Cisco Government Affairs eUpdate

Volume 1, Issue 2
23 February 2001
Cisco Government Affairs Online: www.cisco.com/gov

This Week@Cisco in Government Affairs

Cisco@International

· This week, Isabella de Michelis di Slonghello, Manager of EMEA Government Affairs, traveled to Washington, DC to meet with the EU representative based there.

· Cisco’s Director of Government Affairs, Laura Ipsen, this week presented Cisco’s public policy vision to Minister Wu Jichuan, the Chinese Minister of Information Industry (MII) and his staff.

· Cisco also met this week with a delegation from Chile’s Ministry of Public Works, Transportation, & Telecommunications.

· The “General Report on the Activities of the European Union 2000” was recently released. The report is presented to the European Parliament and provides a general picture of Community activities over the past year.

· IDC reports that the European training market is witnessing a trend toward the delivery of training via the Internet. They estimate that the eLearning market in Europe will top $4 billion by 2004.

· For an up-to-date U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) listing of Heads of State and Cabinet Members from around the world, visit our International page.

Cisco@Telecom

· FCC Commissioner Gloria Tristani delivered a speech this week entitled, “Connecting Indian Country to the Information Age” before the National Congress of American Indians this week. Read her speech regarding phone and Internet service to Native Americans.

· The full U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) report released this week (see news story below), “Characteristics and Choices of Internet Users” is linked from our “Digital Opportunity” page. The report was made at the request of Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA), ranking member of the Subcommittee of Telecommunications, Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Cisco@Washington, DC

· The House and Senate were in recess this week to observe President’s Day.

· Cisco was one of the hosts for a thank-you reception in San Jose, CA for U.S. Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) for her leadership on H-1B visas. Cisco President and CEO John Chambers attended the reception.

· Last week, U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige testified before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on President Bush’s “No Child Left Behind: A Blueprint for Education Reform.” You can read his full written statement here. The full report can be accessed from the Department of Education’s homepage.

Cisco@US States

· State attorneys general will discuss a revised draft of the privacy principles the National Association of Attorneys General (www.naag.org) (NAAG) released last December. The main area of concern is whether the federal government or the states should be able to pre-empt the laws of the other in the name of privacy. A new version of the NAAG principles will be released this Monday, according to National Journal’s Technology Daily. Read Cisco’s position on privacy.

· The National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) this month adopted a resolution on elections reform . Read what Cisco has to say on Internet Voting.

· Tax Time!!! Visit our U.S.States page to find your state and federal income tax forms. Download the forms or file electronically. eGovernment in action!

New “High Tech Community” Now Online

· Government Affairs latest foray into web supported public policy saw the soft launch of our “High Tech Community ” last week. The site’s vision is to grow into a “virtual think tank” where policymakers, academics, industry professionals and more can go to read others thoughts and add their own. The resource is BRAND NEW, so be the first to visit it and add your thoughts on eGovernment, Education, Broadband Deployment and more! Share your thoughts with your colleagues across an aisle or across an ocean.

Tech Policy News Stories of the Week

· Digital Opportunity - The Boston Globe reports that more women and rural residents - groups long on the wrong side of the so-called digital divide - are using the Internet, and minorities are as likely as whites to subscribe to high-speed Internet access, according to a new report by the General Accounting Office.

· Broadband - Special telecommunications report from The Boston Globe on the deployment of broadband – “Talking About a (Broadband) Revolution.”

· Broadband - “Gimme a ‘B’for Broadband” – The Standard reports on the efforts of legislators and industry pushing for the quick roll-out of broadband.

· Education - Cisco Networking Academies Find Success in Atlanta. With over 180,000 students enrolled worldwide in over 100 countries, this article talks about those finding hope for the future in their school work.

Site of the Week – CapitolHearings.org

Want to know what is going on in an U.S. Senate hearing room but can’t physically attend the meeting? C-SPAN’s new service, Capitolhearings.org, lets you listen in on all of the open committee hearings in the Senate. Coming Soon – the U.S. House of Representatives hearing rooms will be wired. This site is also linked from our Multimedia section.

Fact and Stat of the Week: “Billions and Billions…e-mails”

· International Data Corporation (IDC) has predicted that 35 billion emails will be sent every day by 2005. By the end of this year, the figure should stand at 10 billion. IDC's E-mail Usage Forecast and Analysis report further estimates that the number of emails sent annually in Western Europe will be 1.6 trillion in 2005, up from 511 billion in 2000.

· For more Facts and Stats on the New Economy, visit our Facts and Stats page.

· For daily, topical Facts and Stats visit our Hot In Tech page.

Cisco Government Affairs@2001

Cisco’s top policy focuses for 2001 are the areas of Education, Broadband Deployment and eGovernment. To read or listen to our thoughts on these issues, please visit our Government Affairs home page or our visit our multimedia section.

Feedback

As we continue to build out the site, we welcome comments, criticisms, praise and suggestions. Please send any feedback to John Earnhardt at jearnhar@cisco.com

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Disclaimer

Positions in articles from outside sources are in no way endorsed by Cisco Systems' Office of Government Affairs. We offer articles on topics of interest to our audience to further the debate on the issues that are important to high-tech. To view more articles on the issues Cisco is interested in, visit our News Archive.

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