Opening Ceremonies - view presentation

Keynote Address: April 17, 2007

Transforming Education in Science and Beyond (PPT 1.6 MB)

Carl Wieman, Nobel Prize Laureate
University of British Columbia and University of Colorado - view presentation

Current technology offers great opportunities for improving education. It offers new ways to present ideas and information, new ways to enhance student-student and student-teacher communication and new ways to assess student performance and provide pedagogically powerful and timely targeted feedback. However, providing these opportunities with improved educational effectiveness and efficiency requires more than just the technology. The use of this technology must be carefully guided by research on how people learn and ongoing testing of its effectiveness. Proper use must also address the many non-content factors that affect educational effectiveness, including the prior knowledge and beliefs of both teachers and students. I will discuss all of these issues in an effort to describe how technology might allow us to profoundly change and improve teaching in science and other subjects.

Keynote Address: April 18, 2007

Openness, Localization, and the Future of Learning Objects - view presentation

David Wiley, Associate Professor of Instructional Technology and Director of the Center for Open and Sustainable Learning at Utah State University

For over a decade now we have operated on the assumption that learning objects are about "reuse." Many of us have spent significant parts of our careers working to develop systems that automatically reuse - in other words, select and sequence - learning objects. We rarely, if ever, have spoken of the possibility of editing learning objects, or of adapting their contents to better fit local circumstances. And in a world built on assumptions of object economies, micropayments and draconian intellectual property regimes, there was no reason for us to think about making "derivative works" from learning objects. However, as the open source philosophy continues to percolate through the community of educational materials designers and developers, we now find ourselves in a position to speak and talk of localizing and adapting learning objects. This much more sophisticated reuse, enabled by open licensing, is the future of learning objects.

The BCNET 2007 Broadband Innovation Challenge: Student Presentations and Awards - view presentation

BCNET has formed The 2007 Broadband Innovation Challenge, formerly known as the Coolest Applications Contest, to promote student innovation and demonstrate the utilization of British Columbia’s super broadband research networks. BCNET has invited higher education students from across the province to participate in the challenge in exchange for publicity and cash prizes. During this session, the competition finalists will present a brief overview of their applications. Following the presentations, the competition winners will be announced and cash awards presented from this year’s sponsors. The BCNET Broadband Innovation Challenge is sponsored by Sun Microsystems, TELUS, Shaw Business Solutions, Apple, Matrix Video, SGI and Industry Canada.

Winning Presentations
Afton Lewis, Patrick Colp, Kyle Porter UBC (PPT. 95.5 KB)
Michael Wood, Andrew Warfield, Christian Kreibich, Vern Paxson (PPT 75.5 KB)
Leung Hoang, Graham Laverty, Samuel Wong (PPT 61.6 MB)

Beyond Identity Management: Secure Data Sharing, Collaboration and Trust in Service-Oriented Architectures - view presentation

Public sector organizations face security and privacy challenges when the need to collaborate across departmental boundaries in real time brings up security and privacy protection issues.

In the public sector of the future, collaboration is dynamic and linked by networks of trust. The automated service delivery based on a service-oriented architecture like approach will depend on stakeholders’ confidence in the system and managed trust between the stakeholders. This is particularly challenging when public service depends on multiple contributing providers from different areas within government who may not be known to each other or to the consumer of the overall service. Several new paradigms have come into play that attempt to help solve this issue: from a user-centric identity model to policy-driven service-oriented architectures based on dynamic trust management. Recent analyses in this area indicate that the reliance on a standardized trust model increases efficiency of collaboration and aids in the enforcement of policies thereby limiting risks.

The purpose of this presentation is to show how public and private sector can work collaboratively to improve cross-public service delivery and maintain the highest standard for privacy and security. The benefits of this approach include increased positive service outcomes, real time and dynamically secure communication and information sharing. TELUS will discuss BC public sector’s framework for multi stakeholder and cross jurisdiction data sharing and collaboration. SFU will present research that addresses security and privacy-protection approaches to enable data sharing and ubiquitous collaboration among participants in the framework.

Marek Hatala, SFU
John Cox, TELUS

Scaling in the Participation Age (PDF 1.2 MB) - view presentation
As the world of “Web 2.0” continues to take off, much of our knowledge and data is recorded on, retrieved from, and reused on the web; the performance and security of the underlying infrastructure is becoming increasingly important. Certain practices have emerged as trends in the how architects have chosen to implement some of today's largest, most complex infrastructures. Steve will talk about some of these trends and the associated options for implementing the best practices of each trend. We draw on experience from a variety of financial, communications, social networking, and file sharing services.

