Just for Fun????

Usually I would share this for a Friday when we all need a little help to get to the weekend but it was just too good to wait.

How many times have you heard all the excuses for not trying anything new? Listen and view this presentation about a Web tech guy and an angry staff person in "An Exaggerated Tale" by Michael Edson, Director of Web and New Media Strategy for the Smithsonian Institution. Then use the comments to tell us how many similar reasons you've heard in your experience.

Emerging Technologies in Social Networking

This was the title of a fascinating session at this year's TRB annual meeting. Go to to the link above to view the presentations on using Web 2.0, Flickr and Second Life to exchange information.

Critical issues

Also, be sure to add your 2 cents to the discussion of critical issues in transportation in the previous post.

US House hears about transportation R&D and priorities for reauthorization

On February 12 the House of Representatives’ Committee on Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation held a hearing to review the research, development, and deployment activities of the Department of Transportation (DOT). The hearing also focused on research priorities to incorporate in SAFETEA-LU reauthorization. Subcommittee Members heard testimony regarding the funding, planning, and execution of current research initiatives and how these efforts will fulfill the strategic goals of both federal and state departments of transportation, metropolitan transportation organizations, and industry.

Economic news

The White House went live with www.recovery.gov, which lets the public track how the $787 billion economic stimulus package is being spent. FHWA has established a website to provide information concerning the economy recovery legislation that you may find of interest at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/economicrecovery/index.htm.

Which brings us to critical issues

What are the critical issues facing transportation and technology transfer in these days of recession and credit crunch? How will the economic stimulus’ emphasis on transportation change how we do business? What does all this mean for the ways we transfer technologies in transportation? And, how does this affect transportation worldwide? Comments are appreciated (click comments) or even better click the little letter below to forward this to a colleague.

Blogs, blogs, blogs

Before starting this blog for the T2 Committee I did some research and thinking about blogs in general and blogs for technology transfer in particular. Yes, blogs have come a long way since people started Web logs to tell the world about their inner thoughts, interests and what they had for breakfast or how long their daily run was. Blogs are now used by reputable organizations, such as Law Professors Blog, which I’ve used for their valuable information on various law topics. They even have corporate sponsors.

What I like about blogs

Blogs can provide valuable information. Bloggers often spend time researching and keeping up with news on their particular topic. If you want to hear anything and everything about the TV show Project Runway go to Blogging Project Runway. This blog counts no information too trivial to report. But, if you want to know what’s going on with the show and/or contestants go there.
Blogs are personal. One thing I love about blogs is that most people write them about their personal or professional passion. They also give me their unique insights, which can be more valuable than just the facts. They have they own unique perspective and speak with their own voice. Blogs can also be about the narrowest of topics and offer in depth commentary. Someone somewhere is interested and blogs about any topic.

What I don’t like about blogs

I hate the corporate/government blogs which read like press releases. These blogs often spend a lot of time saying nothing and offer nothing of interest. Either that, or the blogger gushes about his/her experiences doing their job every day. Boring!

And, yes, I don’t like the blogs that go into infinitesimal detail on the blogger’s day/run/pets/meals/opinions, etc.

How can we use blogs for technology transfer?

Blogs could be used to report on research projects as well as a research program. This can be done either behind a firewall to internal audiences or to the general public in a public site. Using a blog, rather than a report, can be more personal and allow the researcher to show his/her enthusiasm more than in a formal report. Blogs would also allow researchers to show through photos research in progress. But, the blog should be interesting, updated regularly and encourage comments.

Comments!

Speaking of encouraging comments, what blogs have you found useful? Have you used a blog to transfer technology? Or, do you think blogs are only good for pictures of pets and rants? Comment away!

Meet with AASHTO RAC and TRB State Reps this Summer?

AASHTO Research Advisory Committee (RAC) and the TRB state representatives plan to meet in Orlando July 20-24, 2009. The T2 Committee would be able to tag onto the end of that meeting. What do you think? Respond to the poll to the left. Thanks.

Our recent committee meeting

I just wanted to share some of my observations and ideas about our recent committee meeting at the TRB Annual Meeting (minutes have been posted on the committee’s wiki). I am naturally cynical about life but even I got my enthusiasm on by the energy displayed at the committee meeting. (And, the next week’s celebration of democracy also helped.)

