The audio portion of the Census presentation is available at DC Perl Mongers, click on discussions. The Vorbis player information will help you get underway. Thank you to Philip Hood, hood@panix.com for making this possible.
Information from the Vorbis site:
"How can I play Vorbis files in Windows?
One of the best Vorbis players for Windows is Winamp, which has shipped an ogg Vorbis decoder since version 2.80. (Note that the lite version does not include the decoder.)
How can I listen to a Vorbis stream...
...on Windows?
If you want to listen to a stream and are given a link in Internet Explorer, it's best to right-click on the link and select the "Copy Shortcut" option, and then paste that into Winamp's "Open Location" dialog by right clicking on the Load button. "
The visual presentation is available in the archives of the CoExpedition Workshop mirror site.
Workshop Purpose: To explore the Potential and Realities of Building A Public Code Commons: Open Source, Section 508, and Beyond. As information tools become ubiquitous and closely connected to the quality of life and prosperity of individual people, individual communities, and individual countries, a more engaged, active role for people, communities, and countries in the creation of these societal tools must emerge. Societal technologies insufficiently flexible to accommodate connection-making activities among all members adversely affect the whole of society. How is the peer production model of open source contributing to a new societal organization form? How can citizens at risk become co-designers of societal communication networks?
9:30 AM Coffee
9:55 AM Welcome - Susan Turnbull, Sr. Program Advisor, GSA and George Brett, Chief Information Architect, End-to-End Performance, Internet2
10:00 AM Earths 911: Building Blocks for a Public Code Commons Over the Past Decade: Principles of Chaordic Organizations and Open Source, Chris Warner, President, http://www.earth911.org
10:40 AM Section 508 Overview, Craig Holcomb, National Security Agency
11:20 AM Open Source and Section 508: Introduction to GNOME Accessibility Framework, Marc Mulcahy, GNOME Team, Sun Microsystems, Inc. http://wwws.sun.com/software/star/gnome/siteindex.html
12:00 PM GNOME: Building Blocks for Peer Production Networks, Nat Friedman, one of the founders of GNOME http://www.GNOME.org
12:40 PM Who is Here? Who is Missing from this Dialogue?
1:00 PM Lunch/Networking (bring your own bag lunch or RSVP for sandwich & beverage $8.00 cost/person)
2:00 PM Open Source, Section 508, and Beyond: What Works Today, Janina Sajka, Director, Technology Research & Development, American Foundation for the Blind http://www.afb.org
2:40 PM Open Source and Section 508, Jeremy Hogan, Community Relations Manager, Red Hat http://www.redhat.com
3:20 PM The Mozilla Project, Frank Hecker, Mozilla.org http://www.mozilla.org
4:00 PM Adjournment -Workshop presentations, resources, and member information are at: http://ioa-qpnet-co.gsa.gov/UA-Exp and http://people.internet2.edu/~ghb/coexp
Workshop Purpose: To explore the potential and realities of community life today. How can intentional communities help us appreciate near-term implications of citizen-centric government, volunteerism, and multi-stakeholder collaborative partnerships?
Susan Turnbull, from the General Services Administration (GSA), opened the meeting by welcoming everyone to the continuing collaboration workshop series. The purpose of today's workshop is to explore the potential and realities of community life today. How can intentional communities help us appreciate near-term implications of citizen-centric government, volunteerism, and multi-stakeholder collaborative partnerships?
Susan remarked that the workshops started almost one year ago. With participants wondering whether a strong sense of purpose was sufficient to hold different people together while learning from one another to increase the creativity quotient and momentum for significant action. With the first product of the workshops "Extending Digital Dividends: Public Goods and Services that Work for All", being debuted today on the West and East Coasts, the idea has begun a successful work in progress. The guide is being debuted at the California State University Northridge International Conference on People with Disabilities and at the FOSE conference at the Washington Convention Center in both hard copy and Digital Talking Book format. In addition a hard copy of the guide was distributed during the workshop. Also being exhibited at FOSE is an EPA pilot, led by Brand Niemann, that reflects the principles identified in the guide: XML, Voice Application Networks and Networked Improvement Communities are key enterprise tools for achieving Citizen-Centric Government. See February 19,workshop notes for Brand's presentation.
Also, please note this April 3,2002 addendum as the workshop notes are released: On March 20, this pilot Natural Language Interface to Web Content received top honors for Innovation by the Quad Council at FOSE. The Quad Council is composed of the Chief Information Officers Council, Chief Financial Officers Council, Human Resources Council, and Procurement Executives Council. See the following URLs for details: http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/18224-1.html and www.xml.gov
This recognition can also be seen as validation of our efforts to serve as an oasis/launch pad for innovative leaders in government like Brand Niemann. Congratulations, Brand!
Susan introduced Dr. Guzman of George Washington University, School of Medicine, who will be coordinating and presenting at next month's workshops on Multi-channel Delivery of Health Information. She also introduced Dr. Tom Lewis and Janina Sajka who will be participating in next month's session.
