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What follows is the text of the original VisioN 2010 mission statement. |
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What follows is the text of the original VisioN 2010 mission statement. |
Although it appears likely that we will be living in a hybrid analog/digital environment for a very long transition period, we cannot productively use or effectively manage old or new technologies in this mixed environment without fundamental changes in our traditional organizational structures and conceptual thinking processes.
Present planning efforts in the academic and publishing communitites are primarily focused on how existing organizations need to evolve gradually in response to the new technologies and to concentrate primarily on coping with current problems that are only partially created by current technologies. This approach is simply inadequate for dealing with revolutionary changes of significant magnitude. We need to project our thinking and imagination far enough ahead to enable us to detach ourselves from our current dilemmas and move beyond near term concerns of current stakeholders. In short, we need a more revolutionary planning process to deal with revolutionary change. We need to create a whole new way of thinking.
Vision 2010 will use a continuing seminar format as a means to stimulate discussions that address the revolutionary rather than evolutionary implications of the digitization of information, especially for education and scholarly communication. Specifically over an eighteen month period, three groups of seminar participants will design the basic learning, teaching, and research environment; the undergirding scholarly communication networks; and the overarching organizational and economic infrastructure that will be required in twenty years. They will also identify the technological developments to support the creation of this vision along with various implementation strategies and mileposts.
The primary emphasis will be "what do we want to see created" and not "how are we going to change?" Even if our vision of the future turns out to be more flawed than expected, Vision 2010 will provide a starting point for all the stakeholders to discuss and debate these importnat issues both internally and collectively.
Three small groups meeting in short seminars (one-and-one-half days to two-and-one-half days) will visualize the teaching, learning, and research invironment of 2010. Each group will consist of 15-20 imaginative people representing a broad set of relevant domains; a few persons will participtate in all three sessionss to provide continuity.
The first group will be responsible for creating the initial vision, depicting a day in the life of the scholar and student. The second will test this vision for reality, and without losing the first group's essential focus will refine the scenarios. Finally, the third group can be thought of as "enablers" who, in addition to further questioning the vision itself, will essentially focus on what it will take in the way of change in concepts, culture, and organization to achieve the vision. The entire process is designed to involve a coherent structuring of the 2010 environment, followed by the actions required to get us from the present to that future.
Each participant will be asked to identify key sources that all group members should read or view before attending the participant. Discussion before and between meetings is expected, enabled by the use of electronic mail and conference capabilities.
The scenarios and ideas generated by the groups will be captured and disseminated in appropriate format to stimulate ongoing discussion between the scholars, professionals, and organizations affected by the "digitization" of information. Provoking this broad-based discussion is fundamental to the purpose of Vision 2010.
