What the US government is doing in Second Life

Federal Computer Week recently published a fairly comprehensive list of current sites in Second Life where the United States federal government has a presence. It's not a long list of sims, which I have supplemented with a few more that I know about:

• NASA Virtual CoLab
• NASA JPL Explorer Island
• Lunar Exploration Island
• NOAA Islands Meteora and Okeanos
• US Armed Forces Coalition Island
• SciLands Virtual Continent
• CDC Island
• IRS Career Island
• Smithsonian Latino Museum
  

In addition to this list are several one-off events, like the opening of the 110th US Congress and the FCC simulcasting workshops on broadband access involving various government agencies.  And of course there are the super-secret ones that we'll probably never find out about.

Beyond just listing them, I think it's useful to categorize what applications government agencies are using virtual worlds for.  Here's my quick analysis after the jump...

Here's my quick, non-scientific analysis of the primary applications of virtual worlds being explored by the US federal government.

Distance Collaboration

• Coalition Island hosts meetings for US armed forces to coordinate their activities in Second Life
• NASA Virtual CoLab hosts meetings between NASA and other science- and space-related organizations around the world to collaborate on projects and share information.
• State Department sponsored event on virtual education

Online Public Events and Simulcasts

• FCC Workshops on Broadband Access
  
• Lunar Exploration Island: live viewing LRO/LCROSS launch and impact activities and other NASA events.
• Congressional hearing on Second Life
• Opening of 110th US Congress simulcast with Rep. Miller coming in-world

Education

• SciLands: science and technology
• NOAA Islands: meteorology, climate change
• NASA JPL Explorer Island: astrophysics, astronomy
• Virtual NUWC - builds to demonstrate naval phenomena, showcase naval vessels, and disseminate data
• CDC Island: health and disease control
• Smithsonian Latino Museum : culture and art

Recruitment

• IRS Career Island
• US Army Information Center

Civic Engagement

• FCC Workshops in Second Life
• Opening of 110th US Congress simulcast with Rep. Miller coming in-world

That's actually quite a diverse range of applications being implemented by the US government.  And there are probably several more that have happened under the radar that I'm not aware of.  I'm sure for example that the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have done their own explorations and investigations of Second Life.

These experiments harken back to the US government's initial ventures onto the World Wide Web in the 1990s.  Virtual worlds are still such new technologies that no one really has a firm grasp on what the killer app is going to be for government.  I'm putting my money on distance collaboration, mixed reality simulcasts and education.

Comments

[hackshaven.myopenid.com]

Rikomatic,
Thanks so much for the wonderful post on government in Second Life. It's pretty obviously you did more research than FCW.
Eric / Hackshaven

[rikomatic]

Thanks, Eric. I do my best. It's a big world out there!