Steve Saso, Sun Microsytems

Collaboration Technologies Sessions:

Breaking Down the Barriers: Collaborative Tools that Keep Us Connected (Panel) (See below for links to individual PowerPoint presentations)
Collaboration technologies continue to build a sense of community among researchers, instructors and students who need to work together but are separated geographically across the country, or even across a university campus. This session will showcase emerging technologies that enhance the collaborative abilities of universities and research institutes, such as Elluminate, Horizon Wimba, Skype, SIP and H.323 videoconferencing. Presenters will investigate ways in which these technologies can facilitate and maintain virtual communities while also discussing how these tools complement a face-to-face academic setting. The benefits and requirements of using these online collaboration technologies for communications, research and e-learning will also be explored.

Terry Fuller, BCIT
Lynda Williams, UNBC
Geoffrey Payne, UNBC (PPT 56.9 MB)
Paul Stacey, BCcampus (PPT 1.1 MB)
Jo McFetridge, BCIT (PPT 570.5 KB)
Matt Wasowski, Horizon Wimba (PPT 1.9 MB)

From Pilot to Enterprise: How to Get New Technologies Scaled Up on Campus (PPT 1.5 MB) (Panel) (See below for links to individual PowerPoint presentations)
Scaling network applications into an enterprise phase and making them accessible to all can be a major undertaking for researchers and educators. From obtaining the appropriate resources to gaining commitment from the institution, researchers are faced with the thorny problem of understanding complicated protocols across campuses. This presentation will provide participants with examples of what has worked and what has not in terms of successfully scaling technologies up on campus. Learn from panelists who will explore the issue from both a technical and functional perspective, while also looking at new ways to manage people’s expectations when technologies initially advance out of the pilot stage.

Michelle Lamberson, UBC
Frances Atkinson, SFU (PPT 78 KB)
Carrie Spencer, Royal Roads U
Cyprien Lomas, UBC

New Media Sessions:

Performance Art and Real-Time Networking: The Virtual DJ (Demonstration)
An interplay of motion, music and light is making cool vibrations over advanced networks these days. Marrying the arts with technology, Dr. Steve Gibson, Canadian media artist, composer and theorist, is creating responsive, real-time performance art capable of traveling over the Internet to distant locations. This interactive work known as the “Virtual DJ,” is providing amazing experiences for participants as they interact around the world. Take part in this live demonstration that will explore motion-tracking technology, the artistic experience and how it is being delivered using high-bandwidth research networks. Presented in real-time over the Internet with Dr. Dene Grigar, Washington State University, Vancouver, Washington.

Steve Gibson, UVic
Dene Grigar, Washington State U

The New Intersections Digital Studio (PPT 20.2 MB)
(Presentation)
Three big changes have happened at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design (ECI) this year: a new Masters of Applied Arts program, the opening of the Intersections Digital Studios (IDS), and the launch of the Industry and Research Office. In this session we will describe the context of these changes and the exciting new directions made possible by ECI's new facilities and resources. We will speak to the opportunities in New Media research with an eye to some of the challenges involved in interdisciplinary collaborations, presenting examples of current and future work at the nexus of art, culture and technology.

Maria Lantin, ECI

Voice over IP Sessions:

An Open Meeting with the BCNET VoIP Working Group (Panel)
As an increasingly sought after technology used for reliable and cost-effective communication, Voice over IP (VoIP) continues to provide substantial benefits for its many users. With more people taking advantage of its peering capabilities, university campuses are turning to this advanced telephony system to enhance learning, research and collaborative initiatives. To address its recent popularity on university campuses, BCNET formed a VoIP Working Group (VoIPWG) in order to facilitate BCNET institutions with the implementation of VoIP and to explore peering possibilities among connected universities. In this session, join the VoIPWG in an open meeting setting, where members will discuss their goals for the group, ideas for future projects and how VoIP is being implemented at each of BCNET’s member campuses.

