Dear Colleague,

I'm honored to have been selected as the guest editor of Kim's Notebook this month. These are exciting times for education IT, as we leave the Information Age and enter the Participation Age — an age in which everyone and everything is interacting on The Network. Lower barriers to entry and exit, plummeting device prices, and connectivity from any piece of hardware that has a browser mean that everyone is a creator, an editor, and a publisher.

From blogs to Java technology, SMS messages to Web services, participants are forming communities to drive change and create new businesses, new social services, and new discoveries. Sharing and collaboration will stimulate innovation to not only get everyone on The Network but to drive global and economic change.

At Sun, our strategy has always been to share. We pretty much invented open source. We know that breaking down barriers and creating communities drives innovation. Look at how some of the great innovations like Java technology, Google, and eBay came to be.

In the Participation Age, education should be open and accessible and community-driven. Today's student is tomorrow's researcher, developer, business owner, and global citizen. The more corporations, non-profits, educators and individuals collaborate to expand opportunities, break down barriers to access, and improve overall quality, the better the chances for innovation at every turn.

Sharing Knowledge to Improve Education Worldwide
No one questions that technology is changing our daily lives. Yet significant work remains in providing teachers, students and parents access to the educational resources they need. In 2004, Sun started the Global Education Learning Community (GELC) to drive knowledge sharing, to continue to develop the resources needed to improve the quality of education worldwide. The GELC is now curriki.org. It is an open, free Web resource where educators can easily add, edit, and change curriculum. And because it's based on sharing and open-source, all users need is access to a browser.

Curriki.org is a growing community for developers, teachers, and educational institutions collaborating on more than 300 projects. Members include the Curriculum Corporation of Melbourne, Australia's Curriculum Corporation, and the Monterey Institute for Technology and Education. Curriki.org is focused on curriculum in the math and science area for middle school and high school students.

Sun continues to drive the development of communities to support educators through the free exchange of technology, curriculum, and best practices. I am proud of the technology and products resulting from Sun's significant investment in research and development. Our technology is solving some of the biggest challenges facing educational institutions today including data security and identity management, content management, disaster recovery and business continuity and, of course, strained IT budgets.

I have a reputation for questioning conventional wisdom. At Sun, contrarian thinking, creativity, integrity, and innovation are core company values. I am proud to work with dedicated professionals committed to solving our biggest problems.

Sun's Kim Jones: A Visionary in Technology and Education
Sun's employees are our biggest asset. They drive thought leadership and innovation with the world through blogs, open community forums, and through their role as leaders in technology and the industry.

I am proud to honor Kim Jones, one of Sun's outstanding leaders, on the occasion of her nomination into the Women In Technology Hall of Fame. Kim is a visionary in both the technology and education industry. As Vice President, Sun Global Education, Government, and Health Sciences, Kim is working to eliminate the digital divide by expanding global reach through education, research, and philanthropy.

In her role, Kim has lead the implementation of a broad range of strategic programs that have accelerated the use of science and technology in education, not to mention driving leading-edge university research. Through Kim's sponsorship of curriki.org, students, parents, and teachers now have access to open, free Web-based content as well as curriculum resources, introducing them to technology that will open new doors.

Kim is a practical visionary, leading and changing how Sun approaches customers and industries. She drives policy initiatives and has testified before the Congressional Web-based Education Commission. She is frequently called upon to discuss the impact of technology in education at influential meetings around the world including NCTET, Sun Education Research Council meetings, and other education symposiums.

In 2001, Sun honored Kim with the prestigious Leadership Award in recognition of her outstanding leadership of Sun's Global Education and Research line of business and her modeling of Sun's values of integrity and courage, innovation, customer focus, teamwork, and results-orientation.

Congratulations, Kim, on your nomination to the Women in Technology Hall of Fame. And thanks to all of you in the education community who strive every day to break down barriers, provide access and support our young people as they grow into the leaders of tomorrow.

Scott McNealy
Chairman and Co-Founder
Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Questions or comments? Please email education_news@sun.com