Background
During IX ISTEC General Assembly held in Ft. Lauderdale, FL in November
1999, Motorola launched the IT Challenge for Ibero-America. The
challenge is to analyze the needs, strengths and expectations of
governments, academia, and private sector and to define an agenda
in Information Technology (IT) as a catalyst for social, cultural
and economic development for the next decade (2000-2010). Dr. Terry
Heng, Vice-President of Motorola, presented the IT Challenge to
be carried out over 2000-2005.
IT Challenge Goal
The objective is to sponsor conferences, workshops and forums with
the participation of high ranking government officials, academia,
industry and international organizations to create awareness, analyze
existing IT models in other regions, develop an IT agenda, and obtain
commitments to implement an IT plan for the next decade. The agenda
will address issues such as the automated process for production,
e-commerce, e-government, distance employment and education, S&T
policies, IP protection, social and cultural values, health, strategic
alliances, and universal access to information.
Another objective of this series is to develop an adequate infrastructure
and tools for the ISTEC Portal to grow and expand. This Portal integrates
services from all the initiatives and special projects, and provides
a vital link with the Consortium’s growing membership. Some
of these tools include the ISTEC Distributed Database (BDDIS), which
has been a vital functional tool at the Executive Office, and will
be a foundation for future initiatives.
Another project that has become an integral part of the ISTEC Portal
development is called Chips N Salsa (CnS). CnS has been the subject
to 4 published papers, including a first prize award winning paper
presented at the MAES international convention in Anaheim, California
in 2003 (more information is available below).
ISTEC Portal, Distributed Database
Part of the Motorola / ISTEC “IT Challenges” program
consists in the development of information technologies applications
that will allow for better communication and increased cooperative
possibilities through the use of the ISTEC Portal (www.istec.org).
These Web based tools and other applications have been customized
for ISTEC members, and provide a standardized platform for communication
and for carrying out joint projects among members. One of these
projects, the BDDIS Distributed Database (http://bddis.istec.org/)
is fully functional and being used by the Executive Office. There
will be further development in 2003 to make it more complete and
stable before it can be accessed by members in a distributed fashion.
Some of these increased capabilities of the Portal include technologies
that encompass eLearning, Administration, and Portal Computing.
Some of these functions include tools to post member events on
a centralized calendar; software for a standardized ISTEC-developed
automated document delivery system for the Digital Library Linkages
Initiative (CELSIUS); distance education tools and platforms;
and a section dedicated to sharing resources, services, information,
opportunities (employment, study, grants), as well as links to
other pertinent projects. Additionally, there has been a very
strong input for members to emphasize the development of Free
Open Software architectures that provide environments where innovation
can occur. This Freeware can be shared and worked on without the
need to purchase a commercial license. These tools (including
Rau-Tu from Unicamp-Brazil, CELSIUS from Universidad de la Plata
in Argentina, and Chips N Salsa from University of New Mexico,
USA) and others have been presented at various ISTEC forums and
IT Challenges, and this promises to be a strong area for ISTEC-championed
projects in the near future. Sun Microsystems recently awarded
ISTEC with the complete Infrastructure to run Chips and Salsa
in an Open Framework.
Chips N Salsa Project
The Chips N Salsa project is a multinational portal/gateway project
for education, research and publishing, with several nodes across
Mexico, Central and South America as well as the Iberian Peninsula.
The system includes several cutting edge technologies including
an Open Archives Protocol implementation in the system enabling
the harvesting of metadata among different learning objects repositories.
This also includes ARIADNE European Union Learning Object repositories
implemented in some of the member institutions. The harvester
is tightly integrated into the multiple indexing system in the
core of the Chips N Salsa engine, and it also exposes the information
collected through metadata reports, to indexers over the world.
This approach overcomes the need for common Databases or even
the same metadata implementations, creating a truly distributed
community and a democratic fast and accurate access to information.