Susan remarked that Tom Lofft, an Architect with the Cohousing network, would be speaking today and that the principles behind Cohousing are important to consider as we move into collaborative space. Susan also pointed out an article that was in the March 17 Sunday Washington Post on "It's time to be Citizens not Spectators". It outlines the goals of the Administration's new USA Freedom Corps Initiative including "fining a role for the feds in the creation of human happiness, and helping Americans live what the ancient philosophers called "the good life". The initiative is led by John Bridgeland. More information is available at: http://www.usafreedomcorps.gov/
Susan thanked Tony Stanco, Cyberspace Policy Institute, George Washington University, for being instrumental in arranging and locating speakers to come to the workshop sessions and talk about open source. She also introduced Lisa Nyman and Rachael LaPorte Taylor of the Census Bureau, who would be presenting in the afternoon on their work in open source. Susan distributed the GSA/OIS Newsletter, entitled, XML Applications in Government, Issue 11. Use the following link to view the neewsletter: OIS Newsletter, Issue 11: XML Applications in Government
Introduction to the new collaborative tool of our UA Expedition community Presented by Bob Andrew, ICF Consulting
Bob Andrew introduced his colleague Dennis Crow, and led the discussion on the introduction of the new collaborative tool, "Quickplace". He briefly went over the procedures on how to join the Collaboration Expedition workshop community on-line, hoping that this new tool will replace the current listserv. The joining process essentially consists of typing your username, the organization that you belong to, and a valid email address so that the community will be able to send you information. Mr. Andrew briefly went over some of the highlights of Quickplace, which consisted of "rooms" housing our archived agendas, notes and presentations from past workshops. Quickplace also consists of an area with our mission statement. All are encouraged to join the community and post resources that you feel would be of interest to the group. You can easily change your password at any time, once you have joined.
Our new collaborative space is at http://ioa-qpnet-co.gsa.gov/ua-exp (apologies for the non-intuitive address). We're also piloting an XML-based collaborative tool that will mirror the quickplace site. It is located at http://people.internet2.edu/~ghb/coexp.
Discussion:
Q: Why are you apologizing for the non-intuitive address?
A: The Agency's CIO needs to approve the usage of .gov. We can apply to use the address UniversalAccess.gov or whatever term we find most useful.
Q: Is there a distribution list of known good browsers for this site, because not all browsers work well with Quickplace?
A: Internet Explorer and Netscape 4.7.
Karl Hebenstreit (GSA) is working with other agencies on improving the overall usability of collaboration tools. He will be leaving today to present at the west coast conference (CSUN) where Janina Sajka will be introducing our guide in Digital Talking Book format. Karl recommended three books. These are resources for the paper he will be presenting at CSUN.
· Design Wise, A Guide for Evaluating the Interface Design of Information Resources, Alison J. Head, April 1999.
· Bootstrapping, Douglas Englebart, Co Evolution and the Origins of Personal Computing, Theirry Bardini, November 2000.
· Online Communities, Designing Usability Supporting Sociability, Jenny Preece, September 2000.
Cohousing Communities in the USA: A Community Building Ethic For Well-being Tom Lofft, Cohousing Network
NOTE: Historical and supplemental information on Cohousing can be accessed at http://www.cohousing.org/
Susan introduced Tom Lofft, a member of the Cohousing Network. Tom explained that Cohousing is a concept that originated in the 1960s, in Denmark. The concept was created because groups of people were feeling estranged and isolated from their neighbors. No one in the United States was familiar with the Cohousing concept until two architects, Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durrett from California went to Denmark. Both McCamant and Durett spent six months living in a Denmark Cohousing community. Once they left the Denmark community they took the idea back to California and collaborated on a book, entitled, Cohousing, a Contemporary Approach to Cohousing Ourselves, 1988. Since publication of the book and introduction of the concept in California, the Cohousing communities are becoming more prevalent in the US. Currently, there are over 120 communities in at least the first stage of development and over 50 other communities that are fully occupied.
Tom spoke about Cohousing Network's 501.C3non-profit organization status. This group is completely a dues-funded organization, in which participation is not mandatory. It is comprised of like-minded people. During this part of the discussion Tom showed slides of various Cohousing communities.
Tom explained that the main focus of Cohousing is not a drive for the highest profitability. Rather it is driven by the sense of community. One of the first slides consisted of a Cohousing community with small children playing and neighbors smiling at one another. Cohousing enables you to truly get to know your neighbors. In addition, you also have participation and input in planning and designing your community and making it an environment where children can play safely.
There are four primary characteristics of Cohousing:
·The future residents participate in the planning and development. This collaboration helps to establish an effective method for the new community to work together.
·Self-Management
·Common facilities. This as a place where the community can eat together, where neighbors take turns cooking for each other. The community building is also a place where a daycare facility and children's playroom are housed. Additionally, the community house is where workshops and community meetings are usually held.
·The physical design of the community encourages opportunities for interaction between neighbors. Parking for cars is on the periphery of the neighborhood, thereby eliminating the conflict between playing children and cars. This differs from the typical way homes are built in the United States, where people drive right into their homes and into garages.
Cohousing residents often cluster their homes together and preserve the wooded areas around their neighborhoods. Houses are built with their fronts facing in, so that parents are able to see their children playing in the children's play area. Typically the overall sizes of the homes are smaller, including the kitchens. Approximately 15% of a family's housing resources are placed into establishing the shared facilities.
The first Cohousing community was established in Davis, California, called Muir Commons, named after environmentalist John Muir. The second community was established in Emeryville, CA. The community turned a warehouse into twelve condominium homes. McCamant and Durrett live here. The third Cohousing community was established in Bainbridge Island, Washington. The design of this community was done without an outside developer. This community has a blanket mortgage, however, individuals are able to get their equity interest if they decide to sell.
Tom showed a slide of a Cohousing community that was built near Boulder, CO, which consisted of 42 units set on 43 acres of land. These homes were colorfully constructed with a stunning view of the Rocky Mountains. The slides of this community, showed their community house and how they utilize bulletin boards as a means of keeping people informed. Tom showed slides of another Cohousing community that was built in Southside Park, CA. This community was built by working with the City's Re-development Agency. It preserved Victorian style homes. Tom referred to an idea that came from a book by John Naisbitt and Patricia Aburdene, (Mega Trends 2000: New Directions for Tomorrow, January 1991) which stated that in the future there would be "more high touch instead of high tech". The path of Cohousing follows the classic path for new grassroots growth and ideas- starting in the West, moving to the East, and bouncing back to the Mid-West. Cohousing in America came from a pair of architects in CA and it caught on and is slowly spreading eastward.
