The strategic goals are to prioritize web and new media programs based on their impact on the
Smithsonian's mission, strengthen brand relationships throughout the institution, and facilitate a global
community of learners by updating the Smithsonian's learning model for the digital age. This will be
achieved through developing new platforms for participation and innovation, increasing revenue from
digital initiatives, and implementing improved governance. The overarching theme is balancing autonomy
and control to encourage creativity while ensuring cohesion.
Powerpoint for Michael Edson's 2009 Visual Resources Association presentation, "Imagining a Smithsonian Commons" See accompanying pdf text version for the written-out text, footnotes, etc.
NOTE: this content is in the public domain (I'm a federal employee) but SlideShare doesn't let me tag it that way.
Michael Edson @ Forum One: Strategy and Audience (long version)Michael Edson
Long version of presentation about the Smithsonian's Web and New Media Strategy and how it relates to the goal of creating more audience-centric Web sites. For Forum One, National Press Club, Washington, D.C. November 5, 2009.
"Scope, Scale, Speed" -- for the Journal of the American Association of Schoo...Michael Edson
Text (and a few, adapted/simplified graphics) of an article in the May/June 2013 issue (Volume 41, No. 5) of Knowledge Quest, the journal of the American Association of School Librarians. I have included a few adapted /simplified graphics from the article, and I have added hyperlinks and an update/note or two. The original publication was sent to 7,000 school libraries and members of the American Association of School Librarians, and it is also available via several research databases.
The article is published in Knowledge Quest as CC-BY
Lego Beowulf and the Web of Hands and Hearts, for the Danish national museum ...Michael Edson
This talk was delivered at the awards ceremony for the 2012 Bikuben Foundation Danish Museum Prize in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Ideas about what museums are, who they serve, and the role they play in society are changing with dramatic speed, driven largely by social media and the participatory culture of global networks.
Denmark supports world-class museums, with remarkable collections, expert staff, and beautiful architecture. But how can museum leaders balance the traditional concepts of organizational mission and outcomes with the disruptive possibilities being demonstrated by those who love and use museums in new ways?
A text version of this presentation, with hyperlinks and footnotes, is available at http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/michael-edson-lego-beowulf-and-the-web-of-hands-and-hearts-for-the-danish-national-museum-awards-13444266
Michael Edson @ Brown University: Digital Strategy ThermoclineMichael Edson
The purpose of this presentation is to stimulate discussion around important issues in institutional digital strategy—just remember, these are generalizations and provocations: “the truth is in the middle."
For the Public Humanities Lunch, John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage, Brown University, November 18, 2009
"Click to Add Title"/ Thoughts on PresentingMichael Edson
Short presentation for the Museums and the Web Speaker Training webinar.
The session was lead by Loic Tallon and Nancy Proctor, and Peter Samis, Dana Mitroff-Silvers, Amy Heibel and Susan Chun all gave short talks that are well worth looking at ;)
http://mw2013.museumsandtheweb.com/mw2013-speaker-training-free-webinars/
Michael Edson @ J. Boye 2011: Jedi Mind Tricks for Measuring and Optimizing L...Michael Edson
Updated version of a talk first given at the e-Metrics Marketing and Optimization Summit, Washington, D.C., October 5, 2010. This version is for the J. Boye conference, Philadelphia, PA, 5-4-2011.
The talk spells out the lofty goals of the Smithsonian Institution and the Smithsonian Commons project, and then describes some of the unconventional measurement methodologies we're using to figure out what to do and how to do it.
J. Boye Conference page: http://jboye.com/conferences/philadelphia11/program/speakers/michael-edson/#presentation
Powerpoint for Michael Edson's 2009 Visual Resources Association presentation, "Imagining a Smithsonian Commons" See accompanying pdf text version for the written-out text, footnotes, etc.
NOTE: this content is in the public domain (I'm a federal employee) but SlideShare doesn't let me tag it that way.
Michael Edson @ Forum One: Strategy and Audience (long version)Michael Edson
Long version of presentation about the Smithsonian's Web and New Media Strategy and how it relates to the goal of creating more audience-centric Web sites. For Forum One, National Press Club, Washington, D.C. November 5, 2009.
"Scope, Scale, Speed" -- for the Journal of the American Association of Schoo...Michael Edson
Text (and a few, adapted/simplified graphics) of an article in the May/June 2013 issue (Volume 41, No. 5) of Knowledge Quest, the journal of the American Association of School Librarians. I have included a few adapted /simplified graphics from the article, and I have added hyperlinks and an update/note or two. The original publication was sent to 7,000 school libraries and members of the American Association of School Librarians, and it is also available via several research databases.
The article is published in Knowledge Quest as CC-BY
Lego Beowulf and the Web of Hands and Hearts, for the Danish national museum ...Michael Edson
This talk was delivered at the awards ceremony for the 2012 Bikuben Foundation Danish Museum Prize in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Ideas about what museums are, who they serve, and the role they play in society are changing with dramatic speed, driven largely by social media and the participatory culture of global networks.
Denmark supports world-class museums, with remarkable collections, expert staff, and beautiful architecture. But how can museum leaders balance the traditional concepts of organizational mission and outcomes with the disruptive possibilities being demonstrated by those who love and use museums in new ways?
A text version of this presentation, with hyperlinks and footnotes, is available at http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/michael-edson-lego-beowulf-and-the-web-of-hands-and-hearts-for-the-danish-national-museum-awards-13444266
Michael Edson @ Brown University: Digital Strategy ThermoclineMichael Edson
The purpose of this presentation is to stimulate discussion around important issues in institutional digital strategy—just remember, these are generalizations and provocations: “the truth is in the middle."
For the Public Humanities Lunch, John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage, Brown University, November 18, 2009
"Click to Add Title"/ Thoughts on PresentingMichael Edson
Short presentation for the Museums and the Web Speaker Training webinar.
The session was lead by Loic Tallon and Nancy Proctor, and Peter Samis, Dana Mitroff-Silvers, Amy Heibel and Susan Chun all gave short talks that are well worth looking at ;)
http://mw2013.museumsandtheweb.com/mw2013-speaker-training-free-webinars/
Michael Edson @ J. Boye 2011: Jedi Mind Tricks for Measuring and Optimizing L...Michael Edson
Updated version of a talk first given at the e-Metrics Marketing and Optimization Summit, Washington, D.C., October 5, 2010. This version is for the J. Boye conference, Philadelphia, PA, 5-4-2011.
The talk spells out the lofty goals of the Smithsonian Institution and the Smithsonian Commons project, and then describes some of the unconventional measurement methodologies we're using to figure out what to do and how to do it.
J. Boye Conference page: http://jboye.com/conferences/philadelphia11/program/speakers/michael-edson/#presentation
Good Projects Gone Bad: an Introduction to Process MaturityMichael Edson
Museum Web and New Media software projects offer tantalizing rewards, but the road to success can be paved with uncertainty and risk. To small organizations these risks can be overwhelming, and even large organizations with seemingly limitless resources can flounder in ways that profoundly affect staff morale, public impact, the health and fitness of our partners in the vendor community, and our own bottom lines. Something seems to happen between the inception of projects, when optimism and beneficial outcomes seem clear and attainable, and somewhere down the road when schedules, budgets, and outcomes go off course. What is it? And what can we do to gain control?
This paper, created for the 2008 annual conference of the American Association of Museums, describes some common ways that technology projects get into trouble. It examines a proven project-process framework called the Capability Maturity Model and how that model can provide insight and guidance to museum leaders and project participants, and it tells how to improve real-world processes that contribute to project success. The paper includes three brief case studies and a call-to-action which argues that museum leaders should make technology stewardship an urgent priority.
The intended audience is people who are interested in understanding and improving how museum-technology gets done. The paper’s primary focus is Web and New Media software projects, but the core ideas are applicable to projects of all kinds.
An outside-in look at the National WWII MuseumMichael Edson
Presentation for the board of the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, LA. (Following-up on a strategic planning workshop held at the museum in March, 2011)
Are museums a dial that only goes to 5? Michael Edson
For Social Media Week, Washington, D.C., "Defining and measuring social media success in museums and arts organizations." http://socialmediaweek.org/blog/event/are-you-remarkable-defining-and-measuring-social-media-success-in-museums-and-arts-organizations/#.US4XyOtARCQ
Michael Edson @ Potomac Forum: Relevance is in the Eyes of the BeholderMichael Edson
For the 10/30/09 Potomac Forum "Building Better Government Web Sites" event. This talk looks at the drivers behind the Smithsonian Web and New Media Strategy process and how the strategy defines a new relationship with audiences.
Michael Edson: Fast, Open, and Transparent: Developing the Smithsonian's Web ...Michael Edson
Written for the Museums and the Web 2010 conference, this paper describes the unusual process used to create the Smithsonian's Web and New Media Strategy. The strategy was created through a fast, transparent, public-facing process that included workshops, the Smithsonian 2.0 conference, Twitter, YouTube, and ongoing collaboration through a public wiki. Transparency, openness, and speed were used to overcome obstacles and gather the input of hundreds of people inside and outside the institution.
Social media for sustainable tourism development dissertation manoj kumarManoj Kumar
Abstract
This dissertation’s objectives are To understand consumer point of view and Create an internet based marketing plan Aiming at Increasing consumer awareness and recognition worldwide, Create a consumer facing entity which is loved by people Thus making it profitable for companies to behave responsibly and to Build loyal communities which will support efforts in difficult times and Lastly increase sales
Nowadays, social networks are now important part and parcel of business and life of everyone. Therefore, you, as a business owner, should take their presence seriously, look at it smartly, and have a plan to use them to achieve sales and marketing goals. Like other "Smart Business" books, this book is based on a smart look; It means looking at existing standards and realities from different angles so you can succeed at what you do. Based on this, you will learn how to use social networks smartly in business.
