From the article: "To celebrate Data Privacy Day 2013, Microsoft commissioned a survey
of 1,000 U.S. adults "to better understand people's online privacy
perceptions and expectations." The research study showed that
privacy is becoming more important to people. They want and need more control
of their personal information. Sadly, less than half of all adults ‘mostly’ or
‘totally understand’ how to protect themselves online." Read more
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Data Privacy Day 2013: Microsoft Releases Privacy Trends Study and Video Series
"Data Privacy Day 2013: Microsoft Releases Privacy Trends Study and Video Series." Networked World, January 23, 2013.
Big Data and Cloud Computing Empower Smart Machines to Do Human Work, Take Human Jobs
From the article: "From giant corporations to university libraries to start-up
businesses, employers are using rapidly improving technology to do tasks that
humans used to do. That means millions of workers are caught in a competition
they can’t win against machines that keep getting more powerful, cheaper and easier
to use." Read more
Airbnb And The Unstoppable Rise Of The Share Economy
From the article: "The “gig economy,” the plethora of microjobs fueled by
online marketplaces offering and filling an array of paid errands and office
chores, has been well-documented, and sites like TaskRabbit, Execand Amazon’s Mechanical Turk continue
to grow apace. What Larson finds himself in, however, is something
lesser-noticed and potentially far more disruptive–a share economy , where
asset owners use digital clearinghouses to capitalize the unused capacity of
things they already have, and consumers rent from their peers rather than rent
or buy from a company." Read more
Preparing for the Worst: Author Martin Ford Imagines a Future when Machines Have All the Jobs
From the article: "Martin Ford saw it everywhere, even in his own business.
Smarter machines and better software were helping companies do more work
with fewer people. His Silicon Valley software firm used to put its programs on
disks and ship them to customers. The disks were made, packaged and delivered
by human beings. Now Ford’s customers can just download the software to their
computers — no disks, no packaging, no delivery workers.
… He suggests imposing massive taxes on companies, which would be paying far
less in wages thanks to automation, and distributing the proceeds to those left
unemployed by technology. That would give them money to spend to keep the
economy spinning.
To prevent the creation of a massive, idle underclass, Ford suggests paying
incentives for people to keep going to school and to behave in ways that benefit
the environment and society.
He admits his ideas are “fairly radical and political untenable ... But I
don’t believe there are any easy conventional solutions.” Read more
How to Get America Online
From the article: "ON Monday, President Obama said that during his second term, Americans would
act together to “build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring
new jobs and businesses to our shores” and that “we cannot cede to other
nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries — we must
claim its promise.”
The president is right that digital communication networks — especially high-capacity
fiber networks reaching American homes and businesses — can be a powerful
economic engine. But we are far away from being able to realize that vision,
even as we cede the advantage such technology offers to other countries." Read more
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Managing Crowd Innovation in Public Administration
From the report: "Governments all
over the world have discovered the world of social media, for better or for
worse. Whereas some of them are making every effort to prevent the
unhierarchical and therefore uncontrollable (dissident) opinion-forming process
in Web 2.0, others are looking for ways of putting the potentialities of this
new opening-up of communication to use. One approach that is increasingly being
tried out is opening up innovation processes in government.
However, this opening-up of innovation processes is anything but trivial. It
requires a thoroughly thought-out strategy and thus confronts government
systems with extensive challenges if it is not to suffer the same fate as other
unsuccessful attempts at reform in the past. In our essay, we reflect on the
consequences of these challenges for public managers." Read more
Personal Information Markets and Privacy: A New Model to Solve the Controversy
From the report: "From
the early days of the information economy, personal data has been its most
valuable asset. Despite data protection laws, companies trade personal
information and often intrude on the privacy of individuals. As a result,
consumers become more and more irritated and concerned. They feel out of
control and lose trust in electronic environments. Technologists, economists
and regulators are struggling to develop solutions that meet businesses’ demand
for more personal information while maintaining privacy. However, no promising
proposals seem to be in sight. A vision of how internet
economics can accommodate privacy is elusive. We would like to break this
helpless cycle and propose a 3-tier market model for personal information
markets with privacy. In our model, clear roles, rights and obligations for all
actors re-establish trust. The 1st market tier, ‘relationship space’, enables
data subjects and visible business partners to build trusting relationships.
