March 2, 2006
Mosey on down to Biz Tech round-up
You won’t need to be a technology expert to find something of interest at the annual Biz Tech 2006: Technology Round-Up fair.
But visiting might help you learn of new technologies and opportunities to help you do your job better, even so.
The event is free and will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 15, in the HUB Ballroom. Those bringing their Husky cards can enter for the chance at prizes.
From new money-saving software licensing to time and effort-saving digital media resources to emergency preparation, the fair seeks to use technology to make what’s good on campus even better. And for fun, this year’s event has a western theme.
Biz Tech is the annual campus fair showcasing the latest business technologies available, and it’s for all UW staff and faculty, at all campuses and locations. The event is free, sponsored by the offices of Computing & Communications and Business Services.
The fair will have booths dedicated to academics, computing, collaboration, emergency preparedness, finance, facilities services, health sciences, media, purchasing, vendors, and — last but far from least — accessibility resources for members of the campus community.
New resources to look for this year include:
UWare Software Acquisition and Licensing Service: UW Purchasing and Stores is rolling out a new function that could save departments money by creating economies of scale for software purchases.
DigitalWell: “Digitalwell is a digital asset management system that allows departments and groups to create digital media collections and manage objects in those collections easily for presentation on their Web site,” explained Michael Smith, manager of streaming media technologies for Computing & Communications. “The real thing that makes DigitalWell shine above other asset management options is the fact that we offer it as a solution for the UW and provide the infrastructure and compatible middleware components to create a single source for streaming and archiving dynamic content.”
C & C invites visitors to stop by the DigitalWell booth at the fair to learn more and see a demonstration of the system “exhibiting how easy it is to add content and link to it from your public Web site.”
Emergency Preparedness: The difference will be obvious. One model office at the fair has been “mitigated” — tied down or braced for an earthquake — and another has not, so visitors can see the difference. There also will be information for the campus community on safety and disaster preparedness, at home as well as work.
Innovation in mobile technologies: “Do your work where you are, when it needs to be done,” is Computing & Communications’ message for would-be visitors to the C&C booths. Keeping the western theme intact, the department’s Biz Tech offerings break down into several areas: Working on the Road (that is, “On the trail”), Working at Home (“at the ranch”), working on campus and collaborating with colleagues (western-style title: “Barn raisings and Cattle Drives”).
But there’s much, much more to this round-up, including information on the Flexcar program, the UW administrative Project Tracker tool, information from human resources and the campuswide classroom scheduling and event planning tool, Resource25.
Still, despite all the state-of-the-art technology to learn about, the people connection also is a strong one at Biz Tech, said its coordinator, Clarice Nakata Hall.
“One of the values I see in Biz Tech is is building relationships and connecting with colleagues,” she said. “A lot of times technology keeps us apart, so when you go to these events you actually get to talk to people face to face and work with them one on one.”
Plus, Nakata-Hall said, “It’s a fun event.”
To learn more or to register, visit online at: https://cspc.admin.washington.edu/conf/public/BizTechRegistration.htm.
