to the home. Communities and organizations interested in exploring FTTH options may find information on the FTTH Council web site at www.ftthcouncil.org.

About Legend Conference Planning

Legend Conference Planning is the official project management and event planning firm for the 2010 FTTH Conference & Expo and the FTTH Council Secretariat. For further information, email at info@legendconferences.com.

Contact:
Speaker Liaison
Legend Conference Planning
Tel: 613-226-9988 x4
Email: speakerliaison@legendconferences.com

CTSG (Brentwood)
Matt LeBlanc, 477-5651
Every Monday; networking from 6:30-7:00pm; meeting from 7:00-8:30pm; BUMC, 309 Franklin Road, Brentwood
IT Career Network (IT SPECIFIC)
Matt LeBlanc – 477-5651
START DATE TO BE DETERMINED, 2nd & 4th Mondays
MT-SHRM Career Transition Group (HR SPECIFIC)
Barbara Stewart
Every other Monday, Right Management, Brentwood
Career Connection, Murfreesboro
Randy Allen, 898-8081 x147
Every Monday, Rutherford County Career Center, 9:00 – 10:30am
Hermitage Career Group
Paul Henrie, 833-9318
Every Tuesday, 10:00-11:00am, Hermitage United Methodist Church
Careers Moving Forward
info@CareersMovingForward.net
2nd & 4th Tuesday night, 6:30 – 8:30pm, Long Hollow Baptist Church, Hendersonville
Joelton Career Transition Group
615.876.0527
Every Tues at 7:00pm in room 1102 at Joelton First Baptist Church 7140 Whites Creek Pike
Career Transition Partners (BRENTWOOD)
Bill Kirby, 364-8286
Every Tues at 8:00am, First Presbyterian Church on 4815 Franklin RD
Career Connection, Metrocenter
John McClallen, 862-8890 ext 77423
Every Tues at 9:00am, Metrocenter Career Center
MCN (Murfreesboro)
Matt LeBlanc – 477-5651
Every Wedn, 8:00-9:00am, Integrity House, Murfreesboro
Career Connection, Edmondson Pike Library
John McClallen, 862-8890 ext 77423
Every Wedn, 10:00am, Metrocenter Career Center
Career Transition Group
Ruth Smith
Every Wedn, 7:00-8:30pm, Room A206, Clearview Baptist Church, 537 Franklin Road, Franklin
Bellevue Career Group
Trey Adkisson, (615) 207-5685
Every Thursday, 6:30-8:30pm, Church at HopePark, Bellvue
Hendersonville Career Group
615-824-6622.
1st & 3rd Thurs from 6:30 – 8:30. @ Hendersonville Church of Christ (Room 420) in new Annex, 107 Rockland Road). Group is led by Brad Towe and Jan Blackwell.
***** LINKS OF IMPORTANCE FOR YOUR TRANSITION ******
Nashville Career Transition Group – http://tinyurl.com/nashcareer
Job and networking opps for those in transition
NCTG Group on LinkedIn – http://tinyurl.com/linctg
NCTG Group on Facebook – http://groups.to/nctg/
NCTG Group on Plaxo – http://nctg.plaxogroups.com
HR Career Transition Group on LinkedIn (HR SPECIFIC) – http://tinyurl.com/nhrctg
Mufreesboro Career Network on LinkedIn (Murfreesboro SPECIFIC) – http://tinyurl.com/mborocn
Nashville IT Career Network on LinkedIn (IT SPECIFIC) – http://tinyurl.com/ydtmajw
Nashville IT Career Network on Facebook (IT SPECIFIC) – http://tinyurl.com/ya4h27l

Here is the schedule for the 1st qtr of 2010 for the Monday night CTSG:

12/28 NO MEETING

01/04 Joe Morrell 99 THINGS TO DO TO HAVE A SUCCESFUL SEARCH IN 2010

01/11 Al Dampier CREATE YOUR FUTURE

01/18 NO MEETING

01/25 Professional Recruiters RECRUITERS PANEL DISCUSSION

02/01 Bill Karlson BACK TO SCHOOL FOR A CHANGING ECONOMY

02/08 Area Business Leaders BUSINESS PANEL DISCUSSION

02/15 Dan Miller “CALLING” OR JUST A J0B?

