Importance of human network

On Sept. 8, 2008, KAIST hosted the first International Presidential Forum on Global Research Universities in Seoul. Leaders from 39 universities representing 20 counties from around the world were present, as were senior representatives from the Korean government, NASA, Elsevier Publishing, and a number of other interesting institutions. The stated mission of the forum was to "forge an international network of universities that will strengthen the efforts of individual universities and create an alliance for research and education that can become a new paradigm for global collaboration."

Following the event, there were some who questioned the usefulness and necessity of this meeting and others like it. Certainly, international conferences, forums, symposia, and similar gatherings can cost a great deal of time, money, and energy to host and attend. This event was no exception. But I think that these individuals have forgotten that nearly everything in business and academia is ultimately about people. The network that was forged was a human network. And this is best done by bringing people with similar needs and interests together in the same place at the same time and letting the network form itself.

This theme was emphasized over and over again at the forum. Presidents, chancellors, rectors, and deans stated that most of the collaboration between their university and outside organizations are created from the "bottom up." Two individuals from two organizations recognize the mutual benefit for collaboration and decide to work together. The university`s role is to support these joint efforts in any way it can. Top-down approaches where the university administration tries to create joint programs and opportunities rarely work. There must be a need, and those with the need tend to seek each other out first and inform the university later. Thus, university administrations have two main tasks for promoting global collaboration:

- supporting their students and faculty members in their collaborative pursuits of research and education and - helping to create and facilitate opportunities for individuals with similar interests to connect and form new relationships.

What role do communities play in all of this? Why gather university presidents in the same room at the same time, instead of creating an email list, chat room, or other virtual solution? For most of history, there has been more information to learn and more people to meet than anyone ever could. Today we live in the Information Age, where thousands of journal articles are published monthly and colleagues are scattered across the world. We have no hope of processing that much information or meeting all of those people. Although we have tools (especially search engines) to help us wade through this information, the reality is that we still depend very heavily on our colleagues - the members of our global networks - to obtain and evaluate that information. People are more likely to read an article sent from a friend or colleague than one found during a web search. Resumes submitted through a colleague are more likely to result in a job interview than those submitted through the standard web application process. Graduate school, fellowship, and job applications require references. Tenure cases require letters of endorsement from colleagues. Information passed on through electronic networks simply doesn`t have the weight that is given to information passed on through human networks.

Gatherings of colleagues can also yield totally unexpected results. At the presidential forum, a speaker gave a presentation on "roaming professorships" where faculty members have a dual-appointment with two universities and share their time, teaching, and research obligations between the two. The speaker shared an anecdote about a new professor who was joining his university with a 50/50 time split. During the discussion sessions, a colleague from another university said they had tried 50/50 splits and found that 70/30 worked better. That single piece of information - one sentence - probably saved the first university several years and tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars by not having to learn that particular lesson the hard way. This happens over and over again. A single statement, perhaps a single word, can prompt a thought that changes our understanding of the world. A different perspective from a colleague in another field or from another school can help to solve lingering problems. Trading business cards can lead to life-long relationship.

Certainly, not all gatherings are equally productive and it is important to follow with actions, and not just words. But business gatherings of all sorts continue to be held and human networks continue to grow for two very simple reasons: they work and they are needed. The KAIST presidential forum was a great success in sharing ideas and forming bonds. It was well worth the investment.



Mary Kathryn Thompson, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. She can be reached at mkthompson@an.kaist.ac.kr. - Ed.