E-GOVERNMENT
Commentary: Toward a Paperless Government
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Commentary: Arabs Lag in Internet Use
INTERNET
Academia Gets Creative with Web Services
EDTECH
Commentary: The Student-School Disconnect
SCIENCE
Giant Sunspots Continue to Erupt, Could Affect Telecommunications
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E-GOVERNMENT
TOWARD A PAPERLESS GOVERNMENT
(Commentary) The deadline for the 1998 US Government Paperwork Elimination
Act passed last week as e-government proponents continue to talk about
creating a prototypical 21st century organization of government. Considering
that the government's computer systems stretch back some four decades,
integrating an updated infrastructure will be a long-term, meticulous
project. "Certainly, the federal government represents the largest single IT
market in the world ... but they're trying one thing at a time, because
you're building to a component architecture," writes Ray Wells, IBM's top
software executive in Washington DC. In terms of government cooperation in
this process of updating systems, he says government is cooperative at
times, but the issue is multifaceted. "The major problem is the complexity
of integrating systems that got built up over a 40-year period -- most of it
was never designed to be exposed to people except those who were highly
trained in their use. This is a cultural change." He confirms that the way
government operates will drastically change post-2003 because the government
will have entered the information age by achieving e-government objectives
and therefore operating at a higher efficiency.
SOURCE: CNET News; AUTHOR: Ray Wells
http://news.com.com/2008-7343-5097678.html
DIGITAL DIVIDE
ARABS LAG IN INTERNET USE
[Commentary] With an Internet penetration rate of merely three percent, the
Arab world is in an embryonic technological state, writes Najla Al
Rostamani, head of the Gulf News Research Center. Regardless of expenditure
on the establishment of sophisticated telecommunication networks, so long as
barriers to information accessibility and the free exchange of ideas remain
in place, the Arab world will never become part of the information
revolution, Al Rostamani argues. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) leads Arab
countries in terms of Internet penetration, with over a third of its
population online. UAE Internet users are predominantly male (76 percent of
all users), young and highly educated. The main factor behind such an
increase in Internet penetration in the UAE is the aggressive policy
followed by the government, which has made Internet literacy a focal point
of its agenda. Al Rostamani wonders when all Arabs will be connected and
forge their own distinct wave in the information revolution, "arabizing"
Internet content.
SOURCE: Gulf News; AUTHOR: Najla Al Rostamani
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/News.asp?ArticleID=101048
INTERNET
ACADEMIA GETS CREATIVE WITH WEB SERVICES
ICampus, a joint research program between Microsoft and MIT, aims to improve
the quality of campus life through technology. Although the $25 million
program began in 1999, the broad industry support of Web services standards
over the past two years has made information hard to access, thus changing
the learning process. The iCampus project does not specifically focus on Web
services as much as it is about using technology to change the learning
experience, according to MIT. Microsoft, on top of building academic
credibility, also is gaining insights for future software design. "We got
lucky and got more than what we bargained for in terms of helping us define
how products should integrate into fields outside of education," says Randy
Hinrichs, group research manager of learning science and technology at
Microsoft. This project is yet another Microsoft initiative to gain market
share against Java tools providers and open source software. iCampus
reflects the MIT goal of "strengthening the intellectual commons by putting
information out there and sharing," says Hal Abelson, the co-director of
MIT's Educational Technology Council.
SOURCE: CNET News.com; AUTHOR: Martin LaMonica
http://news.com.com/2100-7345-5096702.html
EDTECH
THE STUDENT-SCHOOL DISCONNECT
[Commentary] Joanne Jacobs discusses a different digital divide, the one
between tech-savvy students and their tech-fuddled elders. For the most
part, students' educational use of the Internet occurs outside of school and
the direction of teachers, she argues. Students have told researchers that
they see too many barriers to using technology at school. They said they
need easier access to school computers, teachers trained in technology use,
classes on basic computer skills and more permissive filters. In forums held
by the US Department of Education, students had the opportunity to provide
input on a new National Education Technology Plan. Some suggestions coming
out of the forums included using students as technology trainers, using
video conferencing to link parents with teachers and school board meetings,
creating discussion forums on school web sites and better use of documentary
video clips in lectures. More ideas are expected to come from NetDay's Speak
Up Day on October 29, as students in all 50 US states will log on from
school to answer questions about their technology use and give their advice
on how their schools can do better.
SOURCE: Tech Central Station; AUTHOR: Joanne Jacobs
http://www.techcentralstation.com/102803C.html
SCIENCE
GIANT SUNSPOTS CONTINUE TO ERUPT, COULD AFFECT TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Another sunspot of equal magnitude to the one that caused Friday and
Sunday's coronal mass ejections has been spotted and could render navigation
and satellite communication systems vulnerable to more disruptions. The
first sunspot was 10 times bigger than the earth, which is roughly 10 times
larger than normal sunspots, according to Larry Combs, a space weather
forecaster at the US National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration's Space
Environment Center in Boulder, Colorado. He says it could be a few more days
before both sunspots rotate out of sight and the risk of disturbances
ceases. This turbulent solar activity can produce massive bursts of
electromagnetic radiation across a broad range of frequencies. The most
common in terms of the effect on Earth are x-rays, which wreak havoc on
radio frequency communications. Giant sunspots are common, but normally
occur only during the peak of the 11-year solar cycle, the last of which was
in 2000. Seeing them now is like getting a hurricane outside of hurricane
season, says Combs, and the appearance of two together may be unprecedented.
SOURCE: New Scientist; AUTHOR: Duncan Graham-Rowe
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994313
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