November 2012

Obama and Romney Could Rewrite Cyber Org Charts

US computer security might not be a major issue on the campaign trail, but the next president’s cybersecurity leadership choices are sure to raise eyebrows in Washington after the election.

Both candidates were virtually mute on the topic during key stump speeches. At the Oct. 16 foreign policy debate, Mitt Romney toward the end uttered the word, “hack” in relationship to China’s economic strategy: “China's been cheating over the years . . . by stealing our intellectual property; our designs, our patents, our technology. There's even an Apple store in China that's a counterfeit Apple store, selling counterfeit goods. They hack into our computers.” President Barack Obama twice in October visited Virginia’s George Mason University -- a federally-certified cybersecurity National Center of Academic Excellence -- without discussing cyber employment in the hotly-contested state. Virginia’s 277,600 high-tech professionals represent 9.8 percent of the state’s private workforce, according to TechAmerica Foundation. “I think it’s probably one of the things he should have focused more on because he wants to win Virginia,” said Dave Aitel, a computer scientist at the Pentagon’s National Security Agency during the Clinton administration. “It’s astounding to me that both of these candidates who have a lot vested in the issue are passing it by and I don’t know why that is.”

OPM Calls on Agencies to Submit Telework Stats

The Office of Personnel Management is making its annual call for federal agencies to submit their telework data online, in an effort to gauge progress on telework programs.

In a letter to agency human resources directors, Angela Bailey, associate director of employee services at OPM, asked agency telework managing officers and coordinators to submit their data on a Web-based form by Dec. 7. “Telework is an important flexibility useful to achieving agency human capital objectives, including retention and performance,” Bailey wrote. “OPM is committed to supporting telework and assisting agencies to meet their goals.” One of the greatest challenges for federal telework programs going forward is the ability of agencies to accurately measure success.

DISA Sets a Telework Example

While much of the federal workforce in Washington took October 29 and 30 off this week due to the Hurricane Sandy flap, 2,000 employees of the Defense Information Systems Agency -- roughly 40 percent of DISA workers -- continued to work from home thanks to a well-developed telecommuting plan put in place more than five years ago.

States Save Money with Online Services

A University of Utah study suggests state governments can achieve significant budget cuts by shifting many of their in-person services to the Web. Utah has saved more than $61 million during the past five years by moving state transactions online and contracting some Web services out to third-party vendors, the report said. The state offers online options for more than 1,000 services such as renewing car registrations, ordering birth certificates and filing income taxes. That reflects a growing trend among state governments, which have found shifting services online can save time for both citizens and employees.

Election 2012: where do Obama, Romney, Johnson, and Stein stand on tech issues?

This election won’t hinge on technology issues. Just look at prevailing discussions this year at the national level: major candidates have sparred over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the role of government, inane comments on the female body, and, to nobody’s surprise, the economy. Despite that fact, many decisions will be taken up by the next US president and those in Congress that will affect the world of tech, and by consequence, the real lives of citizens and human beings around the world — from alternative energy, to the use of killer drones, the regulation of wireless spectrum, and policies that aim to control content on the internet. First, there’s the place we know and love: the internet. The internet, as a vast, multi-faceted network involving individuals, businesses, and governments at various levels, is subject to increasing regulation — especially as it becomes more ubiquitous in every facet of daily life. The next president is likely to sign into law or receive bills from Congress that affect the internet, and as the head of federal agencies, will determine regulatory priorities in key areas like wireless broadband access and competition.

Missing Out: Political Ads, Spanish-Language TV and the Latino Vote

An analysis of political ad spending in the battleground states of Colorado, Florida and New Mexico. Political ad buys have skyrocketed to record-breaking levels nationwide, and much of that money is being spent in swing states, particularly by Super PACs and other third-party groups. But in the three states studied, Free Press found that few political ads have aired on Spanish-language stations. Free Press inspected political files at Spanish-language stations in these markets and interviewed a variety of Latino leaders, media analysts and political experts. Super PACs and other third-party groups have also made very few ad buys at these stations.

Online Political Videos and Campaign 2012

55% of registered voters have watched political videos online this election season. We asked about six different types of political videos and found that, among registered voters who use the internet:

48% watch video news reports about the election or politics
40% watch previously recorded videos of candidate speeches, press conferences, or debates
39% watch informational videos online that explain a political issue
37% watch humorous or parody videos dealing with political issues
36% watch political advertisements online
28% watch live videos of candidate speeches, press conferences, or debates
We also find that political videos are highly social. Some 52% of registered voters say that other people have recommended political videos for them to watch this election season, with social networking sites playing a prominent role in this process. In addition, 19% of registered voters have recommended online political videos for other people to watch.

Three questions about campaign coverage

I want to raise some questions about the craft of campaign reporting—questions whose answers may begin to emerge with the rush of returns on election night, but will only become clearer with more reflective post-election analysis. These are the some of the queries that need to be wrestled with before campaign junkies like me make our first exploratory trips of the 2016 campaign to Iowa and New Hampshire next summer.

Does a National Election Exist Any More? If, as I suspect, swing-state polls turn out to have been a more accurate predictor of the election than national surveys, then news organizations and campaign reporters may have to rethink how they cover presidential politics.
Did Reporters Spend Too Much Time with the Candidates and Not Enough with Voters? With candidate press conferences now a relic from the Osborne computer era and aides increasingly taking refuge in robotic spin, it is worth asking whether travel on campaign planes can be justified in this era of parched newsroom budgets.
Did the Press Corps Do Enough To Follow the Money? In this case, the answer is already known—and, sadly, it’s “no.”

NPD: Verizon iPhone users consume 1.58 GB/month, almost double those of Sprint

New data from NPD Connected Intelligence shows that Verizon Wireless' iPhone users are the most prolific data downloaders among the nation's top four wireless carriers.

The firm found that the iPhone customers of Verizon used an average of 1.58 GB of cellular data per month in September. The findings are noteworthy considering Verizon charges users on a per-MB basis, while rival Sprint Nextel has heavily advertised the fact that its iPhone plans offer unlimited data access. "Unlimit your iPhone," proclaims Sprint on its website. "No metering. No throttling. No overages." According to NPD's findings, AT&T Mobility iPhone users consume an average of 1.35 GB per month, putting the carrier into the No. 2 place. Sprint iPhone users are in the No. 3 position, downloading an average of 0.72 GB per month. T-Mobile USA's iPhone users consume an average of 0.19 GB per month, according to NPD. NPD's figures represent data usage across cellular networks and do not include Wi-Fi data usage. Smartphone customers typically transmit 2 to 3 times more data over Wi-Fi than cellular. The bulk of AT&T's iPhone users are likely on the carrier's HSPA network. The bulk of Verizon and Sprint's iPhone users are likely on the carriers' CDMA EV-DO networks. And the bulk of T-Mobile's iPhone users are likely on the carrier's EDGE network.

Open internet: presidential candidates ignore online controversy

President Barack Obama and his Republican opponent Mitt Romney both argue that innovation is key to creating a strong US economy. Yet critics claim both candidates have largely ignored one of the crucial issues of the internet age: how to keep the web open so ideas and information are accessible to all.

According to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, internet freedom is essential for entrepreneurial start-ups to develop the kind of innovative products and services that will drive the economy in the 21st Century. Ohanian crossed the US this month in a bus tour to argue that an open internet - with all links having equal status rather than being put in a hierarchy determined by price or regulation - matters to everyone, not just "geeks".

Benton

Search