On April 24, join a knowledgeable panel of UW and other experts to discuss “altmetrics”—new online technologies and tools to measure and track the impact of scholarly work, including data sets, code, and research results. This ScienceOnlineSeattle event, with its vibrant community of interest, takes place in UW Seattle’s Odegaard Undergraduate Library, room 220, at 5:30 p.m. Get details about the discussion panel, optional registration, refreshments, and live streaming and tweeting.

A new EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research (ECAR) case study—“Empowering Technology Research Support”—details how two UW units apply best practices to help advance the work of UW researchers. The UW receives more federal research funding than any other public university, and UW’s eScience Institute and UW-IT support the research community’s vast and sophisticated technology needs by incorporating technologically innovative solutions in areas such as data analysis, cloud services, high-performance computing, digital asset management, collaboration, and high-speed data networking. Use your UW NetID and the “Institution” InCommon login to access the case study.

Earth, ocean, sky, and space researchers and technologists will discuss the cyberinfrastructure challenges they face in their respective fields at the University of Hawaii (UoH) February 12-13. Co-sponsored by the UW, UC Davis, and UoH, the event provides an opportunity to explore—with Microsoft and Internet2 NET+ Services—the role of commercial cloud offerings in supporting the emerging big data research needs. Get more information.

A new central file storage is now available for UW students, faculty, and staff at no additional cost, supported by the Student Technology Fee and the Technology Recharge Fee. This new “U Drive” service offers 5GB of general-purpose, backed-up storage for electronic files.  It is activated automatically for students. Faculty and staff need to activate their U Drive, and may increase the amount of storage with a UW budget number. The storage is accessible via standard protocols. While available to everyone, please check with your unit’s IT support people to see if they have plans to deploy this service. Get details.

Ultra high-speed broadband and wireless networks will be coming to 12 Seattle neighborhoods as a pilot project of a new partnership, announced December 13, involving the City of Seattle, the UW, and broadband developer Gigabit Squared. The city will lease existing unused fiber to Gigabit Squared to support this effort, aimed at stimulating business opportunities, spurring advancements in fields such as health care and education, and enhancing quality of life for residents and businesses in Seattle. This demonstration aligns with the Gig.U initiative.

The UW Student Technology Fee Committee is calling for proposals to help meet the technology needs of UW students in furthering their educational and research goals. The proposals should be for one-time capital investment funding in six categories: computer labs, remote computing, frontier technology, machinery and research equipment, collaborative and portable, and software. Read the Request for Proposals for details. Submissions are due January 11, 2013.

HuskyBytes, on Facebook and Twitter, keeps UW students in the know about great free technology resources available to them. Find out first about new mobile apps like SpaceScout (for finding study spaces at UW Seattle), software you can use (funded by the Student Technology Fee) and upcoming technology workshops, taught by students, for students. Become a fan of the HuskyBytes Facebook Page or follow HuskyBytes on Twitter to hear the latest and share your thoughts.

In the new documentary “iOn the Future”, the UW’s Information School highlights how using technology to make information accessible to everyone can improve our world and help change people’s lives. The program focuses on recent projects like cybersecurity training, disaster response, and documenting the Rwanda war crimes tribunal. Tune in to UWTV on Tuesday, September 18 at 8:00 p.m., or watch online anytime.

Explore technology resources for UW students at the UW Seattle’s Student Technology Fair on September 27 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in Mary Gates Hall Commons. Hosted by UW-IT, this Dawg Daze event showcases new technologies and services offered by the UW and UW-IT. Win prizes, grab some giveaways from vendors, and attend presentations. You can also talk with representatives from Apple, Microsoft, University Book Store, UW Police, the Student Technology Fee Committee, and more.

Seattle startup Decide.com, brainchild of UW Computer Science & Engineering Professor Oren Etzioni, has progressed from analyzing price drops and increases on cameras, phones, appliances, and more to now assigning them to one of four categories, from “we love it” to “don’t buy it.” The new "Decide Score" feature uses expert and user reviews, aggregated and analyzed, to “determine if products are the best or worst,” reports GeekWire.

The K-20 Education Network has been bringing high-speed Internet to Washington students since 1996, “removing distance as a barrier to a great education,” reports a recent article in EDTECH. Designed and operated by UW-IT, the K-20 network now reaches more than 1.5 million students, with 99.8 percent of Washington classrooms connected. High school students take online advanced placement courses at the UW and medical practitioners at remote clinics videoconference with UW Medicine specialists, all using the network. A recent bandwidth upgrade addressed the increasing demands of mobile devices.

