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| This Week@Cisco in Government Affairs |
| Cisco's E-Update keeps you up to date on the major policy news of the week. Focusing on broadband, education and e-government areas, but covering high-tech and telecom in general, the E-Update is a great source of information for policymakers. Click EUpdate to become a subscriber.
If you have high-tech public policy news or announcements that you think other e-update subscribers would be interested in, please send them to john.earnhardt@cisco.com. There are over 1300 subscribers to Cisco Government Affairs' eUpdate. CISCO GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS WEBSITE - Please visit www.cisco.com/gov to view our worldwide government affairs website. You can reach any member of the team at: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/779/govtaffairs/contact/. Also see Q&A with Laura Ipsen, Vice President of Worldwide Government Affairs, as she reviews the issues that Cisco is focusing on: http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/media_info/public_policy_overview.html |
| TOP NEWS OF THE WEEK |
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VON BOSTON 2004 COVERAGE: POWELL: FEDS MUST USE LIGHT TOUCH ON NET – Speaking at the Voice on the Net conference here, Michael Powell reiterated his perspective that the government should not rush to create rules without understanding their long-term effects on new industries. Central among these issues is the growth of super-fast fiber-optic data lines to the home and the rush among large and small companies to offer Net phone services. VOIP FUTURE HANGS ON REGULATORY DECISIONS – Voice over IP will be boosted or stifled based on the regulatory decisions made over the next three years, according to experts. SUNUNU CALLS FOR NEW TELECOM BILL IN 2005 – Senator John Sununu is ready to reload his legislation aimed at simplifying the regulation of Voice over IP, as part of a larger telecom reform bill that he said is planned for next year's new session of Congress. VOIP IS THE KILLER CONSUMER BROADBAND APP, CISCO CTO SAYS – The future of converged services and the design of the Internet itself will be driven more by consumer demands than by the plans of carriers, technologists and equipment vendors, says Charlie Giancarlo, Cisco's chief technology officer. |
| This Week@WASHINGTON, DC |
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FCC, USDA WORK ON RURAL BROADBAND – Staff from the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau will work with loan-grant officers and regional field representatives to help communities deploy wireless broadband. COMMENTARY: THE TEXAS BROADBAND FOLLIES – Early this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced its latest round of funding for rural broadband projects, a program aimed at bringing farms, ranches and other rural communities onto the Net. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman praised the loans as part of President Bush's efforts to bring broadband "to every home in America by the year 2007." COMMENTARY: CALLING FOR A REGULATORY OVERHAUL, BIT BY BIT – A Wall Street Journal story last month began this way: "It's a mad, mad, mad telecommunications world." Thanks to the digital revolution, it is a mad, mad, mad telecommunications world, indeed! FEDS DECLARE WAR ON SPYWARE SCAMS – Last week's federal complaint against an alleged spyware purveyor is only an opening salvo in what promises to be an all-out effort against spyware-related scams on the Web, according to regulators and industry experts. REPORT: MAJOR FEDERAL NETWORKS THAT SUPPORT HOMELAND SECURITY FUNCTIONS. GAO COUNTS 34 NETWORKS FOR HOMELAND SECURITY – Two of them are being developed, and 32 are already running. IM ON THE MARCH AS U.S. MILITARY EXPERIMENTS WITH JABBER – A Pentagon research unit's selection of Jabber's XMPP for testing is one more indication that instant messaging and presence awareness technologies are moving into the mainstream. MARINES LEAD THE WAY IN USE OF VOICE OVER IP – Corps using combat systems in Iraq that rely on Internet phones. NMCI TO TAKE ON ENTERPRISE WIRELESS – The Navy plans to add enterprise-based cellular data and voice services to the Navy Marine Marine Corps Intranet soon. GOVERNMENT ISSUES DRAFT SPECS FOR MASSIVE WIRELESS NET – The government has released a detailed description of its plan for the multibillion-dollar Integrated Wireless Network and is asking industry for comments. IWN is an effort of the Homeland Security, Justice and Treasury departments to build a wireless voice and data communications network for law enforcement users. DOT E-LEARNING READY TO GO – Officials expect to start rolling out the Web portion of DOT's Learning Management System in two weeks. CIO COUNCIL TO HELP WITH ARCHITECTURE CHANGES – A council committee will share responsibility for updating the federal enterprise architecture's reference models. |
| This Week@EMEA |
