From the article: "Modern versions of open government only work if the basic
input, connectivity, can be taken for granted. We need electricity to light our
homes and offices, and we need cheap, abundant communications capacity to
make open government function. The near-term payoff will be dramatically lower
bills paid by local governments; long-term, you'll be empowering every member
of your community and your local economy. And isn't that what governments are
supposed to do?" Read more
Showing posts with label Innovation and Economic Growth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Innovation and Economic Growth. Show all posts
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
The Optimist’s Timeline
From the article: "Even so, there is one area of technology and global development where reality
has tempered my optimism: the idea that cellphones would revolutionize life in
developing countries. A decade ago, many people believed that the proliferation
of mobile devices in Africa would mean a short leap to digital empowerment. It
didn’t. Digital empowerment is a long and ongoing process, and the mere
existence of cellular technology does not immediately change how poor people
meet their basic needs.
But now, after years of investments, digital empowerment is underway, owing
to a confluence of factors, including growing network coverage, more capable
devices, and an expanding catalogue of applications. As more people obtain
access to better and cheaper digital technology, an inflection point is
eventually reached, at which the benefits of providing digitally services like
banking and health care clearly outweigh the costs. Companies are then willing
to make the investments required to build new systems, and customers are able
to accept the transition costs of adopting new behaviors." Read more
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
The Unbearable Trust of the Internet
From the report: "As
a result of the Internet's rapid growth, a number of
private sector companies have found themselves thrust from the role of scrappy
start-up to prominent global institution in a very short period of time. These
new global institutions have had to work to advance accountability and trust
without relying entirely on traditional democratic governance mechanisms
offered by national organizations. In the past several years, the private,
civil and public sectors have worked together to advance an explosion of
institutional innovations, each an experiment in building accountability
mechanisms and trust for this still-young ecosystem. For the long-term health
of the Internet,
it is imperative that these experiments continue, and that resources be poured
into making the most promising of them a success." Read more
Let the Crowd Fix Your Product's Bugs
From the article: "I'm starting to come to the conclusion that of all the myths
businesses and their leaders tell themselves, one of the most harmful is that
they know where the expertise is. The more I learn about the results from
crowdsourcing and open innovation efforts, the more I believe that the smart
strategy is to expose your problems and challenges to as many people as
possible and let them show you what they can do. Here's my most recent example
of the power of this approach." Read more
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Why We Can't Solve Big Problems
From the article: "That something happened to
humanity's capacity to solve big problems is a commonplace. Recently, however,
the complaint has developed a new stridency among Silicon Valley's investors
and entrepreneurs, although it is usually expressed a little differently:
people say there is a paucity of real innovations. Instead, they worry,
technologists have diverted us and enriched themselves with trivial toys.
… Let's stipulate that venture-backed entrepreneurialism is
essential to the development and commercialization of technological
innovations. But it is not sufficient by itself to solve big problems, nor
could its relative sickliness by itself undo our capacity for collective action
through technology." Read more
Adapt and Adopt: Governments’ Role in Internet Policy
Dean, David, et al. "Adapt and Adopt: Governments’ Role in Internet Policy." Boston Consulting Group Perspectives, October 23, 2012.
From the report: "As The Boston Consulting Group’s latest update to the BCG e-Intensity Index indicates, the gap between the world’s Internet leaders and laggards is widening. Governments of countries that are at the top of the e-Intensity Index rankings—or are rapidly moving up—encourage Internet use among consumers, businesses, and within government itself, because they recognize that it can be a powerful edge in the competitive global economy. Countries further down the list in many cases have failed to implement effective policies that encourage widespread adoption and use. These countries risk falling further behind if they do not act.
Back in 1997, the White House also put forth five principles that described how governments should approach Internet policy. The first and most important was that “the private sector should lead.” This has been borne out by time. The Internet has enjoyed widespread adoption in countries with vibrant private sectors that allow the inventions of Apple, Google, Orkut, Rakuten, Spotify, and their kin to thrive.
But if we examine the e-Intensity Index leaders, a more complex—and interesting—story emerges." Read more
From the report: "As The Boston Consulting Group’s latest update to the BCG e-Intensity Index indicates, the gap between the world’s Internet leaders and laggards is widening. Governments of countries that are at the top of the e-Intensity Index rankings—or are rapidly moving up—encourage Internet use among consumers, businesses, and within government itself, because they recognize that it can be a powerful edge in the competitive global economy. Countries further down the list in many cases have failed to implement effective policies that encourage widespread adoption and use. These countries risk falling further behind if they do not act.
Back in 1997, the White House also put forth five principles that described how governments should approach Internet policy. The first and most important was that “the private sector should lead.” This has been borne out by time. The Internet has enjoyed widespread adoption in countries with vibrant private sectors that allow the inventions of Apple, Google, Orkut, Rakuten, Spotify, and their kin to thrive.
