Yes, we've been blogged. In the interest of starting a blog-versation, no matter how belated, The Telework Times, as the companion blog for the Telework Consortium, will now blog back:

On March 20, 2003, while investigating Fiber To The Home (FTTH), Scott Mace mentioned the Telework Consortium as "not a utility but an interesting company building telecommuting technology based in Virginia. Maybe an Internet2 spinoff?". By way of a clarification, and since public school report cards just got mailed home here in Fairfax County public schools, let's grade Scott's guess:

• "not a utility": correct!
• "an interesting company": correct! And we're non-profit, just in case you missed that point.
• "building telecommuting technology": nope. More on that in a bit.
• "based in Virginia": correct! As a matter of fact, we're located in Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology, and primarily funded by Congressman Frank Wolf (R-Virginia).
• "Maybe an Internet2 spinoff?": nope, you're way off there, Scott!

The Telework Consortium, while interested in ultra-high bandwidth applications and availability, focuses primarily on applications that will work with the current public Internet. We're not actually building these technologies, but rather identifying them, evaluating them, and working to overcome various challenges to adoption. Our generous grading system gives Scott 3 out of 5 correct answers, for a score of 60%. But don't worry, Scott, you qualify to retake the test after a bit more study at http://www.teleworkconsortium.org. Told you we were generous graders! And while that's all in fun, I do see lots of areas of shared interest areas (broadband, wireless, computer security for teleworkers, etc.), and expect to follow Scott's blog in the future.

"WebWorld", ostensibly a blog by the National Institute of Health's Center for Scientific Review, mentioned the Telework Consortium back in October 2002, in a blog that's categorized under "Software Applications, Tips, & Tools". Their interest centers on tools "to outfit remote workers... such as those that WebWorld will be exploring." Their list of related blogs covers collaboration tools such as blogs, wikis, Microsoft SharePoint, and even Office 11 and XP (for more see the Tools Guide). Lots of interesting tidbits, but I can't find any mention of videoconferencing wares among the postings. Recently all the postings say, simply "Reserved". I'm not sure what that's supposed indicate, or whether we'll be reading this blog much. Maybe if they get "

11:08:47 AM    
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