Tom introduced a video taken from NBC's Dateline coverage on Cohousing. The video began by showing a two-income family that was residing in Denver CO. It described how they would come home after a hard day's work and lock themselves into "cocoons", away from their neighbors and the community. This family traded their suburban home in for a Cohousing community in Harmony Village, located at the foot of the Rockies in Golden, Colorado. This is a community where people do laundry together, prepare meals together and share garden chores. This community is not a commune and they do not share a common ideology. But
Cohousing communities do subscribe to an unwritten rule, that neighbors help each other
They do this by sharing childcare resources. In addition, families are required to take turns cooking for each other in the common house. Meals are shared once or twice a week. Although this way of living allows more opportunities for interaction with your neighbors, it is not a requirement. The typical cost for a unit in a Cohousing community can range between $97,000-$300,000. The video also discussed some of the disadvantages of living in a Cohousing community:
· Long community meetings discussing various topics. Unanimous decisions are difficult.
Giving up individual control of the home design.
· A positive note is that most of the Cohousing neighborhoods have a waiting list of families who are waiting to move in.
Tom asked the question, "What does universal access mean?" He told the story of a ninety-six year old resident who lives in a Cohousing community. The particular community in which she resides has six homes that were designed for wheel chair access. Tom also mentioned that in Liberty Village, a Cohousing community being established in Libertytown, MD, a deaf child will be moving into the community. Over 50% of the neighbors are currently taking sign language so that they will be able to communicate with the child.
Tom discussed that there were no rules, only agreements, in Cohousing and that most communities are built on consensus. This is one of the reasons why a Cohousing community works more effectively if it is kept to about 20-40 homes. In a larger community contact with all neighbors is more difficult. Tom described a Cohousing community in Atlanta GA, where two 30 family communities combined and built side- by -side. These two communities came together and built one common house that is shared by the 60 homes. These two Cohousing communities are succeeding by learning to share and work together.
Tom wrapped up his presentation by talking about a community with which he has had a lot of contact with, called Liberty Village, located in Libertytown MD. He introduced a videotape, "Dream Builders", on Liberty Village. This community was started in 1989. The design and the layout of Liberty Village was developed and picked out by the people who planned on living in the community. The community is built on 23 acres with the home sites only taking up 7 acres of the land. Parking spaces are located away from the homes so that neighbors can interact with each other while preventing all traffic near the children playing in the neighborhood. The establishment of a Cohousing community takes time and communities take time to develop as well. The creation of Liberty Village took a total of eleven years before it was fully developed. However, during this time one of the most important aspects of Cohousing was allowed to mature- the relationships among the members of the community. "Cohousing is the most time-consuming and expensive self-improvement project
." Tom emphasized the idea that Cohousing is a grassroots concept. He shared that putting an ad in the classifieds of a local newspaper started Liberty Village. In conclusion, Tom discussed four additional characteristics of Cohousing:
1. Finding a site, which is the biggest problem in establishing a Cohousing community.
2. The design has to fit and encourage the sense of community. The people in the community want to be a part of this process as well as give input.
3. In the budget, money must be set aside for community facilities (at least 15% should be allocated).
4. Resident management not Home Owner Association's. Areas are well taken care of because every resident has bought into the concept. The children learn from seeing this participatory environment modeled by their parents.
Discussion:
Q: Facilities for seniors in Cohousing?
A: The communities are very nurturing. Liberty Village has a ninety-six year old resident and she receives as much support as she wants.
Q: Do you think a community could include resident health services?
A: Not aware of a community where health services for aging residents was the primary ethic. the community. However a childcare ethic has been common and he could envision a healthcare ethic as well. Tom discussed how he worked for Meridian Healthcare and how universal physical access is built into most community designs. He also described how communities often have individuals who are social workers, therapists and nurses.
Q: I live in a Townhouse community with about forty homes. After all of the homes were built the builder decided to stay on and live. The community is located about one mile away from the Pentagon and the builder suggested that the community get together and get a shuttle bus. He also suggested that the whole community get together and hire a contractor to paint the homes. Most interactions and social contact is done while neighbors walk their dogs. I am not sure if I want to know all of my neighbors. What is the percentage of people who would be interested in a community such as this? And what about resale?
A: Resale. Most communities have a waiting list, are not sold on the open market, and the communities are intended to grow with the individual so the community often has different styles of homes as families typically need larger and then smaller homes. The homes are built side- by- side and are energy- efficient and user- friendly.
Q: Garages are a good thing. I like driving into them especially in bad weather (rain or snow). I agree with the fact that we need to bring back family, which includes looking after your own, both seniors and children will benefit from each other.
A: Not everyone is buying into Cohousing. A community in Colorado has attached and detached units with garages.
Q: Spending time together, does it help with the stress, illness and divorce rates?
A: Cannot tell you. Perhaps a social worker will look into this. Please check out the website http://www.cohousing.org/, you will find interesting information on this site (e.g. cooking for sixty people).
Q: I have a friend living in Bainbridge impression of how "White" the community is. How to enrich diversity?
A: How can one enrich these communities is a common concern. Can be done in existing sites. Sacramento has a racially diverse community. User- friendliness and full disclosure is important.
Q: Are there intentional communities of color?
A: Sacramento is the most diverse. They took an established neighborhood that was already very diverse. Recommend focus on common facilities concurrent with or before private homes.
Adding Up the Common Elements of Successful Communities: What are the Dimensions in the Physical World and in the Cyber World that Matter? Dialogue led by Bob Andrew, ICF Consulting
Susan introduced Bob Andrews of ICF consulting. Bob began the discussion by talking about how he could remember back in 1948 his community in New Zealnad had a swimming pool without lifeguards. The swimming pool was run solely by parents with children. Parents would use the facility and the last parent to leave would send all the children home and then lock up the pool area.
