Last month we held our annual Privacy & Interoperability Symposium in Chicago. With nearly 100 attendees, and a very full agenda, it was a great conference. The excitement about both the current work of A4L and the future of the organization was evident throughout. It was great to spend quality time in person with everyone that could attend. Keep an eye out for an announcement about a fall event in the near future. 

Since our last newsletter lots has been happening behind the scenes…

For some of us it is spring. For our AU & NZ members it is the end of another summer. For those of us in the US some have had a mild winter and others very stormy. One thing we all have in common is that as a member of the A4L Community we are all entering a period of rebirth, excitement and renewed energy. The future of A4L is very bright.

As we close out the 2022 calendar year we have much to celebrate as a Community…

I love taking inventory on how people view this yearly life benchmark.  One of my sons in K12 was so ready to go back and stop his summer job while the other wanted his summer and work to go on forever.  I don’t even need to tell you how my teaching wife was not ready to go back yet!  Being virtual, it means more productive work for me.

It sounds logical and of course critical for successful data stewardship for all learners. However, you can probably count numerous times when a mantra is just lip service OR something you can relate to “vaporware” in software! The A4L Community leadership and staff have been working incredibly hard behind the scenes to make this tag real, tactical and supported by on the ground successful use cases. This Community is delivering big time on interoperability AND privacy!

While I do not EVER contend to be able to predict the future, I can confidently present some of the following “bets” for the Community in 2022.  These are for entertainment purposes only – no betting is encouraged!