Following on the heels of last week’s 5G OER, I wanted to share three white papers I encountered during my research for A1 and A3. While I still rely on peer-reviewed publications, I find white papers make complex ideas more approachable and understandable. As white papers typically are produced by corporations with a vested stake in the technology/service/product, I digest the information cautiously ‘with a grain of salt’.
Click on the image thumbnails or ‘Download PDF’ links to read the white papers. Below each one, I listed the key insights that I gained.
Key highlights:
- Provides case studies of emerging Internet of Things (IoT) technology in use across post-secondary campuses in North America
- Covers use cases such as:
- physical safety and security
- facilities management
- campus experience (wayfinding)
- student success (metrics)
- Fun mention: UBC is an example institution that uses WiFi sensors connected to HVAC and lighting systems to reduce energy waste
Key highlights:
- Explores the smart campus impact on:
- future of work
- student learning and success
- cyber and data security
- overall quality of life
- Identifies the different outcomes:
- better student services
- reduced wait times
- access to information
- expedite processes
Key highlights:
- Introduces recent advances in AI that have passed the Turing Test such as:
- Pepper, the empathy robot
- Google’s AlphaGo
- Rembrandt counterfeiting
- Outlines the risks and ethical considerations of AI
- Suggests a process for quality control to ensure transparent decision-making
Thanks for sharing the information on White Papers and for providing the key highlights on each of the articles that you shared. I had not heard of white papers before, or so I thought. Through some further exploration, I found that I have used these from time to time as they seem to concisely pull information together. Just as you said, we do need to be cautious about the information but that is like everything these days. We all need to be aware of the information and resources that we are using.
Great share Aiann! I also love using whitepapers as a source since they are easy to understand and paints a nice bigger picture view of topics. I do see your point about taking a cautious approach to the information presented as lots of whitepapers are published by consulting companies or organizations with some agendas. I often find that they emphasize the growth, the potential, and the advantages while downplaying the risks and disadvantages.
Thank you, Aiann. I did not come across the Deloitte Smart Campus paper, but I wish I would have! Even though the white papers may be produced for a specific purpose and client needs, I think they offer a lot of value for researchers who may not be fully versed in a topic.
I’ve used PwC, the World Economic Forum, Deloitte, McKinsey & Company, and Arthur D. Little recently, and you’ve introduced me to PEGA. Are there any other organizations that provide research/insights you would suggest looking into?
Hi Mel, working at the University, I am approached by many companies via email and their white paper research on their ideas on the future of tech on campus either for learning management, virtual or even outsourcing tasks and AI for exams. However, in my experience, that’s all well and good, but getting a 200 yr old institution to budge from their current state, is likely going to put a damper on these things unless educational change happens on a whole. Like right now in post pandemic! it’s astonishing how fast Universities and colleges, at least here, who have never gone virtual yet, have tried to move through their paces in getting companies to help with online learning and everything else to get supported. I’m sure this is the new norm for many students and those that will come before them. White papers help in cutting through the rise of new technological noise and present what is useful to organizations and cut down on the research time. However, due diligence is important consciously.
Luke, I can imagine that your email is inundated right now and that you see some cool stuff come through – anything particularly interesting or solution-focused for a problem you think needs resolving?
We have moved to virtual online training modules and while Teams, and Zoom and adobe connect are the norm for online platforms, the built in LMS we have helps learners manage their training and PD. I think having that in place helps a great deal.