02/22 Area Executives HIRING MANAGER PANEL

03/01 Richard Britnell HOW SIX SIGMA & A PARACHUTE CAN HELP YOUR SEARCH

03/08 Ron Hooper PROJECT MANAGEMENT PRINICPLES & YOUR JOB SEARCH

03/15 Dan Aronoff SPEED NETWORKING TO MAKE CONNECTIONS

03/22 Mike Shaughnessy SURVIVING THE PHONE SCREEN

03/29 Ed Condon INDUSTRY & COMPANY RESEARCH ON LINKEDIN

Who are we?

We’re a gathering of friends who have been through the process of changing jobs or professions. We are open to all who are seeking new  opportunities or contemplating making a change!

When and where do we meet?

Monday evenings in room 281 of the Brentwood United Methodist Church, 309 Franklin Road, Brentwood. Networking begins at 6:30pm and the
meeting kicks off at 7:00pm.

What is it?

Weekly meetings that offer relevant topics, dialogue, and networking. Schedule subject to change because of availability of speakers.

What can it do for me?

You will learn cutting edge job-search skills and techniques, pick up tips, find job leads and experience encouragement in a faith based environment.

Directions from I-65

Take the Old Hickory Blvd (WEST) exit
Turn Left (S) on Franklin Road
Turn right at 4th traffic light into parking lot

NOTE: For changes in schedule due to weather conditions, CTSG follows Brentwood Academy closings.

THERE IS NO CHARGE FOR ANY SERVICES

For more information call (615) 477-5651
Posted By Matt LeBlanc

Top Houston Hospital Selects MedConcierge to Offer
Telemedicine to Corporations and Master Planned
Communities

September 8, 2009 (Sarasota, FL & Houston, TX) – St. Joseph Medical Center, the largest, Level 3 trauma hospital in downtown Houston, has selected MedConcierge to provide its advanced telemedicine solution to leading communities and corporations. Both parties will demonstrate the user experience and benefits of telemedicine during the upcoming 2009 FTTH Conference & Expo taking place at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, September 27th through October 1st.

"We are very excited to demonstrate the MedConcierge at St. Joseph Medical Center service to local community developers and corporate executives at the upcoming Fiber to the Home Conference," states St. Joseph chief executive officer Phillip D. Robinson, "Telemedicine will clearly be at the center of healthcare delivery moving forward and leveraging the technological advantages of the MedConcierge service over fiber-optic communications will help us extend patient services, generate additional revenue and save costs."

"St. Joseph is a leader in the Houston area, and we are thrilled to play a role in helping them deliver health and wellness services to residents of FTTH communities in and around the Houston metropolitan area," says MedConcierge director Rob Scheschareg. "Telemedicine offers competitive and financial benefits in a cost-effective fashion that is critical in today's market environment. We look forward to meeting service providers and developers at the FTTH Conference & Expo who want to take advantage of the billions being spent by consumers and the government in the next 30 months on home-based telemedicine."

Substantial news coverage, increasing consumer interest and adoption, and the allocation of billions of dollars in Federal stimulus funds specifically for broadband and healthcare information technology have placed telemedicine at the forefront of applications that benefit from fiber to the home networks.

"Fiber to the home provides benefits to consumers and employers that truly improve the quality of life. From our own industry research to that of our members and market followers, it is becoming increasingly evident that consumers want the benefits of improved healthcare services and access to doctors that services like MedConcierge and healthcare providers like St. Joseph can provide," states Joe Savage, president of the FTTH Council. "Telemedicine is a prime example of the type of applications that will be on display at our upcoming conference demonstrating the power of fiber".

