# Presentation: 252890

## Technology and the NMB

**Technology and the NMB**
**ADR Program**

***Presentation to the ABA***
***May 24, 2005***

## Harry R. Hoglander

**Harry R. Hoglander**
***Chairman***

**Read Van de Water**
***Board Member***

**Edward J. Fitzmaurice, Jr.**
***Board Member***

**Daniel Rainey**
***Director, ADR Services***

**Notes:**
Harry R. Hoglander became Chairman of the National Mediation Board, effective July 1, 2004. Chairman Hoglander was sworn in as a Board Member on August 6th, 2002, after being nominated by President George Bush on July 1st, 2002, and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on August 1st, 2002.

Edward J. Fitzmaurice, Jr., a Member of the National Mediation Board since August 2, 2002, also served as Chairman from July 1, 2003, through June 30, 2004. He was nominated to the NMB by President Bush on November 9, 2001, and confirmed by the United States Senate on August 2, 2002. 

Read Van de Water, of Warrenton, Virginia, was nominated by President George W. Bush in September and unanimously confirmed on December 9, 2003, by the United States Senate to serve as a Member of the National Mediation Board. She was sworn into office on December 11, 2003. 

For more information about the Board Members please refer to the NMB web site:
www.nmb.gov

## Some Technology Supporting the NMB’s Mission

**Online Dispute Resolution (ODR)**

**Video Teleconferencing (VTC)**

**E-Business**

**Document and Records Management**

**The NMB Web Site (www.nmb.gov)**

**Telephone Electronic/Web Based Representation Voting**

**Notes:**
E-business:    

Not E-commerce.  We don’t do payments ever the Internet, but the NMB does forms of many sorts:

Parties can fill-in and submit online both mediation and representation forms

Mediators complete and submit travel and work related forms online

Effective January 1, arbitrators must submit all forms and awards electronically

Document Management System:

New DCS full-text searches of all agency documents

## For Discussion Today:

***Online Dispute Resolution (ODR)***
***Video Teleconferencing (VTC)***
***NSF Grant***

## Online Dispute Resolution (ODR)

**Online Dispute Resolution (ODR)**

**Notes:**
What is ODR?  Most simply, it is the application of computer and networking technology to the dispute resolution process.

ODR was first conceived and used in the mid-1990’s, and since has grown considerably in some sectors.  In Australia, where the population is widely dispersed, ODR has taken hold as a favorably viewed way to bring services to people who would not have dispute resolution services otherwise.  The largest provider of mediation services in the world, Square Trade, does almost 2 million online mediations per year for E-Bay, around the world, around the clock.

## When it saves time and is reliable

- When have dispute resolution professionals embraced technology?

- When the parties have equal access/control

- When the learning curve is not steep

- When the technology made the process better

- When the cost was not prohibitive

- When it was not physically cumbersome

**Notes:**
Dispute resolution and related professionals are now in a period of transition– we have new electronic tools to add to the proverbial toolbox. 

## E-Facilitation Software

- Brainstorming/Issue Discussions
- Rating and Ranking
- Surveys

**Current Uses**

- Bargaining and Problem Solving
- Training
- Evaluation

## Brainstorming 

**Brainstorming **

**Notes:**
This is the brainstorm page. It’s very simple. The question we posed was “what are the most significant human achievements of all time?” 

One item submitted was “invention of the wheel” – you would enter it in the box and click “add my item” and it will appear on the electronic flip chart below. 

Here you can enter as many items as you like. As other users click “refresh” the newly entered items will appear on their screen. 

## Brainstorm--comments

**Notes:**
Now, once you have completed brainstorming, the facilitator can open up a new field for comments on the list.
 Participants can click on the plus sign and a new box open, allowing them to write comments or questions. 

## Rating and Ranking

**Notes:**
When the brainstorm and commenting is done, the next step is rating and ranking, or expressing preferences. For this demo, we used a scale of strongly agree to strongly disagree. 

You simply pull down the menu, select your preference and when done, you would scroll down and click a submit button and you are done. 

Again, this is all anonymous. 

## Video Teleconferencing

**Video Teleconferencing**
**(VTC)**

## Current State of Technology

**ISDN point-to-point  (Procom)**

**Web-based document sharing (Groove/Microsoft)**

**Web-based video plus document sharing (WebEx, Breeze, Net Meetings)**

**Grid Computing (Leeds demo last week)**

**Notes:**
ISDN systems have been around for some time.  In movies where directors want to depict a White House “situation room,” usually there are monitors and speakers that approximate the very high end range of ISDN video conferencing technology.  This technology offers high quality audio and video, but also brings higher price tags and less flexibility.

Web based document sharing uses the Internet to make joint, real time editing of documents possible.  For example, Reuters news service uses Groove to edit its stories from reporters all over the world.

WebEx is a document sharing service, with web based video capability built in.  WebEx has 70% of the commercial web conference market.

Grid computing, which is in development, will allow users to take advantage of powerful computers in a “grid” – this will greatly improve the quality of video and audio for web based VTC systems.

## What the NMB Offers

**ISDN and IP Point to Point**** – Through an agreement with the NLRB (details on the NMB web site)**

**Web Based VTC and Document Sharing**** – Through a license with WebEx**

## 
WEB EX DEMO

**WEB EX DEMO**

## Conference in progress

## Video capability

## Chat capability

## Whiteboard demo

## Whiteboard doc sharing 

## Sharing docs & applications

## Wrapping Up

## Current uses

- Contract Language
- NMB Internal Use
- Grievance Arbitration
- Sharing Neutrals Mediation

## National Science Foundation Grant

## The Project

**In 2004, the NSF awarded the University of Massachusetts at Amherst a grant to cover a three year study of online dispute resolution technology.****  **

**UMass will use the NMB’s Grievance Mediation Program as the arena in which ODR tools are evaluated.**

## The Project:  Research Areas

**The use of Process Modeling to design and implement ODR software.**

**The impact of ODR technology on grievance mediation.**

## The Project:  Researchers

***National Science Foundation***** – funder and evaluator of research.**

***UMass-Amherst***** – Computer Science, Business School, and Dispute Resolution involved in research.**

***NMB***** – Involved in design and implementation – NMB mediators will conduct grievance mediation.**

## The Project:  Why GM?

**GM at the NMB is very similar to mediation in other contexts – the results can be generalized.**

**With enough partners, there are enough cases to make the research meaningful.**

**Grievances are discrete and short term events – the researchers will have results for each case.**

## The Project:  GM History

**The NMB has conducted grievance mediation as part of its ADR program since 1997.**

**In FY 2004, NMB mediators assisted with ****180**** grievances – ****132**** were ****resolved**** in mediation.**

## The Project:  Phase One

**Use process modeling to develop ODR software for the research – input from NMB and parties.**

**Solicit carrier and union partners to submit grievances.**

**Work with parties to define “appropriate” grievances for submission.**

**Notes:**
Process Modeling: A design approach that uses a close map of a process (mediation) to guide development of software that maintains the structure of the process and adds value to implementation of the process.

## The Project:  Phase Two

**Train NMB Mediators in ODR techniques using UMass software.**

**Mediate grievances and monitor outcome.**

**Grievance**

**Traditional Mediation**

**ODR Mediation**

**Arbitration**

**Resolution**

## The Project:  Phase Three

**Evaluate and Report on Results of Research**

**Make ODR Technology Available Beyond NMB**

## Questions?

**Questions?**

## Technology and the NMB

**Technology and the NMB**
**ADR Program**

- _[www.nmb.gov](http://www.nmb.gov/)_
**rainey@nmb.gov**
**barbour@nmb.gov**

**For information contact:**