But if we examine the e-Intensity Index leaders, a more complex—and interesting—story emerges." Read more
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Report: Building A Culture Around Big Data
Glick, Deanna. "Report: Building A Culture Around Big Data." AOL Government, October 16, 2012.
From the article: "A report released today by the Partnership for Public Service aims to educate federal managers on how agencies can do just that. The report, From Data to Decisions II: Building an Analytics Culture, examines how to best use data – not anecdotes – to base decisions.
Building on an original report released last November that examined how several federal agencies use data, the new report identifies strategies for how to develop and grow an analytics culture within agencies and incorporate it into how federal workers perform the mission. It profiles seven agencies using analytics to achieve better results and the strategies used in a budget-cutting climate.
Both reports were joint efforts between the partnership and the IBM Center for The Business of Government." Read more
From the article: "A report released today by the Partnership for Public Service aims to educate federal managers on how agencies can do just that. The report, From Data to Decisions II: Building an Analytics Culture, examines how to best use data – not anecdotes – to base decisions.
Building on an original report released last November that examined how several federal agencies use data, the new report identifies strategies for how to develop and grow an analytics culture within agencies and incorporate it into how federal workers perform the mission. It profiles seven agencies using analytics to achieve better results and the strategies used in a budget-cutting climate.
Both reports were joint efforts between the partnership and the IBM Center for The Business of Government." Read more
Internet Market Model: Don't Fix What's Not Broken - OECD
"Internet Market Model: Don't Fix What's Not Broken - OECD." Cartt.ca, October 22, 2012.
From the article: "A
new OECD report concludes that despite ongoing and future challenges,
the existing market model for the Internet has performed remarkably well,
boosting growth and competition and driving down prices for data to 100,000
times less than that of a one minute telephone call.
The report, entitled Internet Traffic Exchange Market Developments and Policy Challenges argues that governments should largely take a hands-off approach to regulating the Internet market.
The report, entitled Internet Traffic Exchange Market Developments and Policy Challenges argues that governments should largely take a hands-off approach to regulating the Internet market.
“If
a regulatory obligation to interconnect were to be established, then this
choice could be imposed unilaterally by one of the parties, which would
dramatically change the dynamics of the market. It is extremely unlikely that
the efficient outcomes produced so far would be maintained in this
environment,” writes the report’s authors Dennis Weller, Bill Woodcock." Read more
See also
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Data from Health Care Reviews Could Power “Yelp for Health Care” Startups
… More data collected by patients, advocates, governments and industry could help to shed light on the performance of more physicians and clinics engaged in other expensive and lifesaving surgeries and associated outcomes.
Should that be extrapolated across the medical industry, it’s a safe bet that some medical practices or physicians will use whatever tools or legislative influence they have to fight or discredit websites, services or data that puts them in a poor light. This might parallel the reception that Bright Scope’s profiles of financial advisors have received in industry." Read more
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
The Voice of Business: Why Internet Governance Needs Strengthening
Brueggeman, Jeff. "The Voice of Business: Why Internet Governance Needs Strengthening." The Guardian, October 17, 2012.
From the article: "The internet is facing increased threats from intervention that could stifle
its unprecedented capacity for social and economic development.
As a member of the International Chamber of Commerce
initiative ICC Basis, I
firmly believe that governments must work in tandem with the business community
to keep the web open for all companies and civil society to engage in legitimate
activity, and to capitalise on the positive correlation between internet
investment and economic growth." Read more
The Dynamic Internet: How Technology, Users, and Businesses are Transforming the Network
From the paper: "Since
the Internet
burst into the public’s consciousness during the mid-1990s, it has transformed
almost every aspect of daily life. At that time, the economic and technological
environment surrounding the Internet remained
relatively simple: a small number of users ran a handful of applications over a
narrow range of technologies interconnected by a simple set of business
relationships.
Time has undermined each of these premises. The population of end users has grown exponentially and become increasingly diverse. The applications that dominated the early Internet — email and web browsing — have been joined by new applications such as video and cloud computing that place much greater demands on the network. Wireless broadband and fiber optics have emerged as important alternatives to transmission services provided via legacy telephone and cable television systems, and mobile devices are replacing personal computers as the dominant means for accessing the Internet. At the same time, the networks comprising the Internet are interconnecting through a wider variety of locations and economic terms than ever before.
These changes are placing pressure on the Internet’s architecture to evolve in response. The Internet is becoming less standardized, more subject to formal governance, and more reliant on intelligence located in the core of the network. At the same time, Internet pricing is becoming more complex, intermediaries are playing increasingly important roles, and the maturation of the industry is causing the nature of competition to change. Moreover, the total convergence of all forms of communications into a single network predicted by many observers may turn out to be something of a myth.
