IST EVENT 2006: Networking :: More Information
Networking Sessions and Workshops: More Information
Networking Sessions aim to originate new, lasting and productive links between IST stakeholders to help build a European IST Research Area. They are distinct from Workshops in their objective, in their concrete output and in their format and methodology:
Objective
- A workshop provides a forum for exchange of knowledge on technical subjects and for learning, is oriented toward the state-of-the-art and aims at consolidation.
- A
networking session
aims at
bringing together new constituencies, that are preferably not already
working together routinely in the Framework Programme, in view of submitting
proposals or taking other actions in the context of FP7.
Various scenarioscan be imagined:- Cross disciplinary networking.
- Downstream-upstream networking (e.g., bringing together basic and applied research).
- Intercultural networking.
- Inter-stakeholder networking (research - industry - policy - education - users).
- Intergenerational networking (e.g., involving children and/or elderly).
- Networking across 'islands' with common interest (e.g., among projects, networks,...).
The range of disciplines is not restricted to the "traditional" IST disciplines but may also include disciplines such as biology, psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, sociology, medicine and material science.
Outputs
- A workshop has a fragmented output in that each participant gets out of it what he/she wants and applies it for his/her own purpose.
- A
networking session has an output which is shared by the participants and has, at least in part,
concrete and action-oriented implications. The session should aim to give
shape to one or several concrete initiatives for the participants to do
something together that is ERA- and programme-related. They may relate to
any of the FP7 components: Cooperation, Ideas, People and
Capacities.
Some examples:- Joint actions towards a proposal for an RTD project or a Network of Excellence.
- Critiquing sessions, for instance on "what FP7 should cover, though it does not".
- Guru sessions, for instance on "how to make an IP (NoE) really work".
- Consultation sessions, in which for instance a CA or an ETP enlarges its consultation process on results to a wider community.
- Exploratory sessions towards common work across IPs and beyond.
- Joint actions towards commercial and/or social impact of an existing project or group of projects (e.g., standardisation action, innovation project, joint participation in some event).
- Joint actions towards public involvement.
Organisers will be asked to make a report of the session available via the event web site but it is clear that different methodological approaches enable richer ways of capturing the results.
Format and Methodology
- A workshop will typically consist of a number of presentations and some discussion about results that are brought to the meeting.
- A
networking session will be very different in its methodological approach and concrete
documentation of the results that are achieved at the meeting. The
session should leave a lasting imprint on the participants, based on
enthusiastic, original, promising and stimulating person-to-person contacts.
It is less for learning from each other, more for learning about each
other.
A wide range of methodological directions should be considered:- Careful orchestration of interaction (e.g., rotational, free-flow, casino model).
- Role games.
- Speaker's corner or 1-minute pitch models.
- Graphical documentation (post-its, white-board walls).
- Digital media and digital capture of results (for further use).
- Personal support (note, trace, index,...) material.
- Use of professional animators and facilitators.
- Scripted sessions toward concrete results.
Note that at previous IST Events, most networking sessions were basically a collection of presentations. For IST 2006, session organisers are encouraged to think about the best manners for networking, and not to simply adopt the "conference approach".
Finally, the duration of a networking session is 90 min; the duration of a workshop may be either 90 min or 3 hrs.
See also: