Agency Ventures into Cyberspace Meetings
FrontLines - December-January 2009-10
USAID’s long-distance communication
just got easier and
more technologically advanced
with a new system that allows
employees to hold meetings
with colleagues around the
world.
Defense Connect Online
(DCO) is an online tool that allows
multiple users to converse
via webcam and headset. Users
can view all participants in separate
screens on their computer
monitors and can also view and
edit the same documents.
The Office of Military Affairs
already uses the system to keep
in contact with colleagues at
field missions and regional combatant
commands. The Office of
Civilian Response plans to use
DCO to keep in contact with
Civilian Response Corps members
deployed in the field.
Any USAID staff member
can request a log-on from the
Office of Military Affairs and
use the system to organize
meetings and invite anyone—
even people who don’t have
DCO accounts—to participate.
Documents can be uploaded
for all participants to access. For
users in areas of low Internet
connectivity, DCO offers a lowbandwidth
text chat option.
Maj. James Weare, a U.S.
Army Fellow on rotation to the
Office of Civilian Response, has
previously used DCO in militarycivilian
planning exercises. “You
can see the reaction on the other
parties’ faces and see if they really
get what you’re talking
about—in real time,” he said.
The Office of Civilian
Response also plans to use DCO
for training, since it is difficult
for Civilian Response Corps
members in overseas missions to
attend classes in Washington.
“[DCO] provides an interactive
training environment regardless
of the learner’s
location [through a] collaborative
learning process where information,
ideas, images, and
even work products can be developed
anywhere by anyone
with an Internet connection,”
said Tim Sikes, a training coordinator
in the Office of Civilian
Response.
The Defense Information
Systems Agency, which unveiled
DCO in November 2007,
offers free installation to U.S.
agencies interested in using the
system. Offices at USAID interested
in using DCO should contact
the Office of Military
Affairs at (202) 712-4874.★
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