A vision for MeshForum

MeshForum is dedicated to fostering research and education about networks. We believe that understanding networks is key to understanding the 21st century. Our conferences, website, WIKI and other activities all seek to bring together academics from many fields with business, military, and public sector leaders to share experiences, exchange knowledge, and build a greater understanding of the networks that connect us all.

Towards this end we held MeshForum 2005 on May 1-4 of 2005 and are beginning the planning for MeshForum 2006, likely May 7-9 of 2006. We hope to hold a series of seminars and dinners during 2005 and 2006 leading up to MeshForum 2006.

We are also exploring other ways we can help grow and foster greater knowledge about networks.

One approach I am proposing here and requesting help and suggestions for, is to build a multi-disciplinary introduction to Networks. Starting as freely available content on the web, it hopefully can also grow to include a publication (or publications) for use offline.

In this introduction we would seek to synthesize the great diversity of basic definitions and understanding of networks - highlighting how fields as diverse as mathematics, physics, sociology, transportation engineering, communication studies, and computer science each have slightly different definitions and focuses when studying networks. By bringing together these different approaches, illustrating them with practical experience and case studies from non-academics, and providing references for further research and reading we can add greatly to the available resources.

Our audience for this would be both academics and non-academics. The goal would be to pull together the many different yet related approaches and as we describe them also highlight some of the many innovative approaches specific researchers and fields of study are employing - with the thought that many of these approaches could help people in very different fields address new and different problems.

Anyone want to help us with this project?