To showcase the user experience, benefits and implementation of telemedicine services, MedConcierge and St. Joseph Medical Center will be hosting a number of activities at the upcoming 2009 FTTH Conference & Expo.  These include:

Corporate VIP Demonstration & Reception, Tuesday, September 29th.  For more information call the Corporate Health Connection at St. Joseph Medical Center at (713) 756-8600. 

MedConcierge Booth in the Fiber Zone, located on the show floor during exhibit hours. 

Phillip D. Robinson, CEO, St. Joseph Medical Center will be discussing telemedicine over FTTH networks as part of the Closing Keynote presentation Wednesday, September 30th at 2:00 pm.

For information about these events, visit the conference website at http://www.ftthconference.com.

About St. Joseph Medical Center

St. Joseph Medical Center, downtown Houston's only general acute care hospital, partners with Houston physicians to provide comprehensive health care to all.  As Houston's first hospital, St. Joseph Medical Center provides services for outpatients as well as inpatients, with a full continuum of care in surgery, cancer care, emergency care, Women's services, cardiovascular services, wound care, rehab, sports medicine, Corporate Health Connection and more. For more information on St. Joseph Medical Center, please visit http://www.sjmctx.com or call 713.757.1000.

About MedConcierge, LLC

MedConcierge is the leading provider of telemedicine solutions for community developers and operators, broadband service providers, healthcare providers, and municipalities, that deliver personal, concierge healthcare services to consumers at home, at work and while traveling. Utilizing our award-winning, patent-pending technology, MedConcierge provides unparalleled private and secure access to certified doctors, specialists and content. MedConcierge offerings range from real-time, live videoconference consultations, on demand, 24/7 with leading doctors, specialists, psychiatrists and wellness experts, to educational content, health status monitoring and dynamic electronic medical records – all accessible from the comfort, privacy and convenience of homes and facilities. For more information, visit http://www.medconcierge.com.

From Telework Exchange Newsletter: 

Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine today announced that Virginia teleworkers saved approximately $113,000, avoided driving 140,000 miles, and removed 75.89 tons of pollutants from the air through participation in Telework Day on August 3, 2009.

“I commend the individuals and organizations that took the Telework Day pledge,” Governor Kaine said. “The results are clear – telework plays an important role in meeting the Commonwealth’s green objectives, reducing strain and traffic on our roads, increasing savings for our employees, and will provide our businesses with increased employee productivity.”

The “What We Saved; What We Learned” report, compiled by Telework Exchange, also reveals an increase in productivity by participants and reports satisfaction with their teleworking experience.

Key findings:

• 4,267 employees teleworked on Telework Day – 22% of participants never teleworked before Telework Day; 95% of participants located in Virginia
• 69% of Virginia Telework Day participants said they accomplished more than on a typical day at the office
• 91% of Virginia Telework Day participants say they are now more likely to telework in the future
• Teleworking one day per week delivers approximately $2,000 in savings to each teleworker annually

To download the full report, please visit http://www.teleworkexchange.com/teleworkdayreport/.

Some GridKa School 2009 Abstracts available here.

Milt Capps reported on the Nashville Medical Trade Center and the proposed Nashville Entrepreneur Center here. Given today's technology I'd like to suggest that instead of building a PLACE it would be more strategic to offer a slate of SERVICES; specifically, those which would concentrate on the nexus of bioinformatics, cloud computing and distributed computing. With the recent gains in virtualization, the global build out of broadband, and the Obama Administration emphasis on healthcare, eHealth, medical devices and sensors, both the figurative and literal medical home, it seems there's an awful lot of emphasis on the part of executives to re-create an 1980 business model instead of looking ahead at the healthcare horizon. Nashville already has plenty of data centers to throw at this problem; a voucher system to pay for a computing services testbed while companies are bootstrapped is a more prudent first step — not to mention, tremendously less expensive to capitalize. Graduate studies at local higher education institutions, Internet2 and extant supercomputing capabilites at Oak Ridge should all be tapped first before other steps are taken.</ed.note>

Computer World/Network World – Former Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO Carly Fiorina may be launching a run for the U.S. Senate.
Fiorina, a Republican, “filed for a tax identification number Tuesday and registered a campaign committee named ‘Carly for California,’” allowing her to raise money for a 2010 Senate run, according to the Associated Press. Fiorina would be attempting to win the seat of U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, a Democrat from California who became senator in 1992."

