February 2012

Due to the growing use of mobile devices to exchange personal health information (PHI), the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) at the Department of Health and Human Services is calling for more resources to conduct a nationwide PHI privacy campaign. As part of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) of 2009, the ONC is mandated to educate the public on personal health information privacy. The agency needs to gather information about different segments of the public to conduct the campaign effectively, officials wrote in a proposal published in the Federal Register.

Interested persons are invited to send comments on the proposal, regarding:

• the necessity and utility of the proposed information collection for the proper performance of the agency’s functions;
• the accuracy of the estimated burden;
• ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and
• the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology to minimize the information collection burden.

In the age of e-books and online content, what's the role of the 21st century library? In the past, libraries have existed exclusively as physical spaces, but this is changing as content moves online and libraries take steps to better meet community needs. Promoting libraries as strong community anchors that enhance civic engagement, cultural opportunities and economic vitality is one of the primary goals of the Institute of Museum and Library Service’s 2012-16 strategic plan. No longer are libraries just places to store content, instead they are becoming places for people of all ages to create and produce content themselves.

[Commentary] In the next five years, there are likely to be as many mobile cellular subscriptions as there are people on this planet. By 2020, pundits predict more than 50 billion connected devices. With seven billion people's needs to serve, information and communications technologies (ICTs) represent the single most powerful channel we have ever had to reach out to others, wherever they may live, whatever their circumstances. They also represent our best hope of accelerating progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the target date of 2015. Can Africa reach its 2015 MDGs?

If countries embrace the unique power of mobile broadband technology, I believe many have a good chance. The eight MDGs cannot be separated. If you combat disease, you also reduce child mortality; if you give every child a primary education, you promote gender equality. It is because these goals are interlinked that broadband is so important. If we classify the MDGs into three broad areas -- education, health, and the environment -- we see that mobile broadband has a key role to play in each.

Los Alfaques, a bucolic campground near the Spanish town of Tarragona, isn't happy with Google. That's because searches for "camping Alfaques" bring up horrific images of charred human flesh—not good for business when you're trying to sell people on the idea of relaxation. The campground believes it has the right to demand that Google stop showing "negative" links, even though the links aren't mistakes at all. Are such lawsuits an aberration, or the future of Europe's Internet experience in the wake of its new "right to be forgotten" proposals?