Scott Owen, UBC
Keir Novik, SFU
Glen Montgomery, UNBC
Ron Kozsan, UVic
David Burkholder, TRU
Brent Besse, Royal Roads U

When Voice Becomes Data: Lessons Learned (Presentation)
Voice services delivered as an application enable cost savings and network efficiencies. But Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) cannot be treated as just another application. In this session, we will examine how convergence affects your network and how VoIP can affect initiatives across campus. We’ll outline both the advantages and the perils of this technology, sharing valuable lessons as we’ve ventured into voice services. We’ll touch on the need to have a robust and securely configured network to handle new voice threats, and how to recognize the next wave of concerns.

Lucy Cross, Shaw Business Solutions

Virtual Reality: Immersive Learning in 3-D Environments (Panel/Demonstration) (See below for links to individual PowerPoint presentations)
Virtual learning environments (VLE) are not new to higher education but are currently gaining much attention in both the popular and academic press. Historically, VLEs have been heavy on engagement but weak in user interface (UI) and usability. Most recently there has been a trend toward 3-D virtual worlds in which participants (or inhabitants) move and interact within a complex and constructed environment. Many virtual worlds offer compelling UI and interactive functions that engage and even absorb the frequent or casual visitor and are, in a best case scenario, supported by a grid-based network. From courses in Archeology, to Landscape Architecture and Biology, students and instructors have begun to collaboratively build virtual worlds or spaces in 3-D environments such as Second Life, Ancient Spaces, Croquet, Uni-Verse and others. With most of the applications being open source, the opportunity to create and share knowledge and interact with multiple users in 3-D virtual learning spaces is only curtailed by the imagination of its builders, its users and the existing technical infrastructure. In this session, we will showcase some examples of immersive 3-D virtual reality learning environments and discuss how interacting in these environments may add value to teaching and research.

Ulrich Rauch, UBC (PDF 1.1 MB)
Gerri Sinclair, Great Northern Way Campus (PPT 2.7 MB)
Anthony Gurr, Art Institute of Vancouver
Jim Bizzocchi, SFU
Jeffrey Trzeciak, McMaster U (PPT 8.6 MB)
Morgan Reid, UBC (PPT 398.5)

Podcasting: Infrastructure, Instructor and Student Perspectives (Panel) (See below for links to individual PowerPoint presentations)
After recently gaining popularity within the academic community, podcasting now provides students with new opportunities to engage with class materials and simplifies the task of catching up on missed lectures. An even greater opportunity lies with students creating and sharing their own content. These digital audio files, which enable instructors and students to share knowledge in new and innovative ways, widens access to quality lectures through the headphones of their iPod or directly from the desktop of their computer. In this session, panelists will explore podcasting from several points of view, focusing on the infrastructure and perspectives of both students and instructors, while also uncovering the many benefits behind this new learning technology.

Richard Smith, SFU (PDF 440 KB)
Frances Atkinson, SFU (PPT 364 KB)
Jan Cioe, UBCO (PPT 48 KB)

Accessing Real Equipment in Distant Environments: Online Labs for Learning and Collaboration (PPT 1.4 MB)
(Panel/Demonstration) (See below for links to individual PowerPoint presentations)
Online labs are providing new and exciting opportunities for students as they gain access to networking equipment and scientific instrumentation from distant locations. In this presentation, we will be introduced to two groundbreaking projects – one initiated at Royal Roads University, the other, an international collaboration between Western Washington University (WWU), Thompson Rivers University (TRU), the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the University of Northern BC (UNBC). Presenters will provide several perspectives on the viability of online virtual labs and remote instrumentation, including an overview and demonstration of each of their projects. At Royal Roads, computer science students are now learning to safely install, configure and repair various computers and networking equipment in distant environments using the Internet. The WWU, TRU, UBC and UNBC collaboration combines videoconferencing with the shared and remote use of modern scientific instrumentation in an initiative titled “Developing an Integrated Laboratory Network to Enhance Science Education in British Columbia.” By leveraging a number of existing web-based technologies, distance education for computer science and basic science education has taken on an aspect of training that was not previously possible, namely the hands-on configuration and operation of real equipment in real-time. Discover how state-of-the-art network connections are enabling students in remote locations to access instrumentation and instructor expertise.

Simon Albon, UBC
Steven Beaudry, Royal Roads U
Sharon Brewer, TRU (PPT 5.9 MB)
Bruno Cinel, TRU (PPT 5.9 MB)
Devon Cancilla, Western Washington U

Syndicating, Mashing and Republishing: Webfeeds for Educators (Workshop)
A key driver in the explosion of online activity and the growth of Web 2.0 applications has been the growth of common syndication formats such as RSS. RSS is the glue that binds discrete social software tools such as weblogs, social bookmarks and online photo services such as Flickr. It is RSS that takes a series of audio files and makes it a "podcast." This workshop will explore how educators are tapping webfeeds to support their practices and walk participants through the tools and techniques required to make dynamic content work for learning.

