January 2011

Setting Standards: We Want to Hear From You

This week President Obama signed the America COMPETES Act, which supports an array of strategies for maintaining America’s leadership in science and technology. Among the Act’s important provisions is one encouraging the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to expand upon its work with the private sector to develop new standards for a range of vital industries such as emergency communications and tracking, green manufacturing, high performance green building construction, and cloud computing.

Technical standards are not the stuff of everyday conversation, but they are crucial to smart development and economic growth. Whether the goal is reducing health care costs, building a clean energy economy, or defending our Nation, standards are essential to ensuring efficiency, economy, and interoperability. And historically, no one has done it better than the United States. The fresh focus on standards in COMPETES—highlighted in part by the creation of the new position of Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology—follows a series of important steps already taken by this Administration. Last year, for example, the National Science and Technology Council—a Cabinet-level interagency council—established a Subcommittee on Standards. This Subcommittee brings together senior government officials to raise the profile of standards among Federal government leaders and improve Federal agency coordination on standards issues.

[Aneesh Chopra is the U.S. Chief Technology Officer. Patrick Gallagher is the Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology]

Minnesota BTOP project poised for action in 2011

In March, 2010, the Blandin Foundation and 19 project partners were awarded $4.7 million in BTOP funding for Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities or MIRC. The MIRC coalition brings a network of resources and support to rural Minnesota individuals and communities – especially those unemployed and seeking employment, small businesses, coalitions of government entities, and local leaders.

There are two types of MIRC partners. Project Partners provide services in Minnesota, such as PCs for People, a nonprofit organization that refurbishes used computers with the help of people transitioning off government assistance and passes them on to low income individuals and families who do not own computers. Through grant funding Project Partners, PCs for People will be able to extend or expand their services – especially to rural areas.

GSA's Godwin moves to USA.gov

General Services Administration social media expert Bev Godwin will be the agency’s new acting director of the Federal Citizen Information Center, which oversees the USA.gov central Web portal for the federal government, officials announced.

Godwin was the founder and director of the GSA’s Center for New Media and Citizen Engagement. She was a Federal Computer Week Top 100 honoree in 2009. In her new post, Godwin oversees USA.gov, which is the central Web portal for all federal agencies and services, as well as the Spanish-language version, GobiernoUSA.gov. The Federal Citizen Information Center provides information and services directly to people through USA.gov and other Web channels, Web chat, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media, phone, print and e-mail messages. It also manages the National Contact Center which handles e-mail and Web chat services to the public and distributing federal print publications for consumers.

Oklahoma, Kentucky issue first EHR incentive payments

Oklahoma and Kentucky have become the first states under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program to make incentive payments to providers for the adoption of certified electronic health records, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). In Kentucky, the University of Kentucky (UK) Healthcare and Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington became the first hospitals in the country to receive checks under the 2009 stimulus law. UK received $2.8 million, and Central Baptist received $1.3 million. In Oklahoma two physicians at the Gastorf Family Clinic of Durant, Okla., received $21,250 each, for having adopted certified EHRs. According to CMS, Kentucky, Iowa, Louisiana and Oklahoma are the first states to receive the Medicaid incentive payments for the purchase and use of EHRs. The incentive program for hospitals is set to run through 2016, the year targeted for completion of a nationwide health information network.

K Street to Vegas

Technology and telecom lobbyists are flocking to Las Vegas for the International Consumer Electronics Show, the biggest gathering of gadget-makers and geeks, where 2,700 companies will tout their newest products. It’s the perfect place for lobbyists and policy strategists to find new clients, especially as the tech industry is becoming increasingly interested in Washington.

“The U.S. has thrived on innovation for over a hundred years, and we’re in danger of losing it because of policies in Washington that need to change,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, which puts on the show. “Companies everywhere are starting to realize that.” More than 1,200 technology companies from outside the United States — a 25 percent increase over last year’s attendance — are among this year’s CES exhibitors. Shapiro said many discussions at the show are on the importance of signing new trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea — all of which have been stalled by Congress. “We've clearly fallen behind. [President Barack] Obama has this ambitious export goal and has recognized that this is a huge problem,” Shapiro said. “Nancy Pelosi has been a major blocker, but now there will be a new person sitting in the speaker’s chair.” And with a new Republican House getting started this week, CES offers an opportunity for lobbyists to schmooze with Obama administration officials and Capitol Hill staffers who make appearances on the show floor. There are also glitzy parties and dinners at which they can mingle with executives from the likes of Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, Verizon and Hewlett-Packard.

The NFL's Content Blitz Will Now Cost ESPN $2 Billion Per Year

The National Football League and ESPN have reportedly finalized a deal extending their existing media rights agreement -- and ESPN has the sticky end of it, paying 65-70% more than it does now: That's up to $2 billion a year. Which is about the same figure being kicked around as Facebook's annual revenue. Higher cable fees loom.

