Information Policy

New Energy for Broadband Over Power Line

Broadband over Power Line (BPL) can best be described as that "other" fixed high-speed Internet access technology--the one most consumers have never heard of. But BPL's days of obscurity may soon end, allowing the technology to join DSL and cable as a popular choice for wiring homes and businesses.

Parks Associates, a Dallas-based technology research company, predicts that the number of number of U.S. households subscribing to BPL will grow from 400,000 in 2007 to 2.5 million by 2011, an adoption rate outpacing both cable and DSL.

http://www.communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/150/22365?7649

The power of online campaigning

By Kathryn Westcott

Hillary Clinton intends to “talk”, “chat” and “start a dialogue” Oprah-style with potential voters via the internet. In this, she joins a number of high-profile politicians who are harnessing the potential power of the internet to woo voters directly.

Like her current main competitor for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, Senator Barack Obama, she eschewed the traditional televised speech and made her announcement via her website.

This came a few days after John Edwards’ White House ambitions were unveiled on a video broadcast on Google’s YouTube.

All this underscores something that people have known for some time - the growing impact that the internet is having on politics and how it is likely to shape the 2008 presidential election.

Over in Europe, the internet has acquired an unprecedented importance in France’s presidential campaign. While many of the French parties were on the web in 2002’s presidential elections, the impact of political sites is being seen as much bigger this time around.

http://www.egovnews.org/?p=1562

The multidimensional benefit of mobile technology in the developing world

In 2006, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) reported that access to information and communication technologies continues to grow at high speed. Especially important was the growth rate of mobile subscribers in developing countries, considerably reducing the gap with the developed world. It is well known that the development of mobile technology, as in any other industry, may improve economic development by creating new sources of revenue, new jobs and economic spill-over effects to other industries. Besides, it is also known that any wireless technology in general have some specifics advantages in terms of reducing transaction costs, widening markets, becoming a substitute for costly transportation and creating better information flows. However, what it is not so intuitive is that mobile technology has also a very important socio-cultural and political impact.

http://topics.developmentgateway.org/ict/rc/filedownload.do~itemId=1088695

RO: Romania networks rural areas

Romanian Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Zsolt Nagy, has announced the extension of the country’s ‘Knowledge Based Economy’ project to some 251 rural communities and small towns throughout the country.

These new communities will join the existing nine rural areas included in the pilot-phase of the project, raising the total number of beneficiaries to 260. The initiative, which will run from 2007-2010, is expected to “contribute to increasing competitiveness in the single European market by creating an information-based society, fostering the efficiency of the electronic information in education, and facilitating the interaction between citizens and administration”, noted Nagy when announcing the project extension.

The newly selected communities will benefit from access to the Local Community Electronic Network which will facilitate the connection to the internet of local schools, public offices and libraries. In addition, a Public Access Point will be set up in each area. It is estimated that the Knowledge Based Economy Project will connect 472 public schools, 260 local administration offices, 260 local libraries, and 260 Public Access Points.

Support will be provided to help these areas develop their private sector, stimulate the use of information technology in schools and SMEs, enhance human capital, and reduce the rural-urban divide. The services provided will target over 1.7 million Romanian citizens, approximately 8% of the population.

http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/en/document/6531/194

European Commission Says It Is Neutral On Open Source

The European Commission has distanced itself from a report it commissioned that endorsed the use of open-source software. The Commission contacted ZDNet UK this week to insist that it is "technology neutral" and that it did not therefore support open-source software. The report was published on the Commission's website earlier this month, and detailed the financial contribution that open-source software is expected to make to European economies.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/30012007/152/european-commission-denies-favouring-open-source.html

eLearn Magazine: Predictions for 2007

This article written by Lisa Neal, Editor-in-Chief at eLearn Magazine, focuses on technology improvements and how people react to innovation. The paper shares interesting visions of experts involved in the eLearn Mag. From the introduction: "A myriad of new technologies impacts our daily lives in 2007. This fact is clearly on the minds of our experts this year as they consider how e-learning will be affected by these widespread changes. Personally, I suspect far too many people are blinded by innovation and fail to stay focused on the importance of quality in educational materials and teaching. Even as a long-time advocate of peer education and informal learning, I believe that expertise has an essential role in separating the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. This is important in any year, but even more important in 2007, when information overload is almost a chronic condition. In an eLearn Magazine interview, Don Norman, our first expert below, spoke of how "the distractions of modern life destroy" the flow state in which optimal learning occurs. I agree with him, and further believe that today's constant connectivity and access to learning materials does not necessarily lead to richer learning experiences. But used judiciously, the new technologies do have the potential to enhance the online learner's experiences." Please read the full article on the official Web site.