Brian Lamb, UBC
Novak Rogic, UBC

Maximizing Clarity for Inclusive Learning: High-Performance Networks and Universal Instructional Design (Panel) - view presentation
Learning applications that use high-performance networks tend to focus on multimedia, high level graphics and immersive types of interactivity. Universal Instructional Design is the art of crafting instruction so that it is inclusive across an array of learning styles, with specific reference to targeted disabilities. Creating inclusive learning tools involves maximizing the clarity of presentation and the choice of medium for students with different learning abilities. This can include "going backwards" from the high-end point of view, such as providing a text transcript of video content for the visually impaired. In this presentation, panelists will address the question of how these two trends work together and where they collide while also sharing their goals and experiences with Universal Design.

Lynda Williams, UNBC
Maureen Hewlett, UNBC
Saif Zahir, UNBC
Nathan Hapke, UBC

Understanding Your Network Needs for High Performance Computing (Focus Group)
A tremendously valuable tool used within the research and higher education community, High Performance Computing (HPC) provides researchers with the capacity to share massive amounts of data, applications and computational resources across various regions throughout the province. With computational abilities that far surpass that of supercomputers, HPC involves many individual computers linked together for flexible, powerful and collaborative research. In this session, conference attendees will be invited to sit in and observe an HPC Focus Group, where prominent researchers from BCNET member institutes will be joined together to discuss and exchange ideas about current and future network needs for high performance computing.

Facilitator: Michael Hrybyk, BCNET

Users of the Grid: Making Research More Efficient and Collaborative (PDF 1.1 MB) (Presentations)
WestGrid is a grid-enabled system that encompasses 14 partner institutions from British Columbia to Manitoba, enabling high performance computing, collaboration and scientific visualization resources. In this presentation, we will be introduced to several projects that take advantage of the grid to better understand its immense computational power.

Introducer: Martin Siegert, SFU

The Global ATLAS Experiment: Bringing Scientists Closer to Solving the Biggest Mysteries in Physics (PDF 3.2 MB)
Canadian researchers are playing an integral role in the largest science experiment on Earth, a physics project called the ALTAS experiment. Involving 2,000 researchers from 35 countries around the world, ATLAS is a marvel of grid computing and advanced networking. Discover how project collaborators will manage the massive data output, what they hope to find and how the ATLAS grid will “do for large scale computing what the World Wide Web did for the global sharing of information.”

Dugan O'Neil, SFU

High-Throughput Genomics Approaches to Identifying Novel Anti-Infective Drug Targets (PPT 6.2 MB) (Presentation)
At SFU, we use a combination of computational and laboratory approaches to study the DNA of infectious bacteria, learning more about how infectious disease-causing microbes have evolved and how we may better control them. Our computational methods aid the identification of potential drug targets which aid the identification of new therapeutics for a wide range of infectious diseases. Since the DNA sequence has now been determined for over 1500 different bacterial species genomes, there is an increasing need to incorporate high performance computing into our analyses. In addition, our research involves collaborations worldwide which benefit from sophisticated networking, visualization, and collaboration resources.

Fiona Brinkman, SFU

Studying Climate Change: Glacier and Ice Sheet Simulations in the Past, Present and Future (PPT 4.9 MB)
Shawn Marshall has developed 3-D models of glacier and ice sheet dynamics in order to describe a global-scale icefield response to climate change in the past, present and future. This includes Ice Age climate dynamics and shorter-term changes in the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets, which have important implications for this century’s global rising sea levels. These numerical simulations require extensive computational resources, particularly when coupled with climate models. Shawn will present an overview of the numerical models used by my research group and discuss questions of climate system dynamics and climate change.

Shawn Marshall, U of Calgary

Computer Simulation of Molecular Systems
The application of molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulation techniques to molecular systems will be discussed. Current problems that will be explored include nematic colloids of interest in material research, some aspects of protein chemical denaturation relevant in biology and the adsorption of water on clay particles of importance in atmospheric science.

