INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Global IT Spending $1.4 Trillion by 2005 -- Study (WashTech)
INTERNET
Oxford to set up Internet institute (Times UK)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Guiding Nonprofits Into the 21st Century (WP)
Bridging the Digital Divide (Nando)
TELEPHONY
Now You Need an Area Code Just to Call Your Neighbors (NYT)
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
GLOBAL IT SPENDING $1.4 TRILLION BY 2005 -- STUDY
Issue: IT research
According to a new study by Dataquest, spending in global information
technology services is expected to almost double to $1.4 trillion by 2005,
up from $700 billion. Last year, the IT services industry grew nearly 10
percent worldwide to $665 billion. This year, the market is predicted to
increase at a rate of 12.5 percent. It is forecasted that North America's IT
services market will continue to account for 52 percent of the world market.
Regardless of the slack economy, Dataquest says that there are opportunities
for long-term growth in the IT industry. "In periods of economic
contraction," remarks analyst Michael Palma, "the IT services market has
benefited from the need for organizations to increase productivity and
re-engineer their processes." He says that product support services will
also continue to push the market forward. The Dataquest study predicted that
the Asia/Pacific region is likely to demonstrate the highest rate of growth.
[SOURCE: Washtech.com, AUTHOR: Martin Stone]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/netarch/9465-1.html)
INTERNET
OXFORD TO SET UP INTERNET INSTITUTE
Late last week, Oxford University's Balliol College announced that it will
be the first major university in the world to set up an institute entirely
devoted to researching the Internet and its impact on society. The 15
million pound program, the majority of which will be funded by the Shirley
Foundation, plans to launch its inaugural research program this autumn. "You
can already shop, bank, vote, debate, argue, consult a doctor and get your
degree over the Net -- and do so all around the globe," said Andrew Graham,
Master-Elect at Balliol College. "However," he added, "there is also an
enormous amount of rubbish out there and some material that is harmful. To
understand what is happening and to formulate helpful policies, you need
people such as political scientists, lawyers, medics, economists and
computing scientists working together." The Oxford Internet Institute will
coordinate all Internet-related research within the university.
[SOURCE: The Times of London, AUTHOR: John O'Leary]
(http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-124762,00.html)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
GUIDING NONPROFITS INTO THE 21ST CENTURY
Issues: Technology Assistance, Nonprofits
Even while the economy falters, there are still people who are proving that
access to information technology can make a real difference. So-called
"circuit riders," for example, are high-tech advisors to nonprofits that
travel from one organization to another, managing their technology needs. "I
believe in technology as a strategic instrument for helping nonprofits
develop themselves," says circuit rider Asma Ramadan of Technology Works for
Good (www.technologyworks.org), a DC-based nonprofit committed to connecting
other nonprofits to the Internet. Circuit riders, who often have previous
experience or interest in working with nonprofits, face the challenge of
working with groups that have a wide range of technology experience. Some of
the riders would like to be fully integrated as nonprofit staff. "Hopefully
by then the technology side and the nonprofit side will have converged,"
said Colin Moffett, who works in health and advocacy issues.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Carrie Johnson]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/atwork/9586-1.html)
BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
Issue: Higher Education, African Americans, PC Ownership
Several recently published studies indicate there is a digital divide
between historically black campuses and other colleges. According to school
officials, St. Augustine College in Sumter, South Carolina, has 150
computers available on campus for as many as 1,500 students. St. Augustine
says the solution could be one that few historically black colleges have
explored: requiring a laptop computer for every student. School officials
are negotiating a bulk contract with IBM that would allow St. Augustine's
students to buy or lease Thinkpad laptops at reduced rates. Other
historically Black colleges such as Wake Forest University, Meredith College
and University of North Carolina Chapel Hill have similar laptop agreements
with IBM. However, St. Augustine would be only the third historically black
college in the country to require Thinkpads for its students, according to
IBM. Some St. Augustine students, however, say that if they were asked to
begin paying another $ 1,000 a year for a lease or another $ 2,000 or more
to buy a laptop, the costs would be prohibitive to their education.
[SOURCE: The Raleigh News and Observer, AUTHOR: Lorenzo Perez]
(http://www.nandotimes.com)
TELEPHONY
NOW YOU NEED AN AREA CODE JUST TO CALL YOUR NEIGHBORS
Issues: Telephone services
The number of area codes has almost doubled in the past six years, up 138
new codes since 1995 to reach a national total of 344. Only nine new area
codes were added in the previous decade from 1984 to 1994. This rapid
addition of area codes is due to what's referred in the industry as number
exhaustion: in other words, a simple shortage of telephone numbers. New
codes are being interspersed among current ones in large cities like New
York City and Boston, and local calls can require dialing 10 or 11 digits,
which has become frustrating to many callers. Says Miguel Segovia, a
graduate student at Harvard Divinity School, "It is incredibly disorienting.
I now get the annoyed feeling that my life is becoming cluttered with
numbers." The industry has chosen to add new area codes to avoid costly
equipment upgrades and to keep the numbering system that has been in place
since 1947. Some customers have recommended the European and Asian numbering
system of adding a single digit to the phone number.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Simon Romero]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/07/business/07DIGI.html)
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