Michael Edson: The Smithsonian Commons - A Model Institution?Michael Edson
An overview of the Smithsonian Institution's Web and New Media Strategy process and the vision of a Smithsonian Commons. Presented at the Special Libraries Association 2009 conference.
Good Projects Gone Bad: an Introduction to Process MaturityMichael Edson
Museum Web and New Media software projects offer tantalizing rewards, but the road to success can be paved with uncertainty and risk. To small organizations these risks can be overwhelming, and even large organizations with seemingly limitless resources can flounder in ways that profoundly affect staff morale, public impact, the health and fitness of our partners in the vendor community, and our own bottom lines. Something seems to happen between the inception of projects, when optimism and beneficial outcomes seem clear and attainable, and somewhere down the road when schedules, budgets, and outcomes go off course. What is it? And what can we do to gain control?
This paper, created for the 2008 annual conference of the American Association of Museums, describes some common ways that technology projects get into trouble. It examines a proven project-process framework called the Capability Maturity Model and how that model can provide insight and guidance to museum leaders and project participants, and it tells how to improve real-world processes that contribute to project success. The paper includes three brief case studies and a call-to-action which argues that museum leaders should make technology stewardship an urgent priority.
The intended audience is people who are interested in understanding and improving how museum-technology gets done. The paper’s primary focus is Web and New Media software projects, but the core ideas are applicable to projects of all kinds.
An outside-in look at the National WWII MuseumMichael Edson
Presentation for the board of the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, LA. (Following-up on a strategic planning workshop held at the museum in March, 2011)
Are museums a dial that only goes to 5? Michael Edson
For Social Media Week, Washington, D.C., "Defining and measuring social media success in museums and arts organizations." http://socialmediaweek.org/blog/event/are-you-remarkable-defining-and-measuring-social-media-success-in-museums-and-arts-organizations/#.US4XyOtARCQ
Michael Edson @ Potomac Forum: Relevance is in the Eyes of the BeholderMichael Edson
For the 10/30/09 Potomac Forum "Building Better Government Web Sites" event. This talk looks at the drivers behind the Smithsonian Web and New Media Strategy process and how the strategy defines a new relationship with audiences.
Michael Edson: Fast, Open, and Transparent: Developing the Smithsonian's Web ...Michael Edson
Written for the Museums and the Web 2010 conference, this paper describes the unusual process used to create the Smithsonian's Web and New Media Strategy. The strategy was created through a fast, transparent, public-facing process that included workshops, the Smithsonian 2.0 conference, Twitter, YouTube, and ongoing collaboration through a public wiki. Transparency, openness, and speed were used to overcome obstacles and gather the input of hundreds of people inside and outside the institution.
Social media for sustainable tourism development dissertation manoj kumarManoj Kumar
Abstract
This dissertation’s objectives are To understand consumer point of view and Create an internet based marketing plan Aiming at Increasing consumer awareness and recognition worldwide, Create a consumer facing entity which is loved by people Thus making it profitable for companies to behave responsibly and to Build loyal communities which will support efforts in difficult times and Lastly increase sales
Nowadays, social networks are now important part and parcel of business and life of everyone. Therefore, you, as a business owner, should take their presence seriously, look at it smartly, and have a plan to use them to achieve sales and marketing goals. Like other "Smart Business" books, this book is based on a smart look; It means looking at existing standards and realities from different angles so you can succeed at what you do. Based on this, you will learn how to use social networks smartly in business.
Michael Edson: The Smithsonian Commons - A Model Institution?Michael Edson
An overview of the Smithsonian Institution's Web and New Media Strategy process and the vision of a Smithsonian Commons. Presented at the Special Libraries Association 2009 conference.
Shaking Hands with the Future: Culture and Heritage at a Moment Full of ChangeMichael Edson
Keynote for the congress of the Network Oorlogsbronnen (Netherlands WWII data network), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2 November 2021.
Note that some of the text/callouts seem hard to read w. SlideShare's new compression scheme — sorry about that! Probably best to download the show and view it in PowerPoint, or, I've put a link to a PDF version on slide 2 (and the links work on the PDF version too!)
(This is the second version of these slides. The previous version was for some reason flagged as suspicious by SlideShare and made irrevocably un-shareable.)
Digital Culture and the Shaking Hand of ChangeMichael Edson
The presentation shows how to create and use a "problem space" to organize complex challenges. The central metaphor for the talk is the "civic handshake" — a process by which different parts of society cooperate through the informal exchange of information and the sharing of responsibilities.
Ignite talk for the Museum Computer Network 2019 conference.
Annotated script with links and references.
A video of the talk: https://youtu.be/Psf-1C3ocDA
A blog post with some context and links: https://www.usingdata.com/usingdata/2019/11/5/the-web-we-want
Keynote for the Prague Platform on the Future of Cultural Heritage, convened by the European Commission, October 7-8, 2019. The Prague Platform talks about
“Enhanced digitally enabled cultural heritage participation for all citizens.”
But what do these words mean? And how might we approach them — as practitioners, communities, governments and institutions, and citizens?
Michael Peter Edson — Robot vs. Human: Who Will Win?Michael Edson
Presentation for the VIII St. Petersburg International Cultural Festival, St. Petersburg, Russia. 16 November 2019. See https://usingdata.com for updates and new versions.
Conference: https://culturalforum.ru.
Panel: https://culturalforum.ru/event/1565208895246-robot-vs-chelovek-kakie-navyki-pobedyat
An overview of how change works, and what can be done to accelerate transformational change in an industry. Created for the Openlab Workshop, December 1-2, 2015 in Washington, DC.
Think Big, Start Small, Move Fast: Digital Strategy in a Changing WorldMichael Edson
Keynote for MMEx digital strategy symposium, Randers, Denmark, August 2015. This presentation discusses the shortcomings of traditional strategy processes and suggests alternatives that emphasize speed, iteration, and a bias for action.
Dark Matter - - the dark matter of the internet is open, social, peer-to-peer...Michael Edson
Keynote for Europeana Creative, Kulturstyrelsen - Danish Agency for Culture, Internet Librarian International (London), Southeastern Museum Conference (USA), Library of Congress Reference Forum, St. John's University Library Forum, University of Oklahoma Digital Humanities Presidential Lecture, Smith Leadership Symposium (Balboa Park, USA)...
The Dark Matter of the Internet - - the dark matter of the internet is open, social, peer-to-peer and read write...and it's the future of libraries, museums, archives, and institutions of all kinds.
Also see the essay on which this talk is based: Dark Matter - - https://medium.com/@mpedson/dark-matter-a6c7430d84d1
And a video of me presenting these slides at the 2014 Southeastern Museums Conference (USA): http://youtu.be/-tdLD5rdRTQ
Boom: Openness and Sharing in the Cultural Heritage SectorMichael Edson
My essay for the book Sharing is Caring: Openness and sharing in the cultural sector, Merete Sanderhoff, editor, published by the National Gallery of Denmark, 2014.
Free download at http://sharingiscaring.smk.dk/en
"Michael opens this anthology by establishing why it is crucial for the cultural heritage sector to seize the opportunity offered by the Internet and digitization to reach global populations and make a difference in their lives. Through many years of pioneering efforts within the field of digital technologies, and generous sharing of expertise and advice, Michael has inspired institutions worldwide to dare working more openly and inclusively with the users’ knowledge and creativity."
Try Not: Do (New Zealand National Digital Forum, Closing Remarks)Michael Edson
Text from a short video for the closing plenary of the 2013 New Zealand National Digital Forum. This was cooked up - - improvised - - with no advanced planning a few hours before Andy Fenton's conference wrap-up.
Many thanks to Andy and everyone at the #ndfnz for allowing me to be there with you, if only for a few minutes, virtually.
The Tortoise and the Hare, Netherlands Museum CongresMichael Edson
Remarks to the Netherlands Museum Congress, October 3, 2013 plenary session keynote. Footnotes and citations are coming later, in an edited version, but let me know if you need sources/links. - - Mike
Keynote for Wikimedia UK GLAM-WIKI conference, British Library, London, April 12, 2013.
https://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM-WIKI_2013
Also presented at the National Museum, Denmark; Danish Broadcasting; Danskkulturarv.dk; the FIAT/IFTA conference; National Museum Congress, the Netherlands; Arts Council Norway annual conference; J. Boye, Copenhagen
Scope, scale, and speed are the focus of most of my work this year.
Super-Successful GLAMs (Text version with notes)Michael Edson
Opening remarks for The Commons and Digital Humanities in Museums
Sponsored by the City University of New York Digital Humanities Initiative, November 28, 2012
Organized by Neal Stimler and Matt Gold, with Will Noel and Christina DePaolo.
http://cunydhi.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2012/11/07/wednesday-november-28-the-commons-and-digital-humanities-in-museums/
Jack the Museum (Museums in the Age of Scale) -- Text versionMichael Edson
Ignite talk (text version with footnotes) for the Museum Computer Network 2012 annual conference, November 7, 2012, Seattle, WA.
Slides at Slides at
http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/jack-the-museum-museums-in-the-age-of-scale-15089314
European Cultural Commons Workshop, Introductory Remarks (transcript)Michael Edson
YouTube video of this talk: http://youtu.be/VlHC0uPqdRY.