Gren Patey, UBC


Building a National HPC Platform (Presentation)
Today, researchers rely on high performance computing for access to state-of-the-art resources and infrastructures that enable partnerships and collaborations across distant locations. In Canada, institutions have begun forming a consortia to more effectively meet the needs of researchers and increase its international competitiveness and leadership. This regional HPC consortia includes WestGrid, HPCVL and SHARCNET, to name just a few. In this session, we will be introduced to WestGrid representatives on the National Initiatives Committee and learn about ways in which the committee has worked with the consortia to build a successful platform. The question and answer portion of the session will provide participants with the chance to learn more about how to get on the grid for better access to globally available scientific equipment and computational and visualization resources.

Jonathan Schaeffer, U of Alberta
Mark Thachuk, UBC

Telescopes, Data Centres and the Virtual Observatory
(PPT 18.4 MB) (Presentation)
The Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC), part of the National Research Council’s Herzberg Institute for Astrophysics, is a world leader in the field of astronomy data management and delivery (http://www.cadc.hia.nrc.gc.ca). The CADC is responsible for archiving and distributing data for all the major ground-based and space-based telescopes in which Canada is a partner. It currently hosts the largest single collection of astronomy data and delivers on average nearly one terabyte of data per week to users worldwide. At the 2003 BCNet conference we spoke on the topic of the coming terabyte-scale data flow from the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope in Hawaii and the nascent International Virtual Observatory initiative. Today we reflect on our experience over the last 4 years and describe the projected changes that came to pass as planned, and the new challenges that arose during this period. We will specifically address the way new technologies have enabled an evolution in role of data centres and their service capabilities, and how access to high-bandwidth networks is the foundation upon which this new role is built.

Séverin Gaudet, National Research Council

An Inside Look at the BCNET Application Community (PPT 587 KB) (Panel)
Categorized according to network and member needs, the BCNET working groups continue to discuss and implement projects in areas such as identity management, security, high performance computing and collaborations and learning technologies. Overseen by the Applications Advisory Committee (APAC), the working groups act as a driving force in boosting the productivity of the network. In this presentation, join the Advisory Committee as they provide an informative update on the progress of projects and applications initiated by the BCNET advanced applications community. The committee will also introduce and provide insight into the working group presentations that will take place over the course of the conference.

Mark Roman, UVic
Michael Hrybyk, BCNET
Michelle Lamberson, UBC
Colin Leavett-Brown, UVic
Jens Haeusser, UBC
Lionel Tolan, SFU

Wired Sessions:

Apocalypse Then: IPv4 Address Space Depletion(PDF 211.3 KB) (Presentation)
How do we innovate architecturally on the World Wide Web? How do we leave the Internet better than we found it? These important questions must be asked because the Internet currently faces an environmental problem – is it running out of address spaces. If allocations continue at current rates, IPv4 space will be depleted in 2008. Learn about the history and background of this issue, the data that will be used to predict the future of IPv6 uptake and related topics that will have a profound impact on network research and Internet topology mapping efforts.

kc claffy, Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis

An Alternate Universe Online: PlanetLab and the Evolution of the Internet (Panel) - view presentation part 1 - view part 2 (See below for links to individual PowerPoint presentations)
Can’t imagine what comes next for the World Wide Web? Join experts as they detail PlanetLab, an experimental global computer network that is expected to be the testing ground for a future generation of the Internet. Designed for researchers to develop and test powerful new software applications that are not confined to a single computer but run on many computers simultaneously, PlanetLab treats the global network as one large, widely distributed computer. In this session, learn about the goals of PlanetLab, how it functions as a testbed for overlay networks and as a deployment platform, and the ways in which it is currently allowing researchers to experiment with a variety of planetary scale services, from file sharing to network measurement.

Rick McGeer, Hewlett-Packard (PPT 683.5 KB)
Tom Anderson, U of Washington
Mic Bowman, Intel (PPT 149 KB)
Jeff Sedayao, Intel (PPT 417 KB)
Vivek Pai, Princeton U (PPT 483 KB)
Neil Spring, U of Maryland (PPT 388.5KB)

The Western ROADM Project: Supercharging BC’s Research and Education Networks (Presentation)(See below for links to individual PowerPoint presentations)
By April 2007, the Western ROADM (Reconfigurable, Optical Add-Drop Multiplexer) Project will provide a window on the amazing possibilities behind British Columbia’s advanced networks. Developed by CANARIE, this multi-channel optical network will realize new capabilities to meet the growing demand for greater bandwidth amongst BC’s science and education communities, and is poised to improve collaboration with researchers in the US, Europe and Asia. Join the developers of the Western ROADM network to learn more about its operation and network capacity, and discover ways to connect to this advanced network of enormous potential.