For this blog, I’d like to mention some of the reasons for the decrease in my ADC (average daily cynicism). So, let’s get started.

• Leap Not Creep: Accelerating Innovation Implementation is a two-day course sponsored by FHWA’s National Highway Institute. Its origins harken back to discussions around the T2 Committee campfire about a T2 Toolbox, which would create a T2 implementation plan for anyone. I felt that the toolbox lacked one component – training the user in the tools and techniques specified in the plan. Committee member Laura Melendy did a great job of representing the committee on the course’s steering group, adding her “in the trenches” experience to the effort. Kathleen Bergeron of FHWA’s Highways for LIFE also added her expertise and coordination. My ADC levels were lowered when Laura and Kathleen both noted during our “definition of T2” discussion that their group had also dealt with these issues. Sounds like we’re on the same pages. Now that we’re starting to see some courses on technology transfer, the next step may be a certificate program in technology transfer. My ADC levels would really go down if that happened!

• The sharing of best practices also affected my ADC levels. It was great to hear about the National Transportation Training Resources (NTTR) database, New Jersey DOT Research Implementation Studies, and Road Safety Assessments. We hope to have some guest bloggers add more detail about the process of developing their best practices as well new ones. We will also post the presentation on the wiki. If you want to decrease your own ADC levels and share a best practice, let me know.

• Also, another way to decrease your own ADC levels is to get involved with the committee. The committee is due for member rotation this year, so if friends are interested in membership please contact the co-chairs. We’re also seeking volunteers to plan annual meeting sessions, update the committee’s wiki and report on news in technology transfer in the committee’s blog. We’ve already gotten some new members and friends involved in the strategic planning process being spearheaded by co-chair Larry Orcutt.

International Perspectives on Technology Transfer session

If you missed the Sunday sessions sponsored by the T2 Committee and the International Affairs Committee you missed an technology transfer treat.
Organizer John Munro, FHWA brought together T2 experts who exhibited wide ranging perspectives, by mode, country and technology transfer perspective.
Some immediate takeaways included:

• Some in transportation call their strategic plans “road maps,” but the FAA calls theirs “flight plans.”
• FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center certainly looks “outside the box” with plans for an office park near their headquarters, which will enable close collaboration with potential partners.
• The best way to cooperate is to determine the most important needs.
• Critics have an important role in technology transfer efforts.
• We need to find and use ways to make technology transfer collaborative efforts legal.
• We also need a variety of agreements to accomplish technology transfer.
• Although all countries have similar needs, local applications of global knowledge is necessary.

Thanks to John and co-organizer Nelda Bravo for a thought provoking session. --- Lisa Haakon Pogue

T2 Committee's got a brand new (almost) blog

This is the new TRB T2 Committee blog, which will replace the newsletter I usually send out several times a year. It will serve many of the same purposes – to inform the members and friends of the committee what TRB and the committee are doing, share news about members and friends, and share news of new T2 methods, technologies and best practices. Hopefully, it will also provoke some new thinking and allow members and friends to share their experiences doing technology transfer.

When preparing this (almost) first blog for the T2 Committee, I noticed that my first posting was in 2006. Then blogs weren’t as popular or sometimes as respected as they are now. There are now corporate, well funded, and even governmental blogs now, in addition to the same old blogs concerned with political rantings and pictures of people’s cats.


We have a great agenda for this year’s annual meeting - Monday, January 12, 2009, 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM, Hilton, Caucus room. Co-chair Larry Orcutt will share his master’s degree paper on “Overcoming Roadblocks Facing the Implementation of Innovations: Three Case Studies at Caltrans.” We’ll also hear an update on the National Highway Institute technology transfer course, “Leap Not Creep: Accelerating Innovation Implementation,” from Kathleen Bergeron. And, we’ll discuss the committee’s future when Larry leads our session on strategic planning. And, there’s more! Several members and friends will share their “best practices” with us.

We’re also looking for some guest bloggers for this blog, so if you have a new idea, have used (successfully or not) a new technique, or just have something to get off your chest about technology transfer, let us know.
See you at TRB --- Lisa Haakon Pogue, co-chair

Welcome

This is the first entry in the TRB T2 Committee Blog.