Bob then moved to discussing the step process of entering our new Cyber Community space using a "floorplan" analogy. Bob referred to a handout that was a visual depiction of our Collaborative Expedition space online. The floorplan currently consists of eleven rooms, with the Gathering Place (Common Room) being placed in the center. The Common Room includes membership self-profiles, calendar, tutorial, and "What's New" Every Week. Every room can be accessed from the Common Room except Planning for Next Workshop room and the Technical Support room. Access to these rooms requires joining as a member. The other rooms are:
·1.Healthy Seniors
2. Voice &XML
3. Reference Library
4. Archives
5. Digital Divide
6. Assistive Technology
7. Open Source
8. Extra room that needs an owner
Bob noted that individuals must sign in if they would like to make a post a comment or share a web resource. He also suggested that people take time to browse through each room. Through browsing the rooms, one might find that some documents are available in more than one room. Each room will need an owner, someone who will be responsible for housekeeping a particular room.
Nick Guzman agreed to be the host of Planning for Next Workshop room. He will use the room to help organize the April 16 workshop.
Susan would like to see a place where people could RSVP that they will be attending the next workshop.
Karl Hebenstreit explained how participants could set up a list of the rooms that will contain the information of most interest to them. Subsequently, they could receive weekly notification of items that have been added in the past week to their favorite rooms.
Discussion:
Q: Does each room have a structure or format?
A: This can very. We can start with the structure provided by the materials already published and branch out from there.
If you would like to suggest how to construct a room, make a suggestion in the Developers room. Describe how the room should look and technical staff will assist you.
Q: Are their any bandwidth storage requirements?
A: Anything up to 10 gigabytes is acceptable
Q: Are there conventions for uploading documents, e.g., RTF?
A: It works well with Microsoft Office products.
Q: Does it have a group Rolodex? Can we invite other individuals to join the group?
A: Any member can invite an individual through Quickplace.
Karl Hebenstreit demonstrated how to use the Bookshelf link on Quickplace to locate reference materials. Susan pointed out the Message Board, which is very useful for posting items of interest to the group. In preparation for a recent meeting, she posted relevant URLs here that greatly assisted a small group meeting for the first time and looking for a quick way to get up to speed on each other's projects and organizational websites.
Susan thanked everyone for coming to today's workshop and invited participants to return for the April 16, 2002 workshop.
Workshop Attendees and Comments:
Name and Organization
Position
E-Mail
Comments
Susan Turnbull GSA
Senior Program Advisor
Susan.turnbull@gsa.gov
Appreciated the generosity of the group assistance requested at last mtg. Was received. The guide is available in Digital Talking Book format now.
Mark Westerman Westcam, Inc.
mark.westerman@westcam.com
Dennis Crow
Consultant
dcrow@soroximityone.com
Interested in Digital Divide
John Huth John J. Barcklow Foundation
Research Gerontologist
john.huth@verizon.net
Karl Hebenstreit GSA
Systems and Accessibility Specialist
karl.hebenstreit@gsa.gov
Involved with access issues and the Telework project. Supporting the Quickspace effort for the workshop.
Tom Lofft The Cohousing Network
Tlofft@hotmail.com
Mark Frautschi
Independent Consultant
Frautschi@bigmindmedia.com
Likes to see groups making connections. Knowledge Management encourages linkages between two or more groups.
Tony Stanco George Washington University, Cyberspace Policy Institute
Senior Policy Analyst
Tony@freedevelopers.net stanco@seas.gwu.edu
Very interested in open source software issues.
Nick Guzman George Washington University, School of Medicine
Associate Professor
Guzmann@gwu.edu
Exploring new and simple ways to deliver health information to minorities and Hispanic populations.
Bob Andrew ICF Consulting
Bobandrew@icfconsulting.com
Led today's dialogue on Quickplace
William E. Smith ODII
aic@adii.com
Interested in addressing and resolving large complex problems.
Lowell Christy Chairman, City of Mind
lowell@cityofmind.com
Trina Martynowicz
EPA
Martynowicz.trina@epa.gov
Jim Shanesy
Sr. Systems Analyst/GAITS
James.shanesy@gsa.gov
Sasha Pacheu
sasha@mysql.com
Developer of open source
Tom Basil
tom@mysql.com
Lawrence Wasserman
Fortech
wfuture@hotmail.com
Larry Koskinen
Earth911
lkoskinen@aol.com
Tom Lewis
NIH clinical care and Research
Interested in better ways of delivering health care to diverse groups and the role of open source
Bob Knisely
St. Albans (Faculty)
knizzo@aol.com
Lisa Nyman
Census Bureau
lnyman@census.gov
Rachel Taylor
Census Bureau
rltaylor@census.gov
Marten Mickos
MySQL
marten@mysql.com
Speaker in the afternoon
Lisa Xantus EDS
Consultant
lisa.xantus@eds.com
Judy Douglas
Principal Consultant, E-Government Community of Practice
Judy.Douglas@eds.com
February 19, 2002
Purpose of Workshop:
To Explore the Societal Innovation Potential and Realities of Natural Language and Interaction Interfaces: Extending Government Web Services To Transcend Differences of Language, Print Literacy, Technical Literacy and Physical Ability
Welcome
Susan Turnbull, from the General Services Administration (GSA), opened the meeting by welcoming everyone to the continuing collaboration workshop series. The series began one year ago from initial discussions with George Brett, Internet2. The purpose of today's workshop is to explore the societal innovation potential and realities of natural language and interaction interfaces. Multiple channels of service delivery are needed to transcend differences of language, print literacy, technical literacy and physical ability.
The workshop series is co-sponsored by the Federal Architecture and Infrastructure Committee of the CIO Council and the National Coordination Office for Computing, Information and Communications to open dialogue among seven affinity groups representing science and service disciplines. All affinity groups share a common purpose in exploring how to ease digital access disparities.
The workshop series contributors have completed a guide for public administrators Extending Digital Dividends: Public Goods and Services that Work for All. Discussion is underway about how to make the guide available in the audio ebook format. It is anticipated that GPO may publish the guide with the audio ebook as a CD insert.
John Andre, of the CIO Council's Knowledge Management (KM) Working Group introduced their new CD which also includes a copy of the Extending Digital Dividends guide. The KM Working Group is one of the seven affinity groups that participates in the workshop series.
Susan described the long-term, anticipated results of the workshop series:
1. Better appreciation of realities and potential for accommodating human difference
2. Faster innovation diffusion
3. Better marketplace discernment
Susan noted that the workshop will adjourn at 4 PM today allowing for additional networking timeand an introduction to the UA Expedition On-line conferencing capability. (Sign up for this through Karl.Hebenstreit@gsa.gov. The afternoon session continued the monthly exploration of Open Source including a presentation on SELinux, by Peter Loscocco, NSA and SNARE, a Linux auditing tool for SELinux by Mark Westerman, Westcam, Inc. The Cyberspace Policy Institute, George Washington University is a co-sponsor of the open source sessions. Tony Stanco is the primary contributor to this effort from CPI.
Susan introduced Tom Lofft from the Cohousing Network, one of the speakers for next month's workshop.
Demonstration of How to Create a Natural language Interface to Web Content at EPA: VoiceXML and the Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Website Presented by Brand Niemann, Computer Scientist EPA, Jim Stilwell, Senior Systems Engineer, and Greg O'Connell, Senior Sales Consultant, Tellme Networks, Inc.
Susan introduced Brand Niemann, Computer Scientist and XML Web Services Evangelist from EPA and Jim Stilwell and Greg O'Connell, from Tellme. Susan noted that the UA Expedition guide addresses the importance of XML, voice applications and networked improvement communities to advancing citizen-centric government. All of these components are integral to the EPA pilot of Natural Language Interface to Web Content led by Brand Niemann. Greg explained that Tellme's VoiceXML site can be accessed by telephone. This EPA pilot has won recognition and will be demonstrated at FOSE in March at the CIO Council Showcase of Excellence. (Brand provided a handout describing the project). Brand learned about the VoiceXML developer portal available through Tellme at a previous UA Expedition meeting. He used the Tellme developers tools and studio to pilot a voice application for EPA. Demonstration today will include the State of Utah's 511 Travel Advisories Service and EPA's VoiceXML pilot.
Jim began by discussing what Brand needed to develop his voice application a place to perform some testing and how the VoiceXML website met this need. The website, studio.tellme.com, has a developer portal available for no charge. There is also an 800 number that can be used to access this portal. The developer portal provides a scratchpad to hold application work. There is no charge to develop a VoiceXML application at the site because Tellme wants people to get interested in the potential of this capability.
There is industry support for VoiceXML applications and it is a W3C standard. Database companies and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) companies are offering VoiceXML interfaces to their products. VoiceXML interfaces with all the standards for Internet, Voice, WAP and others.
This is how VoiceXML works. To use the Internet usually an organization has a web server backed up with some business logic and some data access source and this web server interfaces with the internet so that network users can use URLs to go to different Internet sites. Tellme can add an audio layer to this structure that allows the company to support voice applications. Most important is that Tellme provides the telephony hardware as a service. Extra layers can be easily added to an Internet site for voice applications. VoiceXML is closely related to HTML so web developers can easily learn to work with the application. Applications can easily be extended to multimedia. This enables the developer to concentrate on building very powerful applications.
Jim then provided more details on the VoiceXML website supported by Tellme:
· studio.tellme.com
· Access is free and the site provides a free ID and PIN
· Provides information on VoiceXML, sample code and a scratchpad
· Can use scratchpad to cut and paste sample code (uses standard text editor)
· Can run test applications on a network that includes an 800 number with ID and security PIN,
· Provides a trouble/error log on the test application after processing
· Touch-tone and voice recognition capabilities are built into VoiceXML
· Voice application grammars are available to assist with development
Next, Greg demonstrated the State of Utah VoiceXML Travel Advisory Application. Some of the specifics for this system are:
· It took only 3 months to develop
· Uses the N11 dialing codes 511 for this application
· Uses concatenated speech a series of words linked together obtained from recording studios
· All prompts are voice prompts
· Included information about Winter Olympic events
Greg called the Travel Advisory number and demonstrated how his voice commands in response to voice prompts resulted in real-time, naturally spoken information on road traffic around Salt Lake City, directions to Olympic venues and other transportation options. He noted that the application can accept voice commands using different dialects. The application is developed to keep the communication exchange flowing to provide a more positive experience for the user.
Discussion:
Q: What voice engines are used?
A: VoiceXML uses Nuance Recognition software Nuance 7 - that supports many different speech patterns and dialects.
Q: What is the efficiency of this application for voice recognition?
A: The average is around 50%. It varies though in different situations - ATT was using VoiceXML for 800 number programs with a 14% rate of efficiency, then contracted with Tellme to run the program. With improved technology, Tellme is currently pushing rates of 90% with savings in the millions for AT&T.
Q: Is VoiceXML able to interface with TTY?
A: When TTY capabilities are integrated into the web server the same information on the web can be presented in text to the TTY user.
Q: If you go in by voice, can Google be used to do the search?
A: The 1-800-555-Tell number will do this.
After the demonstration, Brand discussed his experience with VoiceXML. EPA's Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention Office (CEPPO) needed to develop an application for spatial data. CEPPO was looking for a "faster, better, cheaper" method of using the CEPPO website and accessing the information in the Local Emergency Planning Committee's (LEPC) database. Brand explained that the VoiceXML pilot represents the "faster, better, cheaper" he and his managers wanted. This represents a "Killer App" that meets CEPPO's needs and is 508 compliant.