This is a transcript of a short introductory video recorded for Europeana’s European Cultural Commons workshop in Limassol Cyprus on October 30, 2012.
Open Digital Heritage: Doing Hard Things Easily, at Scale (text version) :: M...Michael Edson
The text of a brief keynote for the 2012 Open Digital Heritage symposium at the National Heritage Board of Sweden, organized with the Swedish National Archives and National Library as part of the Almedalen Week events.
Abstract: Heritage organizations need to adopt new tools and new ways of thinking to achieve meaningful outcomes in the 21st century. Open content and participatory knowledge creation are vital to the success of knowledge institutions.
A video of this and other talks from the conference are available at http://oppnakulturarvet.se/
Lego Beowulf and the Web of Hands and Hearts, for the Danish national museum ...Michael Edson
This is the text version of the talk.
A PowerPoint version of this talk is at http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/michael-edson-lego-beowulf-and-the-web-of-hands-and-hearts-for-the-danish-national-museum-awards
This talk was delivered at the awards ceremony for the 2012 Bikuben Foundation Danish Museum Prize (Bikubenfondens Museumspriser) in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Ideas about what museums are, who they serve, and the role they play in society are changing with dramatic speed, driven largely by social media and the participatory culture of global networks.
Denmark supports world-class museums, with remarkable collections, expert staff, and beautiful architecture. But how can museum leaders balance the traditional concepts of organizational mission and outcomes with the disruptive possibilities being demonstrated by those who love and use museums in new ways?
Generating a custom Ruby SDK for your web service or Rails API using Smithyg2nightmarescribd
Have you ever wanted a Ruby client API to communicate with your web service? Smithy is a protocol-agnostic language for defining services and SDKs. Smithy Ruby is an implementation of Smithy that generates a Ruby SDK using a Smithy model. In this talk, we will explore Smithy and Smithy Ruby to learn how to generate custom feature-rich SDKs that can communicate with any web service, such as a Rails JSON API.
Software Delivery At the Speed of AI: Inflectra Invests In AI-Powered QualityInflectra
In this insightful webinar, Inflectra explores how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming software development and testing. Discover how AI-powered tools are revolutionizing every stage of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), from design and prototyping to testing, deployment, and monitoring.
Learn about:
• The Future of Testing: How AI is shifting testing towards verification, analysis, and higher-level skills, while reducing repetitive tasks.
• Test Automation: How AI-powered test case generation, optimization, and self-healing tests are making testing more efficient and effective.
• Visual Testing: Explore the emerging capabilities of AI in visual testing and how it's set to revolutionize UI verification.
• Inflectra's AI Solutions: See demonstrations of Inflectra's cutting-edge AI tools like the ChatGPT plugin and Azure Open AI platform, designed to streamline your testing process.
Whether you're a developer, tester, or QA professional, this webinar will give you valuable insights into how AI is shaping the future of software delivery.
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 3DianaGray10
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 3. In this session, we will cover desktop automation along with UI automation.
Topics covered:
UI automation Introduction,
UI automation Sample
Desktop automation flow
Pradeep Chinnala, Senior Consultant Automation Developer @WonderBotz and UiPath MVP
Deepak Rai, Automation Practice Lead, Boundaryless Group and UiPath MVP
Neuro-symbolic is not enough, we need neuro-*semantic*Frank van Harmelen
Neuro-symbolic (NeSy) AI is on the rise. However, simply machine learning on just any symbolic structure is not sufficient to really harvest the gains of NeSy. These will only be gained when the symbolic structures have an actual semantics. I give an operational definition of semantics as “predictable inference”.
All of this illustrated with link prediction over knowledge graphs, but the argument is general.
GraphRAG is All You need? LLM & Knowledge GraphGuy Korland
Guy Korland, CEO and Co-founder of FalkorDB, will review two articles on the integration of language models with knowledge graphs.
1. Unifying Large Language Models and Knowledge Graphs: A Roadmap.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.08302
2. Microsoft Research's GraphRAG paper and a review paper on various uses of knowledge graphs:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/graphrag-unlocking-llm-discovery-on-narrative-private-data/
Kubernetes & AI - Beauty and the Beast !?! @KCD Istanbul 2024Tobias Schneck
As AI technology is pushing into IT I was wondering myself, as an “infrastructure container kubernetes guy”, how get this fancy AI technology get managed from an infrastructure operational view? Is it possible to apply our lovely cloud native principals as well? What benefit’s both technologies could bring to each other?
Let me take this questions and provide you a short journey through existing deployment models and use cases for AI software. On practical examples, we discuss what cloud/on-premise strategy we may need for applying it to our own infrastructure to get it to work from an enterprise perspective. I want to give an overview about infrastructure requirements and technologies, what could be beneficial or limiting your AI use cases in an enterprise environment. An interactive Demo will give you some insides, what approaches I got already working for real.
Epistemic Interaction - tuning interfaces to provide information for AI supportAlan Dix
Paper presented at SYNERGY workshop at AVI 2024, Genoa, Italy. 3rd June 2024
https://alandix.com/academic/papers/synergy2024-epistemic/
As machine learning integrates deeper into human-computer interactions, the concept of epistemic interaction emerges, aiming to refine these interactions to enhance system adaptability. This approach encourages minor, intentional adjustments in user behaviour to enrich the data available for system learning. This paper introduces epistemic interaction within the context of human-system communication, illustrating how deliberate interaction design can improve system understanding and adaptation. Through concrete examples, we demonstrate the potential of epistemic interaction to significantly advance human-computer interaction by leveraging intuitive human communication strategies to inform system design and functionality, offering a novel pathway for enriching user-system engagements.
DevOps and Testing slides at DASA ConnectKari Kakkonen
My and Rik Marselis slides at 30.5.2024 DASA Connect conference. We discuss about what is testing, then what is agile testing and finally what is Testing in DevOps. Finally we had lovely workshop with the participants trying to find out different ways to think about quality and testing in different parts of the DevOps infinity loop.
Connector Corner: Automate dynamic content and events by pushing a buttonDianaGray10
Here is something new! In our next Connector Corner webinar, we will demonstrate how you can use a single workflow to:
Create a campaign using Mailchimp with merge tags/fields
Send an interactive Slack channel message (using buttons)
Have the message received by managers and peers along with a test email for review
But there’s more:
In a second workflow supporting the same use case, you’ll see:
Your campaign sent to target colleagues for approval
If the “Approve” button is clicked, a Jira/Zendesk ticket is created for the marketing design team
But—if the “Reject” button is pushed, colleagues will be alerted via Slack message
Join us to learn more about this new, human-in-the-loop capability, brought to you by Integration Service connectors.
And...
Speakers:
Akshay Agnihotri, Product Manager
Charlie Greenberg, Host
Slack (or Teams) Automation for Bonterra Impact Management (fka Social Soluti...Jeffrey Haguewood
Sidekick Solutions uses Bonterra Impact Management (fka Social Solutions Apricot) and automation solutions to integrate data for business workflows.
We believe integration and automation are essential to user experience and the promise of efficient work through technology. Automation is the critical ingredient to realizing that full vision. We develop integration products and services for Bonterra Case Management software to support the deployment of automations for a variety of use cases.
This video focuses on the notifications, alerts, and approval requests using Slack for Bonterra Impact Management. The solutions covered in this webinar can also be deployed for Microsoft Teams.
Interested in deploying notification automations for Bonterra Impact Management? Contact us at sales@sidekicksolutionsllc.com to discuss next steps.
State of ICS and IoT Cyber Threat Landscape Report 2024 previewPrayukth K V
The IoT and OT threat landscape report has been prepared by the Threat Research Team at Sectrio using data from Sectrio, cyber threat intelligence farming facilities spread across over 85 cities around the world. In addition, Sectrio also runs AI-based advanced threat and payload engagement facilities that serve as sinks to attract and engage sophisticated threat actors, and newer malware including new variants and latent threats that are at an earlier stage of development.
The latest edition of the OT/ICS and IoT security Threat Landscape Report 2024 also covers:
State of global ICS asset and network exposure
Sectoral targets and attacks as well as the cost of ransom
Global APT activity, AI usage, actor and tactic profiles, and implications
Rise in volumes of AI-powered cyberattacks
Major cyber events in 2024
Malware and malicious payload trends
Cyberattack types and targets
Vulnerability exploit attempts on CVEs
Attacks on counties – USA
Expansion of bot farms – how, where, and why
In-depth analysis of the cyber threat landscape across North America, South America, Europe, APAC, and the Middle East
Why are attacks on smart factories rising?
Cyber risk predictions
Axis of attacks – Europe
Systemic attacks in the Middle East
Download the full report from here:
https://sectrio.com/resources/ot-threat-landscape-reports/sectrio-releases-ot-ics-and-iot-security-threat-landscape-report-2024/
Accelerate your Kubernetes clusters with Varnish CachingThijs Feryn
A presentation about the usage and availability of Varnish on Kubernetes. This talk explores the capabilities of Varnish caching and shows how to use the Varnish Helm chart to deploy it to Kubernetes.
This presentation was delivered at K8SUG Singapore. See https://feryn.eu/presentations/accelerate-your-kubernetes-clusters-with-varnish-caching-k8sug-singapore-28-2024 for more details.
Transcript: Selling digital books in 2024: Insights from industry leaders - T...BookNet Canada
The publishing industry has been selling digital audiobooks and ebooks for over a decade and has found its groove. What’s changed? What has stayed the same? Where do we go from here? Join a group of leading sales peers from across the industry for a conversation about the lessons learned since the popularization of digital books, best practices, digital book supply chain management, and more.