The Ibero-American Science & Technology Consortium (ISTEC)
"Chips N Salsa" portal /gateway project addresses the
information isolation and non interconnection frequently found
on online education portals by integrating content into structured
but flexible information maps and contextual databases. It enables
students to take advantage of the content, and turns the WEB portal/gateway
into a diligent information provider that orders the information
optimally for their particular needs. Similarly, it enables researchers
to have specific and accurate access to the most relevant information
in their research, while establishing knowledge bases, real-time
peer review, and repositories for future work and long haul ongoing
projects. It also provides them with virtual labs and real-time
online publishing. Double indexing with full text index and metadata
information, and relating the content in a common structured metadata
organization
The Chips N Salsa Portal project is currently sponsored by Microsoft,
Sun Microsystems, Hewlett Packard and has been the subject to
4 published papers including a first prize award winning paper
presented at the MAES international convention in 2003. Several
presentations for the product have been made in several international
conferences including the AISTI meeting, The ICEEE international
Symposium in the UK , The INAOE Digital Libraries Symposium in
Mexico and the ISTEC general assembly. Several institution s have
expressed interest in the product and have had private screenings
of the beta versions, including: Los Alamos National Lab, The
Santa Fe Institute, NASA, The Government of Puebla - Mexico and
several other universities in Latin America.
ISTEC / Motorola “IT Challenges
in 2003”
ISTEC / Motorola IT Challenge: “Ibero-American
Summit on Engineering Education,”
Hosted by UNIVAMP – Universidade do Vale do Paraíba, São
José dos Campos, SP, Brazil, March 24-27, 2003
Co sponsors/organizers:
· Universidade do Vale do Paraiba
· PUC-Rio
· International Network for Engineering Education and
Research (iNEER)
· University of South Florida
· University of Puerto Rico—Mayaguez
· Hewlett Packard
· ISTEC / Motorola
Abstract: Although the world has become dependent
on the development of Information Technologies and Telecommunication
(IT&T), there are essential elements that need to be propelled
in order to facilitate this development. The purpose of the
“IT Challenge: Ibero-American Summit on Engineering
Education” was to contribute to the on going process
of developing the "Engineering School of the Americas."
The objective is to integrate Latin American countries in
an international effort towards the development and the improvement
of Engineering Education. ISTEC / Motorola in a joint effort
with the International Network for Engineering Education and
Research (iNEER) and Hewlett Packard, among other institutions,
is contributing to the development of a mechanism that will
allow continental mobility and thus facilitate the process
by which schools in the region will receive accreditation
as a starting point to standardize programs that will allow
the mobility of engineers in the region.
Objectives: This international conference
was organized to provide a forum by which assistants would
be able to share and discuss emerging issues in engineering
and technology education. The main focus of the event was
to start a process by which engineering schools in Latin American
countries could be integrated with the purpose of joining
an international effort towards the development and the improvement
of Engineering Education. Another objective of this forum
was to promote the internationalization and the formation
of the “Engineer of the Americas” a step that
would benefit future professionals and will increase competitiveness
in the industry. This step would also allow the organizers
to establish a network of the Engineering Schools of Latin
America, North America and the Iberian Peninsula.
The first target toward these objectives would be the interaction
between the industries with a continental interest and the
Engineering Schools of the region, emphasizing the responsibility
of the productive sector for the professional development
of the future Engineers and the increasing competitiveness
in the American Continent. The interest for the Americas is
a necessary response to the corresponding actions being taken
by other regions in the world such as Europe and Asia.
This interest in the development of IT&T professionals
led to the regional interest for an "Engineering School
of the Americas" and consequently it led to the concept
of the "Engineer of the Americas", whose profile
and formation mechanisms are one of the main targets of the
mentioned conference which will also keep a second focus on
the evaluation actions and possible continent accreditation
mechanisms for Engineering Education.
This event formed part of the ISTEC / Motorola "IT Challenge"
series.
The objective of these series is to sponsor conferences, workshops
and forums with the participation of high-ranking government
officials, academia, industry and international organizations
to create awareness, analyze existing IT models in other regions,
develop an IT agenda, and obtain commitments to implement
an IT plan for the next decade. The agenda addressed issues
such as the 1) University-Industry Interaction and Innovation;
2) Curriculum Development; 3) Current Status of Accreditation
in Engineering Education; 4) Funding Mechanisms; 5) Current
Status of Organizations on Engineering Education in the Americas;
and 6) Engineering Education Around the World, among others.