At the heart of the new deal, other than the NFL's evident hunger for raw, hard cash in large quantities, was ESPN's drive toward "TV Everywhere," which would permit broadcasting over broadband systems and streaming onto mobile devices like tablets and smartphones. ESPN will apparently hang on to the rights to broadcast key moments, including highlights and the NFL Draft. But neither ESPN nor ABC seems to have landed the rights to carry the Super Bowl -- which one could reasonably think might be part of a $2 billion-a-year deal. ESPN is forking over some 70% more per annum because the NFL is increasingly aware of how valuable its content is, particularly in the digital broadcast era where TV content is increasingly diluted across different platforms. But there may be unpleasant side effects to the NFL's price hike: Players may want a slice of the action. And the cost of cable packages that cover ESPN may also rise.

Why Some Free Shows On The Web Are So Heavily Pirated

Earlier this week, the popular BitTorrent news blog TorrentFreak published a list of the most pirated TV shows of 2010. The No. 1 most-pirated show—that would be ABC’s Lost, which was illegally downloaded nearly six million times—had a strange characteristic about it. It was available, for at least several months of 2010, for free via Hulu. Not just the last five episodes, but the whole darn series. So who is breaking the law to download stuff that’s available for free, and why?

The available data suggests a few possible explanations:

The majority of that illicit traffic of TV shows is from outside the U.S. At the same time, the proportion of TV content that is being pirated by U.S. Internet users has gotten smaller over the last couple years. That suggests that Hulu is doing a pretty good job of limiting piracy in the U.S., and that it might be able to do the job worldwide if it got the legal rights to show content internationally.
Hard-core fans want an archive that’s easily accessible, high resolution, and they know won't disappear—features that right now, only piracy offers.
Television content still seems ephemeral and unreliable—sometimes the best way to keep it is to make your own recording.

Facebook? Google is the next Google

Only in the fickle world of technology can a company with a market value of $200 billion and nearly 20% sales growth be considered yesterday's news. But with Wall Street, Silicon Valley and the media currently in a full-blown "all Facebook, all the time" mode, the latest fashion is to declare that Google is no longer relevant.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster made waves earlier this week when he said in a Bloomberg TV interview that Google has "given up" on social media and that for job seekers in tech, Facebook is what Google was five years ago. Google is now more like Microsoft, in his view. But to underestimate Google would be a colossal mistake. And interestingly enough, it looks like investors aren't completely buying into all the "Facebook is the new Google" hype. The success of Android -- which is being used in phones and tablets made by the likes of Motorola Mobility, Dell , Samsung and HTC, to name a few -- is a key reason why Google may continue to be a great growth company (and stock) for years to come.

Facebook Versus Google Circa 2004

Is Facebook worth $50 billion? As people ponder that question this week, we decided to look at Google, the Internet’s previous wunderkind.

Google’s market cap passed the $50 billion mark in October 2004. The company was exactly six years old -- Facebook turns seven next month -- and had just announced quarterly revenue of $806 million, up 105% from the same period a year earlier. Through the first nine months of 2004, Google reported revenue of $2.2 billion and net income of $195 million. Through the first nine months of 2010, Facebook’s revenue was about $1.2 billion and its income was $355 million, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a citing a private-placement memo being distributed to potential investors in the company. For all of 2009, Facebook’s revenue was $777 million and its income was $200 million. Google in 2003 -- the similar year in the search giant’s history -- reported revenue of $1.5 billion and a profit of $106 million. So there you have it. Google’s revenue was higher, but it wasn't as profitable as Facebook. Also, it looks like Facebook is growing a little faster than Google was at the time.

RIM seeks two years to address security concerns

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion wants an additional 18-24 months, up to January-end 2013, to address concerns of security agencies here that have been demanding encryption keys to its corporate email services, and the company has asked the Indian government not to ban its services in the interim period. The Canadian company has also told Indian government that it has already provided a manual solution to intercept BlackBerry Messenger services to security forces here, while adding that auto solution for this service will be provided by January 31, a government official directly aware of the development said.

RIM's reply has failed to impress India's interior ministry, telecoms department and the Intelligence Bureau, which have told the handset maker that installation as well as testing of the auto interception for BlackBerry Messenger must be completed before January 31. The home ministry has also directed RIM to adhere to its commitment that testing be completed by January-end, minutes of a recent meeting between security agencies, the Canadian company and security agencies reveal. The Intelligence Bureau said it was satisfied with the interception solution provided by RIM for its Internet services, but said it was still unable to open files in the 'jpeg format'. "The RIM representative assured that the company would provide the solution for this type of attachments also by January 31, 2011," the minutes of the meet added.

Benton

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