The resources required for this application were FileMaker Pro (cost of $150), the NXT 3 P2P software platform (approximate cost $1,000) and 3 staff days. Using FileMaker Pro made the project quicker and cheaper. Brand had previously discussed this project with EPA web developers who told him a similar project developed through EPA's web development program would cost $50K to $75K and take 3 months. In addition, this method of web content development would not support access by phone. This approach also supports distributed content management of web content.
The pilot application is viewable at the EPA website and demonstrates the delivery of XML data from the LEPC contact database. When the pilot application is accessed, it maps your zipcode and then logs it as a query. The pilot application's database has 3000+ records with 10 parameters. The database can easily scale to larger sizes. Using VoiceXML, EPA has created a LEPC contact database that meets Section 508 requirements at a reasonable cost.
EPA is working right now on an XML application for accessing location-specific census data by typing in a longitude, latitude and radius. The pilot application search interface uses one or more of the identified parameters to search the database.
Brand then demonstrated the EPA VoiceXML application on the CEPPO site . First, he brought up the EPA CEPPO website application and typed in the zipcode as a search parameter. The application searched the database and brought up the names and data for the LEPC at that zip code. Next, Brand called the number for the website and demonstrated the VoiceXML application. When the zip code was spoken the system responded with information about the nearest LEPC location by voice. This was the same contact information displayed at the website. Brand also showed the scripting and XML markup language used.
Discussion:
Q: Who owns the data?
A: Congressional legislation requires EPA and the States to do two things 1) States are to put the LEPCs together and, 2) EPA is responsible for keeping LEPC data current and accessible. In this environment EPA and the States co-own the data.
Q: Is Lexus-Nexus set up for voice capabilities?
A: Brand has heard that Lexus-Nexus has recently bought the NXT 3 platform to provide this channel of access. The value proposition of XML has three main elements: 1) it "future proofs" your information against periodic technology change; 2) it allows you to do XML web services; and, 3) it allows you to deliver XML content to alternate devices.
Q: Are there bilingual capabilities for voice applications?
A: Higher level software platforms can support bilingual capabilities.
Q: Is there use of radio?
A: This can happen with XML, but you need to determine what alternate devices the system will deliver information to and break the information into "nuggets" that can be used by those alternate devices.
Q: What is the status of voice application standards?
A: Applications developed are proprietary, but standardized tags are used by all companies developing these products. The companies want to avoid proprietary tags because they create problems in the future due to rewriting of code in these voice applications.
Comment: Voice applications would be great for updating federal government telephone directories and the Federal Blue
*****NOTE: The EPA VoiceXML application was one of the finalists at FOSE's Federal CIO Council Showcase of Excellence and was demonstrated at the FOSE exhibition March 19-21, 2002, award winners were recognized by the Quad Council on March 20, 2002. On March 20, this application was chosen by the Quad Council for top innovation honors. See http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/18224-1.html and www.xml.gov
Natural Interaction Interface: Bringing Web Content to Communities in a Manner that Transcends Differences of Language, Literacy and Physical Ability presented by Neil Scott, Director of Archimedes Project, Stanford University
NOTE: Neil's presentation can be accessed at ftp://ftp-csli.stanford.edu/pub/Arch/ingmarie/ and then click on GSA_Pres_Feb19.ppt. Please be aware that it is large file and will take several minutes to download.
Susan introduced Neil Scott, Director of the Archimedes Project at Stanford University. The Archimedes Project seeks to promote equal access to information for individuals with disabilities by influencing the early design stages of tomorrow's computer-based technology. The project's website is http://archimedes.stanford.edu//arch.html.
Neil explained that the Archimedes Project was founded to provide leverage to disadvantaged individuals using existing and developing technologies. Many of these technologies have much broader uses than are currently employed. The project is primarily focused on discussing people's access needs as an important aspect of their overall well-being.
There are many people in the world and all are different in some way. Information technology tries to treat people as all the same. The project looks at people's goals, which are good health and well-being. There are problems in achieving these goals, but there are solutions and the solutions, in main part, are information.
Computers are artifacts - they get between you and the information. In the future, access devices like computers will get cleaner and more intuitive. Right now there are different types of computer users:
· Normal
· Disabled
· Aging
· Illiterate
· Poor
· Remote Locations
Sometimes providing the right incentives can get a certain user group going. In Palo Alto there is a group of elder Internet users called the Silver Surfers. With the appropriate incentives this elder user group became extremely active users of the Internet.
Well-being is the ability to manage daily issues effectively, having good health, a good education, and opportunities for leisure activities. Some people don't have this status, for example, disabled children. Problems are due to insufficient resources, illiteracy, and lack of a job or other skills. These are the things needed to just exist and when they are not present there are problems.
Sources of information are folklore, religion, schools, libraries, and NGOs (in other countries these can be very important). The Internet can be a source of information, but it is very unstructured. If you know what you are doing the Internet is a treasure trove. However, there are some issues with access for some for those that have difficulty moving or seeing, those that are too remote or poor. Even with access, some users are faced with incomprehensible screens and an imposing amount of unstructured, poorly ordered information.
Trying to do something simple for access to all this information can be very difficult. We must change the way we interact with information. In many cases we are getting more information pumped at us than we need. There are three essential components to a better structure for obtaining information.
1. Simple Appliances
2. Intelligent User Interface
3. Structured Knowledge Repository (places to get knowledge, not just information)
Simple Appliances
· Have to be simple, such as a tablet computer (looks like an Etch-a-Sketch with icons) with point and speech conventional software is too complex.
· Why tablet computer rather than PDA? PDA screens are too small right now
· Simple web browser with flash playback is usually sufficient
· As they develop simple appliances, we realize that they can be the prototype for many more appliances
· Simple does not mean dumb!