Marilyn Hay, UBC (PPT 55.5 KB)
Damir Pobric, CANARIE (PPT 1.6 MB)
Brian Fitzgerald, UVic (PPT 151.5 KB)

Innovations in Regional Advanced Networks(Panel)
(See below for links to individual PowerPoint presentations)
Learn about advanced research network developments in various regions including Canada and the US. This panel discussion will outline advancements and innovations in their respective networks and how these networks are critical in keeping their researchers globally competitive.

Michael Hrybyk, BCNET (PPT 512 KB)
Steve Smith, U of Alaska (PPT 1.5 MB)
Ray Ford, U of Montana (PPT 3.7 MB)
Sherilyn Evans, CENIC (PPT 6.4 MB)
Clare Donohue, U of Washington (PPT 1017 KB)
Gerry Miller, U of Manitoba (PPT 486 KB)
Cyril Scheske, SRnet (PPT 425 KB)

Bridging the Digital Divide (PPT 2 MB) (Presentation)
Information sharing for improved public service outcomes is a key component of the provincial approach to information management. This approach is driven by a provincial commitment to citizen-centred services that respond to community needs. Chief Information Officer, Province of British Columbia, will describe the provincial approach to information management focusing on community needs. This will include an update on the province’s commitment to bridge the digital divide and future efforts to address First Nations connectivity.

Dave Nikolejsin, Province of British Columbia

Performance and Participation: Remote Collaboration in Design, Engineering and Art over Next Generation Networks
(Presentation/Demonstration)
The presentation will discuss and demonstrate the use of a disciplinary specific Articulated Private Network for distributed collaboration in architectural design and artistic performance. It involves the integration and coordination of technologies in: 1) High-performance 2D-4D visualization and augmented environments; 2) Standard and High-definition tele-presence systems; 3) Fibre optic (lightpath-enabled) broadband network; 4) Middleware development and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) control and configuration of an integrated platform.

Three past and current projects will be presented that deploy an integrated platform for use in such complex human activity. These projects include: an urban installation and event held in Montréal; an architectural design studio between Carleton University and The Pennsylvania State University; and a dance and music performance between Montréal and Ottawa. The primary visualization and communication technologies will be demonstrated between Vancouver and Ottawa.

The projects are the result of an ongoing collaboration between the Carleton Immersive Media Studio (Carleton University), National Research Council, Communications Research Centre of Canada, CANARIE, Internet2, ORION, RISQ, IBM, Autodesk, Pleora Systems, Society of Arts and Technology, The Pennsylvania State University, and the National Arts Centre.

Michael Jemtrud,Carleton University
Marc Léonard, CIMS

Optimum Performance, Maximum Insight: Behind the Scenes with Network Measurement Tools (PPT 1.1 MB) (Workshop) - view presentation
Network measurement, performance analysis and troubleshooting are critical elements of effective network management. In this workshop, a range of tools and methodologies will be reviewed. Some will be demonstrated live including hands-on use by workshop participants (portable with wireless required). Challenges specific to light paths, MPLS, LAN/WAN and high performance will be covered. Views from industry as well as direct experience from university network operations are combined to help provide practical insight into network performance.

Loki Jorgenson, Apparent Networks
Peter van Epp, SFU

Deconstructing Google: Building Scalable Software using MapReduce (PPT 1.8 MB) (Presentation) - view presentation
Google faces some of the largest scale data processing problems on the planet, and so naturally a lot of effort has been put into considering how to use machine resources effectively. MapReduce is a programming model and an associated implementation for processing and generating large data sets. In this model, programmers specify a map function that processes a key/value pair to generate a set of intermediate key/value pairs, and a reduce function that merges all intermediate values associated with the same intermediate key. In the talk we'll explore some problems and how to express them using this programming model to take advantage of large networks of computers.

Alex Nicolaou, Google Waterloo

National Networks: Today and Tomorrow

Canadian and American national network initiatives are accelerating the development of advanced networking technology to make it better, faster and smarter. Advanced networks, often called research networks, are super-high-performance networks that connect the world's universities and other research and education institutions.

This panel discussion will compare the Canadian and US plans to expand the performance and reach of advanced research network infrastructure, as well as talk about the challenges and successes to date. The panel will explore the use of advanced products and applications that run on the networks.

Michael Hrybyk, BCNET
Andrew Bjerring, CANARIE (PPT 829 KB)
Tom West, National Lambda Rail
TBD, Internet2


Wireless Session:

A Wireless Vancouver Available to Us All (Panel)
(See below for links to individual PowerPoint presentations)
The City of Vancouver set a goal in 2005 to develop a citywide wireless network. The notion of making Vancouver a wireless paradise could benefit businesses and residents alike, however the questions about the opportunities remain unanswered. This session will look at the scope of the project, including its opportunities, stakeholders, challenges and lessons learned, as well as the timelines for delivering a citywide wireless network for Vancouver.

John Martell, Martell Consulting (PPT 55.3KB)
Bruce P. Clayman, SFU and Vancouver Economic Development Commission (PPT 167.5 KB)
Peter van der Gracht, Ignition Point Technologies Corp.(PPT 72.5 KB)
Peter Ladner, City of Vancouver
Judy Bishop, Bishop + Company

Security Sessions:

Security in the Classroom: Can We Stop Students from Cheating? (PPT 543 KB) (Panel)
Evidence indicates that many students cheat regularly and few students never cheat at all. With the availability of text and SMS messaging, as well as wireless Internet connectivity, preventing and even detecting student cheating is a major problem for classrooms everywhere. Solutions are equally contentious as the problem itself. Join educators and network security experts as they debate - and advocate - resolutions that range from using special lock-down exam software to cancelling wireless connectivity in select classrooms. Others will argue there is little to be done to curb academic dishonesty in the digital age. Discover the extent of the problem through case studies, learn about the faculties that are hardest-hit and discover how electronic student cheating can be dealt with.

Peter van Epp, SFU
Gary Poole, UBC
Jim Sibley, UBC

Armed and Untethered: Wireless Security on Campus (Panel)
(See below for links to individual PowerPoint presentations)
The security risks of wireless networking have increased exponentially with the availability of wireless technology, to the point where hackers now find it relatively easy to break into, and even use wireless technology to crack non-wireless networks. Wireless security on campus, where the ability to enter a network while mobile has crucial benefits for staff and students but demands high levels of protection, presents unique and revealing challenges. Join experts in the field as they present case studies and in-depth analyses of the innovative control methods they have used to protect wireless implementations in campus environments. From exploring questions of authorization and authentication, to uncovering the ways in which encryption is used to protect privacy, this session will reveal a cross-section of current wireless security strategies for academic institutions.

Jens Haeusser, UBC
Dave Kubert, UNBC (PPT 232 KB)
Eric van Wiltenburg, UVic (PPT 780 KB)
Peter van Epp, SFU (PPT 77 KB)
Marylin Hay, UBC (158 KB)

Identity Management Sessions:

BC Universities Combat Internal Identity Management (Panel) - view presentation
(See below for links to individual PowerPoint presentations)
Faculty, staff and students across the province have all demonstrated the need for seamless identity networks. From roaming scholars visiting foreign campuses to faculty and students trying to access their personal records, identity management is crucial in successfully creating an infrastructure that supports all of our needs. Before a university can explore the option of collaborating across campuses and the issue of inter-institutional roaming, it must first combat its internal identity infrastructure and institutional policies. In this session, learn from BC university representatives about how they are making progress in the pursuit to coordinate internal identity management.

Lionel Tolan, SFU
Jens Haeusser, UBC (PPT 147 KB)
Garry Sagert, UVic
Corey Scholefield, UVic (PPT 46 KB)
Anna Machaj, TRU (PPT 7.9 MB)
Blair Craft, UNBC
Leo de Sousa, BCIT

Identity Management for Public Service Delivery in British Columbia (Presentation) (See below for links to individual PowerPoint presentations)
The Government of British Columbia has recognized the importance of identity management in supporting the authorized access to electronic data across the ministries and the public sector. The government is working with a variety of public sector organizations on an identity management initiative that will support better service integration and data interoperability, therefore improving the delivery of publicly funded services. This session will focus on the goals and benefits of the provincial initiative while also providing an update on its progress.

Peter Watkins, Government of BC (PPT 3.8 MB)
Jens Haeusser, UBC (PPT 212.5 KB)