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VOIP SERVICES OVERTAKING POTS IN EU – A majority of the participants in a survey commissioned by voice infrastructure services provider Sonus Networks at the recent Carriers World 2004 event, responded that consumer and business voice over IP (VoIP) services were overtaking POTS in terms of traffic generated, while other participants responded that if VoIP had not yet surpassed traditional telephony, it would within the next two years. EU PROPOSES COMPREHENSIVE ANTI-TERRORISM DATA SHARING FOR EUROPEAN COUNTRIES – The European Commission is proposing a big package of new measures for the fight against terrorism - with IT systems and secure data sharing of criminal records between EU member states at the heart of the operation. IRELAND’S DEMPSEY SETS NEW BROADBAND TARGETS – Newly-appointed Communications Minister Noel Dempsey has set challenging broadband targets for 2006. Speaking at the TIF Annual Conference, entitled Telecommunications for Education, Minister Dempsey set what he termed a "realisable" target of 400,000 broadband customers nationally by the end of 2006. COUNCILS PROMOTING EFFICIENCY AGENDA IN WALES: E-GOVERNMENT KEY – The WLGA has welcomed the publication of the Public Services Review report. 'Making the connections' builds on the good work of Welsh local government in joint working and collaboration, which has freed up resources for frontline services such as education, environmental health, social services and highways. UK REGULATOR CONJURES UP IDEA OF PUBLIC IP TV BROADCASTER – Ofcom called for the setting up of a new Public Service Provider (PSP) which would distribute TV programmes in a digital format through broadband lines. UK SUPPORTS OUTSOURCING – Acknowledging India's comparative advantage in service provisioning, the UK has supported outsourcing saying it made companies more competitive in a global marketplace. UK PREPS MAJOR SECURITY AWARENESS CAMPAIGN – A major UK government campaign to help small businesses and consumers protect themselves from Internet security threats will launch in the UK next year. NEW DRIVE FOR DIGITAL INCLUSION IN UK – Despite a raft of initiatives and campaigns, including the creation of 6,000 public internet access centres, around 40 per cent of British households have no home internet access. UK COUNCILS CREATE ONLINE KNOWLEDGE POOL – Some 38 English local authorities have collaborated on what is said to be one of the largest public sector knowledge-sharing infrastructures in Europe. The project, known as the 'The Knowledge Engine', or KEN, for short, will make its debut at a conference on smart-working programmes next month. UK’S LONDON PREPARES FOR E-ELECTIONS – Plans are underway for what could prove to be the single largest implementation of electronic voting ever attempted in the UK. UK’S VALE OF GLAMORGAN GETS 100% BROADBAND EXCHANGES – Vale of Glamorgan Council is hoping that businesses and residents can look forward to plenty of benefits with the news that the entire county now has access to broadband technology. DUTCH TOP COP CALLS FOR MORE CO-ORDINATION IN FIGHT AGAINST CYBERCRIME – What the Netherlands really needs in its fight against cybercrime is co-ordination, according to Pascal Hetzscholdt, policy adviser with the KLPD, the Dutch national police agency, at a computer-security fair in the Dutch city of Utrecht. TELIA SONERA SUPPLIES REMOTE SWEDISH MUNICIPALITY WITH BROADBAND – Telia Sonera has provided the Swedish municipality of Lerum with a broadband network that will provide internet access to all companies in the municipality and 98 per cent of households. BELARUSIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS SEE ADVANCE IN USE OF INTERNET – During the Belarus elections, some 199 candidates set up personal websites. SECURE DATA EXCHANGE FOR DUBAI IMMIGRATION BODY – The Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department has set up a data exchange to share immigration information with Dubai and federal government agencies. |
| This Week@Americas International |
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MEXICO CONNECTS – Adriana Labardini is an attorney who’s purpose is to launch a project to empower rural communities in Mexico through the use of Internet and digital literacy, building e-readiness and local content that can improve a given community's economic situation. BRAZIL HOLDS '$30M FRAUD HACKERS' – Hacking itself is not a crime in Brazil Federal police in Brazil say they have arrested more than 50 people for allegedly stealing $30m (£16m) from Brazilians through internet fraud. CANADA’S PUBLIC SECTOR EXPERTS URGE CUSTOMIZED GOL APPROACH – A client-centric approach to online government makes a measurable difference in the quality of service to citizens. But the focus can’t solely be on the client, according to the director of Internet and service delivery innovation at Foreign Affairs Canada. HEALTH CANADA KILLS OFF PAPER IN PESTICIDE REGISTRATION - Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has developed what it calls the world's first Web-based service for undertaking pesticide regulatory transactions. |
| This Week@Asia-Pacific/Japan |