· Different input and output modalities become possible
· They need to be low cost and long lasting. Certain communities, such as people with disabilities, cannot repeatedly go back to the well to pay for constant upgrades
Intelligent User Interfaces
· Just starting to get there with voice recognition. Soon it will be done all in one sentence.
· Interface must adapt to the user rather than forcing the user to adapt to the computer.
· In Japan they have developed software that uses natural language one sentence is spoken for the request.
· New ways are being found to incorporate natural interaction body feedback, non-verbal signals etc.
· Look at: What is this person doing? What does this mean? What do we need to do? This is a distributive agent network.
Structured Knowledge Repository
· Put information in forms that can be used in intelligent ways.
· Have filters to take out clutter.
· Provide purpose-designed knowledge repositories.
Neil described a program sponsored by Reuters that asked nine scholars to identify a global problem and develop a solution. One of the scholars identified a situation in India involving villages in a certain region that needed information on health, agriculture and weather issues. The Indian government has laid 35,000 KM of fiber optic cable, but 75% of villages in India are not able to access this network to obtain information. These villages, on average, have a six-mile walk to get to an information source for help with a sick child or water buffalo (a long way to walk carrying a sick child, even longer carrying a sick water buffalo!). In these villages, 98% of the women, and 88% of the men, are illiterate.
The proposed solution was to start with local people who are domain specific knowledge repositories and have them use simple interfaces with the villagers based on speech icons and gestures. However, one of the major issues with this approach is the introduction of people and groups of people with different dialects, or even languages. When this occurs it is necessary to introduce a human mediator to help understand what the person needs and their information requirements. The mediator also can add new experiences to the knowledge repository to maintain its usefulness and relevance, which is very important in this situation.
The next step is to look at this local knowledge being identified and gathered to determine how to expand this into regional knowledge. Then the knowledge repository can be pushed higher to the country-wide level. At this level there will be holes in the repository. What they need to work at then, is filling gaps by finding a way to effectively link a local/regional/country knowledge repository with other communities (e.g. other countries) to expand and grow the knowledge repository base.
Neil introduced Bob Gauldie from the University of New Zealand so he could describe some of his experiences with the knowledge repository concept. Bob noted that New Zealand is very good at packaging information (e.g. agricultural information) and selling it to other individuals or groups. They adhere to Steaming's dictum "Survival is optional when change is not compulsory." With that in mind, New Zealand has become very proficient at controlled change at the bottom end of the worker cycle by doing things such as health and training upgrades, moving a worker from outdated technologies to capabilities with current technologies. Because of this ability, the country of Chile has asked New Zealand to help with its bottom economic work group, particularly on expanding technical capabilities. In Chile they have a ratio of five graduate level workers to one technician and they need to adjust that ratio to increase the denominator. New Zealand is also good at electrical system management and exports this capability by managing Finland's and Vietnam's electrical power systems.
Total Access System
Neil moved back to his presentation to discuss the concept of the Total Access System (TAS). A TAS covers people that need special tools to access information for a long period of time. Neil looked at the target systems lights, computers, an appliance, etc. and decided to leave these alone. Unfortunately, these target systems create a hostile environment in many ways. For example, computers are sold to make a profit and there is usually no attention paid to access issues. He has separated out these access issues and decided that the computers and software are someone else's concern.
Instead, the Archimedes Project focused on how the person would interface with the computer and developed the Total Access Ports (TAP) technology. TAPs are inexpensive devices that can be built-in or added on to existing computers. The access device (accessor) best suited for the individual links into TAP and the user can then access the information. Input from the accessor through the TAP emulates a keyboard and mouse. Using the TAP, video output from the computer can be displayed from the accessor in a manner appropriate to the user.
Neil described what universal access should be for everybody. Universal access is like glasses that allow the user to read and connect with the information. Prescription glasses are attuned to an individual and handle variations encountered by that individual (except for those extreme temperature changes that cause fogging!). Such glasses always work properly and are always with the individual. Any upgrades are done by choice, not because of arbitrary outside decisions.
Project Archimedes has focused on developing accessors devices to allow all users access to information. Neil described several categories of accessors, such as:
· Speech Recognition many advances being made
· Eye Tracking was considered the "Holy Grail" for a time, but is very expensive even now; can be very useful for certain kinds of research
· Cartoons somewhat like sign language explores another method to communicate with people using different languages
· Haptic Output allows the user to feel things in the display. Uses a "Moose" a mouse with muscles to let a blind user to feel the screen layout and when combined with speech output, navigate to desired command icons.
· Musical Icons musical chords are associated with different icons
TAP technology can be used with different machines PCs, MACs, SUNs etc. Now, the project is looking at multiple ways to interface with each platform
There are three technologies used in the TAS project.
1. Neural Network Processors
2. Natural Language Processing (to learn the users' intention)
3. Distributed Agents (determine what information needs to go where)
With respect to the Neural Network Processors, they recently have worked with an inexpensive silicon recognition chip that mimics brain processing the Zero Instruction Set Computing (ZISC) chip. The chip is very useful to identify subtle head and eye movements, that in turn, contribute to recognition of facial expressions. ZISC is a natural fit for command and control voice recognition. The ZISC chip will have an impact on all access technologies.
Distributed agents link accessors to TAPs and accessors interact with other computer-based devices through TAP. Using the distributed agent model, half of the network can be in TAP for whatever type of machine is used. The other half of the network can be used by the accessor. As opposed to single agent networks, distributed agent networks find the channel to perform the command. The distributed agent network automatically configures itself to the user's needs, abilities, and preferences.
One of the projects being developed currently is a TAS for the Sony Game system. Another uses tablet computers to help healthcare workers and elderly individuals in healthcare programs gain access to patient and health information.