Link to video recording: https://bnctechforum.ca/sessions/selling-digital-books-in-2024-insights-from-industry-leaders/
Presented by BookNet Canada on May 28, 2024, with support from the Department of Canadian Heritage.
GDG Cloud Southlake #33: Boule & Rebala: Effective AppSec in SDLC using Deplo...James Anderson
Effective Application Security in Software Delivery lifecycle using Deployment Firewall and DBOM
The modern software delivery process (or the CI/CD process) includes many tools, distributed teams, open-source code, and cloud platforms. Constant focus on speed to release software to market, along with the traditional slow and manual security checks has caused gaps in continuous security as an important piece in the software supply chain. Today organizations feel more susceptible to external and internal cyber threats due to the vast attack surface in their applications supply chain and the lack of end-to-end governance and risk management.
The software team must secure its software delivery process to avoid vulnerability and security breaches. This needs to be achieved with existing tool chains and without extensive rework of the delivery processes. This talk will present strategies and techniques for providing visibility into the true risk of the existing vulnerabilities, preventing the introduction of security issues in the software, resolving vulnerabilities in production environments quickly, and capturing the deployment bill of materials (DBOM).
Speakers:
Bob Boule
Robert Boule is a technology enthusiast with PASSION for technology and making things work along with a knack for helping others understand how things work. He comes with around 20 years of solution engineering experience in application security, software continuous delivery, and SaaS platforms. He is known for his dynamic presentations in CI/CD and application security integrated in software delivery lifecycle.
Gopinath Rebala
Gopinath Rebala is the CTO of OpsMx, where he has overall responsibility for the machine learning and data processing architectures for Secure Software Delivery. Gopi also has a strong connection with our customers, leading design and architecture for strategic implementations. Gopi is a frequent speaker and well-known leader in continuous delivery and integrating security into software delivery.
Elevating Tactical DDD Patterns Through Object CalisthenicsDorra BARTAGUIZ
After immersing yourself in the blue book and its red counterpart, attending DDD-focused conferences, and applying tactical patterns, you're left with a crucial question: How do I ensure my design is effective? Tactical patterns within Domain-Driven Design (DDD) serve as guiding principles for creating clear and manageable domain models. However, achieving success with these patterns requires additional guidance. Interestingly, we've observed that a set of constraints initially designed for training purposes remarkably aligns with effective pattern implementation, offering a more ‘mechanical’ approach. Let's explore together how Object Calisthenics can elevate the design of your tactical DDD patterns, offering concrete help for those venturing into DDD for the first time!
Key Trends Shaping the Future of Infrastructure.pdfCheryl Hung
Keynote at DIGIT West Expo, Glasgow on 29 May 2024.
Cheryl Hung, ochery.com
Sr Director, Infrastructure Ecosystem, Arm.
The key trends across hardware, cloud and open-source; exploring how these areas are likely to mature and develop over the short and long-term, and then considering how organisations can position themselves to adapt and thrive.
Key Trends Shaping the Future of Infrastructure.pdf
Smithsonian Web and New Media Strategy, v 1.0 7/20/2009
1. Web and New Media
Strategy
Version 1.0
7/30/2010
For complete context and background
please visit the strategy wiki:
http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com
2. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
Table of Contents
Executive Summary...............................................................................................................................3
Moving Forward......................................................................................................................................4
I. Strategy in Context..............................................................................................................................5
II. Strategy Themes.................................................................................................................................7
Theme 1: Update the Smithsonian Digital Experience.............................................................................7
Theme 2: Update the Smithsonian Learning Model.................................................................................8
Theme 3: Balance Autonomy and Control within the Smithsonian..........................................................9
III. Strategic Goals.................................................................................................................................10
Summary of Web and New Media Strategy Goals.................................................................................10
Goal 1: Mission......................................................................................................................................12
Goal 2: Brand ........................................................................................................................................13
Goal 3: Learning ...................................................................................................................................14
Goal 4: Audience ...................................................................................................................................15
Goal 5: Interpretation ...........................................................................................................................17
Goal 6: Technology ...............................................................................................................................18
Goal 7: Business Model..........................................................................................................................20
Goal 8: Governance .............................................................................................................................22
IV. The Smithsonian Commons: A Place to Begin .................................................................................23
Overview...............................................................................................................................................23
Incremental Development.....................................................................................................................24
Precedents.............................................................................................................................................24
Benefits.................................................................................................................................................25
Appendix..............................................................................................................................................27
1. Committees.......................................................................................................................................27
2. Inputs from the Pan-Institutional Strategy .......................................................................................29
3. Web and New Media Business Requirements....................................................................................30
4. Project Methodology.........................................................................................................................31
2
3. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
Executive Summary
This Smithsonian Web and New Media Strategy was created through a fast and transparent process that
directly involved, and continues to involve, hundreds of stakeholders inside and outside the Institution.
This strategy will feed into the Smithsonian’s comprehensive strategic plan, currently under
development.
Three main themes emerged during the strategy-creation process:
Update the Smithsonian Digital Experience: Build on excellence and the potential for excellence
throughout the Institution by focusing on Web-publishing fundamentals and improving access to
collections, community, and content across all platforms.
Update the Smithsonian Learning Model: Support new kinds of learning, innovation, and knowledge
creation inside and outside the Institution.
Balance Autonomy and Control within the Smithsonian: Balance the benefits and risks of central
control and creative autonomy while binding oversight and operations to a shared vision for the future.
To make these themes actionable, this strategy describes eight goals, each of which has its own set of
policy, program, and tactical recommendations. The eight goals are:
1. Mission 5. Interpretation
Prioritize Web and New Media programs in Support the work of Smithsonian staff
proportion to their impact on the mission
2. Brand 6. Technology
Strengthen brand relationships throughout the Develop a platform for participation and
Smithsonian innovation
3. Learning 7. Business Model
Facilitate dialogue in a global community of Increase revenue from e-commerce
learners fundamentals and Web 2.0 perspectives
4. Audience 8. Governance
Attract larger audiences and engage them more Design and implement a pan-Institutional
deeply in long-term relationships governance model
These themes and goals are unified by the concept of a Smithsonian Commons—a new part of our
digital presence dedicated to stimulating learning, creation, and innovation through open access to
Smithsonian research, collections and communities. The Smithsonian Commons would also provide
labor- and cost-saving tools for Smithsonian Web and New Media teams and collaborators.
This strategy describes transformational change for the Smithsonian. It can be successfully implemented
if the Institution begins now to actively prepare itself and to accept that change will be achieved
incrementally, one small victory at a time.
3
4. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
Moving Forward
Senior Management needs to do four things to begin implementing this Web and New Media Strategy:
1. Connect with the pan-Institutional and digitization strategies
To ensure clarity and focus, key points from this Web and New Media Strategy need to be incorporated
into the emerging Smithsonian strategic plan and digitization plan, and elements from those plans need
to be injected into this Web and New Media Strategy as they are codified
2. Appoint a leader
Appoint a pan-Institutional Web and New Media leader and give that person the decision authority and
visibility to lead change
3. Create a tactical road map
Develop detailed plan that translates these strategic and tactical priorities into prioritized tasks,
milestones, and budgets
4. Begin work on the Smithsonian Commons
The Smithsonian Commons (described in detail in section IV. The Smithsonian Commons: A Place to
Begin) is the conceptual cornerstone of the Web and New Media Strategy, and it may be the vehicle
through which we obtain the funding needed to execute the overall strategy. Tell potential funders
about the commons vision and consult them regarding its objectives and funding potential. Produce a
proof-of-concept for the Smithsonian Commons.
4
5. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
I. Strategy in Context
“For the Smithsonian to remain a vital institution at this important
time in our history, we need to fully engage younger generations with
our collections and our knowledge. We need to use new digital
technologies to their fullest potential so that we can fulfill the
Smithsonian's 19th-century mission—‘the increase and diffusion of
knowledge’— in a thoroughly 21st-century way for the benefit of all
Americans and people around the globe.”
Secretary G. Wayne Clough, January 2009
This Web and New Media Strategy is part of a comprehensive Institution-wide strategic planning
initiative currently underway at the Smithsonian. The strategic recommendations included in this report
are closely aligned with the Institution’s overall direction and efforts to consider the issues of digitization
and revenue generation. This strategy also builds on the exploration and enthusiasm of the Smithsonian
2.0 event held January 23 and 24, 2009.
This Web and New Media Strategy began with a series of facilitated workshops with Smithsonian
stakeholders. The workshops focused on education, business models, technology and operations,
curation and research, and the perspective of directors. Two hundred and ninety-four Smithsonian
stakeholders from 55 museums, research centers and business units participated in one or more
workshops.
Each of the workshops and planning sessions were documented by a real-time transcription of the
proceedings posted to a wiki established for this purpose (http://smithsonian-
webstrategy.wikispaces.com). The main intent of the workshops was to move relevant information to
the wiki where it could be openly evaluated, sifted, weighed, and considered by all. The wiki was the
platform on which this strategy was sketched, discussed, debated, refined and finalized, all within the
view of those who care most about the Smithsonian. Finally, the strategy was reviewed by the
Smithsonian Web and New Media Steering Committee.
This document describes a transformational change for the Smithsonian, which will have impact on the
Institution’s culture, operations, allocation of resources, talent recruitment, and priorities. This strategy
can only become operational with adequate resources, and will require the Smithsonian to rethink the
ways in which it generates revenues and prioritizes how resources are allocated to programs. This
strategy is bold but achievable—it can be successfully implemented if the Institution begins now to
actively prepare itself and to accept that change will be achieved incrementally.