The 2nd market tier, ‘service space’, supports 1st tier relationships with
distributed information processing. The 3rd tier is called ‘rich information
space’. Here, anonymized personal information will drive innovative
socio-inspired services, and companies can freely exchange non-identified data
without restrictions. To transition to this model, we show how existing
privacy-enhancing technologies and legal requirements can be integrated." Read more
Informational Capabilities - The Missing Link for the Impact of ICT on Development
From the article: "Under
what conditions can information and communications technologies (ICTs) enhance
the well-being of poor communities? The paper designs an alternative evaluation
framework (AEF) that applies Sen’s capability approach to the study of ICTs in
order to place people’s well-being, rather than technology at the center of the
study. The AEF develops an impact chain that examines the mechanisms by which
access to, and meaningful use of, ICTs can enhance peoples “informational
capabilities” and can lead to improvements in people’s human and social
capabilities. This approach thus uses peoples’ human capabilities, rather than
measures of access or usage, as its principal evaluative space. Based on
empirical evidence from rural communities’ uses of ICTs in Bolivia, the study
concludes that enhancing people’s informational capabilities is the most
critical factor determining the impact of ICTs on their well-being. The
findings indicate that improved informational capabilities, like literacy, do
enhance the human capabilities of the poor and marginalized to make strategic
life choices to achieve the lifestyle they value. Evaluating the impact of ICTs
in terms of capabilities thus reveals that there is no direct relationship
between improved access to, and use of, ICTs and enhanced well-being; ICTs lead
to improvements in people’s lives only when informational capabilities are
transformed into expanded human and social capabilities in the economic,
political, social, organizational and cultural dimensions of their lives." Read more
China Aims to Create Electronics Giants
From the article: "China's industry
ministry on Tuesday set an aggressive goal of forging global giants in the
electronics sector within the next two years through mergers and alliances, and
reiterated a longstanding push for Chinese companies to explore overseas
acquisitions.
China is pushing
to consolidate its electronics industry in a bid to create the next tech giant.
The WSJ's Paul Mozur tells us how far the country still has to go to compete
with the likes of Apple and Samsung.
The target for
the electronics sector is part of a wider plan to consolidate China's
fragmented major industries, including steel, shipping, automobiles, cement and
aluminum. Overcapacity in heavy industries has been blamed for amplifying a
sharp slowdown in growth in the past two years." Read more
State of the Internet: The Broadband Future Is Faster, but Still Unevenly Distributed
From the article: "We may not be a gigabit nation yet when it comes to
broadband, but the latest data from Akamai shows that the
the number of broadband connections over 10 Mbps — what Akamai dubs “high
broadband” has grown by 73 percent from the third quarter of 2011 to the third
quarter of 2012. The country has also see a 20 percent overall increase in
average speed to 7.2 Mbps over the past year, but the number of people
who have adopted broadband (measured at anything above 4 Mbps) was 62 percent,
which puts the U.S. at No. 12 in the worldwide rankings when it comes to
adoption and No. 9 when it comes to average speeds." Read more
Your Gadgets Are Slowly Breaking the Internet
Talbot, David. "Your Gadgets Are Slowly Breaking the Internet." MIT Technology Review, January 9, 2013.
From the article: "Behind all the dazzling mobile-ready electronics products on display at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week is a looming problem: how to make the networks that support all these wireless devices function robustly and efficiently.
With less fanfare than you’d see in Vegas, potential solutions are arising in labs in Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, and New Brunswick, New Jersey. The grand challenge is to overhaul the Internet to better serve an expected flood of 15 billion network-connected devices by 2015—many of them mobile—up from five billion today, according to Intel estimates." Read more
State of the Web: Why can’t Washington craft better Internet laws?
From the article: "The tragic suicide of programmer and activist Aaron Swartz,
who was charged with multiple computer crime felonies prior to his death, has
reignited calls for Washington to craft better Internet-related legislation.
Many laws on the books are seen as outdated, misaligned with reality, and just
plain crazy. There has to be a better way, or so the theory goes. But what if
there isn’t? What if the lawmaking process, by its very nature, cannot handle
the fast-paced world of the Internet and the cultural shifts that go along with
it? What then?" Read more
China’s Information Challenge
From the article: "To maintain monopoly control of political power in a country
with a hard-charging economy, fast-growing middle class and the rising
expectations they create, party officials will do all they can to monitor and
manage the flow of information within the country and across its borders. This
is especially important for a new generation of leaders now assuming their
posts, officials who know that public expectations for good governance have
never been higher. But with more than half a billion Chinese citizens now
online, more than 300 million active on Weibo (China’s Twitter) and an
increasingly ineffective “great firewall,” assertions of control over words and
ideas reflect little more than wishful thinking." Read more
Checklists Can Help in Surgical Crises, Too: Study
From the article: "By using simulation technology, researchers were able to
show something previously thought impossible to prove: the benefits of using
surgical checklists in an operating room emergency.