In short, policymakers and scholars must replace the static view that focuses on the Internet’s past with a dynamic view flexible enough to permit the Internet to evolve to meet the changing needs of the future." Read more
Time has undermined each of these premises. The population of end users has grown exponentially and become increasingly diverse. The applications that dominated the early Internet — email and web browsing — have been joined by new applications such as video and cloud computing that place much greater demands on the network. Wireless broadband and fiber optics have emerged as important alternatives to transmission services provided via legacy telephone and cable television systems, and mobile devices are replacing personal computers as the dominant means for accessing the Internet. At the same time, the networks comprising the Internet are interconnecting through a wider variety of locations and economic terms than ever before.
These changes are placing pressure on the Internet’s architecture to evolve in response. The Internet is becoming less standardized, more subject to formal governance, and more reliant on intelligence located in the core of the network. At the same time, Internet pricing is becoming more complex, intermediaries are playing increasingly important roles, and the maturation of the industry is causing the nature of competition to change. Moreover, the total convergence of all forms of communications into a single network predicted by many observers may turn out to be something of a myth.
In short, policymakers and scholars must replace the static view that focuses on the Internet’s past with a dynamic view flexible enough to permit the Internet to evolve to meet the changing needs of the future." Read more
The Future, as Imagined by Google
Miller, Claire Cain. "The Future, as Imagined by Google." The New York Times, October 15, 2012.
From the article: "In Eric E. Schmidt’s future, his life will be a lot easier.
His bed will wake him up when he cycles out of R.E.M. sleep. A driverless car will take him to work. Returning phone calls, scheduling events and other routine tasks will be taken care of by devices using artificial intelligence. A microrobot he swallows will monitor his insides and alert his doctor if something is wrong. At night, a robot will go to parties in his place." Read more
From the article: "In Eric E. Schmidt’s future, his life will be a lot easier.
His bed will wake him up when he cycles out of R.E.M. sleep. A driverless car will take him to work. Returning phone calls, scheduling events and other routine tasks will be taken care of by devices using artificial intelligence. A microrobot he swallows will monitor his insides and alert his doctor if something is wrong. At night, a robot will go to parties in his place." Read more
Infostructure Is the New Infrastructure
Mead, Walter Russell. "Infostructure Is the New Infrastructure." The Wall Street Journal, October 15, 2012.
From the article: "The question is
no longer whether government has a role to play, but what that role is in
today's economy. In the 1820s and 1830s, many states jumped on the canal
bandwagon after the success of the Erie Canal, but the arrival of the railroads
made that investment essentially worthless. Mule-drawn canal barges don't
compete with trains. Even the Erie Canal soon became more tourist attraction
than working piece of infrastructure.
In today's
economy there are three big problems with the conventional case for infrastructure
spending. The first is that nothing is shovel-ready anymore.
Not-in-my-backyard, or "Nimby," lawsuits and environmental
requirements tie up significant projects for years if not decades." Read more
Monday, October 15, 2012
Ten Years that Shook the Media World
Nielson, Rasmus Kleis. "Ten Years that Shook the Media World." Report prepared for the Reuters Institute, October 11, 2012.
From the brief: "A new report published today by the Reuters Institute, shows
that even after more than a decade of often dramatic turmoil in the media
sector, we are only at the beginning of a longer transitional period….. In the
absence of major business innovations, the commercial underpinnings of
professional journalism continue to erode in most of the Western world as “old
media” decline or move away from news and very few online-only new media
companies have found sustainable models for news production. While new digital
platforms have created exciting new opportunities for socializing, information
sharing, and search, it is not clear that they provide a hospitable environment
for professional journalism." Read more
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
International Internet Governance, Innovation & The International Telecommunications Union
Sallet, Jonathan. "International Internet Governance, Innovation & The International Telecommunications Union." O'Melveny & Myers LLP; Silicon Flatirons, October 1, 2012.
From the report: "The
19th Century telegraph and the 20th Century telephone are relatively simple
mechanisms of communication. A single technology, widely deployed, with content
supplied by its users. The Internet ecosystem is
much more complex – bringing together divergent technologies of transmission
(mobile and fixed), usage, storages, hardware and software – empowering very
divergent forms of content, personalized on each device that is connected to
the network of networks.
In December 2012, the International Telecommunications Union, an organization born to promulgate the international flow of telegraph traffic in the 19th Century, which evolved to regulate international traffic between telephone networks owned and/or regulated as monopolies in the 20th Century, will confront the quintessential 21st Century information technology: The Internet.