5
6. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
The Smithsonian aspires to a bold vision. The world is changing at an ever-accelerating rate and this
strategy acknowledges that the Smithsonian has a chance now to synchronize its mission with new tools
for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.
6
7. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
II. Strategy Themes
Three themes emerged through discussion in the staff workshops, on the public wiki, and through
ongoing engagement with stakeholders inside and outside the Institution. They provide context
important to understanding the eight strategic goals described in section III.
Theme 1: Update the Smithsonian Digital Experience
Today, the Smithsonian Institution’s digital experience is primarily in the form of a collection of separate
Web sites. There are few, if any, mechanisms that support findability (the combination of search,
information architecture, and design that enable digital information to be found), Web 2.0 features
(such as content syndication, “e-mail to a friend,” tagging, sharing, and social bookmarking), and
sustained/repeated user engagement across multiple platforms—and in many cases even within
individual Web properties. We are like a retail chain that has desirable and unique merchandise but
requires its customers to adapt to dramatically different or outdated idioms of signage, product
availability, pricing, and check-out in every aisle of each store. This needs to be addressed to realize the
full potential of the Smithsonian’s digital initiatives.
Addressing this challenge does not mean abandoning the notion of strong, unique, and creatively
autonomous museum/unit Web sites (in fact, strong and innovative unit-based sites are the core
strength of the Institution and should be protected at all costs), but it is important to note that the
current model undermines our effectiveness as an Institution. The future Smithsonian digital experience
should encourage focused, unit-driven and unit-controlled audience engagement, but it should also
support combined unit, pan-Smithsonian, and end-user solutions for findability, design, collections
access, and community engagement across Internet, in-museum, mobile, and emerging platforms as a
whole.
Portrait Gallery Smithsonian Associates American History National Zoo African Art
Natural History Archives of American Art Astrophysical Observatory
www.si.edu
Hirshhorn The Castle
Museum Conservation Institute Photo Initiative Freer/Sackler
Folklife/Cultural Heritage Affiliations SI Libraries
Cooper-Hewitt Traveling Exhibitions National Science Resources Center
Education/Museum Studies
Postal Museum Latino Center Air and Space Asian Pacific American Program
SI Across America
Tropical Research Institute Environmental Research Center
American Indian Anacostia Museum
From inside any of these
sites, where’s the rest of
the Smithsonian’s content,
visitors, community?
? Which Web site has the information
I need? Where do I start? Can I get
this on my mobile phone? Can I get
this in an exhibit?
What can I do with this content
once I find it? How can I interact
with staff and friends?
Updating the Smithsonian Digital Experience: Web Sites Listed on the www.si.edu Home Page
7
8. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
Theme 2: Update the Smithsonian Learning Model
James Smithson wrote that “Knowledge should not be viewed as existing in isolated parts, but as a
whole. Every portion throws light on all the others.” This Web and New Media Strategy seeks to update
the Smithsonian’s learning model to be aligned with Smithson’s founding vision and new kinds of
education and knowledge creation made possible, in part, by technology.
This strategy is based on the growing understanding of learning as a hybrid of formal education and self-
directed discovery that can be brought together and enhanced by online tools and communities.
Increasing online access to Smithsonian collections is part of the equation for promoting learning. (A
detailed digitization strategy is under development.) The impact of online collections can be greatly
magnified by highlighting the knowledge and insight of Smithsonian experts, an intellectual property
policy that encourages re-use and sharing of our assets (where appropriate), and a matrix of tools,
policies, and resources that allows our audiences to be our partners in the increase and diffusion of
knowledge.
Old Learning Model New Learning Model
Updating the Smithsonian Learning Model
8
9. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
Theme 3: Balance Autonomy and Control within the Smithsonian
From an internal perspective, successful Web and New Media programs are created largely in isolated
pockets of excellence. While this model allows for freedom for Web teams within the Institution's
museums and research centers, it also creates an environment where effort is duplicated and
opportunities to collaborate and pool resources can be overlooked. In addition, internal Web teams,
working separately, are approaching the limit of what they can do on their own: units cannot afford to
establish, maintain, and refine the platforms they want individually, and if they could, the repetition of
effort or the effect on end-users would be counterproductive: Imagine 30 separate e-commerce, event
ticketing, or personalization systems.
The key to accomplishing the transition from our current organizational model (in which the central
organization takes a "hands off" approach to Web stewardship) and a future model (in which the central
organization is more engaged) is in achieving a balance between central control and creative autonomy
while binding oversight and operations to a shared vision and goals.
Staff at the unit and collection level are the Smithsonian's greatest asset, and the best Web production
happens when collections (or research data), subject-matter experts, Web teams, and the public are
working in close proximity. This Web and New Media Strategy respects and encourages innovation and
autonomy throughout the Smithsonian's organizational structure.
The expertise and accomplishments of unit-based staff, however, need to be supported and enhanced
by an internal commons of shared tools, services, and standards. The use of these shared resources
should be voluntary for Smithsonian units, but should be highly desired because the tools and services
provided are well conceived, well supported, and make critical work easier and cheaper for participants.
The principle of a commons is described in detail in section IV. The Smithsonian Commons: A Place to
Begin.
9
10. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
III. Strategic Goals
Summary of Web and New Media Strategy Goals
10
11. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
1. Mission
Prioritize Web and New Media programs in
proportion to their impact on the mission
5. Interpretation
Support the work of Smithsonian staff
2. Brand
Strengthen brand relationships throughout
the Smithsonian
6. Technology
Develop a platform for participation and
innovation
3. Learning
Facilitate dialogue in a global community of
learners
7. Business Model
Increase revenue from e-commerce
fundamentals and Web 2.0 perspectives
4. Audience
Attract larger audiences and engage them
more deeply in long-term relationships
8. Governance
Design and implement a pan-Institutional
governance model
11
12. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
Goal 1: Mission
Prioritize Web and New Media programs in proportion to their impact
on the mission
Rationale
Once on the fringe of institutional and public awareness, Web and New Media initiatives are now
considered to be a critical part of the Institution’s core activities and future: They need to be funded and
managed accordingly.
Policy/Program Goals:
Leadership: The Secretary should continue to be a visible and vocal advocate for prioritizing the use of
Web and New Media technologies across the Institution
Budget: Allocate budgetary resources to digital technology initiatives that are commensurate with their
importance to the future of the Smithsonian
Compensation: Align compensation to reward those who excel in use of digital technologies that best
support programmatic objectives
Accountability: Create a culture of accountability. Require regular reports on Web and New Media
initiatives, including target audiences, measurable performance goals, technologies used, resources
expended, and lessons learned
Visibility: Underscore the importance of the Smithsonian’s Web and New Media initiatives by
connecting this strategy to the visioning and program development for the Arts and Industries Building,
National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), and other Institution initiatives
Tactical Implementations:
Recruit a pan-Institutional Web and New Media leader and give that person the decision-
authority and visibility to lead change
Align budgetary processes to support a tactical road map for this strategy. In the short-term,
make discretionary funds available at the unit level to promote experimentation/innovation and
ensure that successful projects can be replicated across the Institution
Continue to leverage the excitement around SI Web 2.0 with annual or bi-annual follow-on
conferences. Coordinate ongoing engagement with external experts
Build expertise in metrics and evaluation and implement standard lightweight (not burdensome)
reporting processes. Use a blog and dashboard to showcase successful results and best practices
12
13. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
Coordinate this strategy with the emerging program/goals for the Arts and Industries Building
and the NMAAHC
Examine Human Resources policies/practices to align with and support this strategy
Goal 2: Brand
Strengthen brand relationships throughout the Smithsonian
Rationale
The Smithsonian Institution brand is powerful in its reach, recognition and prestige. The brand is
associated positively with perceptions of trust, history, artifacts, and authenticity, yet many audiences
(internal and external) have difficulty understanding the full depth and breadth of the Smithsonian’s
offerings or explaining the core meaning of the brand. Many still think only of “the nation’s attic” when
thinking about the Smithsonian. Furthermore, many audiences appear to be uncertain of the
relationship between the overall Smithsonian brand and the brands of the individual museums and
research units that comprise the full Smithsonian Institution.
Far more people encounter the Smithsonian online than in person, and the Institution’s Web sites and
new media programs will play an increasingly strong role in influencing perceptions of the Smithsonian
brand. Web and New Media branding is an important tool for ensuring that users form strong
associations between the Smithsonian and the concepts of learning and education.
Policy/Program Goals:
Positioning: Reposition the Smithsonian brand to emphasize its role as the preeminent facilitator of
learning for national and global audiences
Voice: Shift the Smithsonian brand voice away from attributes of institutional/omnipotent/authoritarian
towards attributes of individuality/relevance/passion for learning
Attitude: Enliven the Smithsonian brand to increase its appeal to and relevance for younger audiences
Architecture: Establish a comprehensive brand architecture that describes a strong and consistent
relationship between the Smithsonian master brand and the sub-brands for each of the museums and
research centers that comprise the Smithsonian enterprise
Tactical Implementation:
Invite public audiences to participate in defining the look and feel of the updated brand
13
14. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
Update the Smithsonian visual identity standards to make the brand more flexible and
accommodating to today’s digital needs
Develop a domain URL strategy to facilitate marketing and promotion of the Smithsonian brand
Develop a writing-style guide that emphasizes concise, friendly, action-oriented content
Synchronize this strategy with the branding initiative currently under development.