http://elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?section=articles&article=42-1

Ukrainian President Signs Legislation for Privatization of Telecom Giant Ukrtelekom

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko signed legislation Friday to privatize telecom giant Ukrtelekom.

The sale of Ukrtelekom, in which the government holds a 92.9 percent stake, has been repeatedly postponed. But both Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych now support holding an open, public auction for the company sometime this year.

The Transport and Communications Industry predicted that a 50 percent stake could go for at least US$3 billion (E2.5 billion) at auction, though analysts forecast it would probably fetch much less.

Analysts have said much of Ukrtelecom's equipment is outdated, making the company less attractive to investors.

In 2005, the government sold off the flagship steel mill Kryvorizhstal, netting US$4.8 billion (E4.1 billion) in the country's biggest and most profitable privatization auction to date.

http://www.communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/130/22333?7649

Blog Readership Growing For Major Newspapers

Nielsen//NetRatings says that newspaper blog pages on the top 10 online newspaper sites drew around 3.8 million unique visitors last month – more than triple December 2005’s 1.2 million.

By contrast, total online readership at the top 10 newspapers during that time has only grown by 9%, from 27.3 million in December 2005 to 29.9 million last month.

http://blogs.mediapost.com/online_minute/?p=1417

Europe as a Prototype for a Global Open Society

The following talk was delivered at the European Policy Centre in Brussels. George Soros is founder and chairman of the Open Society Institute: "Europe is in search of its identity. I don’t think one needs to look very far. To my mind, the European Union embodies the principles of an open society and it ought to serve as a model and motive force for a global open society. Let me explain what I mean. The concept of open society was first used by the French philosopher Henri Bergson in his book The Two Sources of Morality and Religion published in 1932. One source is tribal and that leads to a closed society whose members feel an affinity for each other and fear or hostility toward the other tribes. By contrast, the other source is universal and leads to an open society which is guided by universal human rights and seeks to protect and promote the freedom of the individual. This scheme was modified by the Austrian-born British philosopher, Karl Popper in his seminal book The Open Society and Its Enemies published in 1944. He pointed out that open society can be endangered by abstract, universal ideologies like communism and fascism which claim to be in possession of the ultimate truth. Popper was a philosopher of science and he argued that the ultimate truth is beyond the reach of the human intellect. Even scientific theories cannot be verified beyond doubt; they can only be falsified and it is only the fact that they can be falsified that qualifies them as scientific. We cannot base our decisions on knowledge alone and our imperfect understanding introduces an element of uncertainty into the world in which we live that is very difficult to cope with. Ideologies like communism and fascism seek to eliminate uncertainty but they suffer from a fatal flaw: They are bound to be false and misleading exactly because they claim to be in possession of the ultimate truth. These ideologies can be imposed on society only by using various forms of repression. By contrast, an open society accepts the uncertainties inherent in our imperfect understanding (or fallibility), and seeks to establish laws and institutions which allow people with divergent views and interests to live together in peace. The distinguishing feature of these laws and institutions is that they safeguard the freedom of the individual." Please learn more on the OSI Web site.

http://www.soros.org/resources/articles_publications/articles/europe_20061120

Over 400% growth for creative content online, predicts Commission study - an opportunity for Europe

Revenue from online content will reach EUR 8.3 billion by 2010 in Europe, a growth of over 400% in five years, says a new study for the European Commission. For the most advanced sectors, online content will represent a significant share of total revenue: about 20% for music and 33% for video games. Thanks to the spread of broadband, the roll-out of advanced mobile networks, and the massive adoption of digital devices, the study shows that mass market online content distribution is becoming a reality, creating unique opportunities for Europe.

http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/07/95&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en