In an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality-funded study, a team of researchers observed 17 surgical teams participating in 106 staged crises. The researchers found there was stricter adherence to critical steps in “life-saving processes” when a set of crisis checklists was available.
According to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine, there was a 75% reduction in “failure to adhere to critical steps” when checklists were used. In these instances, 6% (24 of 371) of the critical steps were missed, compared to 23% (89 of 379) when teams were working from memory. Each session was recorded, and physician researchers observed and scored adherence to the established, evidence-based response guidelines." Read more
In an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality-funded study, a team of researchers observed 17 surgical teams participating in 106 staged crises. The researchers found there was stricter adherence to critical steps in “life-saving processes” when a set of crisis checklists was available.
According to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine, there was a 75% reduction in “failure to adhere to critical steps” when checklists were used. In these instances, 6% (24 of 371) of the critical steps were missed, compared to 23% (89 of 379) when teams were working from memory. Each session was recorded, and physician researchers observed and scored adherence to the established, evidence-based response guidelines." Read more
Obscurity: A Better Way to Think About Your Data Than 'Privacy'
Obscurity is the idea that when information is hard to obtain or understand, it is, to some degree, safe. Safety, here, doesn't mean inaccessible. Competent and determined data hunters armed with the right tools can always find a way to get it. Less committed folks, however, experience great effort as a deterrent." Read more
Even if It Enrages Your Boss, Social Net Speech Is Protected
Employers often seek to discourage comments that paint them in a negative light. Don’t discuss company matters publicly, a typical social media policy will say, and don’t disparage managers, co-workers or the company itself. Violations can be a firing offense.
But in a series of recent rulings and advisories, labor regulators have declared many such blanket restrictions illegal. The National Labor Relations Board says workers have a right to discuss work conditions freely and without fear of retribution, whether the discussion takes place at the office or on Facebook." Read more
Becoming Your Own Doctor In The Brave New World Of Personalized Medicine
From the article: "So for most people, serving as our own doctor is well-nigh
impossible. Being a doctor isn’t a part-time position or a hobby. A small
number of smart, highly motivated people take the extreme effort necessary to
become a doctor, but this isn’t the path the vast majority of the rest of
us have taken, can take, or even want to take. And even if we are wannabe Dr.
Welbys and Dr. Houses, we don’t have the necessary skills and fortitude and
time to get a genuine medical education." Read more
Foresight Future Identities: Final Project Report
The aim of the project was to come to a broad and independent scientific view of changing identities in the UK through a synthesis of existing evidence from a range of academic disciplines, including computer science, criminology, the social sciences and the humanities.
The Report identifies key challenges for effective policy making and implementation in a rapidly changing, globalised, technology-rich, and densely networked UK. It focuses on implications for: crime prevention and criminal justice; health, the environment and wellbeing; skills, employment and education; preventing radicalisation and extremism; social mobility; and social integration." Read more
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Big Data Meets Big Brother in the Passenger Screening Line
Sternstein, Aliya. "Big Data Meets Big Brother in the Passenger Screening Line." Nextgov, January 16, 2013.
From the article: "The Transportation Security Administration is considering screening
passengers based on behavioral profiles generated by commercial data brokers,
according to new contracting notices.
The agency potentially could use such computations to let consenting passengers with positive assessments bypass certain airport security inspections, officials said.
For a moment, set aside fears about TSA peering into your gun-buying habits or pharmacy purchases. Are commercial data aggregations even accurate? No one knows. Not the Federal Trade Commission or the Justice Department. Not the data brokers. And not the people being profiled -- they often aren’t allowed to see their own records." Read more
The agency potentially could use such computations to let consenting passengers with positive assessments bypass certain airport security inspections, officials said.
For a moment, set aside fears about TSA peering into your gun-buying habits or pharmacy purchases. Are commercial data aggregations even accurate? No one knows. Not the Federal Trade Commission or the Justice Department. Not the data brokers. And not the people being profiled -- they often aren’t allowed to see their own records." Read more
Mapping Cloud Interoperability in the Globalized Economy: Theory and Observation from Practice
From the report: "This
is one of three in-depth exploratory studies, which aim to gain a deeper
understanding of the role that interoperability plays as an enabler of
innovation and creativity in international trade. Each study explores the
various institutions, policies and approaches that shape the interoperability
landscape and investigates the effects of these factors and drivers on trade in
the globalized economy.
In this series, we examine:
(i) to what extent and how interoperability has contributed to the promotion of international trade;
(ii) what respective roles international organizations have played in concert with other stakeholders with regard to interoperability and international trade;
(iii) what policies and approaches to supporting interoperability have been used, and with what results; and
(iv) what can be learned from these experiences with regard to emerging interoperability issues in the context of international trade.
