LIFE SCIENCES 2010: The transcript

If you thought we squeezed all the audio/visuals out of our LS2010 event from January, well, think again. We had a bit more water left in the sponge: The transcript of our panel discussion.

As you might imagine, proofeading a 90-minute transcript (30 pages!) takes some time. But we wanted to make sure there weren't any typos and our transcriber got everything down accurately. Nothing has been altered beyond correcting typos.

Here's the LS2010 transcript as a Word doc. We're also prettying it up in a nice PDF, and will have that for you on the blog in the next day or so. If you want to listen to the podcast or watch the video, you know what to do. (Hit the links!!!)

ProViWo research project: How virtual worlds can be used for professional collaboration

Dr. Petra Bosch

Virtual worlds might traverse the globe, but I've found that they can still fit under a microscope. A virtual microscope, if you will. (What else would you expect anyway? ;-))

Dr. Petra Bosch-Sijtsema and her colleague, Dr. Anu Sivunen, are leading a new research project that studies how virtual worlds can be used for professional collaboration, and if virtual worlds can enhance productivity in globally distributed teams.

They've dubbed their project Professional Collaboration and Productivity in Virtual Worlds (ProViWo). Janelle talked to Dr. Bosch recently about it, and we wanted to share their conversation with you in a podcast.



The project is based out of Aalto University in Finland, where Dr. Bosch and Sivunen are researchers, and is being conducted in close corporation with Stanford University here in the U.S.

Dr. Anu Sivunen

Drs. Bosch and Sivunen began their study in fall 2009, so they're still in their initial research phase. Right now they're interviewing a spectrum of companies that are using virtual worlds.

Eventually, they'll explore managerial and user perspectives on virtual worlds at work, and the various collaboration and productivity possibilities. They aim to complete their project in 2012.

If you're interested in exploring virtual worlds for your company, if you've already deployed one, or if you just want to keep up with the latest industry research developments, I'd encourage you to take a listen to Janelle and Dr. Bosch's podcast.

We hope to follow Drs. Bosch and Sivunen throughout their project, so watch the blog for an update on their progress.

Merck's use of ProtoSphere featured in Nature Chemistry

Nature Chemistry covered Merck's ProtoSphere use in its latest issue. The five-page piece details Merck's entire experience, from what their collaboration challenges were; to what they used ProtoSphere for; to the training, collaboration, and knowledge management metrics they pulled out from their deployment.

Unfortunately, due to copyright restrictions, we can't feature the article here. But if you're interested in enterprise virtual collaboration and conferencing, the article is well worth the $18 read. You'll get Merck's objective, scientific analysis of their ProtoSphere deployment, including both the positive and negative aspects.

I'd encourage you to download the article. Or, if you're in our offices, you can read the copy I bought. :-)

LEARNED SCIENCE: Merck publishes its ProtoSphere experience in Nature Chemistry

Jay Cross "heartily recommends" Karl Kapp and Tony O'Driscoll's "Learning in 3D"

If you're reading Karl Kapp and Tony O'Driscoll's new book, "Learning in 3D," or planning to, you might want to know Jay Cross has given it his recommendation. Jay is a well-regarded international speaker on enterprise learning. He penned a post on his blog where he pulled out what he thinks are the most valuable parts.

So if there are certain things you want to be sure not to miss, surf over to Jay's post. But if you're not in a rush, I encourage you to give the entire book a read. And don't skip the forward. I wrote that. ;-) Jay also gave a nod to ProtoSphere, so thank you!

CROSSWORDS: Jay Cross says "Learning in 3D" gets the clue

How Microsoft Active Directory integration links ProtoSphere to identity management lifecycle

Management of the identity lifecycle is crucial for modern enterprises. The identity lifecycle is established when an employee is hired. Their role and job determines what information they can access or what building and campus areas they can get into. This changes as they move through the enterprise during their career. And if/when the employee leaves the company, their access rights must be revoked.

Most large enterprises deploy identity and access management (IAM) software and elaborate directory infrastructures based on LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) or Microsoft Active Directory to facilitate this process. These tools automate things including single sign-on to applications, the ability to handle password resets (which are hugely expensive, costing $60-$300 per reset depending on the system if done manually), and the ability to assign roles and change them.

As a collaboration platform, ProtoSphere is tied into the existing tools for managing user identity and identity lifecycle because it integrates with Active Directory. By linking with the Active Directory authentication and groups functions, corporate policies about access rights are mapped into the ProtoSphere virtual environment. So if an employee is allowed to access XYZ information in the organization, he can also access XYZ information in ProtoSphere, no more, no less.

For example, only pharmaceutical employees working on the marketing team for Drug A could be allowed to virtually access the ProtoSphere workspace for Drug A, and any of the relevant data feeds visible there. Clinical trial data, competitive information, and manufacturing process information might be contained in that virtual floor. But only authorized employees can access it, as dictated by the firm's Active Directory authentication settings.

This makes it easy for organizations to maintain their identity and access policies when working in ProtoSphere, and saves IT a great deal of time and headache when conducting an enterprise-wide roll-out. Systems administrators don't have to maintain multiple sets of credentials or enter and manage potentially thousands of user accounts in the system.

"Enterprise Learning and Collaboration in 3D Virtual Worlds" webinar resources

If you missed Tony O'Driscoll and Karl Kapp's webinar on 3-D environments the other week, they're sharing their slides from their presentation. Let the knowledge persist, as we always say! ;-)

The webinar, "Enterprise Learning and Collaboration in 3D Virtual Worlds," covered key concepts from Tony and Karl's new book, "Learning in 3D." They discussed the value of social learning for organizations, and how to integrate existing training and business into productive 3-D virtual work environments. If you have any questions or want to learn more after viewing the slides, hit up Karl's blog where he posted several related informational resources.

Bah Learning In 3 D

View more presentations from kkapp.

Hypergrid Business profiles ProtoSphere 1.4 for enterprise training

Hypergrid Business writer Maria Korolov reported this week on some of the training and learning functionality in ProtoSphere. I want to thank her for pulling the article together. You can get the scoop by sliding over to Hypergrid Business. And while I'm at it, thanks to What Is a Virtual Office? for sharing Maria's story on its site, and to Hypergrid Business's editors for picking up our press release announcing the new version of ProtoSphere.

GET SMART: Hypergrid Business covers ProtoSphere's training functionality