The UW is now positioned to use the next generation of Internet networking technology—Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6)—after completion by UW-IT of a core network upgrade. IPv6 brings almost unlimited addresses, as well as other configuration and security improvements, and most modern operating systems and applications support IPv6 transparently. IPv4, the current protocol, will not be going away, and the two will run concurrently into the foreseeable future. IPv6 adoption is not mandatory; a request to UW-IT for subnet activation can be submitted by a unit’s IT support person.

The UW received the 2012 Campus Technology Administrative Systems Innovators Award, given to IT leaders for “extraordinary technology solutionsto meet campus challenges.” The award is for the UW’s Enterprise Data Warehouse data access control solution, which provides secure access to UW administrative data to more than 5,000 UW staff. This groundbreaking work is led by Bill Yock, UW-IT’s Director of Enterprise Information Services.

The Technology Recharge Fee that funds critical information technology services provided by UW Information Technology will remain the same for FY 2013. The fee, paid by all UW academic and administrative units, covers a basic bundle of services that includes wired and Wi-Fi networks, UW NetID access management, administrative systems infrastructure, basic backups and storage, Catalyst Web Tools, software licensing, MyUW, and more.

RL “Bob” Morgan, senior technology architect with UW-IT, received the Internet2 President’s Leadership Award at the Spring 2012 Member Meeting. For more than 20 years, Morgan has designed and deployed advanced identity management systems, working on key community-wide initiatives including Shibboleth, Groups, Directories, InCommon, and others that enable collaboration across institutions. This award recognizes his commitment to strengthening network services among the higher education and technology community. Internet2, a not-for-profit advanced international networking consortium led by its U.S. research and education partners, develops breakthrough network technologies to support the innovations of the future.

Insight into UW Seattle student and faculty technology use and trends, gleaned from recent surveys, is now available online. The Report on the 2011 Faculty, Teaching Assistant, and Student Surveys illuminates patterns of technology use and identifies unmet needs that help inform future campus technology decisions. The surveys are conducted every three years at UW Seattle. This effort is part of the UW’s 2y2d Teaching & Learning in the 21st Century Initiative. Key takeaways include: student proficiency with and access to technology is high, students use technology to support their learning beyond what instructors require, and students and instructors use educational technologies to make large classes more manageable and to increase collaboration and communication.

Now UW departments can list surplus equipment on the new uSwap online service, and also search for or request items before buying new equipment. Provided by UW Finance and Facilities, uSwap is for UW use only and is UW NetID secure. The site guides units through transferring UW-owned computers and accessories, audio/video equipment, and other items in compliance with UW rules, promoting reuse and saving money.

More than 1800 UW Seattle faculty, TAs, and students participated in the 2011 UW-IT Technology Surveys, providing insight into trends that will help inform future campus technology decisions. Technology use is increasing, proficiency with and student access to technology is high, and technical obstacles are low. Read the surveys’ key findings and see where classroom technology, wireless access, course information integration, Green IT, and data management ranked as a priority. The full report will be available later this quarter.

This quarter, UW instructors who teach with laptops can try out a new technology that supports teaching and learning. Tegrity, a cloud-based lecture capture service, lets instructors easily record lectures and other class activities from a laptop (or any device with a Web connection). Then students can review the materials online using a Web browser or mobile device. Learn more.

Did you know that individual UW faculty and staff can purchase computer services through UW-IT’s Nebula Managed Desktop service even if their unit is not subscribed? Nebula provides a centrally managed, supported Windows environment for UW faculty, staff, academic and administrative units for a monthly fee. Pay-as-you-go, on-demand user support and secured file space also are available. In addition, Nebula provides group access to your secured file space with UW Groups, and Mac users who upgrade to OSX Lion, the UW-licensed Apple operating system, will find it easier to access Nebula’s protected file server drives. See the UW-IT Service Catalog for details.

The UW Student Technology Fee Committee is now accepting proposals from UW units for projects that help meet the technology needs of UW students in furthering their educational and research goals. There are six main funding categories: computer labs, remote computing, frontier technology, machinery and research equipment, collaborative and portable, and software. Read the Request for Proposals for details and submit yours by January 11, 2012.

Seattle last week hosted an international supercomputing event showcasing the high-performance computing needed by UW researchers for analyzing, storing, and sharing massive datasets. The UW played a key role in SC11, with UW-IT and its engineers on the Pacific Northwest Gigapop team providing the fiber optic cabling, racks and power to help make the event possible. UW scientists from the eScience Institute, Computer Science & Engineering, and other units also participated. Read more in UW Today.

If you are experienced with workflow creation and management tools or identity and access management solutions, please take these brief, 10-question WebQ surveys on these areas. The Kuali Rice team appreciates your input to help with future planning and prioritization. Please submit your responses by December 1.

