* * * * * * * * *

"The connections between scholars and policy and decision-makers are weak to nonexistent.  So as a result, decisions too often are based more on intuition, on short-term gain, or on perceived market advantage, and less and less and less on thoughtful analysis of policy alternatives and carefully calculated estimates of implications and consequences."

Stanley Ikenberry, President of the American Council on Education, at "From Theory to Practice: An Anniversary Symposium" for the Center for the Study of Higher Education (30th year) and the Higher Education (50th year) at The Pennsylvania State University, June 2000.

American Council on Education  http://www.acenet.edu/

"What strikes one most in Ennis is the absolute absence of anything even remotely revolutionary on the streets. Ennis is one of Europe's new "wired towns." Over the past three years, heavyweight telecom infrastructure has been installed, cheap PCs supplied to 82 percent of the town's 5,000 households and thousands of residents are claimed to been made computer literate" through Ennis Information Age Town (EIAT).

"But it is in local education that hopes are greatest for the transforming aspects of the Internet in Ennis. EIAT's education committee has distributed 500 multimedia PC's to equip schools with computer laboratories. The children are looking forward to going to the computer room," says Pat Hanrahan, principal in one of Ennis's primary schools for 4 to 12 year olds. "They engage with the computer and with the teacher in a triangular relationship that is more proactive."

O'hAnluain, Aaithi. "Wired Town." TORNADO-INSIDER," November 2000, 19, 48-54. http://www.tornado-insider.com/

How can the relationship between theory and practice be improved in diverse contexts?

How can insights gained from applied and basic research be converted to better practice with strategies for Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) with accountability and warranty? 

What applications of technology axe important in education and training, content and delivery?

What application lessons have been learned from "wired" municipalities in Asia, Europe, etc. that focus on community development, economic development, and education development?

What curriculum in middle and secondary schools are wired communities developing?

"Important new players have burst onto the tech transfer scene - the tech transfer dot-coms. Offering a variety of online services, these `buying and selling superstores' promise to change, expedite, and improve the tech transfer process and compress the entire tech transfer timeframe.

Almost overnight, the web has become an effective tool for acquiring, showcasing, and
exchanging new technologies from hundreds of technology sources. With no geographic
boundaries, we are truly moving into a global, knowledge-based economy - an potentially
establishing a new tech transfer paradigm." NEWSLINK. 16(10), Nov-Dec 2000, 1-2.
http://www.federallabs.org/                                                e-mail:  mailto:%20flcnews@utrsmail.com

Analyze a few Technology Transfer sites such as

http://www.corporateintelligence.com/
http://genome.ucsc.edu/
http://www.gti2k.com/
http://www.ensemble.org/
http://www.knowledgeexpress.com/
http://www.nttc.edu/telemed.html
http://www.qxhealth.com/
http://ott.od.nih.gov/
http://www.technologyconnect.com/
http://www.wtn.org/

"A recent survey of new economy entrepreneurs found that over 40 percent described incubator companies as `greedy' and nearly half said they hadn't considered using incubators as an integral support in building their businesses."

This article begins with a few brief comments about the shift in Europe's investment landscape. The article provides comments about incubators in European countries including Magnus Ecommerce Incubator (Naarden, Holland) and Strategum Group, a San Francisco-based incubator specializing in helping European companies gain a foothold in the U. S.

 McGrath, Dermot. "Incubators Hatch a Brighter Future." TORNADO-INSIDER," November
2000, 19, 100-102. http://www.tornado-insider.com/

The January issue of the newsletter reported on an article that mentioned 13 MBA programs with e-commerce and some of their unique features. College and universities throughout the world are adjusting and/or developing certificates and degree programs. Check http://www.iuj.ac.jp/

What technologies will drive new economy establishments in agriculture, manufacturing, services?

What role will entreprenuers play in forming new economy establishments? 

What role will technology transfer play in transforming an old economy to a new economy? 

What role will incubators play for startups in the new economy based primarily on w-commerce? 

What could be the focus of articulated entrepreneurial education and training in AAL format? 

What competencies and skills are emphasized in B2B, B2C, and w-commerce programs globally?

"Here in the post-bonanza Internet age, it's hard to think of a software category more betwixt profit and peril than business intelligence (BI). On the one hand, the data-driven nature of Webbased customer interaction and business-to-business (B2B) integration cries out for solutions that help decision makers analyze the present and model the future. On the other, users' experiences with the Web's amazing aray of content, right at their finger tips, have changed data access expectations forever. Unfortunately, these expectations are beyond what many current tools and IT departments - are prepared to deliver."

 Stodder, David. "E-BI: Revolution, Not Evolution." Intelligent ENTERPRISE. 4(1), January
1, 2001, 14-16.  http://www.intelligententerprise.com/

The January issue of Intelligent ENTERPRISE contains an analysis of influential IT companies based on the interplay of four elements: intelligence, integration, infrastructure, and collaboration.  The analysis consists of "the Dozen, an exclusive group of guiding lights, heavyweights, and fast risers," then a list of 12 Companies to Watch for each of the above-mentioned four elements.

