We've had several discussions around a larger initiative that would position the Institute as a leader in future communications technologies and their application in education and research - but also in the larger physical and virtual communities in which we live our lives.
Prospectus for MIT Leadership in Integrated Communications
Draft document.
Project Mercury
Would engage students, faculty and researchers in the creation of new opportunities for mobile voice, data and media. It will operate both as an experimental facility and as an operational component in the teaching and research. It would develop new interfaces and protocols for communication, and test them through deployed applications both within MIT and and surrounding community.
Real time collaboration with a partner from industry.
Possible candidates might include the Ford-MIT Alliance http://web.mit.edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/ctpid/www/ford.html. Ford's I/T group is very interested in developing real time collaboration tools.