Information Policy

Opening up the last part of the spectrum

Also possible applications in livestock sex detection. © Muro - Fotolia.com New European research on the last, hidden part of the electromagnetic spectrum is producing new, safe and non-destructive tests for medicine, security and industrial quality control.

Terahertz waves occupy the part of the spectrum between light and radio, specifically between infrared and millimetre waves. With wavelengths of 0.1-1mm, THz waves can be used like light or x-rays to create detailed images of solid objects. They have the useful property of passing easily through packaging and clothes, and since they are non-ionising they are safer than x-rays.

But THz waves can probe the content of objects as well as their shapes, thanks to their ability to respond to chemical properties. This is because their frequency range of 0.3-3THz matches the natural molecular vibrations of many common substances and biological materials.

Add these two properties together and you have a scanner that can not only detect a hidden package, but also show what is inside. New European research on THz waves could enable applications that include detecting tumours beneath the skin, a new and powerful kind of microscope for biological research, and quality control in semiconductor and pharmaceutical factories, as well as smart security scanners.

http://cordis.europa.eu/ictresults/index.cfm?section=news&tpl=article&ID=90252

Change.gov: Open for Questions

We recently launched a new feature on Change.gov called Open for Questions. Thousands of you responded, asking 10,000 questions and voting nearly a million times on questions from others.

Now that we've answered some of the most popular ones from the last round, we are open for questions again. Ask whatever you like, and vote up or down on the other questions to let us know which ones you most want the Transition to answer.

Open for Questions:
http://change.gov/openforquestions

Internet Advertising Revenues in Q3 ''08 at Nearly $5.9 Billion

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) today announced that Internet advertising revenues reached almost $5.9 billion for the third quarter of 2008, representing an 11 percent increase over the same period in 2007. While double-digit annual growth continues, the quarter-to-quarter curve remains relatively flat compared to recent past performance. The Q3 2008 figures, published in the IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report, are 2 percent higher than the Q2 2008 results. Set against strong economic headwinds in the U.S. economy, Q3 ''''''''08''''''''s $5.9 billion represents nonetheless the second-highest quarter results ever. For the first nine months of 2008, revenues totaled $17.3 billion, up from $15.2 billion in the same period a year ago and surpassing the record set in the first nine months of 2007 by nearly 14 percent.

http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=sa&id=1510

Study: Mobile phones to be primary Internet device by 2020

Nearly four out of five experts agreed with this scenario, according to an online Pew survey which formed the basis of the report. Pew surveyed 578 leading Internet activists, builders and commentators, identified through various technology associations as well as an "extensive canvassing of scholarly, government and business documents from the period 1990-1995 to see who had ventured predictions about the future impact of the Internet." A few of the experts polled were Nicholas Carr, author of the Rough Type blog and The Big Switch; Havi Hoffman of the Yahoo Developer Network; Michael Botein, founding director of the Media Law Center at New York University Law School; and several members of the ICANN board.

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/121508-pew-report.html

The Future of the Internet III

A survey of internet leaders, activists and analysts shows they expect major tech advances as the phone becomes a primary device for online access, voice-recognition improves, artificial and virtual reality become more embedded in everyday life, and the architecture of the internet itself improves. They disagree about whether this will lead to more social tolerance, more forgiving human relations, or better home lives.

http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/270/report_display.asp

Google says it still stands by Net neutrality

Google Inc. denied that it had reversed its stance on the issue of "Net neutrality" and dismissed a story in Monday's edition of The Wall Street Journal on the subject as "confused."

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2008-12-15-google-neutrality_N.htm

China says $41 billion to be spent on 3G

Chinese telecom operators will spend about $41 billion on next generation (3G) mobile networks over the next two years, the government said on Friday.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKTRE4BI1E120081219

Australian broadband connections soar to 4.3 million

ABS During 2007/08, an additional 800,000 Australian households signed up for Broadband Internet, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. As of June 30 2008 the total Broadband connections were at 4.3 million (52% of all households), an increase of 22% on last years total.

http://abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/latestProducts/8146.0Media%20Release12007-08

India's mobile base to reach 500 Million by 2010

Kochi: Adding 10 million new subscribers every month, India, the second largest mobile market in the world, is likely to take its mobile base to 500 million by the year 2010, with the introduction of 3G spectrum. The country is currently having 320 million mobile phone subscribers.

"3G bid document has been finalized and broad guidelines have already been issued. The allotment of spectrum has been planned through simultaneous ascending e-auction process. There would also be a pre-bid conference between the industry and the Government," said Siddhartha Behura, Secretary in the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

The 3G auction is scheduled to be held in January 2009 by the independent auctioneer, N.M. Rothschild, and the process of allotment of spectrum will be completed before February 2009. "Bulk of the growth in telephone connections comes from the mobile platform. But the objective is not just the numbers; telecom must be used as the tool to empower the citizens and bridge the digital divide," Behura pointed out during the Industry Summit on '3G: The Next Wave', at Kochi.

http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Indias_mobile_base_to_reach_500_Million_by_2010-nid-49588.html

How Canadians' Use of the Internet Affects Social Life and Civic Participation Issue information

The Internet's rapid and profound entry into our lives quite understandably makes people wonder how, both individually and collectively, we have been affected by it. When major shifts in technology use occur, utopian and dystopian views of their impact on society often abound, reflecting their disruptiveness and people's concerns. Given its complex uses, the Internet, both as a technology and as an environment, has had both beneficial and deleterious effects. Above all, though, it has had transformative effects.

Are Canadians becoming more isolated, more reclusive and less integrated in their communities as they use the Internet? Or, are they becoming more participatory and more integrated in their communities? In addition, do these communities still resemble traditional communities, or are they becoming more like social networks than cohesive groups?

To address these questions, this article organizes, analyzes and presents existing Canadian evidence. It uses survey results and research amassed by Statistics Canada and the Connected Lives project in Toronto to explore the role of the Internet in social engagement and the opportunities it represents for Canadians to be active citizens. It finds that Internet users are at least as socially engaged as non-users. They have large networks and frequent interactions with friends and family, although they tend to spend somewhat less in-person time and, of course, more time online. An appreciable number of Internet users are civically and politically engaged, using the Internet to find out about opportunities and make contact with others.

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/56f0004m/56f0004m2008016-eng.pdf