Hear Bill Gates III talk about advances in computing and how significant breakthroughs have the potential to improve our world over the next decade at the CSE 520 Distinguished Lecture on October 27. The live talk will be at 3:30 p.m. at the Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science & Engineering, with a reception to follow. This talk will be webcast live and archived.

UW students: Come to the Student Technology Fair, “Tech 4 U”, hosted by UW-IT at UW Seattle's Odegaard Undergraduate Library, 2nd floor, on September 28. Stop by from noon to 4:00 p.m. to see the latest technology upgrades in Odegaard Learning Commons, learn about technology offered by the Access Technology Center, Catalyst Web Tools, Classroom Support Services, Libraries Media Center, Mobile Communications, Office of Planning and Budgeting, Student Technology Fee Committee, and UW Police. Win prizes, grab giveaways, attend a presentation, and meet representatives from Adobe, Apple, CDW-G, Google, Microsoft, T-Mobile, and University Bookstore Tech Center.

The University of Washington has joined over 30 other U.S. universities in Gig.U, a project to bring ultra-high-speed computer networks to neighboring communities to spur economic growth and innovation. By providing Internet service that is several hundred times faster than what is commercially available, the project seeks to attract high-tech startups. Gig.U members are reaching out to telecommunications companies, corporations, and nonprofits for suggestions and business ideas, reports The New York Times.

The UW expects to reduce energy consumption and save about $700,000 in energy costs during its participation in the Department of Energy’s $178 million Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project. Now in the second year of the five-year project, the UW is installing “intelligent” electrical meters, water meters, and lighting controls in most UW Seattle buildings. To ensure reliable and secure communications, the UW Capital Projects Office and Facilities Services are partnering with UW-IT to provide an isolated, secure Facilities Network for the grid. The UW’s Smart Grid project will provide a baseline of energy consumption and test the effectiveness of the new technology.

The UW Technology Recharge Fee for FY 2012 will remain at the current level of $52.68 per month per capita for all academic and administrative units. The fee supplements central funds to help pay for critical information technology services delivered by UW Information Technology (UW-IT). Over a dozen basic services are included, such as wired and Wi-Fi networks, UW NetID access management, administrative systems infrastructure, and Catalyst Web Tools. It also includes renewal of the Microsoft Campus License Agreement for FY 2012.

UW-IT wants to know how UW faculty, staff, and students are using, or are interested in using, Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS provide cloud-based solutions for many data-related needs such as on-demand computation power, storage options, and database services. Please take a few moments to fill out a short questionnaire to help with future planning.

Have you searched the UW Course Catalog, used Employee Self-Service or MyFinancial.desktop, or filed grades via Catalyst GradeBook? These tools rely on UW Web Services, supported by UW-IT, that provide a bridge to the institutional data used by these applications. Learn more, browse the more than 20 services, and submit suggestions on the UW Web Services portal, with its new, easy-to-use interface.

A collaborative effort to develop a flexible, UW-wide Document Imaging and Management System (DIMS) is underway. DIMS will capture and store electronic versions of paper documents, addressing a long-time need for increased workflow efficiencies in paper-heavy manual processes. A pilot project will automate components of the admissions process at UW Seattle and UW Bothell, in partnership with Financial Management, the Office of Research, the Office of Planning and Budgeting, and UW-IT. Longer-term goals are to implement DIMS across other University units and integrate it with other UW systems.

Two large-file storage services are now available for UW researchers. The Shared File Service provides general purpose file storage with high-speed capability for sharing large datasets. The Archive Storage Service is a redundant, tape-based repository for rarely accessed data. Both use the lolo file-based storage system, are designed to be cost-effective, and require a minimum three-year commitment to purchase. Offered through UW-IT, these services were developed in collaboration with the eScience Institute.

A professional audio recording and editing facility in Odegaard was recently updated by UW-IT with industry-standard hardware and software, thanks to support from the Student Technology Fee. The Sound Studio is available by reservation at no charge to current students, faculty, and staff. You can attend a workshop to familiarize yourself with the new capabilities. Create a new theme song for the Sound Studio Web site and enter it in the Remix Competition by March 11 to win one of three Skull Candy headphones.

Starting March 1, the amount of disk space allocated to faculty and staff will be split out by service: UW Email—also known as UW Deskmail—(5 GB), Streaming Media (3 GB), Web Publishing (1 GB), and Linux Shell (1 GB). Shared accounts will have 1 GB space for each service, except for Streaming Media (3 GB). You will be able to manage your allocation and get additional space charged to a UW budget number beginning July 1, 2011 via the self-service Manage Your UW NetID Resources Web page. See details in IT Connect.

