Another Inconvenient Truth

The following online discussion and debate is an example of the power of the web to bring both wide public participation and deep expertise to bear on the detailed mathematics involved in research and simulation, the public policy debates that rest on that work, and collaborative contributions by widely dispersed individuals.

According to Wikipedia, Stephen McIntyre found an error in the surface temperature record kept by the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS). GISS has acknowledged the error and incorporated a correction in their data set. The error affects the surface temperature record from 2000 through 2007. The US Annual Mean Temperature Chart from GISS, last modified on 2007-08-07, is below.



McIntyre is the primary author at the blog, CimateAudit, which is said to be under a denial of service attack at this writing. His most recent comments, as a guest blogger, are available here.

Thanks to Daily Tech for a pointer to this online discussion, and to Anthony Watt's Watt's Up with That? blog for a historical summary and annual charts from the revised data. The mission of Watt's newest online endeavor, SurfaceStations, is the creation of a publicly available photographic database of weather stations and weather station metadata through collaboration.

Innovation Policy

How best to measure innovation has bedeviled the business community for years. But with the discipline garnering increased attention—and investments—creating an accepted system of metrics to evaluate its impact has become top priority. Now the U.S. Commerce Dept. wants in. On Apr. 13, it issued a Federal Register notice asking for public comment on a series of innovation measurements it might use to drive public economic and innovation policy. Snippet from Business Week.

In true Federal government style, one of the first requirements a public comment must address is Identification of the specific Committee category to which the proposal applies. Comments are limited to ten pages, and are due by May 11. For submission guidance, see the Federal Register or the committee's Measuring Innovation website.

Batten funds UVA School of Leadership and Public Policy

Former newspaper publisher Frank Batten Sr. will donate $100 million to the University of Virginia. The donation is the largest single gift in the school’s history.
The money will be used to create the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Snippets from Virginia Business

“There’s an urgent need to develop the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders,” Batten said.
The Batten School will be the first new school at UVa since the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration was founded in 1954.
The Batten School will offer both undergraduate and graduate degrees, with full programs beginning in 2009. A master’s of public policy program will be established in 2009, followed by a post-doctoral program in public policy and a master’s in foreign service or global affairs. An undergraduate degree program in public policy, consisting of both foreign and domestic tracks, will also begin in 2009.
A search for the first dean of the Batten School will start this fall. UVa officials estimated the new school would aim for about 260 undergraduates and 160 graduate students. Snippets from the Daily Progress