By Gary Pitts
Murray, KY – Military tracking technology used in the raid on Osama Bin Laden's compound allowed President Obama to watch Navy Seal Team 6's mission. That technology was among many of the topics at today's Multi-State Telecommunications Summit at Murray State. Professor and veteran Michael Bowman says this kind of technology is a primary focus for the military. Bowman says knowing the exact location of each soldier and sharing information instantly is essential not only to leaders outside of the action, but also to each soldier in the field. He does though acknowledge this kind of technology could prove dangerous.
"Sharing information with all of your forces is considered important enough that it's worth the risk, when you try to protect the information to the extent you can, that in some circumstances the enemy will be able to find the devices, will be able to get into the devices."
Either way, he says the inter-connectivity of soldiers in the field will be essential to success in battle, and will be a major part of how military engagement occurs in the future. Dr. Bowman is the Chair and project leader for the NATO Information Systems and Technology workgroup investigating Tactical Communications in Urban Operations.
Another topic discussed at the conference involved inter-connectivity, but social rather than military networking. As social network sites go, Facebook is king, MySpace is defeated, and Google Plus is the new kid on the block. At the multi-state telecommunications summit at Murray State University Wednesday some presenters touched on the reasons for this. Ball State Professor Dr. Jay Gillette says the reason Facebook overtook MySpace is the same reason that Google Plus will overtake Facebook.
"Facebook took over from MySpace by having a better interface and a easier and more fulfilling of the user's needs. Google Plus, for those of us who have used it, is like Facebook on steroids, it's much better than Facebook."
He says one of the features Google+ offers that is attractive to users is the "circles" which allow much more privacy. He predicts that unless Facebook undergoes some major renovations, we will all be using Google+ in lieu of Facebook in five years. The Multi-State Telecommunications Summit welcomed around 30 experts to discuss various topics including social networks.
Continuing down the progressively more interactive society path, another presenter discussed a different way that technology affects our leisure time. The term couch potato may no longer apply to those who sit at home and watch T.V. all day. At a multi-state telecommunications summit at Murray State University yesterday, one presenter explained how many television watchers are now fully engaged with the shows they watch through interactive applications. Ryan Carney is a graduate student at Ball State University. He says that keeping a second screen like a laptop or tablet in front of you while watching allows you to become more involved.
"As the story unfolds on T.V. the tablet is delivering extra content to you, just supplemental content. I can be polls for you know do you think Bob and Sue should hook up on the T.V. show, or should they stay enemies, or something like that."
He says that while many people may not adopt this "multi-screen" style of television watching, he does believe that this sort of activity will grow in popularity. Ryan Carney spoke to some 30 experts at the MSU sponsored Telecommunication Multi State summit yesterday in Murray.