U.S. Kids Need Computer-Science Education

Stark, Elizabeth. "U.S. Kids Need Computer-Science Education." USA Today, January 30, 2013. 

From the article: "The future of the U.S. economy depends upon technological progress, and learning basic skills like computational thinking and programming are great ways to expose students at an early age to its importance. If the U.S. doesn't follow suit, we will lose out in the global economy.

By 2018, there will be nearly three times as many job openings requiring computer science knowledge than qualified applicants. This goes well beyond just becoming a professional programmer -- learning computer science can teach problem solving skills, new ways of breaking down complex scenarios, and a means to build something tangible in our software-driven age." Read more

How to Maintain a Competitive Internet

West, Darrell M., and Elizabeth Valentini. "How to Maintain a Competitive Internet." Paper released in conjunction with the Fostering Internet Competition Conference, Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C., October 10, 2012.

From the paper: "To protect these virtues, a number of academic experts and business leaders have concluded that the government should be cautious about applying competition law to the Internet market.  They argue we should have a “hands-off” competition policy given the rapidly changing nature of digital technology, the complexity of networked industries, the slow pace of government decision-making, the lack of substantive knowledge on the part of regulators, and the globalization of service delivery. 

In this paper, we argue that robust competition policy, including the application of law and enforcement, are vital to ensure the continuing benefits of Internet communications and commerce. Competition is good for consumers, and we need to protect against threats to open competition in Internet markets in order to maintain its beneficial features.  It is important to have antitrust enforcement and fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory market behavior to gain the full benefits of the Internet. We need public policies that promote consumer choice and encourage innovation without stifling competition." Read more

Does the Internet Help the Unemployed Find Jobs?

Choi, Eleanor Jawon. "Does the Internet Help the Unemployed Find Jobs?" Working paper prepared for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, December 2011.

From the report: "This paper investigates whether using the Internet for job search helps unemployed workers find jobs. … results suggest that unemployed workers searching for jobs online are around 14 percentage points more likely to be employed during the 15 month follow-up period than unemployed workers who do not engage in Internet job search. This implies that using the Internet for job search raises the 15-month job finding rate by around 26 percent at the mean." Read more

Sweden Tops World Wide Web Index

Rooney, Ben. "Sweden Tops World Wide Web Index." The Wall Street Journal, September 5, 2012.

From the blog: "Sweden topped the first annual Web Index, an attempt by the World Wide Web Foundation to evaluate the state of the Web in 61 countries. Six of the top 10 countries are European….The index assesses the use, utility and impact of the Web around the world. The first report measures just 61 countries, though future reports will be more extensive.

While Western economies dominate the rankings, Mr. Berners-Lee said there were some countries that performed surprisingly poorly. He singled out Italy for the lack of impact the Web has made there." Read more

See also
Farhan, Hania, Debra D’Agostino and Henry Worthington. "Web Index 2012."  World Wide Web Foundation, 2012.