Filed under: Government, innovation, Intelligence, Microsoft, R&D, Technology | Tagged: .NET, Adobe, ASP.NET, browser, browsers, Digg, Firefox, Flash, Government, IE, innovation, Intelligence, Intelligence Community, IT, LINQ, LINUX, Microsoft, RIA, Safari, Scott Guthrie, Silverlight, software, software development, tech, Technology, Web 2.0, Wikipedia, XAML, XML | 6 Comments »
Opening Doors to Interoperability
Posted on February 21, 2008 by lewisshepherd
I had to write a freshman term paper on Immanuel Kant, and chose as a topic his role in sparking the German Enlightenment, from which I at least learned the word Aufklarung … which surprisingly doesn’t come up much in normal conversation, even when I’m in Germany. But I’ve been thinking about that movement and its ramifications quite a bit, because of the ongoing technology enlightenment driven by “open-source” approaches.
When I announced I was joining Microsoft, several of my friends in the open-source-software “movement” raised their eyebrows and ribbed me for joining the dark side… although the brighter ones also pointed out several important trends and markers through 2006 and 2007, changes in Microsoft behavior and approach which appeared to signal that the company was tacking in a much more open direction. Ray Ozzie’s joining of the company, and his announced projects, were taken as significant, along with several software launches (both in the Live world and elsewhere) with fundamentally open foundations.
Today the company is making public what Steve Ballmer and Ray Ozzie are calling “important changes to our technology and business practices that will enhance the interoperability of our products and expand the technical information we share with developers, partners, customers, and competitors.” All to the good, including more comprehensive information about the new “Interoperability by Design” approach.
Filed under: Government, innovation, Microsoft, R&D, Technology | Tagged: .NET, enlightenment, Government, IT, Kant, Microsoft, Microsoft Live, Microsoft Office, open source, open source software, Ray Ozzie, SharePoint, software, Steve Ballmer, tech, Technology, Windows Vista | 3 Comments »
Social (Network) Science
Posted on February 19, 2008 by lewisshepherd
Fact: The social-networking site LinkedIn claims as users “17,000,000+ Professionals, 500,000+ Senior Executives, Executives from 498 Fortune 500 companies, [and] 65,000 new Professionals every week.”
Analysis: Since I hold the title of “chief technology officer” for my group at Microsoft, I regularly check the widely-read blog CTOvision, written by Bob Gourley, CTO of Crucial Point.
Yesterday he posted a very solid summary of several social networking tools, including my preferred LinkedIn. If you’re not up to speed on the genre it is a helpful cheatsheet and “buyer’s guide.”
The technology area deserves the attention. There are a dozen or more such sites for each that Gourley covers, and he chooses the ones that have shown growth and potential longevity; why invest any time adding personal data to a site just to watch it disappear? We’ve all had that happen. And yet hockey-stick growth has to be managed – LinkedIn for example has come in for some critical attention for some snafus along the way.
Let’s look at some efforts to understand more about the science behind the software….
Filed under: Government, Microsoft, R&D, Society, Technology | Tagged: blogs, Bob Gourley, computer science, Crucial Point, CTO, Defense Department, DoD, Facebook, Government, Jennifer Chayes, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Research, MySpace, New York Times, Plaxo, R&D, research, science, Second Life, social networking, social networks, social science, Society, Spinal tap, Spock.com, tech, Technology, VCs, Web 2.0 | 1 Comment »
New Report on Homeland Security’s S&T Directorate
Posted on February 13, 2008 by lewisshepherd
Fact: “The Directorate of Science and Technology is the primary organization for research and development (R&D) in the Department of Homeland Security. With a budget of $830.3 million in FY2008, it conducts R&D in several laboratories of its own [and] funds R&D conducted by industry, the Department of Energy national laboratories, other government agencies, and universities.”
Analysis: The quote above comes from my hot-off-the-press copy of the new Congressional Research Service report (a pdf version here) on the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate. Bottom line: CRS notes that “Congress and others have been highly critical of the directorate’s performance. Although recent management changes have somewhat muted this criticism, fundamental issues remain.”
By the way, you’ll get a special bonus for reading to the end of this post, derived from an obscure footnote in the report.