The three studies address this set of questions from different angles, acknowledging the multi-faceted character of the concept of interoperability (Gasser & Palfrey, Basic Books 2012). Two of them “Fostering innovation and trade in the global information society: The different facets and roles of interoperability”, and “Mapping Cloud Interoperability in the Globalized Economy: Theory and Observations from Practice” – focus specifically on cloud computing, an emerging technical paradigm through which to analyze the policy relevance of interoperability in a globalized economy. This example also facilitates exploration of some of the key issues and practical challenges that arise as various stakeholders engage with cloud services, infrastructure, and data across the world, as well as the implications for trade, policy, and different actors, especially, governments. The third study, “Interoperability in Information and Information Systems in the Furtherance of Trade” is focused on the role, current debates, and associated benefits and challenges in establishing a system of interoperability for information and information systems in the service of trade in a global economy over time." Read more
In this series, we examine:
(i) to what extent and how interoperability has contributed to the promotion of international trade;
(ii) what respective roles international organizations have played in concert with other stakeholders with regard to interoperability and international trade;
(iii) what policies and approaches to supporting interoperability have been used, and with what results; and
(iv) what can be learned from these experiences with regard to emerging interoperability issues in the context of international trade.
The three studies address this set of questions from different angles, acknowledging the multi-faceted character of the concept of interoperability (Gasser & Palfrey, Basic Books 2012). Two of them “Fostering innovation and trade in the global information society: The different facets and roles of interoperability”, and “Mapping Cloud Interoperability in the Globalized Economy: Theory and Observations from Practice” – focus specifically on cloud computing, an emerging technical paradigm through which to analyze the policy relevance of interoperability in a globalized economy. This example also facilitates exploration of some of the key issues and practical challenges that arise as various stakeholders engage with cloud services, infrastructure, and data across the world, as well as the implications for trade, policy, and different actors, especially, governments. The third study, “Interoperability in Information and Information Systems in the Furtherance of Trade” is focused on the role, current debates, and associated benefits and challenges in establishing a system of interoperability for information and information systems in the service of trade in a global economy over time." Read more
EHR Adoption Could Exceed 80 Percent by End of 2013, New Study Finds
UN Plans Internet Governance Amid Outcry to Defund ITU
From the article: "A petition to de-fund the U.N.'s telecom arm emerges just as the ITU readies
to hammer out internet governance plans at the World Telecommunication Information andCommunication Technology Policy Forum meetings
in February and May 2013.
The website De-fund the ITU
surfaced on the January NANOG (North American NetworkOperators' Group) email list.
…Five days ago ITU's Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré released the fourth and final ITU/WTPF-13 report outlining groundwork for internet governance (and internet regulatory topics) at upcoming meetings on February 6-8 and May 14-16." Read more
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
The Real World of Cost-Benefit Analysis: Thirty-Six Questions (and Almost as Many Answers)
From the report: "Some
of the most interesting discussions of cost-benefit analysis focus on difficult
problems, including catastrophic scenarios, “fat tails,” extreme uncertainty,
intergenerational equity, and discounting over long time horizons. As it
operates in the actual world of government practice, however, cost-benefit
analysis usually does not need to explore the hardest questions, and when it
does so, it tends to enlist standardized methods and tools. It is useful to
approach cost-benefit analysis from the bottom up, that is, by anchoring the
discussion in specific scenarios involving trade-offs and valuations.
Thirty-six stylized scenarios are presented here, alongside an exploration of
how they might be handled in practice. Open issues are also discussed." Read more
It’s 10 P.M. Do You Know What Your Avatar Is Doing?
In this and two follow-up experiments, Bailenson found what Rudy Rucker, the novelist who wrote Software, would have predicted: voters were significantly more likely to support the candidate who had been made to look like them. What’s more, not a single voter detected that it was, in part, his or her own face staring back." Read more
The Dunbar Number, From the Guru of Social Networks
From the article: "A little more than 10 years ago, the evolutionary
psychologist Robin Dunbar began a study of the Christmas-card-sending habits of
the English. This was in the days before online social networks made friends
and “likes” as countable as miles on an odometer, and Dunbar wanted a proxy for
meaningful social connection. He was curious to see not only how many people a
person knew, but also how many people he or she cared about. The best way to
find those connections, he decided, was to follow holiday cards. After all,
sending them is an investment: You either have to know the address or get it;
you have to buy the card or have it made from exactly the right collage of
adorable family photos; you have to write something, buy a stamp, and put the
envelope in the mail. These are not huge costs, but most people won’t incur
them for just anybody." Read more