"The year 2000 brought about a big shift in the balance of power between buyers and sellers, with the Web giving consumers more information, choices, and clout.  That's forced businesses to look for ways to transform the way they deal with customers.  Many are doing it with CRM software."

Sweat, Jeff. "Customers Take Control." INFORMATIONWEER. Issue 817, December 18-25, 2000, 44-46.  http://www.informationweek.com/

"Is the Web really the ultimate customer-empowering environment?  The Web as a whole is empowering, because users have the option to click over to the competition at the slightest whim.  So why do sites so often leave users feeling powerless?  The Web increases accessibility and defies geographic barriers.  But e-commerce sites often decrease accessibility and erect more barriers than you'd walk past in a store."

Nielsen, Jakob, and Tahir, Marie. "Building Sites With Depth." Webtechnidues. 6(2), February 2001, 46-49.  http://www.ecworld.com/

Asia Pacific, the European Union, Latin America, and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are evolving rapidly in the digital era.  Countries vary in their transition from industrial era economies to digital economies.  Although Africa was not listed as a leader in transitioning to new economies, Egypt (Cairo) will host the International Telecommunications Union ITU Telecom for the Middle East & Arab States on May 7-10 and South Africa (Johannesburg) will host the ITU Telecom Africa on November 12-16. http://www.itu.int/

The East Asia percent of goods and services produced in the world grew from 3% in the 1960s to 11% in the 1970s to 25% in the 1990s; East Asia is consuming an increased share of goods and services produced by others (Copper, 1998).  East Asia will soon pass the rest of the world in production and will probably be bigger economically than the North American free trade area and the European Union combined.  The most dynamic region of the world is the Pacific Rim.  The Republic of China (ROC) is currently the fastest growing economy and has 22% of the world's population with a large middle class of people who want to buy consumer products.

The European Union (EU) began with 350 million people in 12 nations with the highest per capita income in the world in 1993; EU became a single market for good and services. Austria, Sweden, and Finland raised the membership to 15 in 1995.  The EU will probably expand by 12 members by 2003.  Candidates include Cyprus, Malta, Hungary, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Lithuania, and Latvia. Turkey is a possible 13th candidate.  EU launched the Euro in 1999.  National currencies will remain in circulation until 2002.

Canada, Mexico, and the United States formed the North American Free Trade Agreement NAFTA), a total population of 320 million people in Canada's 10 provinces, Mexico's 32 states, and the 50 U. S. states.  A free trade agreement between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay began in 1995.  Chile joined Mercado Comun del (MERCOSUR) in 1996; Bolivia joined in 1997.  MERCOSUR's goal is to incorporate all S. American countries by 2005 before joining NAFTA.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) implemented a new initiative in E-Commerce for Developing Countries (EC-DC) with assistance by WISeKey with "The Secure E-commerce Partnership Seminar" last November.  Nearly 500 delegates, including 17 Ambassadors and 4 Ministers, represented some 120 countries and 11 international organizations. http://www.itu.int/

Task Force on Globalization and Planning for  Era Dividends (GPDED)

You have been asked to develop a draft "charge" for a task force on "Globalization and Planning for Digital Era Dividends" to create an integrated plan for community, economic, and education development. 

What should be included in the "Problem and Issues" statement? 

What information should be included in the preliminary "Review of Literature" statement? 

What procedures could be included relative to (a) analysis of context, external and internal; (b) visioning, especially for economic and technological variables; and (c) action plan development? 

Who could be involved?

One charge to GPDED is analysis of establishments with substantial offices in the state that are engaged in global/international commerce with a special focus on 13213, B2C, and M-Commerce.  Another aspect of this charge is an analysis of all establishments exporting goods and services. 

What set of processes could be used to accomplish these two tasks? (See footnote 1 below)

A second charge to GPDED is analysis of countries, regions and states for potential collaboration.  Countries vary in their capability to create social and technological infrastructure strategic plans.   Strategic planning consists of (a) analysis, (b) visioning, and (c) action plan development. Thus, to be a globally competitive region, assistance may have to be provided to co-create a good plan.  Other corporations, countries, and regions are advanced and seek partners for EC collaboration.

What set of procedures could be used to accomplish this global assessment for opportunities? 

What conceptual framework can be developed to guide and sustain the analysis?

COUNTRIES           Analysis   Visioning   Action
                                                             Year I   Year 2   Year 3   Year 4   Year 5

Asia Pacific (see September issue of STRATEGIC PLUG newsletter for a list of countries) China
Japan
Korea
Singapore
Taiwan

Africa (see December issue of STRATEGIC PLUG newsletter for a list of countries)

Latin America (see January issue of STRATEGIC PLANNING newsletter for a list of
                      countries)

A third GPDED charge is to create a plan for community, economic, and education development. Globally competitive community research shall be analyzed. An analysis shall be made about how the above three areas are being integrated domestically (like in Austin, Blacksburg and Omaha) and internationally, like in Inchon/Seoul, Taipei, and countries mentioned in the EU in this newsletter.