Some UW researchers doing computational, data-intensive work are now plugged in to a high-performance computer cluster in the new UW Tower Data Center. Called Hyak (Chinook for “fast”), this shared supercomputer is made available through eScience Institute sponsorship of specific colleges, currently Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and the Environment. Phase one (one-third of Hyak’s capacity) was completed in August 2010. Additional sponsorships for the remaining capacity are available. This partnership with UW-IT to satisfy campus research computing requirements resulted in skill and technology transfer, reducing costs and increasing UW efficiency and productivity.

If you need to meet with colleagues or groups at other institutions, consider booking the Videoconference Studios in Odegaard Undergraduate Library or Health Sciences. Your reservation fee includes on-site support and equipment operation by UW-IT.

Do you need to share audio, video, or applications with multiple participants? Sign up for Adobe Connect, a Flash-based virtual meeting room, available for a fee through UW-IT. Connect with up to 100 participants for e-learning, collaboration, Web meetings, screen sharing, and more.

Did you know you could register your laptop and electronics with UW Police to help recover them if they are stolen? It only takes a few minutes to use the online Electronic Equipment Registration for personally owned equipment. You can also register your bicycle. Read The Daily for more holiday safety tips.

The Northwest Hospital (NWH)/UW Medicine affiliation has been strengthened with the deployment of a core fiber optic network in October by UW-IT. This enabled NWH’s radiation oncology and cardiology units to connect with UW Medicine and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance so clinicians now can efficiently access, evaluate, and act upon patient data across multiple data systems, sources, and formats. NWH staff also can access other online resources such as journal subscriptions. With this scalable network infrastructure in place, more units can be added over time.

UW units using UW-IT’s managed desktop model (Nebula) are taking advantage of new on-demand user support pricing to help manage their IT support costs. This centrally managed service includes basic account management and helpdesk support, a standard software suite, security patching and anti-virus, file space and backup, and power management for Windows, with a Macintosh option available. UW academic and administrative units may subscribe to this managed desktop service. See details online.

The latest release of UW-IT’s Technology Services and Equipment Bill (TSEBill) provides units with a single, consolidated online bill for many UW-IT services, with more consistent and easier to understand billing details. Charges for telephones, managed desktop (Nebula), computer maintenance, sponsored NetIDs, smartphones, co-location, Exchange, and the Technology Recharge Fee are all now on TSEBill.

Did you know you can get convenient, affordable computer repair service at UW Seattle, charged to your budget number? UW-IT’s Computer Maintenance Group (CMG) provides maintenance and repair services for computers, laptops, workstations, and printers, including warranty and post-warranty repairs on HP PC’s and HP printers and Apple computers. CMG also can install software, transfer data, perform limited data recovery, and move your computers or get them ready for surplus. Pickup and delivery can be arranged. Get details and rates.

UW research findings on technology are the topic of two recently published journal articles. The role of technological expertise, gender, and age and how they relate to the use of educational technologies are discussed in a Journal of Computing in Higher Education article, and a new EDUCAUSE Quarterly article recommends that universities consider the whole campus as a single learning environment. In addition, three new research reports provide recommendations for a campus-wide student technology strategy as well as detailed findings on UW Seattle students' technology needs and mobile device use.

Paccar Hall, a new state-of-the-art building at the UW Foster School of Business, features U-shaped tiered classrooms, student breakout rooms, offices, meeting spaces, an auditorium, and an atrium with café. Technology enhancements include Web-linked digital monitors and distance conferencing capabilities. As part of the project team, UW Information Technology set up more than 750 new Ethernet connections and worked to bring voice and wireless to the building. Take a virtual tour or read a news story.

Your feedback could help modernize UW student self-service for registration and program enrollment and contribute to development of Kuali Student, a higher education community initiative to build a next-generation student system. UW students may participate in one of two focus groups on Sept. 1 (noon - 2:00 p.m.) or Sept. 2 (5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.) to share what works well and what doesn’t. Sign up on Facebook or email sisinput@uw.edu.

Thanks to Student Technology Fee funding, all UW Seattle students, including students graduating June 2010, soon will be able to download Microsoft Office Pro Plus 2010, Office 2008 for Mac, and Windows 7 Professional. All institution-owned computers designated for student use (such as classroom computers, student labs, and computers checked-out to students) are also covered by this agreement. See details on software and dates available.

Is your UW department considering having its computer desktops centrally managed? UW Information Technology's Nebula Managed Desktop Service is changing July 1, 2010 to offer a basic managed desktop package in its new cost-recovery model. You get backup and emergency restore of file services, network file services, operating system updates (including security patches), and more. See details online.