Wednesday, July 21, 2004

Silicon Valley - Dan Gillmor's eJournal - Collaboration, Up Close and From Afar

Silicon Valley - Dan Gillmor's eJournal - Collaboration, Up Close and From Afar: "With great regret, I bid my goodbyes yesterday to the folks at the Strong Angel II demonstration, but I'm staying well-connected to the project in several ways.
One is by using software that has become a crucial component to the project, Groove, the collaboration software that just hit its 3.0 milestone. Groove does so many things, but at its heart is a peer-to-peer networking system, replete with widgets and tools and fully encrypted at every level. In situations like the ones the Strong Angel teams are modeling, security is vital for some data even if not for all.
One of the most intriguing demonstrations on Kona has been named 'Pony Express,' after the relay mail system of yesteryear, except this is being done with WiFi, laptops and Groove. The idea is that humanitarian assistance people in the field -- where there's no connectivity -- could fill out forms on their laptops, gathering data about populations and needs; then someone would drive by with a WiFi-equipped vehicle, synchronize the Groove 'workspace' containing the data; and bring it back to the home base. This would be done again and again, and ultimately each person in the field, not just the people at the base, would have the most current possible data even without a direct Internet connection."

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