First Forum

September 14, 2005 at Harbor Steps Conference Center, Seattle

Over 50 attendees, including representatives from Amgen, Boeing, Corbis, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Getty Images, Group Health, Microsoft, Real Networks, Safeco, Seattle Public Library, Vulcan, and the University of Washington, met at the first Digital Futures Alliance Summit Meeting in September 2005.

	Dean of UW Libraries Lizabeth “Betsy” Wilson and UW President Mark Emmert welcomed the group, described the genesis and goals of the Digital Futures Alliance and the Summit, and stated UW's commitment to supporting the effort and preserving digital information.
	Keynote Speaker Cliff Lynch, Executive Director of the Coalition for Networked Information, gave a cogent and thought-provoking overview of digital preservation issues.

Dr. Lynch's speech focused on four topics:

1. What does it mean to do digital preservation in a digital world?
2. What are we preserving and what are we not preserving?
3. An overview of some of the players taking action, the key issues they are engaging, and how these might serve as models. Also, where are the gaps?
4. Placing digital preservation in a broader perspective. Are we in the process of renegotiating how society thinks about information and memory?

Lee Dirks, Director of Research Business Systems at Microsoft, moderated a lively panel discussion of digital preservation issues. Panelists addressed the challenges of digital preservation and access in their organizations, solutions their organizations have employed, and the future of digital preservation and access. Panelists were from a diverse group of regional companies and included:

• Cindy Cunningham, Director of Media Cataloging, Corbis Corporation
• Julie Martin, Vocabulary Management Service, Boeing Library & Learning Center Services
• Ernie Hood, VP and CIO of Group Health Cooperative
• Bob Arnold, Sr. Director of Technology Engineering and Design, Vulcan, Inc.
• Cliff Lynch, Executive Director of the Coalition for Networked Information

Pamela Henderson, CEO of NewEdge, Inc., gave an overview of preliminary results from a survey commissioned by the UW Libraries. A small sample of Fortune 500 companies and public agencies were interviewed.

Initial results found that institutions and industries from many sectors are experiencing difficulties preserving digital information. Current solutions are both inadequate and fragmented and costs are unknown. Different perspectives among businesses and libraries point to opportunities for both an expanded and more robust solution to the digital preservation problem.

Betsy Wilson wrapped up the meeting with an overview of next steps. She asked guests to continue their involvement by becoming DFA Charter Partners, by participating in an expanded research study to define the scope of the digital preservation and access problem, and by suggesting other organizations to participate in the Digital Futures Alliance.