LDS Church Tech Talks

We're planning to do tech talks in SLC, Provo and in Seattle where we'll talk about some of the technologies the Church uses.

The audience is intended to be software and system engineers who have an interest in what we're doing at the Church.

What topics would you be interested in?

Comments are ON.

32 comments:

  1. Since there are now over 4 people viewing this site, you'll need to keep your entries to one per person. Otherwise the viewer may have to scroll!

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  2. Loving your blog!

    I hear you're completely a java shop. Could you talk more about why you made that decision and how it works for you?

    Cheers!

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  3. Hey Joel! I was introduced to your website by your brother John and I'm glad he did. I'm in IT, specifically networking and if I had the opportunity to go I would be interested in knowing more about the networking technologies and equipment that the Church uses.

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  4. We made a pretty strong commitment to Java several years ago. We began integrating some of the open source components, creating our own Java stack. It took some work, but it now runs very smoothly and we've become proficient at cranking out simple web sites.

    You obviously don't get all of the integration you get with the Microsoft toolset, but there are other benefits to Java that we like.

    We are starting to do some .net development, however, to keep options open. Next year we will also look at some other technologies like Ruby and potentaily ten-fold. In general we want to limit the number of platforms we have so making any significant moves beyond Java and .net will be done very carefully.

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  5. I'd be interested to hear how you guys deal with the amount of languages you do.

    I also wonder how you keep temple records straight. The namespace for the population of the planet is some serious stuff. Keeping duplicates out and just giving a record a unique ID seems like a task in and of itself.

    Also, what's the Church's position on open source? Are you contributing to any projects or using any OS software? What's your experiences there?

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  6. I'd be curious about what you're doing 'beyond the web,' like what kinds of technologies are being used for internal app's, tools, etc. My husband is a dev at MS, and I'm just a web-publisher (read:blogs), but we'll be there for the Seattle presentation! (So glad you guys are including one up here! Thank-you!!!)

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  7. Hi Joel.

    I am interested in learning about what you are planning, if anything, to automate information processes at ward and stake levels, where there is a great deal of inefficiency in areas such as move-ins and move-outs, visiting and home teaching statistics, schedule coordination, and general communication.

    . . . placing the tedious burdens on our technology, so that we may all focus more on what matters more.

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  8. [...] He invites comments on topics you would be interested in. [...]

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  9. I attended something similar (late summer 2005?) in Pleasanton, CA, which I really enjoyed. The challenges facing the family history folks with getting the microfiche data online with fast access was a fun. Probably because I really like hearing about challenges that involve the terms petabytes and databases :-)

    They also mentioned the move to everything Java, which I was a bit disappointed in. I understand that it came from, at least in part, getting burned by TCL. Having open, standard, documented ways of exchanging data can be more powerful that just limiting yourself to one tool. The wide spread use of web based APIs (REST, SOAP, XML-RPC, XML, JSON, etc) seems to confirm this approach.

    At any rate, I'm happy to hear that other technologies are being considered. I wise VMS sysadmin once told me, use the right tool for the job.

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  10. Ah! Glad to see the comments working - I tried a couple days ago and it wasn't working. I'm excited to see another person at the Church exposing to the outside world what all you guys (err.. brothers.. and sisters..) are doing.

    I second John's comment about learning how you handle multiple languages in your system. I'd also be curious what type of CMS solutions you use, what you like/dislike about them, etc.

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  11. Having worked for 11 months as a Workstation Replacement Intern and also participated with you in a feedback session last year, let me first say thanks for the great leadership you've been providing since the day you arrived.

    Since I left Church employment last November, I've gained more expose to Citrix and the thin-client model and noted that while working there, the Church was moving away from this paradigm. Any chance of going back to something like this for family history missionaries or other situations that tend to not need anything other than a simple database or internet connection?

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  12. I would be interested in-
    -how the church is using/contributing to open source projects
    -accessibility, for users with disabilities as well as portable devices and

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  13. I'd be interested in the future of the Stake & Ward Websites.

    One big recommendation that I'd have is for the Admin to be able to see the last login for each registered user. Also, a way to see how many people are looking at each page (ie stats or hit counter or something)

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  14. I'd be interested in knowing what the Church is planning to do to support stake and ward web sites in areas outside of North America.

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  15. Not sure if you are checking this anymore and I am far from a software engineer, but I am really interested in hearing about the new PAF that I hear is being developed. I have heard it will be Open Source and cross-platform. Can you confirm/deny? Any idea of a release date?

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  16. [...] They have a Wiki and a Mailing List.I would encourage the members of ldsoss to participate in the upcoming tech talks with the Chief Information Officer of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [...]