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AUSTRALIAN REGULATORS SIZE UP VOIP – The communications regulator has made its first major foray into voice over IP telephone services, issuing a discussion paper for public comment, “Regulatory Issues Associated with Provision of Voice Services Using Internet Protocol in Australia.” AUSTRALIA’S COONAN TO RETAIN ICT PORTFOLIO – Federal Senator Helen Coonan is set to retain the Information Technology, Communications and Arts portfolio in Prime Minister John Howard’s fourth term ministry. PM CREATES NEW IT SUPERPOWER – Prime Minister John Howard has handed Finance Minister Nick Minchin and his new junior Minister for Human Services Joe Hockey the keys to the biggest IT budget in the Federal Government, wrapping six major agencies into a new super department. GOVT SAYS NO PLANS FOR AUSTRALIA CARD – There were no plans to introduce an Australia Card-style national identification system to tackle identity fraud, the government said. E-GOVERNMENT PROGRESS IN NEW ZEALAND – Status update on e-government progress in New Zealand by Trevor Mallard, Education Minister, New Zealand Government. VIETNAM SHOWCASES E-GOVT EFFORTS – The Vietnamese authorities are looking to encourage the development of IT-enabled governance in the country, with the removal of legal obstacles to e-transactions. TAIWAN LOOKS TO MAKE WIRELESS LEAP BEYOND 3G – Taiwan's government plans to blanket this island's cities with wireless networks that are integrated with cellular phone services by 2008 as part of an ambitious $1.1 billion project, called M-Taiwan. SING SING FOR SINGAPORE PIRATES – SINGAPORE will next year introduce jail terms and stiff fines for people who break software and internet copyright laws, the government warned. HONG KONG GOVT SETS UP IT ADVISORY BODY – The Hong Kong government has established a new Digital 21 Strategy Advisory Committee (D21SAC) as its main advisory body on information technology (IT). |
| This Week@US States |
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TOP 10 TECH-SAVVY SCHOOL BOARDS ANNOUNCED – The nation's top 10, digitally-advanced school boards have been announced by the Center for Digital Education (CDE) and National School Boards Association (NSBA) based on their first annual Digital School Boards Survey. E-VOTING STATES BRACE FOR PROBLEMS – US voting-security advocates are bracing for e-voting problems in the upcoming general election that could rival those in Florida during the 2000 presidential race when nearly 30 percent of US voters will cast their 2004 ballots electronically. RHODE ISLAND INTRODUCES VOIP E9-1-1 – Rhode Island Gov. Donald L. Carcieri recently announced that Rhode Island is the first state in the nation with a 9-1-1 system capable of identifying the location of individuals calling from their personal computer over an Internet broadband line. VIRGINIA GOV. ANNOUNCES NEW INTEROPERABILITY PLAN – Gov. Mark R. Warner has announced Virginia's interoperability plan. The strategic plan was drafted by Virginia first responders and approved by the governor earlier this month. S.F. MAYOR: A WIRELESS CLICK IN EVERY PORT – San Francisco's mayor set a goal of providing free wireless Internet connection citywide. DALLAS PARKS TO OFFER WIRELESS INTERNET – Dallas' parks department is thinking outside the office. Following the lead of tech-savvy Austin, city officials are crafting a pilot program to provide wireless Internet service to patrons in local parks. |
| Other Tech News Of The Week |
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VOIP GETS THE CALL – Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services have moved into the mainstream, with major companies like AT&T and startups like Vonage offering VoIP services directly to consumers. And enterprises increasingly recognize that VoIP can save them significant amounts of money on communications costs, as well as delivering new services using converged voice and data networks UN TASK FORCE REVIEWS GLOBAL FUNDING FOR ICT – A United Nations task force earlier this month began examining the adequacy of funding worldwide for information and communication technologies (ICT), particularly in developing countries. OECD LAUNCHES ANTI-SPAM TOOLKIT AND INVITES PUBLIC CONTRIBUTIONS – The OECD has launched an anti-spam "toolkit" as the first step in a broader initiative to help policy makers, regulators and industry restore trust in the Internet and e-mail. CONNECTING THE DOTS – Creating the World Wide Web didn't make Tim Berners-Lee instantly rich or famous. That's partly because the web sprang from relatively humble technologies. THEY CAN HEAR YOU NOW – Today, the world's fastest-growing cellphone markets are in places like Iquitos in rural South America and in sub-Saharan Africa, despite widespread poverty. For millions of people living in countries where getting a fixed phone line remains a bureaucratic impossibility, the cellphone revolution has allowed them to leapfrog from archaic forms of communication straight into the digital era -- and that is changing the fabric of their daily lives. |
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