The report is being reported in short-hand in the Beltway technology media, as criticizing DHS S&T for not being receptive to industry. “DHS Directorate Elusive, CRS Report States,” is the headline in Federal Computer Week. The sister pub WashingtonTechnology has the same story with a different head: “CRS: DHS Directorate Lacks Collaborative Spirit.” And yes, the report does detail the poor job DHS does at providing an open door to new ideas and technologies from the private sector.
But there’s a lot more in the report and it deserves more thoughtful reading & reporting, as it goes into some detail into the difficulties in bringing powerful and effective new technical and scientific approaches to bear for homeland defense and the war on terror.
Filed under: Government, Intelligence, R&D, Technology | Tagged: Bayesian, Boeing, Congress, Congressional Research Service, CRS, Darlene Druyan, DARPA, defense intelligence agency, DHS, DIA, Federal Computer Week, Government, GWOT, Homeland Defense, Homeland Security, HSARPA, IARPA, Jack Shanahan, JIVA, Joint Intelligence virtual architecture, MSIC, R&D, research, science, startup, startups, tech, Technology, terrorism, war on terror | 4 Comments »
Seeking Business Intelligence
Posted on February 6, 2008 by lewisshepherd
I had breakfast this morning with Gartner’s Lisa Gross and we were able to talk about her continuing work in support of my old haunts – the agencies of the Intelligence Community. She’s first-rate at understanding the IT needs of large-scale government enterprises, and has always been known as a trusted adviser for CIOs, CTOs, and senior IT executives across many federal agencies.
I was recounting to her that when I first started at Microsoft (oh these many weeks), I was ecstatic at finding on our corporate intranet seemingly total unfettered access to Gartner research reports and white papers (along with similar access to Forrester research and reports). The mother lode!
Filed under: Government, Intelligence, Microsoft, R&D, Technology | Tagged: analysis, business intelligence, cio, CTO, Forrester, gartner, In-Q-Tel, Microsoft, research, startup, tech, Technology, VCs, white papers | 3 Comments »
Driving during the Super Bowl? Use a Mashup First
Posted on February 2, 2008 by lewisshepherd
Fact: According to a report, “Taking Back the Airwaves” in the Buffalo News last month, “Listeners’ relationship with radio has changed in the last 25 years. Radio used to be the main source of music, … but now, like other industries, radio is fighting to reinvent itself in a digital age.”
Analysis: Let’s say you were an Air Force mission planner, and wanted to plan a particular flight over enemy territory. Time-honored practices (and traditionally clunky but powerful software built custom for the purpose) allow you to overlay the enemy’s known radar-emitting sites, using circles or shapes to indicate the covered and non-covered areas, and to do the same with anti-aircraft missile ranges, allowing the precise planning of a safe flight route.
Now let’s look at a nifty adaptation, showing that there are much more fun and practical everyday uses of such an approach – and now new technologies make it much easier and faster to accomplish! Continue reading
Filed under: Microsoft, Society, Technology | Tagged: Air Force, Art Bell, broadcasting, mashup, mashups, Microsoft, radar, radio, software, Super Bowl, tech, Technology, USAF, Virtual Earth, Web 2.0 | 2 Comments »
Wall Street Journal – Peering into the Future, Dimly
Posted on January 28, 2008 by lewisshepherd
The Wall Street Journal ran a collection of think-pieces today on “Thinking About Tomorrow: How will technology change the way we shop, learn and entertain ourselves? How will it change the way we get news, protect our privacy, connect with friends? We look ahead 10 years, and imagine a whole different world.”
My take on the story, though, was “ho-hum.” Looking ahead 10 years should get the mind a little further than easily predictable stuff such as this: “Mobile devices will get smaller and more powerful, and will connect to the Internet through high-speed links. The result: People will be able to do anything on a hand-held that they can now do on a desktop computer. In fact, they’ll be able to do even more, as mobile gadgets increasingly come equipped with global-positioning-system gear that can track your every move. As you drive around, for instance, you might get reviews of nearby restaurants automatically delivered to a screen in your car — maybe even projected onto the windshield.”
Aside from the safety aspect of that type of projection, this scenario surely is only a year or so away – not 10.
Filed under: Government, Microsoft, R&D, Society, Technology | Tagged: blogging, blogs, future, futurist, futurology, GPS, life, Microsoft, news, newspapers, Society, tech, Technology, Wall Street Journal, work | 2 Comments »
Shepherd's Pi 