Communicate the Smithsonian’s focus on learning and education to internal and external
audiences
Encourage and provide necessary support for staff to share their work and ideas directly with
visitors though blogging, video, mobile platforms, geospatial data, and other Web and New
Media formats
Ensure that the new brand architecture is reflected in new Web initiatives such as the
Smithsonian Commons (described in section IV. The Smithsonian Commons: A Place to Begin)
Goal 3: Learning
Facilitate dialogue in a global community of learners
Rationale
By increasing emphasis on the increase and diffusion of knowledge through online technologies, the
Smithsonian can help create informed and educated 21st-century citizens and continue to fulfill James
Smithson’s founding vision.
Learning is the ruling passion that drives the Smithsonian’s internal experts and attracts many of its
external audiences. Learning motivates the Smithsonian’s effort to provide context for the American and
global experience by helping us better understand ourselves through the lenses of history, culture,
science and art.
But the models of learning that defined our nation’s progress through the 19th and 20th centuries are
changing with dramatic speed, influenced by rapidly evolving technology tools and the new cultural
patterns that come with them. This is not to suggest that the old models of learning are irrelevant or
inoperative, far from it. But the emergence of a new class of learning techniques—built on a foundation
of broad and unrestricted access to information, social sharing, creativity, play, and participatory
learning—supplement those standard protocols and enable vast new audiences to use the Smithsonian
as one part of their lifelong learning journeys.
14
15. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
Policy/Program Goals:
Dialogue: Acknowledge the crucial role that interactive dialogue plays in the learning process and
provide opportunities for it to grow on Smithsonian and external sites
User-Generated Content: Embrace user-generated content as an important catalyst to engagement and
inquiry, particularly for younger and more “Web 2.0” kinds of audiences
Narratives: Develop programs that emphasize the role of storytelling
Digital Learning: Become a leader in the creation of digital learning environments through virtual
worlds, virtual education conferences, gaming, mobile platforms, and a sense of exploration and play
Impact: Establish means of determining the impact of the Smithsonian’s learning initiatives and a
mechanism to share best demonstrated practices across the Institution
Tactical Implementation:
Develop a plan to emphasize learning and its outcomes across the Smithsonian’s digital
initiatives
Develop a program of audience research to inform decisions and analyze results. Develop an
understanding of audience types and their learning goals
Provide resources and establish policies that encourage the incorporation of user-generated
content. Connect Smithsonian content, experts, and dialogue with users of Smithsonian and
external social networks
Develop programs that support the learning journey through Smithsonian exhibitions,
collections, research, expertise, and related communities
Support continued development/experimentation with digital learning environments and
increase connections between those environments and the rest of the Institution’s digital
content, research, and communities
Goal 4: Audience
Attract larger audiences and engage them more deeply in long-term relationships
Rationale
For generations, people have been drawn to Smithsonian exhibitions. These exhibitions create
memorable experiences by encouraging close observation of artifacts, and presenting interpretation
through exhibition texts, sometimes supplemented with catalogs and/or educational programs. This
15
16. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
observational learning model has been largely replicated in the Smithsonian’s current online museum
experiences as most sites continue to adhere to a relatively conventional content publishing paradigm.
The Smithsonian online experience should be a means of extending the experience of those who visit
the physical exhibits, as well as a means of engaging more deeply with audiences unable to visit in
person. Web publishing fundamentals—excellent content, strong Smithsonian-wide search, a cohesive
information architecture, and a coherent navigation structure—are critical to reaching this goal. The
online experience must become more interactive and able to facilitate ongoing dialogues between the
Smithsonian and its users to ensure the continuing relevance of the Institution, particularly to digitally
attuned audiences.
Policy/Program Goals:
Audience Profiles: Develop a clear understanding of the audiences who interact with the Smithsonian
online, including their interaction goals and unmet needs
Web Publishing Fundamentals: Acknowledge the criticality of search results, findability, and other
fundamental aspects of the user experience
Extended Relationships: Develop interaction mechanisms that encourage museum visitors to start—and
continue—their Smithsonian experience online and through mobile devices
Smithsonian Commons: Re-imagine the experience of the Smithsonian portal to become the
Smithsonian Commons, a place where communities of learning gather and grow
Tactical Implementation:
Strive for excellence in Web publishing fundamentals. Invest in search and findability, “social
search,” information architecture, and overall usability. Make it easy for online visitors (as well
as internal scholars and researchers) to find the content they are, or might be, interested in.
Once visitors find content, make it easier for them to find similar and related content elsewhere
in the Institution
Publish more of our collections, images, video, activities, and content of all kinds. Enable
network effects in which a critical mass of content and users enables kinds of learning and
value-creation that many smaller, isolated pockets of content and users can not
Ensure that Smithsonian content is available in a variety of formats and platforms (Smithsonian
Institution and non-Smithsonian Institution)
Create a shared global navigational structure that encourages deep exploration of unit-based
content and discovery of content across units
Develop expertise in User Experience Design. Convene focus groups to help staff and leadership
better understand audience needs. Create an audience segmentation plan that describes and
prioritizes roles, online goals, and value to the Smithsonian, and correlate that plan to the
structure/interaction flows of Smithsonian Web sites
16
17. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
Continue and strengthen an online pan-Institutional calendar to aggregate upcoming events and
announcements
Publish content so that it can be shared, tagged, collected, rated, re-purposed, commented on,
and exported to other Web sites. Optimize Smithsonian digital content with meta data and
semantic structure to maximize availability to search engines
Dedicate resources to manage and support user interaction and user-generated content,
Institution wide
Redesign the main si.edu Web site and use the Smithsonian Commons as the basis for a
pan-Institutional site structure that demonstrates the NEW Smithsonian online experience (see
section IV. The Smithsonian Commons: A Place to Begin)
Goal 5: Interpretation
Support the work of Smithsonian staff
Rationale
Interpretation and explanation are the basic building blocks of learning: They are at the very core of the
Smithsonian's research traditions. The Smithsonian has long excelled at harnessing human curiosity
about the origins of the universe, the evolution of life, and human diversity and culture. But according to
many stakeholders, the public is largely unaware of the depth, breadth, complexity, and importance of
the Smithsonian's research activities.
Web and New Media technologies are crucial to the Smithsonian’s core research activities and to the
wide collaborations that must occur among geographically distant participants, but many staff members
have insufficient support and training to use Web and New Media tools. These technologies are key to
advancing many research initiatives, to achieving a broader distribution of the Smithsonian’s intellectual
products and to raising public awareness of the importance of research to the Smithsonian’s mission.
Policy/Program Goals:
Balance: Ensure that the Institution’s experts have access to the technology, training, and resources to
support both the increase and diffusion of knowledge
Support: Create a pan-Institutional platform with standardized protocols to facilitate broad
communication and collaboration among Smithsonian researchers, scientists, curators, and their
internal and external audiences
Transparency: Encourage Smithsonian knowledge creators to expose their research to public audiences
and invite collaborative inputs
17
18. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
Accessibility: Identify expert voices among the Smithsonian’s staff and share their expertise and passion
through Web and New Media tools
Public Outreach: Communicate the depth, breadth, and quality of the Smithsonian’s research initiatives
to internal and external audiences
Tactical Implementation:
Implement SharePoint collaboration intranet and extranets
Evaluate the technology-related support and training needs of Smithsonian’s
researchers/scholars/experts
Provide incentives and resources to support collaboration and the sharing of research. Develop
a pool of internal consultants and support staff—a center of excellence—to support the core
work of Smithsonian experts and Web and New Media practitioners
Highlight and encourage public engagement with Smithsonian research and researchers through
new and existing blogs, Web sites, mobile platforms, geospatial information, and other channels
Goal 6: Technology
Develop a platform for participation and innovation
Rationale
The word “platform” is used in this strategic goal to advocate for a particular kind of technology in which
a central entity creates a set of standards, tools, and interfaces that others can use to do meaningful
work. Successful platforms can be built incrementally though the strategic alignment of many separate,
small, useful components.
The Smithsonian innovates and experiments with Web and New Media technologies across the
organization. This innovation occurs despite barriers caused by internal bureaucratic processes and the
absence of dedicated funds to support IT innovation and development over time. While individual
instances of innovation may flourish, such practices are not being replicated efficiently, or applied to
pan-Institutional challenges, resulting in missed opportunities and duplication of effort.
Smithsonian stakeholders expressed differing views of the benefits and risks of centralizing versus
decentralizing Web and New Media IT services. Many Smithsonian Institution stakeholders appear to
favor some form of a shared-services model that incorporates the benefits of decentralization while
reducing the risks of too much centralization. This is harmonious with the principle of balancing
“innovation at the edges” with a commons in the middle.
18
19. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
Many of the menial or difficult tasks performed by unit Web and New Media teams—and the public—
can be served by a unified Smithsonian platform, and the development of a shared platform, over time,
will allow data, ideas, e-commerce, and collaboration to flow across institutional boundaries in ways
that are not possible in the current decentralized model.
Policy/Program Goals:
Platform: Inventory all Web and New Media tools/functionality and determine the core set to be
provided as a shared- solution platform. (Should include enterprise applications like e-commerce, online
donations processing, customer relationship management, search, analytics, and social networking.)