In so doing, it will consider a fundamental question: Is the regulatory regime designed for the international activities of the telegraph and the telephone the best form of governance over economic issues that impact the future of innovation on the Internet?
This paper contends that the answer to that question is “No”. Not because any dearth of legitimate issues that need to be confronted, nor because the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has failed in its legacy of telegraph and telephone regulation. But because the Internet ecosystem is not the analog of telegraphy and telephony." Read more
In December 2012, the International Telecommunications Union, an organization born to promulgate the international flow of telegraph traffic in the 19th Century, which evolved to regulate international traffic between telephone networks owned and/or regulated as monopolies in the 20th Century, will confront the quintessential 21st Century information technology: The Internet.
In so doing, it will consider a fundamental question: Is the regulatory regime designed for the international activities of the telegraph and the telephone the best form of governance over economic issues that impact the future of innovation on the Internet?
This paper contends that the answer to that question is “No”. Not because any dearth of legitimate issues that need to be confronted, nor because the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has failed in its legacy of telegraph and telephone regulation. But because the Internet ecosystem is not the analog of telegraphy and telephony." Read more
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
App Law Within: Rights and Regulation in the Smartphone Age
Sithigh, Daithi Mac. "App Law Within: Rights and Regulation in the Smartphone Age." Edinburgh School of Law Research Paper No. 2012/22, September 2012.
From the report: "This
paper assesses the regulation of smartphone 'app stores.' At the outset, the
adoption of smartphones and apps is noted, alongside the ways in which scholars
and journalists have used these markets as the basis for the discussion of
legal and economic issues. The importance (commercially and as a study in
governance and control) of the iOS App Store (Apple) is highlighted. Part 2
deals with the relationship between Apple and app developers; three themes of
Apple’s Guidelines are identified (content, development and payments), and the
ways in which control can be challenged (through jailbreaking, ‘web apps’ and
regulatory intervention) are scrutinised. Part 3 considers three ways in which
apps are already regulated by law: the protection of consumers (particularly
through the UK system for 'premium rate services'), user privacy, and (in
brief) the regulation of video games and video-on-demand services in Europe.
Finally, in part 4, the tension between comparatively 'open and 'closed' app stores
is highlighted; the problems of applying general provisions to emerging formats
are emphasised. It is concluded that the emerging status of non-carrier app
stores as neither retailer nor platform means that it is not yet possible to
identify the form of regulation that is in operation, but that some steps are
available to legislators that could shift the balance between closed and open
models." Read more
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Three Ways the President Can Create Digital Jobs Now
Baird, Zoë. "Three Ways the President Can Create Digital Jobs Now." Forbes, October 2, 2012.
From the article: "The United States has the opportunity to become a world
leader in defining digital age jobs. We are already significantly ahead in
creating technology tools and services, and we are on the threshold of a new
era of data-driven progress where the jobs of the future will not look like the
jobs of the past. The economic growth technology has generated to date has not
been widely shared, however, and we therefore also face intractable
unemployment, widespread decline in real wages, and a growing national bitterness
and divisiveness." Read more
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Tech Companies Warn Privacy Rules Will Kill Innovation
Sasso, Brendan. "Tech Companies Warn Privacy Rules Will Kill Innovation." The Hill, September 26, 2012.
From the article: "A host of companies and trade associations are warning the Federal Trade Commission that its proposed revision to children's online privacy rules will burden tech start-ups and stifle innovation.
The Association for Competitive Technology, which represents mobile app developers, claimed the revised rules would impose $250 million in compliance costs, decimating small app makers." Read more
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
New Study Affirms Less Copyright Restrictions Benefit the Economy, Amid Renewed Calls for SOPA 2.0
From the report: "A new study from Australia presents the latest evidence that loosening copyright restrictions not only enables free speech, but can improve an economy as well. The study, published by the Australian Digital Alliance, indicated that if Australia expanded copyright exceptions like fair use, along with strengthening safe harbor provisions, the country could potentially add an extra $600 million to their economy." Read more
See also
"Potential $600m Annual Economic Boost From Copyright Reform." Australian Digital Alliance, September 2012.
Pricing Private Data
From the report: "We consider a market where buyers can access unbiased samples of private data by appropriately compensating the individuals to whom the data corresponds (the sellers) according to their privacy attitudes. We show how bundling the buyers' demand can decrease the price that buyers have to pay per data point, while ensuring that sellers are willing to participate. Our approach leverages the inherently randomized nature of sampling, along with the risk-averse attitude of sellers in order to discover the minimum price at which buyers can obtain unbiased samples. We take a prior-free approach and introduce a mechanism that incentivizes each individual to truthfully report his preferences in terms of different payment schemes. We then show that our mechanism provides optimal price guarantees in several settings." Read more