During the morning's keynote speech at the 2008 IU Statewide IT Conference, Accelerating the Journey into the Third Era, Vice President for IT and CIO Brad Wheeler laid out the challenges ahead for the university in the areas of information technology to keep IU students, faculty, staff, and external partners empowered in their various challenges, and to keep IU successful in its mission of excellence in research, teaching, lifelong learning, and outreach.