Mobile: Support the growing role of mobile devices, and configure Smithsonian sites and exhibitions for
availability to wireless/handheld devices
Support Services: Recruit and train a core Web support team to develop technology solutions that can
be made available to units on a free and/or cost-chargeback basis
Analytics: Work with units to establish success criteria for individual site performance. Collect, analyze,
and communicate accurate and timely data to all units
Tactical Implementation:
Establish clear roles and responsibilities for the development and operation of a platform and
shared-services model
Evaluate the most pressing technology support requirements across all units and recruit a core
team with skills to match the unit needs
Coordinate with digitization strategy by taking input on needs/means for internal/external
information sharing
Use best practices in metrics and analysis to understand the dimensions of audience
engagement across Smithsonian Institution and external sites, mobile platforms, in-exhibit
multimedia, etc. Validate accuracy of all Web usage statistics and build skills necessary to use
data
Implement technologies such “browse paths” (or “breadcrumbs”) to encourage broader and
deeper avenues for site exploration
Provide tools to share research and collection data
Implement a mobile-friendly version of the Smithsonian Web site and mobile-friendly templates
for new development
19
20. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
Goal 7: Business Model
Increase revenue from e-commerce fundamentals and Web 2.0 perspectives
Rationale
The Smithsonian’s basic business model is to create social and economic value through the increase and
diffusion of knowledge. Web and New Media programs are both an intrinsic part of this overarching
model and an opportunity to develop new kinds of revenue in harmony with the mission. The
Smithsonian’s current Web and New Media portfolio includes numerous separate transactional Web
sites offering products, services, memberships, and tickets from isolated systems. While each of these
systems may be sufficient for their individual tasks, the fact that they are not conceptually or technically
integrated makes them more expensive to build and maintain, diminishes the user experience, and
undercuts the Smithsonian’s ability to understand, serve, and grow the audience as a whole. By
neglecting to present desirable e-commerce opportunities to visitors, and failing to understand visitor
needs and interests, the Smithsonian loses countless opportunities to build loyalty and generate
revenue every day.
Emerging from the Smithsonian’s 2.0 thinking is the potential for a new revenue model based on users
and content. Amazon’s success is linked to the way it harnesses the collective intelligence of its huge
base of users through recommendations and rankings. Google develops powerful
information-access tools, then gives them to its users—for free—and makes billions by selling ads. In
these models, the revenue-generating potential of a Web site is exponentially amplified by the size and
activities of its audience. A Smithsonian digital audience 100-times larger than today’s can open up
countless revenue opportunities that just are not financially feasible now. Ultimately, the most valuable
business asset we can cultivate—and the one that is most fundamental to our core mission—is a
community of engaged and committed Smithsonian enthusiasts.
Policy/Program Goals:
Revenue Generation: Use a coordinated approach to revenue generation across the Institution
Incentives: Establish a model that offers units incentives to participate in business development. These
include increased revenue share, visibility, traffic, and access to shared tools that reduce labor and costs
Success Metrics: Require that business plans be created to evaluate the cost/benefit profile of proposed
online revenue-generating initiatives and ensure that business owners track performance against that
plan
Revenue in Harmony with Mission: Develop opportunities that are efficient and scalable and that
harmonize with the overall mission to increase and diffuse knowledge
Marketing and Promotion: Create pan-Institutional and museum-specific online marketing campaigns
to drive site traffic and grow audiences for content, philanthropic, and e-commerce purposes
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Audience Development: Focus on creating dramatically larger and more engaged audiences by
providing consistently outstanding content, experiences, and engagement across all Web and New
Media properties
Tactical Implementation:
Implement a shared e-commerce and online fundraising platform as a pan-Institutional resource
and manage it as a partnership, providing incentives for units to participate (revenue share, cost
avoidance, productivity, etc.). Use best practices for measurement and analysis of all
revenue-generating activities
Create/maintain a pan-Institutional customer resource management system for members,
customers, prospects and other audiences to maximize the lifetime value of each through a
system of contact, solicitation, and promotion management
Establish a policy and framework for selling corporate/institutional sponsorships on Smithsonian
Web sites and mobile platforms
Enable Smithsonian Web visitors to shop, donate, become a member, or register for e-mail
updates from every page, and promote Smithsonian membership opportunities from all
Institutional Web sites
Establish a plan to accept individual micro-donations online that can be earmarked for specific
museums, programs or content
Increase the level of integration between offline (direct mail, telemarketing) and online
fundraising
Develop expertise in mobile development (e.g., cell phones, iPhones) and evaluate long-term
revenue potential of the mobile platform
Explore a “freemium” business model (offering some services for free while charging for special
features/products) using the Smithsonian Commons as a test bed (see section IV. The
Smithsonian Commons: A Place to Begin)
Explore the feasibility of creating in-museum digital experiences (e.g., mobile tours,
virtual-reality games) with appropriate fees
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Goal 8: Governance
Design and implement a pan-Institutional governance model
Rationale
Governance is the kinetic exercise of management policies related to decisions that define expectations,
grant power, or verify performance within an organization. The Smithsonian Institution operates in ways
that are arguably unique and distinct due to its unique trust status, making direct comparisons with
similar entities difficult, if not impossible. The Smithsonian lacks governance policies for many online
and digital media issues and does not always exercise those policies it does have consistently across the
Institution. Stakeholder governance concerns tended to group on three main topics: broadly felt
ambiguity around questions relating to content in general (ownership, publishing approval workflows,
etc.) and restrictions relating to usage and/or licensing of content for online distribution; concerns
relating to the use of social networking tools in general, and restrictions for posting Smithsonian
Institution content to platforms like Facebook or YouTube; and the absence of accurate measurement
tools, metrics, and financial data relating to the use of Web and New Media technologies.
Web and New Media technologies that are supported by some level of centralized platform will require
well-reasoned and well-articulated governance policies to ensure their ultimate success within the
Smithsonian Institution’s mission and government charter.
Successful governance and leadership are the keys to accomplishing any of the goals in this strategic
plan.
Policy/Program Goals:
Policy: Create a policy and governance model that addresses roles and responsibilities for centralized
and unit activities, and determines the means by which centralized technologies, support, and oversight
are administered over time
Content Usage: Establish a pan-Institutional policy for sharing and using the Smithsonian’s digital
content, with particular focus on Copyright and Public Domain policies that encourage the appropriate
re-use and sharing of Smithsonian resources
Budget: Coordinate inputs to pan-Institutional budgeting processes to ensure that Web and New Media
activities are funded in accordance with their importance to the institution
Legal Compliance: Define policies and procedures to secure approvals for online publishing and
participation in social networks
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Tactical Implementation:
Determine where in the Smithsonian structure the governance function should be housed and
who should manage it. (See also “Recruit a pan-Institutional Web and New Media leader and
give that person the decision-authority and visibility to lead change” in Goal 1: Mission)
Develop a resource and staffing plan to lead and execute the Web and New Media strategy and
ensure that adequate resources are included in budgeting at the centralized and unit levels
Set intellectual-property policy with particular focus on Copyright and Public Domain. Review
and approve the draft directive for Digital Asset Access and Use
Review and approve draft Smithsonian Directive 950: Web Management (which describes
internal policies for various aspects of Web operations)
Review and approve draft policy for participation in social networks
IV. The Smithsonian Commons: A Place to Begin
Overview
A digital Smithsonian Commons unifies the themes and goals articulated in this strategy.
The Smithsonian Commons will be a special part of our digital presence dedicated to the free and
unrestricted sharing of Smithsonian resources and encouraging new kinds of learning and creation
through interaction with Smithsonian research, collections, and communities.
The digital commons movement is just a few years old but the concept of a commons is quite old.
Commons are usually created when a property owner determines that a given set of resources—grass
for grazing sheep, forest for parkland, software code, or intellectual property—will create more value if
freely shared. Our understanding of research, education, artistic creativity, and the progress of
knowledge is built upon the axiom that no idea stands alone, and that all innovation is built on the ideas
and innovation of others. The Smithsonian community has always championed these ideals.
The initial Smithsonian Commons will be a Web site (also designed for mobile devices), perhaps
http://www.si.edu/commons, featuring collections of digital assets contributed voluntarily by the units
and presented through a platform that provides best-of-class search and navigation; social tools such as
commenting, recommending, tagging, collecting, and sharing; and intellectual-property permissions that
clearly give users the right to use, re-use, share, and innovate with our content without unnecessary
restrictions.
The architecture of the Smithsonian Commons will encourage the discovery of content deep within
Smithsonian unit Web sites and will expose connections and commonalities across Smithsonian projects.
The Smithsonian Commons will also be a platform for formal and informal collaboration and content
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24. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
sharing inside and outside the Institution. Through these features—collection access, sharing, social
tools, and user-generated content—the Smithsonian Commons will bring together the component
pieces of the updated experience, updated learning model, and balanced approach to management and
governance that are the foundational themes of this Web and New Media Strategy.
Incremental Development
The Smithsonian Commons will be developed incrementally through a series of prototypes and public
pilot projects designed to test and refine business models and impact on mission and audiences. The
first of these pilot projects has already taken place: The Smithsonian’s participation in the Flickr
Commons project demonstrated the potential of providing open access to multiple Smithsonian
collections through a best-of-class social-media platform, and the SIRIS (Smithsonian Institution
Research Information Service) cross-site search project demonstrates the power of providing a single
point of access to Institutional collections and the increase in traffic that such utility creates. The
Smithsonian’s SharePoint project and intranet redesign are demonstrating the positive effects of an
improved end-user experience and a shared collaboration platform on information access and internal
collaboration.
The first iteration of a Smithsonian Commons could be as simple as images of a few carefully chosen
Smithsonian artifacts with links back to their collecting units and labels that clearly give the public
permission to use and share the images however they see fit, as long as the Smithsonian is properly
credited. Additional features such as commenting and collecting, and experiments with
micro-donations, e-commerce and sponsorships, would be added one at a time and designed so that
they could be used not just on the commons but independently throughout Smithsonian Web sites.