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  17. I'd like to know more about the Church's enterprise architecture and strategy, and what kind of capabilities IT is providing to both the spiritual and temporal missions of the Church. You mentioned on a previous post the complex and diverse body of applications you oversee. I'm interested in how they all fit together into an overarching strategy of vision for using and managing IT in the Church.

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  18. I'll be interested to speak with you about OSS licensing of information (given that you're the C-I-O). Specifically, something like Creative Commons licenses or the GFDL for some things like Gospel Art Kit pictures and curriculum like the upcoming Spencer W. Kimball text. Licensing these more openly would allow for all kinds of useful things to happen; explicitly permitting derivative works will allow volunteers to create audio version of the Pres. Kimball text.

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  19. When and where will the dates / times / places of the tech talks be announced?

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  20. Dates: This blog. This week.
    The rest: End of the month.

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  21. I would be interested in the types and sizes of databases the church uses. Do you do data mining? Are you using AI or Rules based technologies? I am close to SLC and would love to be involved.

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  22. Joel,

    I have a small software company in the Seattle area which has developed some truly unique and user friendly software that has many potential uses in the church. I would like to hear about your Seattle meetings and try to participate in them.

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  23. As much as I would love to attend the tech talks, visiting SLC or anywhere in the US is outside of my budget. It would be wonderful if you could make transcripts, or podcasts, or broadcasts (like General Conference etc.) available for those of us who are interested but can't get there.

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  24. I would be interested in the following:

    1) Future plans for expanding RSS (ideal for even PDF magazines, include link for latest pdf edition of each one in one rss) and also make downloadable versions of broadcasted media (rather than streaming) available so we can view it offline.

    2) The future of Stake & Ward Websites and when this will be made available to the rest of the world.

    3) Is the local unit software is under redevelopment?

    4) Will there also be a broadcast, podcast or write-up of the tech talks?

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  25. I am heavily involved with IT Service Management best practices, and would be interested in learning whether ICS has found value in adopting any particular process framework for managing IT services (such as ITIL, MOF, etc.). I believe ICS was utilizing the Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) some years ago...

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  26. Thank you so much for the feedback everyone! We will be taking bits from this and incorporating them into the tech talks. In addition I will blog from time to time on the issues listed here. I'm sorry I can't handle them all right now, but I will get around to most or all of the questions eventually.

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  27. Let us know if/when you offer similar session in the SF Bay Area. I know there are many who would contribute their experience.

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  28. I'm excited to read the recent directions on FHC management and also amazed to see the extent of the move ahead on MLS machines (formatting, repartitioning, imaging, tools, security, landesk, etc) as seen on the fhctech list. I've been a FHC tech support and ward, then stake clerk as well. (One way to get out of such a calling is to have the stake split. :-) )

    As for VOIP, unless there's significant efforts towards making the connections secure, I'd stay FAR, FAR away from it. There are too many tools out there now to sniff/intercept such transmissions. Unless you don't care about what's said on the channel.

    I'm really looking forward to the day when Temple Ready is not solely on the FHC machines, but maybe that's something that can be managed via the local ward computers hooked up to high speed DSL.

    And whatever happened to the effort to combine ward records with pedigree charts to encourage family history work? (I saw one of those printouts when I was shlepping around the COB many years ago visiting my mother-in-law in the membership records dept. I was excited about the prospect of such records! But it seems to have drifted quietly away. Perhaps it's a bigger elephant to eat than expected in combining ward membership records to IGI records. But I can't think of a better way than to get started with having members make the connection themselves by linking directly to IGI records. It sure beats trying to do it on your own as church programmers and then trying to undo the "best estimates" of automated matches, or risk offending someone. Maybe a mini-extension from MLS export a member's records to a file, have them log in via familysearch as a member, and start making the connections that way (or using PAF Insight's features integrated into a new PAF program to assist in that effort).

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  29. Joel,
    We would love to see one of your tech talks up here in Ogden. I am even willing to arrange a good sized host location. Let me know if you would be interested. I am sure that we could get a good crowd up north.

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  30. I would love to understand more about the Church’s data center. How you deal with all the data, what are the strategies to make sure that the data is not lost? Are you taking advantage of the new CAS (content addressable storage) technologies for data protection that are being developed mainly for the financial compliance market? How much data does the church have under management and how fast is this growing?

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  31. So much of what a bishop is responsible for is event-driven process management (youth birthdays, moves, illness, etc.) that could be automated through software integrated with the MLS system. Such systems would produce great fruits -- better administration and, most importantly, better ministering to those behind the events.

    I'd love to hear what you're doing in this area. Our ward has invested some time and effort in developing our own systems based on data imported from MLS...

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  32. The east is here. How about a Tech Talk in Raleigh-Durham or Charlotte NC

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