NDU iCollege Social Media Conference Aims to Reach Across Boundaries

November 16, 2010

The National Defense University’s iCollege held a Social Media conference on Tuesday, November 9, 2010 in the Lincoln Hall auditorium at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, D.C. More than 200 people from military, government, academia and industry attended. Keynote speakers included General James Cartwright, Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff and Laith Alkhouri, Research Analyst, Flashpoint Global Partners.

The day’s discussions centered on leveraging social media in the government workplace; social media is enabling global communication in crisis situations (such as the Haiti earthquake); and working with social and virtual information tools in government to save costs, create a green footprint and open communication doors with like minded professionals across government and business. There were also panel discussions on the pros and cons of social media, “Millenials” use of social media, and organizations use of social media tools to break down silos.

Some examples of the enormous power of social media were given by conference speakers who made references to the recent release of American, Sarah Shourd from Iran, the capture of terrorists wanted world-wide, using social media as a tool for business sharing, collaboration and recruitment, and the growing popularity of social media platforms Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Dr. Robert D. Childs, Senior Director, of NDU’s iCollege, closed the conference with these remarks, “We all have to keep working at understanding and embracing social media. The NDU iCollege is dedicated to the future. Our focus includes information leadership in the areas of cybersecurity, governance, policy, law, tools and structure. Today, we have focused on the emergence of social media and how social media is not going away, but is growing with the speed of new technology. We have to ask ourselves, what risks are we willing to take?”

About the College - The NDU iCollege, a U.S. Department of Defense educational institution, prepares leaders to direct the information component of national power by leveraging information and information technology for strategic advantage. Although most students come from DoD (military and civilians), the school also accepts federal agency, private sector, and international students into its graduate programs. Education is focused around CIO, CFO, Information Assurance/Cyber, Enterprise Architecture, IT Project Management, and other information leadership competencies. The NDU iCollege is also currently working with the U.S. Department of Education to obtain approval for its new Government Information Leader Master of Science Degree. Courses are completed on campus and/or online. For more information about the NDU iCollege’s programs, please contact: Jolly Sienda at jolly.sienda.ctr@ndu.edu ; or for general information about the college, visit www.ndu.edu/icollege.

The National Defense University is the nation’s premier center for joint professional military education. The university is an accredited graduate-level institution that provides an educational and research environment to prepare future leaders of the armed forces and other civilian agencies for high-level policy, command, and staff responsibilities. For more information about the National Defense University, please contact: Dave Thomas, Public Affairs Officer, at 202-685-3140 or ThomasD2@ndu.edu; or visit www.ndu.edu.