Some tools would be developed to help non-Smithsonian bloggers, researchers, educators, and
enthusiasts expose Smithsonian content on their own Web sites.
Precedents
Though the Smithsonian’s unparalleled collections and expertise would make the Smithsonian Commons
unique, there are several important precedents to this initiative. These projects have proven the positive
influence of open-access and community dialogue on engagement, learning, creativity, and knowledge
creation.
• The Creative Commons and related Science Commons and ccLearn organizations encourage new
kinds of sharing and reuse by providing alternatives to traditional copyright
• The Flickr Commons increases engagement with public photography collections around the
world
• The Internet Archive creates and aggregates free, reusable content of all kinds, including 1.2
million digital books
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25. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
• The National Institutes of Health PubMed Central publishes publicly funded research results in a
public domain archive
• MIT Open Courseware provides free access to over 1,800 courses from MIT’s curriculum
• IBM’s Patent Commons initiatives encourage scientists and engineers to develop the unrealized
potential of a large group of IBM’s technology patents
These precedents, and a detailed rationale for the commons, are described in
Imagining a Smithsonian Commons: http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/cil-2009-michael-edson-text-
version
Benefits
Reshaping our digital identity around the concept of a Smithsonian Commons addresses many of our
fundamental challenges.
Brand: The concept of a commons brings cohesion and clarity to the Smithsonian’s vast online offerings.
Audience Growth: Through the Smithsonian Commons we can seed the Internet with
high-value content and use social networks to increase the relevance and value of our work. Audiences
—especially digitally savvy audiences and younger visitors—will immediately understand and respond to
the idea of a free Smithsonian Commons. Improved content, features, and clarity can drive audience
growth.
Unified Operations: A voluntary Smithsonian Commons built on transparency and trust—and supporting
rather than competing with the works of the individual units—provides an excellent alternative to
working in silos.
Education: Planning next-generation learning programs is an Institutional priority. A commons can serve
both as a collaborative workspace used to create learning programs and a clearinghouse to distribute
and improve them.
Research: Smithsonian researchers need private, semi-private and public collaboration and
information-access platforms to advance and share their work. Aggregating these services into a
commons provides a stable base and opens the door to new kinds of cross-disciplinary investigations.
Revenue Generation in Harmony with Mission: Attempting to directly monetize access to, and use of,
museum content does not appear to be a sustainable business model. Through these low-margin
business practices, we alienate users, perpetuate the practice of institutions charging each other,
discourage research and publications, and undermine our civic mission. The commons presents an
alternative: gradually reduce our dependence on access and use fees by aggregating larger number of
visitors under a strong brand supported by sponsorships and other value-added products and services. It
is likely that the Smithsonian will make more money by promoting “free” resources to a large audience
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26. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
than it can make charging small amounts for small transactions to a small audience, and it is a much
better fit with the mission.
Leadership and Legacy: Championing free and open content and asserting the critical role of public
institutions in stimulating innovation and knowledge creation would define the Smithsonian as a leader.
Science, education, creativity, and civic discourse are all headed towards a participatory commons
model.
Policy/Program Goals:
Findability/Connections: Demonstrate a model that improves the findability of Smithsonian resources
and allows learners to expose and explore contextual/thematic relationships across the Smithsonian
Democratize Access: Demonstrate the power of democratizing access to information through a shared
commons platform that encourages personal exploration, creativity, and innovation
Brand: Assert the relevance/excitement of the Smithsonian brand by highlighting the depth and vitality
of our work and collections
Learning: Demonstrate the ways in which open access and shared tools support formal education and
facilitate self-directed learning for people of all ages
Balance: Demonstrate that a shared platform, developed through a trusted partnership among
stakeholders (and the public), can successfully balance internal concerns about authority and control
Funding: Use the commons to attract the funding necessary to update the Smithsonian’s Web and New
Media operations and business models
Tactical Implementation:
Seek informational meetings with leading foundations (that have supported commons and
open-access initiatives in the past) to gauge interest in supporting a Smithsonian Commons and
new models of learning and engagement
Evaluate current revenue streams derived from digital image access/use and develop an
evidence-based business plan for a commons
Develop a prototype of the Smithsonian Commons to test assumptions and provide a tangible
demonstration of the concept for fundraising and evangelization
Solicit input from our Smithsonian 2.0 “digerati” and develop a core group from a variety of
disciplines to help shape and build external support for the commons
Explore the connection between the digital Smithsonian Commons and the emerging program
goals for the Arts and Industries Building, National Museum of African American History and
Culture, and other Institution initiatives
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27. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
Appendix
1. Committees
This strategy was reviewed by the Smithsonian Web and New Media Steering Committee
• Betsy Broun
• Zully Dorr
• Michael Edson
• Lauryn Guttenplan
• Evelyn Lieberman (co-chair)
• Carolyn Martin
• Thomas Ott
• Cristián Samper
• Ann Speyer (co-chair)
A working group of Web and New Media practitioners helped write the strategy and provided guidance,
oversight, and support during the strategy-creation process
• Riccardo Ferrante
• Vanessa Harbin
• Dennis Hasch
• Martin Kalfatovic
• Effie Kapsalis
• Matthew MacArthur
• Carolyn Martin
• Michelle McMahon
• Darren Milligan
• Jennifer Northrop
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28. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
• Victoria Portway
• Nancy Proctor
• Jennifer Rossi
• Dennis Smoot
• Sara Snyder
• Katherine Spiess
• Cheryl Wilson
Michael Edson directed the strategy-creation project. Leo Mullen (CEO, Navigation Arts) was the
principal external consultant.
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29. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
Appendix
2. Inputs from the Pan-Institutional Strategy
Insight from the pan-Institutional strategy process (thanks to David Allison) confirmed many themes and
directional shifts expressed by participants in the Web and New Media strategy workshops:
What’s Out What’s In
Stability/stodginess Change
Scholarly independence Strategic direction
Increase and diffusion is enough Must add relevance, wisdom, inspiration
Corporate orientation Educational orientation
Focus on buildings Focus on programs
Curators as experts Curators as collaborators and brokers
Monographs Stories
Web 1.0 Web 1.0, 2.0, 3.0
Unit or discipline orientation Pan-Institutional orientation
Growth and expansion Sustainability
Diversity based on single identities (black, white, Complex-identity diversity (multi-racial, multi-ethnic)
Asian)
Boomers and their issues Millennials and their issues
Brand promotion Brand respect and trust
Control Collaboration
National identity and pride Global identity and humility
The real thing The real thing plus digital representations
Our Smithsonian Everyone’s Smithsonian
Federal government as dominant sponsor Public-private balance
Appendix
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30. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
3. Web and New Media Business Requirements
In conversations with more than 294 Smithsonian Institution (SI) stakeholders representing 55 units, the
following were identified as crucial for the success of the Web and New Media strategy:
• Strengthen the overarching SI brand and its relationship to unit brands
• Clarify Institutional priorities and reflect them online
• Better support the goals and needs of SI audiences
• Support the core mission to increase knowledge and become much better at diffusing
knowledge
• Increase the availability of SI’s knowledge to audiences worldwide
• Provide better connections between researchers and those who use research
• Increase the relevance of SI to younger audiences
• Strengthen the Institutional focus on education (and better define what that means)
• Provide new learning experiences that make education fun and engaging
• Provide means and opportunities for SI to facilitate communities of learning and the learning
journey
• Provide new tools and techniques for telling compelling stories related to our collections and
research
• Make available more of SI’s artifacts and assets in digital format
• Make SI-wide content easier to find, understand and share
• Make SI available to audiences through mobile devices
• Extend and enrich the in-museum experience with online interaction
• Stimulate greater levels of funding and staff resources to support Web and New Media
initiatives
• Enable SI staff to create new online experiences more easily and inexpensively
• Leverage online technologies to create new revenue sources
• Get the bureaucracy out of the way of doing business
• Clarify the rules of operation and governance around online initiatives
• Provide a core platform that can easily and effectively support the creation of innovative
programs
• Develop comprehensive, pan-Institutional data to measure investments in and use of digital
technologies
• Make the cost of IT infrastructure and operations more visible to senior management
• Provide better metrics and analytical data about how audiences interact with SI
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31. Smithsonian Institution Web and New Media Strategy
Appendix
4. Project Methodology
This Web and New Media Strategy was created collaboratively through a series of facilitated workshops
with representative stakeholders of the Smithsonian Institution. Stakeholders were invited to participate
in one or several of the workshops depending on their area of expertise and or interest. Each workshop
had a specific theme that served as the basis for discussion and debate. The workshop themes included:
- Education
- Business Model
- Technology and Operations
- Curatorial and Research
- Directors’ Perspective
Each of the workshops and planning sessions were documented by a real-time transcription of the
proceedings posted to a wiki established for this purpose (http://smithsonian-
webstrategy.wikispaces.com). The main intent of the workshops was to move relevant information to
the wiki where it could be openly evaluated, sifted, weighed, and considered by all. The wiki was the
platform on which this strategy was sketched, discussed, debated, refined and finalized, all within the
view of those who care most about the Smithsonian.
The inputs from these discussions were filtered to inform both the long-term “aspirational” goals of the
Institution, as well as to identify the most achievable short-term tactical implementation of the new
strategy. Ideas were evaluated by comparing them to the project goals and prioritized by their perceived
impact on Smithsonian audiences, level of effort to execute, and their potential to stimulate
transformational change across the Institution.
The workshops included more than 294 Smithsonian stakeholders from 55 museums, research centers
and business units.
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