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- Jan M (UNINETT) asked about the clear aim of this group. Matjaz (ARNES) answered that the main aim is to have a joint force on Adobe to do things.
- Niels mentioned that SURFnet gave up with Adobe because they are not capable to implement tailored service components in it. On the other hand, Adobe is a good product.
- The general feeling was that there is a lack of open standards in this area.
- Leif (SUNET) mentioned that Adobe Connect is used by small universities for distance learning in the Nordic countries. Skype is good enough for VC. Perhaps this group won't have any influence on Adobe, but it is also good to have a forum to share operational experiences.
- There was a discussion about open-source vs. commercial webconferencing platforms. Jan M (UNINETT) thought that there is no point investing too much in an intermediate (commercial) solution. Better to find an open-source project, invest in that and wait until that is getting better. The development community is the key around open-source projects. And there are no licence fees.
- Leif (SUNET) commented that the danger in open-source development is that if the others decide to pull out, one can easily becomes the core maintainer of the code which requires significant efforts.
- Distance education could be the killer application for webconferemcing. Leif mentioned that when the federated webconferencing service was introduced, the number of IdPs suddenly raised from 5 to 25. It is a popular application. The reason of this is that the service is free and there is no need of reservations. Universities can run a local reservation portal, if they want.
- Jan M (UNINETT) said if we get together a joint procurement can be done much easier. We can learn from each other and exploit that knowledge later on.
- There was a question about the various webconferenciong tools available in the market. The group found that there are at least 10-15 open-source/commercial tools and the home-grown developments.
- The group agreed to investigate not only Adobe Connect but other webconferencing tools/platforms either.
- There was a discussion about the actual focus and the planned objectives of this group.
- Jan M (UNINETT) asked whether it should become a general webconferencing forum or remain a focused Adobe Connect group.
- Per (NORDUnet) noted that a focused group is more efficient than a general activity although it has less flexibility and dynamism.
- Jan M (UNINETT) asked whether it should have a technical focus or a training focus (e.g., the Brazilians can benefit form that).
- Peter (TERENA) mentioned that a task force can do both.
- Jan M (UNINETT) stated that the most important thing is that the group joining policy should be open for those participants who have no Adobe Connect installation yet.
- Matjaz (ARNES) answered that the group should keep its focus on Adobe Connect but it can be extended towards discussions on any kind of webconferencing solution. In practice, there can be an EACU and a Webconf mailing list and TERENA can open a sub-space for Webconf under the current EACU Wiki.
- Peter (TERENA) noted that if the participants of the two mailing lists will exactly be the same (since everybody is interested in both), there is no point to have two separate lists.
| Wiki Markup |
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\- Jan R (CESNET) proposed that the Adobe Connect-related technical mails can have an \[AC\] tag in the subject line. |
- Currently, TERNA hosts the EACU mailing list (called: webconf@terena.org) and UNIENTT hosts the Webconferencing mailing list (called: webconferencing@uninett.no).
- There was no clear decision on whether the group needs only one mailing list or two separated mailing lists.
- Dubravko (SRCE) did set up a Foodle poll to vote on the number of mailing lists. Please, participate: http://foodle.srce.hr/foodle.php?id=7gu9qpbf
Deadline is June 14, 2010.
- In principle, TERENA can host any mailing list(s) and wiki(s), UNINETT has no objections.
- The meeting was closed on time.
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