<ed.note>T'is a shame she decide not to use the Technotarian ticket and unify as many third parties as possible. We are apparently beyond the point in the development of the US political structure for a viable alternative party based on conservative (and transparent) fiscal and monetary policies along with compassionate, yet personal responsibility requiring (PRR) social policy. Given her global perspective and technology/telephony expetise she could have been an incredible boon to rural economic development based on individualized distance education and hybridized cloud and distributed computing.</ed.note>

<ed.note>I've learned about a decade ago if you want to know where the world is going to be 5 years from now in terms of technology that affects the average citizen you watch Andy Abramson, Ken Rutkowski and Jeff Pulver. Jeff watches and creates all
things telephony and he recently sent this missive out re: HD Voice. My advice: if
you have traditionally poopooed eHealth, telehealth, and ROWE in healthcare –
your game is about to change; your boat is about to be refloated; your canary is
about to molt; your scotch is about to hop — well, you get what I mean, or literally — you HEAR what I am SAYING.</ed.note>

Putting the Cable Industry on notice. HD Voice is happening.

I had an interesting time at the CableLabs Summer Conference at
Keystone Resort, Colorado. When I first arrived I had a chance to
catch up with the teams from both AudioCodes and IP Gallery and a few
of the familiar faces I have gotten to know over the years involved in
the communications industry.

Looking around the reception on Monday afternoon, it was clear to me
that the telecom recession was over, with the room packed with vendors
and about 1,000 people from around the world who made the trek to
Colorado for the CableLabs Summer Conference.

This was a closed conference with the majority of the sessions only
open to the members of Cablelabs.

If there was one session at the CableLabs Summer Conference that a
Cable company’s Chief Strategy Officer should have been at, it was the
HD Voice session which I greatly appreciate being invited to be a part
of. I say this because after listening to Orange’s Vivek Badrinath,
Executive Vice President, Networks, Carriers, and Platforms, it is
clear to me that consumer HD Communications is a reality, it IS
happening and it is going to happen faster than anyone may have
otherwise expected.

Vivek was welcomed warmly and embraced by the CableLabs delegates.
During his talk I was thinking of the Twilight Zone Episode “To Serve
Man” where (according to Wikipedia) a race of aliens known as the
Kanamits lands on Earth and promises to be nothing but helpful to the
cause of humanity. Initially wary of the intentions of such a highly
advanced race, even the most skeptical humans are convinced when their
code-breakers begin to translate one of the Kanamit's books, with the
seemingly innocuous title, "To Serve Man."

Sharing their advanced technology, the aliens quickly solve all of
Earth's greatest woes, eradicating hunger, disease, and the need for
warfare. Soon, humans are volunteering for trips to the Kanamits' home
planet, which is supposedly a paradise.

All is not well, however, when a code-breaker discovers the Kanamits'
true intentions: Their book, "To Serve Man", is a cookbook, and all
their gifts were simply to make humanity complacent.” (if you haven’t
seen this episode – you can watch it here).

Given the fact that France Telecom / Orange already has over 500,000
customers who have subscribed for their HD Voice offerings and that
their numbers are going to continue to grow as Orange rolls out their
HD Communication offers across Europe, I couldn't help but make the
connection between Vivek and the leader of the Kanamit's.

If I were involved with a cable company, I would have categorized his
talk as an early wake-up call and understand the worldwide Cable
industry was put on notice to be on the lookout for other incumbent
operators who have both a broadband offering and wireless offering to
follow in the footsteps of France Telecom / Orange and use HD
Communications as a platform to retain and grow their customer base.

