The Hint of a Fresh Breeze

It's been several months since the last blog, and the project appears to be pulling out of the slump. In effect, there have been a number of variables that have affected progress: a preponderance of personal interests that have swayed focus from the actual aim of the project, ineffectiveness of key committees because of changing personnel and temporary absences, and a lack of focus and concrete commitment/participation near the top, despite expressions of support. One additional factor might be the lack of a designated person in each institution to drive the issues up and down within each respective system.

Overall, the project has now matured to the point where real decisions need to be made about progress and governance, and a budget needs to be allocated to the work. I've been asked to continue by both institutions, but I need to see some real work on infrastructure in order to proceed properly. There would need to be one person in each institution who can make things happen. There would need to be a real budget to hire people as required to help out with specific tasks. There would need to be a strong decision-making body that can clarify the vision, begin to set policies, support the lead (me) and monitor progress.

What's been very effective is the use of grass-roots (emerging) projects to push the concepts. By doing the work as IF the larger vision already existed, people have been able to see what's possible. It makes the conceptual concrete. But the "concrete" is of course piecemeal until the larger infrastructure is put into place. That means that the institutions now need to commit before I show more grassroots initiatives.