Wired Nation: FAQs

This workspace provides a knowledge community -- a hub -- where practitioners can share their knowledge and insights about "what works" to integrate education, workforce development and economic development into regional strategies that promote innovation. 

This workspace is managed by the Purdue Center for Regional Development. If you have questions or would like to join the space, please contact Ed Morrison at Purdue.

Wired Nation represents a spin-out of the Department of Labor's Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) initiative.  

Do I need to be formally associated with a WIRED region to become a member of the Wired Nation ?

No, although the wired nation starts with members from the 39 a wired regions, we are focused on encouraging regional innovation in education, economic development and workforce development. If you share that interest and that commitment, you're free to join.

What happens when I join?

Members of wired nation have the opportunity to post information directly to the wired nation web site.  In this way they can share directly their experiences as well as help others.

Is there any cost to joining?

No.  This project is experimental, and it is supported by the Department of Labor, the Purdue Center for Regional Development , and Near-Time, our technology partner.

Who is managing the space?

Ed Morrison at the Purdue Center for Regional Development is managing the space in collaboration with Near Time.  If you have questions that we are not answering, please contact Ed directly.

Is this a collaborative workspace?

We think of Wired Nation as more than a collaborative workspace.  The concept of a collaborative workspace implies a common project on which people from variety of different organizations or locations work together. 

We're actually aiming for something deeper.  We're looking at Wired Nation as an innovation community -- or an open innovation network -- to design, test can share new ideas for dramatically improving the productivity of our education, economic development and workforce systems.

We are looking for transformational initiatives that we can share: an open innovation network.

Are you open to new ideas about how to organize the space?

Of course.  The space will evolve to meet the needs of its members.  We encourage you to participate directly on the space or by contributing your thoughts in an e-mail to Ed Morrison. We also encourage you to review the Rules of the Garage that govern Wired Nation. 

What are Wired Nation Forums?

The Wired Nation's space has the flexibility to conduct individual forums on specific topics.  Forums enable the members to address a specific topic in a "threaded discussion".  If you have a forum topic that you would like to suggest, please e-mail Ed Morrison or post it directly to the web site.

Will there be online sessions to tutor us and how to use Wired Nation?

Yes.  We have not scheduled workshops yet, but our thought is that we would want to have regular online work sessions to teach people how to use the convenient tools available to us.  We will also have a work session on Wired Nation at our next WIRED Academy.