Now is NOT the time for the Cable industry to continue to take a “wait
and see” approach with HD Communications but rather now is the time to
commit to residential trials for HD Voice consumer if the cable
industry wants to protect what has become their multi-billion dollar
monthly cash cow known as “digital voice services.”

Over the next few years, the growth of consumers who subscribe for HD
Communications offered by both wireless and broadband service
providers will help lift the communications industry.

“Fear, Greed and Disruption” remain my three favorite words and I am
enjoying this moment in time in the history of communications. I
remain a big fan of France Telecom for continuing to lead and innovate
with HD Communications.

Friends who would like to learn more about HD Communications are
invited to attend the next HD Communications Summit taking place on
September 15th in New York City.

http://pulverblog.pulver.com/archives/009008.html

The HD Communications Summit Agenda (Update #1)

On September 15th 2009 at New World Stages in New York City, I am producing HDComms, the HD Communications Summit. HDComms will bring together the emerging worldwide HD Communications ecosystem and we will explore the state of "HD Communications" and where things are headed. If you have a vested interested in the future of communications, please consider joining us in New York City next month.

HD Communications Summit Agenda
(as of August 18, 2009)

- Welcome – Daniel Berninger, Executive Director, HDConnect
- Jeff Pulver – CEO, pulver.com – "Accelerating the Conversion to HD"

Step 1 – The HD Technology Roadmap

- Nimrod Borovsky, VP Marketing, Enterprise Business Group, AudioCodes
- Martyn Humphries, VP/GM, VoIP Line of Business, Broadcom
- Jan Linden, VP Engineering, Global IP Solutions

Case Study: Lessons Learned from SD to HDTV
Robert Graves, Chairman, ATSC Forum

HD Innovations Panel: Moderator – Slava Borlin, VP Products, SpiritDSP
- Mike Eastman, VP Sales, WYDEVoice
- Alan Percy, Director Business Development, AudioCodes
- A. Ryan Heidari, Director Technical and Product Marketing, Qualcomm

Step 2 – Triggering End User Demand

Jeff Rodman, co-founder, CTO Voice Division, Polycom
Rick Krupka, VP Business Communication Services, Uniden

HD in Action Panel: Moderator – Daniel Petrie, CEO, SIPEz
- Joyce Kim, VP Marketing, Global IP Solutions
- Chalan Aras, VP of Product Marketing, Polycom
- Dave Frankel, CEO, ZipDX

Step 3 – Toward a Fully Functioning HD Ecosystem

- Josh Bottum, Director Business Development, Cisco
- Mike Rude, VP Business Development, DSPGroup

The HD Value Chain Panel Moderator – Michael Stanford, WireEvolution
- Michael Jablon, VP Digital Phone Strategy, Time Warner
- Tony Stankus, Product Manager Emerging Technologies,Gigaset Communications USA
- Mike Storella, Director Business Development, snom

HD Carrier Interconnection Panel:
Moderator – Daniel Berninger, Executive Director, HDConnect
- Eli Katz, founder and CEO, XConnect
- John Butz, Director New Product Development, Neutral Tandem
- Alan Bugos, VP Advanced Technology and Engineering, iBasis (invited)

Step 4 – The Path to HD Mass Market Adoption

- Rod Keller, CEO, Gigaset Communications USA
- Alla Reznick, Dir Product Management, Global Advanced Services, Verizon

Mobile VoIP Panel: 
Moderator – Brough Turner, Chief Strategy Officer, Dialogic
- Tobias Kemper, VP Social Media and Communication, Nimbuzz
- Diego Besprosvan, CTO, MailVision
- Mahesh Makhijani, Director Technical Marketing, Qualcomm

Perspectives on HD Tipping Points Panel
Moderator – Doug Mohney, Editor in Chief, HDConnectNow
- Anatoli Levine, Director Product Management, RADVISION and President, IMTC
- Richard Buchanan, Chief Marketing Officer, Ooma
- Jake MacLeod, VP and CTO, Bechtel Communications(invited)

Networking Reception

Interested in the future of communications? Register TODAY for next month's HD Communication Summit.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I
rise in support of Monday, August 3, as
Telework Day in Virginia and applaud Governor
Tim Kaine on this initiative.

