NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Contacts: David Ottalini, 301-405-4076 or dottalin@umd.edu
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Future of Information Alliance (FIA), launched at the University of Maryland in 2011 to address the rapidly evolving role of information in our lives, has a new founding partner: Governor Martin O’Malley and the State of Maryland. The governor joins a distinguished set of cultural institutions, federal agencies, and leading innovators working with a broad array of faculty, staff and students to identify the major priorities for the future of information and address them with research and action.
“Today, with the Internet, social networks and GIS technology, we have access to more information than ever before. And with this access comes greater opportunity for us to connect, share knowledge and enhance our democratic process,” said Governor Martin O’Malley. “I look forward to working with the alliance to discover innovative ways in which we can harness information to improve the lives of Marylanders and make our State Government more efficient.”
The governor explained his reasons for joining the FIA initiative in the following video posted on YouTube (video no longer accessible).
Dr. Wallace Loh, President of the University of Maryland, applauded Gov. O’Malley’s engagement with the FIA. “The rapidly evolving role of information in all aspects of our lives brings challenges that affect everyone, but it also brings great opportunities for those who can identify and act on them,” said Dr. Loh. “With the establishment of the Future of Information Alliance, the University of Maryland is leading the way in addressing the ever-evolving scale and ever-changing nature of information. Having the Governor of Maryland involved in this most important project will help the FIA serve as a catalyst in bringing about a future in which information is an effective resource for everyone.”
About the Future of Information Alliance
The Future of Information Alliance was launched in November 2011 with a week of events on and off the University of Maryland College Park campus that featured three “Visiting Future-ists” — leading innovators from Google, Microsoft and Twitter — who joined UMD experts in brainstorming issues and solutions with hundreds of faculty, staff and students. The conversation also extended off campus with an event at the Newseum’s Knight Conference Center and a program on the Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU 88.5.
Watch the presentations by the Future-ists and Maryland faculty on YouTube
Representatives of the FIA’s founding partners and a member of Gov. O’Malley’s staff also took part in these brainstorming activities. The founding partners, whom Gov. O’Malley is now joining, are: the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Geographic Society, the Newseum, Sesame Workshop, the U.S. National Park Service, the Barrie School, the Online Academy, and WAMU 88.5.
The Future of Information Alliance is co-directed by Allison Druin, associate dean for research in Maryland’s College of Information, and Ira Chinoy, associate professor in the Phillip Merrill College of Journalism.
The FIA was created to serve as a catalyst for dialogue across disciplines and to promote research on issues related to the evolving role of information in our lives. By identifying shared challenges and encouraging innovative solutions, the Future of Information Alliance seeks to facilitate a future in which information in all its forms can be an effective resource for all.
