The Foreign Service Journal, January 2007

posits in his 2001 book, Digital Diplo- macy: U.S. Foreign Policy in the Infor- mation Age , will State maintain its “tendency to move slowly in adopting digital technologies to foreign policy operations”? Moving Forward Though a number of demonstra- tions and discussions have engaged a variety of individuals at State, no “tip- ping point” has been reached for adoption of the technology. Perhaps a prototype system that incorporates some key data from a few segments of the department might break through some of the current barriers. Cultiva- tion of individual pockets of interest would be beneficial also. GIS users, for their part, recommend that a small office be established in IRM, RM or INR to deploy such a proto- type and provide help to individual offices in finding appropriate entry- level software, arrange for initial training and consult on more com- plex GIS problems. This approach was successful when used to intro- duce other new resources such as Web sites, weblogs and OpenNet remote access. Further, users feel that modest investments in a dedicated, shared desktop system for their office would be beneficial and also suggest that a staff member be allowed to become the local GIS expert for simple appli- cations. Employees in Washington and abroad expressed interest via the survey in receiving training to become aware of the capabilities of GIS. This was the approach taken in Chengdu: as a result, even if Foreign Service officers did not become local experts, they at least were aware of how GIS could support their work and readily interacted with someone who was expert in using the tools. GIS has enjoyed strong growth ever since the 1990s: it is a technology that is here to stay. In transforming how we conduct diplomacy, the adop- tion of tools such as GIS can enhance our productivity and augment our sit- uation awareness. More information on the GIS sur- vey and on other technologies benefi- cial to State Department work can be found at the eDiplomacy Web site and the Transformations community Web site on OpenNet. J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 7 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 41 Can the department as a whole push its text-based culture to adopt such productive visual technologies? Interim Accommodations for Corporate and Government Markets Apartments, Townhouses & Single Family Homes “FOR THE EXECUTIVE ON THE MOVE” finder5@IX.netcom.com Locations throughout Northern Virginia and D.C. Units fully furnished, equipped and accessorized Many “Walk to Metro” locations Pet Friendly 5105-L Backlick Road, Annandale, Virginia Tel: (703) 354-4070 Fax: (703) 642-3619 Executive Lodging Alternatives