On this day, thousands of Virginians will
perform a full day’s work from their houses
rather than their places of work. This practice
empowers workers who feel that they can fulfill
their obligations to their employer equally
well from home as in a brick and mortar office.
My colleagues, teleworking provides enormous
benefits to employers and employees
alike, as well as positive social and economic
impacts. Teleworking, a practice which dates
to the 1960s and then was dramatically expanded
in the ’90s, thanks to a host of networking
innovations, can save employers
premises costs and office overhead fees.

If all eligible Federal employees teleworked
2 days per week, the Federal Government
could realize $3.3 billion in savings in commuting
costs annually and eliminate the emission
of 2.7 million tons of pollutants each year.
Furthermore, it would provide an easy and
necessary means of operational continuity
should the Nation’s Capital be the target of
another horrific terror attack.

Teleworking can also increase productivity,
typically 10 percent to 40 percent per person
in large programs, by eliminating the often distressing
and frustrating commute to and from
work. For example, it eliminates commuting
costs for employees because they do not have
to pay for gas or public transportation. Given
that the average round trip commute is 50 miles and commuters spend an average of
264 hours per year commuting (66 minutes
per day), Americans would be relieved of the
burden of spending so much time on the road
that could be better spent with their families.
Through this practice, employees are allowed
the freedom of working at their optimal
times; some might be more productive in the
morning while others might be more productive
late at night. Telework allows the workers
to get into a personal daily rhythm and work
when they please, thus maximizing individual
liberty and occupational productivity.
At this time, States and localities all around
the Nation are grappling with ways in which
congestion on the roadways can be reduced.
We could facilitate greater capacity for mass
transportation—but that requires heavy infrastructure
investment and the vision to plan
long-term. We could also build more roadways—
but that would simply invite more cars
and more traffic, while doing nothing to improve
the quality of life for millions of hardworking
Americans.

Those options taken together do indeed
form a necessary component of traffic mitigation,
but they take both time and money. Teleworking
is simple to implement, economical to
operate, and reflects the many ways in which
technology has allowed the spheres of personal
and professional life to blend together. It
allows for a young professional to care for her
newborn child or a son to care for his ailing
mother in the comfort of their own homes,
without worrying what would happen should
they have to spend a portion of their day in an
office, away from those who depend on their
presence.

I am proud to say that at the end of 2005,
Fairfax County in Virginia was able to meet
the region-wide target of having 20 percent of
eligible workers engaged in teleworking. I
would invite my colleagues to take note of
teleworking’s success and stand up for a
worker’s ability to set his or her own schedule,
with the expectation that it will allow for a
more flexible lifestyle without compromising
productivity. Rather than relying on the desks,
chairs, and file cabinets that defined the average
employee’s office a generation ago,
telework allows Americans to bring the workplace
to them, not the other way around.

Wave (Preview)

http://wave.google.com/

Web Conferencing

http://www.DimDim.com

http://www.gotomeeting.com

http://www.webex.com

Wikis

MediaWiki with PurpleNumbers Examples

http://colab.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl/ (fedgov)

http://ontolog.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl/ (ontologists)

Sematic MediaWiki (Paul Allen backs some of Ontoprise's work, if I'm recalling correctly)

http://smwforum.ontoprise.com/smwforum/index.php/Webinars/Schedule_of_webinars#Session_1:_Using_SMW.2B_for_project_management

Blogs

* Open Source

** Links under construction 

LiveJournal, Movable Type, TypePad, and VOX (Six Apart)
WordPress*

Content Management Systems

Dokuwiki**
DotNetNuke**
Drupal**
Joomla**
PHPFusion**
PMWiki**
PostNuke**

Stuff not to forget to include:

Micro-blogging Platforms

Identi.ca

http://webconf.soaphub.org/conf/room

Twitter.com

Yammer.com

Note: cmsmatrix.org