Federal Agencies in Second Life

Materials related to this program are now compiled here.

As virtual worlds grow in size and prominence, real-world governments have increasingly explored virtual worlds as a medium to pursue their missions such as educating the public or enforcing federal laws. Over the coming months, federal agencies are poised to coordinate their efforts to leave an indelible impact on the virtual landscape. The Metanomics community is privileged to be joined by three individuals who have been active on the frontier of e-government. Our esteemed guests include:

- Dr. Paulette Robinson, Assistant Dean for Teaching at the Information Resources Management College of National Defense University. Dr. Robinson has organized the Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds, a newly formed group of federal government employees and contractors interested in exploring the use of virtual worlds in government.

- Erika Vick, Program Specialist in the Office of Communications Planning of NASA. After 15 years in the Space Shuttle Program as an Aerospace Engineer, she moved to NASA's headquarters. She is now interested in employing virtual worlds, particularly Second Life, for outreach, education, and engagement purposes for NASA through such initiatives as NASA's Virtual CoLab. Given NASA's relatively recent interest in using this medium, she is pursuing relationships with other government agencies to leverage resources in order to maximize the potential this technology has to offer. Click here to teleport to NASA's CoLab sim.

- Aimee Weber, founder of Aimee Weber Studio and author of Creating Your World: The Official Guide to Advanced Content Creation of Second Life. Among numerous other virtual creations, she has constructed virtual disasters for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and her work is currently on display at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

Explore the following background reading and information about federal agencies who have established a presence in SL.

- Federal Bureau of Investigation activity in SL

- Center for Disease Control in SL. Also visit their sim here.

- Homeland Security in SL

- Explore Meteroa, the sim created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL). It is an educational tool with fully interactive demonstrations about the ocean, weather and related natural disasters. For more info click here.

- Want to be professional Second Life content creator? Read through Aimee's suggestions. Going Pro in SL: How to turn your Second Life into a real life career