What are the procedures to be used to complete "Action Plan Development" for the three areas?

What procedures can be used to guide priorities and influence resource allocation decisions?

_____________
1. Kimberly Clark, GE Medical Systems, and other companies were featured in the August issue of the newsletter. Also, GE Medical Systems is in "Globalization and the Family of IT Careers." Lands' End expansion of full?service e-commerce Web sites was mentioned in the January issue. See page 8 about how to access archived newsletters and bulletin boards for information.

Copper, John F. "U. S. and East Asia: Desperately Seeking Policies." The Commercial Appeal, March 29, 1998, pp. B3-4.

Also, see Groff, Warren. Strategic Planning (Thinking) for the Digital Era. Paper on evolution of E-Commerce and delivering EC units online in Taiwan. (ERIC Document Service ED 432 932).

The December issue of Syllabus has a special focus on Technologies for Access. Articles include Mrad, Susan L. "A Speech-to-Print System for Students with Hearing Impairments." Pp. 25-27.  Coombs, Norman. "Untangling Your Web." How does your Web site rate? Pp. 28-30.  For complete guidelines and checklist, visit http://www.w3.org/

The December issue also contains "Web Resources for the Disability Community" on page 34 and a special section on "Digital Libraries: A Guide to Electronic Content on the Web" on pages 36-7.

"Anywhere on the 60-acre Buerna Vista University campus nestled along the north shore of Storm Lake in rural northwest Iowa, students and faculty are connected to a robust campus network by new wireless technology. In classrooms, residence halls, on the grassy acres acros campus, even in the football stadium, students have continuous access to the Internet and all campus computing resources."

 Bowers, Paul. "Discovery-Based Learning: Lessons in Wireless Teaching." Syllabus, 14(6), January 2001, 38-39 + 47.  http://www.syllabus.com/

"A number of rituals signal the start of a new..." 

RQ: How will e-books reshape rituals?

Looney, Michael A. "e-Books: Enhancing the Educational Experience." Syllabus. 14(6),
January 2001, 48-49.  http://www.syllabus.com/

"SSTI Weekly Digest is available free to anyone interested in tech-based economic development.  http://www.ssti.org/Digest/digform.htm

RQ: How are Electronic Newsletters (ENs) reshaping online and site-based learning formats?

The National Science Foundation (NSF) provides grants for up to five years to establish Centers for Learning and Teaching (CLT).  Center will be partnerships to address goals related to science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (SMET) education.  Deadline for development grant proposals is March 15, 2001. http://www.ehr.nsf.gov/ehr/esie/news/new_centers_solicit.htm

The Advanced Technological Education (ATE) promotes improvement in technological education at the undergraduate and secondary school levels in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology.  Three major tracks are ATE Projects, ATE Centers, and Articulation Partnerships.  http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2000/nsf0062/start.htm

January - a partial list of topics

Globalization. Next Generation of E-Business. Overview of 13 EC graduate programs. Marketing and Wireless Devices. International Logistics. Customer effective e-services. Land's End is expanding full-service e-commerce Web sites.  Graphic arts and printing. Advanced Technology Program (ATE) and Advanced Technology Education (ATE) at NSF. Venture Capital for Distance Education.  Distance Courses Required of All Students. TIMSS. HEA in 1998 created a commission recommended BROADBAND for education.

Access  http://www.blackboard,com/courses/webcom/ and enter as a guest.

Click on "Announcements" and then on "Course Documents."
Then, click on "Warren Groff's Newsletters." Also, conceptual frameworks for dissertations by Kathy Green and Laurie Nalepa can be analyzed along with Prospectus and then the Proposal.

Then, click on "External Links" and "The Friendly Forum" and browse "The Friendly Forum: Class Discussion." Browse Asia Society, Globalization and the Family of IT Careers, Taiwan, Korea, etc. Access a few of the links.  Consider requesting one the Asia Society Electronic Newsletters.  Analyze competencies and skills from some of the "Family of IT Careers" links.

Directed Study (DS) holds great potential.  It is an opportunity to select a topic of interest and collaborate with a facilitator to raise awareness and understanding.  Analysis of the literature via DS could help with all aspects of a dissertation or practicum proposal (a) problem statement, (b) review of literature, and (c) methodology and procedures. Awareness about a topic like the many facets of globalization could lead to outstanding practicums and later to an applied dissertation.  English is very often the common language of commerce and diplomacy.

How are countries in Asia (Japan, Korea, Taiwan) integrating English, and know-how and technology, into curriculum?

Review the project on voice recognition by Jack Espinal http://fairfax2.laser,net/~jespinal/vr1.htm
Also, review the DS plan by Curtis Kelly in the December issue of "STRATEGIC PLANNING."