Impact: This event allowed over 100 assistants,
among them Professors, Deans/Directors of Schools of Engineering
and Technical Education, Representatives from Industry, Government,
Professional Associations, Expert on Evaluation, Researchers,
Educators and Policy Makers in the Engineering Education field,
to convene and discuss possible continental accreditation
mechanisms and funding for engineering education. http://www.univap.br/iasee/
IT Challenge: Annual Ibero-American Research and
Development Summit (AIRDS)
May 28 – 29, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Abstract: ISTEC, in conjunction with the Sandia National Labs
and MAPA Incorporated of Washington DC, will be hosting the
third Annual Ibero-American Research and Development Summit
this coming May.
Objectives: The Summit will focus on Microsystems,
MEMS, Nanotechnology, and Advanced Manufacturing technologies
and issues this coming year and will consist of numerous tracks,
technology demonstrations, and matchmaking sessions. As in
the past, the mission of the Summit is to create and sustain
partnerships and alliances among participants from the Ibero-American
region. AIRDS will create and expand opportunities for technological
research, development, and application (R&D&A) for
the participants. The long-term mission of the Summit is to
create and sustain research, development, and application
(R&D&A) for the participants. The emphasis of this
event, which forms part of the ISTEC / Motorola “IT
Challenges” series, will be on project partnering and
technology transfer among companies, academic institutions,
Iberoamerican Centers of Excellence, U.S. federal laboratories,
government agencies, and international organizations. We envision
the creation of successful partnerships and opportunities
for participants and R&D centers throughout the United
States and Latin America. http://www.IRDsummit.org
IT Challenge: Ecuadorian Conference on Free Software,
Escuela Politécnica del Ejército de Ecuador
(ESPE), Summer of 2003, Quito, Ecuador
Abstract: Many countries in Latin America have encouraged
legal projects that propose the exclusive use of free software
for the development of IT tools oriented towards the automation
of state administration. Brazil and Argentina have adopted
strong policies on the diffusion of free software at both
governmental and educational levels.
The Ecuadorian government is interested in defining a legal
and technological framework in the area of information technologies
according to the requirements of the new millennium. Being
able to count on the greater knowledge regarding free software
will help make important governmental decision in this respect.
Objectives: To highlight the concepts, current
state, advantages, disadvantages and guidelines of free software
to the Ecuadorian IT community. These include:
· Analysis of the free software situation in Latin
America
· Free vs. Proprietary Software
· Free Software in government
· Free Software in Education
· Free Software in private Industry
· Discussion Panels
“IT For Social Change: Bridging the Digital
Divide in New Mexico, USA and Building Partnerships for Community
Development Through Information Technology, ”
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, Fall 2003
Abstract: This event challenges institutions
renowned for technological sophistication to engage in more
community capacity -building initiatives that allow for a
transfer of technology and its related skills to underserved
communities in order to make their use of IT both sustainable
and effective.
Objective: An overarching goal of this event
is on one hand to challenge community groups to use IT as
a new tool that can contribute to a bottom-approach to cultural
and socio-economic development that is created by rather than
for community members.
Sponsors:
· Ibero-american Science and Technology Education Consortium
(ISTEC)
· Latin American and Ibero-american Institute, UNM
· Community and Regional Planning Program, UNM
· Sandia National Laboratory
· Tribal Library Program, NM State Library
· Tonantzin Land Institute
Audience: NM businesses, decision-makers,
practitioners, representatives from academia, and other relevant
stakeholders and shall encourage networking and dialogue about
the interrelationships between technology and economic development.
“IT Challenge: Proyecto País,”
Santa Cruz, Bolivia in November; Santiago, Chile in December
These events will be the final two IT Challenges for 2003.
Although the specifics have not yet been finalized, the November
event in Bolivia, hosted by Universidad de Aquino –
Bolivia (UDABOL) will correspond with ISTEC’s XIII General
Assembly. The event in Chile, sponsored by Universidad de
Chile, in December will close out the 2003 series of IT Challenges.
Please check ISTEC’s homepage (http://www.istec.org)
for more information in the future.
