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The Electronic Document Systems Foundation (EDSF) is dedicated to enhancing the value of document communication. EDSF has published studies of the document industry and is about to publish another that tracks the recent past to 2010. Certain kinds of printing are expected to grow through 2010 and others, like forms and newspapers, are expected to drop dramatically in volume. The study is based on 13 categories with many subcategories and includes economic, societal, and technological factors. The prediction is that there will be no major impact on print, as we know it, until about the year 2020. The Internet is actually generating more print than it takes away now. Broadband, E-books, less expensive but more powerful computers, wireless communication, etc. will change all that about 2020. Now, also think about voice recognition and verification in 2020.

Noel, Jeffrey. "Looking to 2010." Print On Demand, 6(5), September, October 2000, 34-36. 

Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Knowledge Manager (KM) functions and roles have evolved over the past decade in the private sector, especially in corporations that have implemented global B2B and B2C strategies. CIOs have also evolved in state government and are often cited as a primary reason for coordination of programs, effectiveness of services, and efficiencies gained. In addition, to a role in strategic thinking, CIOs access, analyze, and redistribute information that is most often in e-formats. KMs will often perform a secondary analysis of information to determine it's "fit" to vision and goals and (a) lead a team through a critique of high quality processes to determine if value can be added to the unit or (b) redistribute the information to someone who will critique it further. Could these ideas be applied to CIOs and KMs in education fields and levels?

Aides, librarians, parents, and/or teachers could take the initiative in helping students to access Web sites to browse and mine on study topics such as biometrics, card, e--books, graphic arts and printing, voice, and wireless technologies. Analysis of information could be done by groups within a classroom or by global learning communities. Archived projects could be used by learners throughout a community however defined, a district, a region, a state, and/or worldwide network. CIO and KM functions and roles would evolve based on mission, policy, priorities and resources.

Awareness raising about advances in science and technologies is necessary, but insufficient. Career paths must be co-created to prepare the professional and technical workforces in emerging roles. Advertisements contain bodies of competencies and skills sought in prospective employees. Some companies with personnel needs can be accessed via Web pages mentioned later in the newsletter.

An advertisement for a Human Research Review Committee (HRRC) employee provides insights into the critical thinking competencies and problem solving skills that are needed in healthcare. "The Office of Research, Technology, and Informatics has a full time position in the human studies area. The individual will serve as liaison between the Institution Research Board (IRB) and the affiliated subcommittees and faculty. The position will manage the human subject database and files, prepare agendas and minutes for the monthly HRRC meetings, process human subject protocols, amendments and continuing progress reports. Incumbent will also provide semi-annual training to coordinators on preparation and submission of protocols for IRB review."

Developmentally appropriate learning units could be co-created in graduate education by interdisciplinary teams of healthcare providers, database managers, teacher educators, and educational technologists that could be delivered electronically to schools to be customized to meet local and state curriculum standards. CIOs and KMs could be certificated as generalists or in broad career categories such as business, engineering, healthcare and human services, etc.

Now, imagine an E-Commerce Center of Excellence developed as a private and public partnership. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Microsoft and Penn State Harrisburg Eastgate is an example. The Center provides service to business establishments and e-commerce courses via the School of Information Science and Technology (ITS). The Center intends to prepare an estimated 20,000 high school students and 1,000 business education teachers (March, STRATEGIC PLANNING). CIO and KMs in global B2B and B2C in manufacturing and/or services are needed now. CIO and KM roles are expanded upon in the articles on other pages in this newsletter.

"As competitive pressures in the pharmaceutical industry have increased, so has the importance of marketing new and existing drugs. Three years ago Rochee Laboratories, the North American division of F. Hoffman-La Rochee Ltd. of Switzerland, founded a medical affairs division to get its R&D and marketing teams together. Its challenge was to provide salespeople and clinical liaisons with accurate, up-to-date information about drugs from sources that usually are scattered across and outside of the organization."

 Shand, Dawne. "Medical Marketing Gets Smarter." Knowledge Management, 3(10), October 2000, 32 and 34.

"Companies increasingly are realizing that many of their core assets reside in the minds of their employees, and they are trying to build on that knowledge and put it to strategic use. Hence the growing interest in communities of practice - far-flung ad hoc networks of people who have common interests. The members of these communities often operate across organizational and hierarchical boundaries, share knowledge, solve problems and exchange insights in ways that departmental structures don't promote."

Eisenhart, Mary. "Around the Virtual Water Cooler." 
Knowledge Management, 3(10), October 2000, 32 and 34.

"Global e-commerce opportunities outweigh the obstacles. Now's the time to target receptive markets - anywhere." That is the conclusion of Donald DePalma in an analysis with detail.