Archimedes Access Research and Technology International (AARTI) - This group is focused on finding ways to fund the efforts of the Archimedes Project. Currently, there is distribution and cloning of the Archimedes Project in Japan, New Zealand, Ireland and England. They can use the strengths in each place to create complete solutions developing a global collaboration network.
Discussion:
Q: For the musical chords accessor system, who decides the standards?
A: Let other people decide the standard formats. The people using the accessor can decide which "themes" to map to which icons using the standard formats.
Q: At nursing homes, residents must frequently wait for assistance and compassionate care is sometimes lacking. Part of this may be solved by technology can this project contribute?
A: Hope to explore a similar scenario in Japan as part of a grant application to be submitted soon. The project would seek to advance the safety and well-being of nursing home residents.
Neil shared a story that was relevant to this question. There was a patient in a hospital who was refusing to eat and very despondent. The patient had severe physical ailments that did not allow him to talk or even gesture easily. The hospital staff only did the basics to maintain the patient because there was no way to figure out what his needs were. Neil was able to let him use the tablet computer accessor for communication. That subtle addition that transformed the situation. Now the patient, who had been a computer programmer, was able to communicate. The patient's sprit returned and he began eating again. Neil noted that the Archimedes Project wants to use and improve technologies to allow all people to gain and maintain independence.
Workshop Attendees and Comments:
Name and Organization
Position
E-Mail
Comments
Susan Turnbull GSA
Senior Program Advisor
Susan.turnbull@gsa.gov
Would like to make the guide available using the Digital Talking Book technology.
Janina Sajka American Federation for the Blind
Director of Research and Development
Janina@afb.net
Would like to enhance the design of environments (physical and cyber) that are responsive to need of individuals who are blind. Leader and expert in Digital Talking Book technology
Mark Westerman Westcam, Inc.
mark.westerman@westcam.com
Will be speaking on an open source tool in the afternoon session
William K. Moore
Consultant
Wmoore@desc.dla.mic
President of a community-based group focused on computer and software training.
Greg O'Connell Tellme Networks
Senior Sales Consultant
Grego@tellme.com
Provided presentation on VoiceXML.
Jim Stilwell Tellme Networks
Senior Systems Engineer
Jstilwell@tellme.com
Provided presentation on VoiceXML.
John Huth John J. Barcklow Foundation
Research Gerontologist
john.huth@verizon.net
Foundation is focusing on improving the level of compassion and quality of care in assisted living programs
Owen Amber US Fish and Wildlife Service
CIO Council XML working group
Amber@erols.com
Focusing on the structure of a knowledge repository. Very interested in the issue of records management and how not to waste human knowledge.
Karl Hebenstreit GSA
Systems and Accessibility Specialist
karl.hebenstreit@gsa.gov
Involved with access issues and the Telework project. Supporting the Quickspace effort for the workshop.
Shannon Collins Veterans Health Administration
Shannon.collins@hq.med.va
Wants to explore and increase ways for Veterans to access health information.
John Andre GSA
Knowledge Manager
john.andre@gsa.gov
Wants to find ways to enable knowledge creation and sharing.
Tom Lofft The Cohousing Network
Tlofft@hotmail.com
Neil Scott Stanford University
Director, Archimedes Project
Ngscott@arch.stanford.edu
Bob Gauldie University of New Zealand
Associate Dean of Science
Rgauldie@actvix.gen.nz
Was struck by the nursing home example. He comes from a multi-cultural environment so has an interest in enabling diverse people to communicate well with one another
Mark Frautschi
Independent Consultant
Frautschi@bigmindmedia.com
Likes to see groups making connections. Knowledge Management encourages linkages between two or more groups.
Peter Gallagher devIS
Pgallagher@devis.com
Interested in internetworking applications.
Tony Stanco George Washington University, Cyberspace Policy Institute
Tony@freedevelopers.net stanco@seas.gwu.edu
Very interested in open source software issues.
Ling Wan Environmental Protection Agency
wan.ling@epa.gov
Involved with technology and applications agency will use to meet its mission
Nick Guzman George Washington University, School of Medicine
Associate Professor of Medicine, Director, Diabetes and Kidney Care Program, GWU
Guzmann@gwu.edu
Exploring new and simple ways to deliver health information to minorities and Hispanic populations.
Bob Andrew ICF Consulting
Bobandrew@icfconsulting.com
Has facilitated large groups up to 30,000 giving him a perspective on all types of communication issues. One of the large groups he facilitated resulted in the "idea into practice" of lasik surgery.
Craig Holcomb NSA
Technical Director, CIO Office of ITMRA Governance
Lcholco@nsa.gov
Interested in Section 508 requirements and affect they will have on the NSA.
Peter Loscocco NSA
Project Leader, SELinux
pal@epoch.ncsc.mil
Led development of security enhanced Linux
Jim Disbrow US Department of Energy
jim.disbrow@eia.doe.gov
Involved in policy development and DOE's Kid's Page
Grant Wagner NSA
gmu@tycho.nsa.gov
Interested in protecting information
William E. Smith ODII
aic@adii.com
Interested in addressing and resolving large complex problems.
Lowell Christy Chairman, City of Mind
lowell@cityofmind.com
Exploring cross-cultural communications as a learning tool for youth
Mark Addleson GMU
Director MNPS of Organizational Learning, (703) 993-1142
Exploring reframing how we think about organizations and management and the need to look at relational approaches rather than transactional approaches.
Paul Mrochinski EDS
Managing Consultant, E-Government Community of Practice
paul.mrochinski@eds.com
Lisa Xantus EDS
Consultant
lisa.xantus@eds.com
Dion Anderson EDS
Consultant Specialist, E-Government Community of Practice
dion.anderson@eds.com
Providing note-taking support to the workshop