Stories from Abroad

Chinese regulators have intensified scrutiny of dozens of domestic internet companies for possible antitrust violations.

No African issue has absorbed as much time in the early months of the Biden administration as has the ongoing tragedy in Ethiopia’s Tigray province. President Biden was forceful and correct in calling for an end to the “large-scale human rights abuses” occurring in Tigray. Now, the administration is stuck in the tough position of considering sanctions that would cut off funding to the country, most prominently a $500 million investment by the US D

There is a vast literature that examines the determinants of the gender digital gap in developing countries, and puts forth policy recommendations to mitigate it. However, few studies examine how gender differences in labor force participation and employment patterns affect ICT adoption in general, or Internet use in particular.

The European Union unveiled strict regulations to govern the use of artificial intelligence, a first-of-its-kind policy that outlines how companies and governments can use a technology seen as one of the most significant, but ethically fraught, scientific breakthroughs in recent memory. The draft rules would set limits around the use of artificial intelligence in a range of activities, from self-driving cars to hiring decisions, bank lending, school enrollment selections, and the scoring of exams.

The US handily leads the European Union in both broadband infrastructure deployment and broadband adoption—at all speeds—and this lead grows when comparing higher speed offerings. 

Around the world, governments are moving simultaneously to limit the power of tech companies with an urgency and breadth that no single industry had experienced before. Their motivation varies.

Of all the disruptions unleashed by the Trump White House on how the federal government typically works, the saga of one small project, called the Open Technology Fund, stands out. The fantastical tale incorporates the spiritual movement Falun Gong, former White House strategist Steve Bannon, the daughter of a late liberal congressman and a zealous appointee of former President Donald Trump.

The proportion of people aged 75 and over using the internet has nearly doubled in the last seven years in the UK. Figures compiled by the Office of National Statistics show that while there has been little change in internet use for adults aged 16 to 44, the number of older people going online has shot up from 29% in 2013 to 54% in 2020. The information is based on figures from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) between January and March 2020 so it will not include changes due to the pandemic.

I want to start by recognizing that the cybersecurity challenge is about to get even more challenging with the advent of 5G. I’m going to share three lessons we’ve all learned from scary movies that should apply equally to our nation’s cybersecurity.

Britain’s telecommunications regulator, Ofcom, has paved the way for a massive investment in full-fibre broadband networks by the industry in a move that is also likely to result in higher prices to fund the upgrade. BT will more than quadruple the size of its full-fibre network to 20 million homes by the end of the decade after Ofcom unveiled a long-term plan designed to stimulate a rapid upgrade to the nation’s broadband infrastructure.