"While most U. S. media coverage focuses on Web growth in the United States, the reality is that the Web has outgrown its North American centricity. The United States still leads by a large margin in the total number of Internet domains, but the percentage of non-American Web users has increased dramatically from 44 percent of the total worldwide user based in 1998 to an estimated 66 percent today. Internet usage in the Asia/Pacific, European, and Latin American regions is already growing more rapidly than in the United States."

 DePalma, Donald. "International E-Commerce: The Time is Now." E-BUSINESS ADVISOR, 18(10), October 2000, 28-33. 

Ten rules of E-Business that matter focus on relationships, size, velocity, integration, technology, partners, uptime, security, flexibility, and bottom line. The article is followed by 11 pieces on topics such as customer relations management CRM, e-money, KM, and small business centers.

Harris, Jack, and Jeff Fohl. "E-Business Essentials."
PC Magazine, 19(13), July 2000, 132-6.

Don Norman, President of UNext Learning Systems, states, "The technology really should be invisible. It should just work. We're not there yet." His comments lead the way to four case studies about PNC Bank, National Association of Manufacturers, BellSouth, and Glenayre. Readers may want to browse and mine Unext: 

Norman, Don. "The State of Online Learning." Training, 37(9), September 2000, 77+.

Also, other excellent articles include:

"New Kids on the Virtual Block" about poor children in New Delphi, India, 58 and 60.

"What the Online World Needs Now: Quality" about four hurdles in e-learning, 85-94.

"Videoconferencing's Changing Picture" that begins with how Superintendent John Gould addressed graduation in Morrisville, PA, from San Diego, CA, 100-106.

Jones, Chris, "One of the Heard: Voice Applications Could Bring New Life to E-Learning." Online Learning, 4(8), September 2000, 74-75. http://www.onlinelearningmag.com

Kiser, Kim, "Road Warriors." Online Learning, 4(8), September 2000, 24-32.

Webb, Wendy. "Beyond the Internet." Online Learning. 4(8), September 2000

Eisler, David L. "The Portal's Progress: A Gateway for Access, Information, and Learning Communities." Syllabus, 14(2), September 2000, 12-18. http://www.syllabus.com

Lang, David. "Critical Thinking in Web Courses: An Oxymoron?" Syllabus, 14(2), September 2000, 20-24.  http://www.syllabus.com

Peirce, William. "Online Strategies for Teaching Thinking." Syllabus, 14(2), September 2000, 21-24.  http://www.syllabus.com

Executive Education programs are an excellent source of high quality information and programs.
Columbia Business School has outstanding programs. 

Kelly, Katy. "False Promise."
U.S. News & World Report, 129(12), Sept. 25, 2000, 48-55.

Anglin (1996) developed a Guide for Strategic Planning for use by educational institutions in Asia Pacific that used seven categories: policy, mission priorities, strategic alliances, curriculum and student outcomes, technology, human resources development needs, and fiscal resource needs. Kim (1998) used the same seven categories for developing A Strategic Plan for the Integration of Technology into the Elementary Teacher Education Program at Inchon National University of Education. (See the December 1999 and January 2000 issues of STRATEGIC PLANNING). Reynolds (1999) used some of those ideas along with others to develop a strategic plan for the integration of computer services and library services. This newsletter is not a document in which to elaborate on the details of these projects. But, these projects and many others provide insights about content and process that can be used to plan strategically for the digital era.

Federal government programs are available to fund projects that focus on curriculum and technology. Some funds can go directly to a Local Education Agency (LEA) such as:

Technology Innovation Challenge Grant

Star Schools Program

Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Program

Newsletters and other resources are available at Web sites.  Access:

and enter as a guest.  Click on "Announcements" and then on "Course Documents."  Then, click on `Warren Groff s Newsletters."

The newsletters are filled with information such as Web Weavers at an elementary school (June issue); INTERNETWEEK 100 elite in E-Business (July); and E-healthcare, biometropolis, E-Commerce Web sites, Global Smart Partnership Program, educator's Web sites (September).

Then, click on "External Links" and "The Friendly Forum" to browse "The Friendly Forum: Class Discussion" with topics such as "Globalization and the Family of IT Careers," "Taiwan," etc.

Directed Study (DS) provides an exciting new opportunity to explore research in areas and topics not included in seminars. DS is a formal protocol in contrast to pursuing individual study (IS). DS requires an accumulation of four units, thus planning to meet program requirements is needed. Feel free to copy and distribute this newsletter. As individuals browse and mine the Web sites, consider the format and structure that is needed to meet consumer needs and wants worldwide.

Warren H. Groff, 3408 N. 49th St., Milwaukee, WI 53216-3208  groffw@nova.edu