Launching the USNI Wiki

If you recall, we previously pointed to the Strategic Plan rolled out in last week’s Annual Membership meeting.  That plan has four objectives:

1. Enhance national understanding of the vital contribution of American seapower;
2. Preserve and make available naval history;
3. Increase, broaden and engage our membership
4. Secure endowments to fund key strategies and initiatives that enable the Naval Institute to realize its vision.

Now there’s a lot to like there, and especially as you drill down to the deliverables under each objective – but our readers know of the keen interest held in naval history ’round these parts.  And as you read down through the deliverables (yes, there is a reason I highlight that word), you will come acorss this item:

“Our strategies to preserve and make available Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard history rely on the power of recent technological advances. The list is long, but here is a sample:

3.  Our active-duty members have a lot to teach each other on matters as diverse as how to conduct a burial at sea or how to command. They will be able to share that information through our USNI Naval Wiki, a wisdom-of-the-crowd tool to connect our professional community and help them help each other to solve practical problems.”

The USNI wiki was rolled out this week (and a heartfelt BZ to Mary and the gang for their efforts in this regard – SJS) – so barely a week out from the meeting and one of the first deliverables is on the street, recognizing, of course, that it is a living work and expectations are that it will continue to meet the highest standards as established by the Institute in the promulgation of information.

Oh, and for those who access the net via smartphone or tablets, RUMINT has the USNI app coming down the ways in the very near future, thus another deliverable:

4.  Access to USNI’s information, such as Naval Wiki, is great if you have a computer and an Internet connection. It’s a problem if you don’t. We will solve that problem by designing and building applications for Android & iOS (iPhone/iPad) devices that will hold information, make it instantly available, and then update it when the devices are re-connected to the Internet.

should be met in the near future.  And we hear of many other good works in various forms of progress too are on the way.

And this is good.

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