Mon, Sep 12, 2005
DataTao
#
AndyDale and the good folks at ooTao have been
quietly driving the development of data sharing technologies based on
XDI.
This is one of the candidate IdentityCommons technologies for
permission-based sharing and synchronization of identity-related
information. (JSF)
What does this mean? Most of us have personal information stored all
over the Internet, with no control over who can access it and what
they are allowed to do with it. The privacy implications are obvious,
but issues of control go beyond privacy. I may want 15 different
organizations to have access to my email address, but I don't want to
have to contact each of those organizations separately every time my
email address changes. (JSG)
The knee-jerk reaction to the latter problem has been to create
centralized repositories of identity data, and to persuade people to
store all their data there. That approach has no long-term future. (JSH)
We need a distributed system that gives individuals granular control
over their digital identities. That's the long-term vision of
IdentityCommons, and the technologies that will make this all possible
are slowly coming into fruition. (JSI)
Andy recently
announced plans for DataTao, an "interoperable data hub for user
controlled data." As a service, I think DataTao will be tremendously
compelling. A natural first application will be a
distributed
Plaxo-killer. You'll be able to keep your contact information
wherever it already is -- even across multiple sites -- and to grant
permission to people to synchronize with that data. In other words,
Andy or anyone else will be able to get my latest contact information
without having to subscribe to some centralized repository, assuming
I've given them permission. More importantly, I can take that
permission away. (JSJ)
On a technical level, what's interesting about ooTao's announcement is
that the service is not wed to
i-names. It will work with
a variety of identity protocols, from OpenID to
LID. On the other hand, the system will use
XDI. I've expressed concerns, both privately and
publically,
over whether XDI is the best architecture for the kind of data sharing
we need. The proof will be in the pudding; it will be great to see a
real service built on top of XDI in action. (JSK)
/collaboration/idcommons |
Posted at 2:24pm
Extreme Learning
#
This "Extreme" business is getting a bit out of control, but JayCross
has written a great piece for CLO
(April 2005) entitled,
"Extreme Learning: Decision Games." Jay describes to
KnowledgeManagement companies based in Singapore --
StraitsKnowledge and PebbleRoad -- who were commissioned to help
companies learn how to do business in China. (JS7)
Foreign businesspeople new to China have an extraordinarily difficult
time learning to sense and respond to the culture's complexities. They
don't need more information -- they need to be able to read what's
going on so they will know how to use the information they've
got. Until now, no one could figure out how to transfer the insight of
experienced foreign entrepreneurs. (JS8)
These two companies attacked the problem by creating decision games,
asking participants to work through scenarios, then having experts
explain what would happen and why. (JS9)
These decision games repeatedly test a person's judgment and
knowledge while allowing them to engage with business colleagues in a
complex and ambiguous environment. While they are learning about a
particular domain, participants also gain insight into the
perspectives, styles and capabilities of their colleagues. (JSA)
Think about it: Exposing novices to multiple ways of seeing and sizing
up situations is how expertise is built. Switching the focus from
teaching content to challenging contexts intensifies
learning. Participants become so involved, they don't even break for
coffee. (JSB)
This is a fantastic, collaborative alternative to traditional
top-down teaching. (JSC)
/collaboration |
Posted at 1:51pm
