Second Forum

January 19, 2006 at University of Washington, Seattle

Following the successful launch of the Digital Futures Alliance at the September 2005 Summit, DFA Charter Partners and representatives from a cross-section of public, private and non-profit organizations met on January 19, 2006 to hear the results of DFA's work over the last six months, and to lay the groundwork for Phase II of DFA's agenda.

The morning began with a welcome from Lizabeth "Betsy" Wilson, Dean of University of Washington Libraries. Dean Wilson introduced members of the Executive and Advisory Committees and gave a brief update on recent developments. DFA Charter Partners include Amgen, DiMeMa, Microsoft, OCLC, PATH, RealNetworks, Vulcan Inc., the University of Washington President's Office, and the UW Libraries.

Greg Zick, DFA Executive Chair, gave a presentation on DFA project goals, and the role DFA will play in developing viable solutions for the long-term preservation of digital information to ensure continuing access to digital resources for corporations, academic and cultural institutions, and government agencies.

He also shared the results of an extensive research survey commissioned by DFA and conducted by New Edge, Inc. Zick's presentation was followed by a question and answer period in which Pamela Henderson, New Edge CEO, and other members of the research team provided more details about the survey and responses. The survey included 55 interviews throughout a diverse group of industries.

Following a mid-morning break, Lee Dirks, Director of Research Business Systems at Microsoft, gave an overview of DFA's plans for the next nine months which will include the formal establishment of Working Groups. He then provided an introduction to the discussion groups in which forum attendees participated during the next hour.

Each group focused on one of four topics: Access/Usage, Selection, Technical Issues, and Education/Outreach. In a plenary session following the discussions, each group reported the highlights of their conversation. These group reports will be synthesized and used to help shape the framework for DFA Working Groups.

The Forum ended with a presentation by Joe McKinstry, the UW Libraries Council of Advocates Chair. Mr. McKinstry discussed next steps for the DFA and outlined opportunities for involvement as Charter Partners and as working group members.