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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 |
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| TOP NEWS OF THE WEEK |
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LEADERS SIGN EU'S FIRST CONSTITUTION - European Union leaders today signed the EU's first constitution, an ambitious charter that aims to raise the union's profile on the world stage. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=518&ncid=716&e=5&u= THE INTERNET AND DEMOCRATIC DEBATE - As wired Americans increasingly go online for political news and commentary, we find that the internet is contributing to a wider awareness of political views during this year’s campaign season. http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/141/report_display.asp |
| This Week@WASHINGTON, DC |
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SPEECH: FCC CHAIRMAN MICHAEL POWELL – “THE WIRELESS BROADBAND EXPRESS” - http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-253635A1.pdf BUSH/KERRY LAGGING ON HIGH TECH POLICY - President Bush and his Democratic challenger, Sen. John Kerry, are both quick to claim leadership on tech issues, but industry sources and outside analysts say their records -- Bush's four years as president and Kerry's 18 years on the Senate Commerce Committee -- are mixed. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES DIFFER IN IT QUESTIONNAIRE – President George W. Bush and Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry both advocate universal access to broadband and stronger cybersecurity but the two candidates disagree in their approaches in answers given in a tech policy questionnaire. STUDY: LITTLE FIRING RISK FROM COMPETITIVE SOURCING – About 5 percent of full-time civilian employees lost their jobs because of competitive sourcing, two researchers found. HOMELAND SECURITY READY TO CONSOLIDATE INFRASTRUCTURE – The Homeland Security Department will set up a working capital fund to pay for its IT infrastructure consolidation work. http://www.washingtontechnology.com/news/1_1/daily_news/24854-1.html HOMELAND SECURITY CIO GAINS CLOUT, FUNDING – Homeland Security Department CIO Steve Cooper will have far more control over critical IT programs and four times as much money to spend as a result of the Homeland Security appropriations bill President George W. Bush signed into law. http://www.washingtontechnology.com/news/1_1/daily_news/24844-1.html PLAN COMING FOR DOD NETWORKS – A 500-day plan for the Joint Task Force-Global Network Operations is due in December. HEALTH CARE AND IT: THE SLOW ROAD TO ELECTRONIC RECORDS – Only 13 percent of hospitals use electronic records, and 14 percent to 28 percent of physicians are wired, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. |
| This Week@EMEA |
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EU CHAOS – There was uproar yesterday at the European Parliament Plenary Session in Strasbourg, with José Manuel Barroso, President-Designate of the European Commission delaying the vote by MEPs on his line up of new EU Commissioners. EU COMMISSION CHALLENGES AUSTRIAN REGULATOR ON FIXED-LINE TRANSIT – The European Commission has challenged the decision of the Austrian Telekom Control Kommission to cease regulating wholesale transit services. UK’S TOP TEAM ANNOUNCED FOR THE NEW DTI TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY BOARD – Science and Innovation Minister Lord Sainsbury announced the full membership of the new DTI body to drive UK technology and innovation, the Technology Strategy Board. UK GOV’T SAYS SHARE THE ASSURANCE – A UK government agency wants the public and private sectors to cooperate more widely on information assurance issues UK’S MP COMMITTEE GLAD THAT HOME OFFICE WILL RE-THINK ITS PLANS ON ID CARDS – The House of Commons Home Affairs Committee Chairman Rt. Hon John Denham MP welcomed the Government's response to the Committee's recent report on ID cards. SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT PUTS POLICY PAPERS ONLINE TO COMPLY WITH FOI – The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) is making its policy papers available online. WELSH ASSEMBLY GOVERNMENT PUBLISHES ICT AND E-GOVERNMENT STRATEGY FORUM – Following on from the Welsh Assembly Government's publication of Making the Connections, the consultation setting out a clear direction for Wales’ public services, it has published two related documents which takes the agenda forward. SWISSCOM, VENTASOFT TO BUILD SWISS GOVERNMENT ONLINE – Swisscom’s IT services and Ventasoft, Germany's a provider of internet-based e-auction platforms for construction and delivery services, have been awarded a contract by the Swiss government and regional authorities to build and operate an online auction platform for the country’s public sector procurement agencies. FRENCH REGULATOR AUTHORIZES ADSL 2+ – The French telecoms regulator, the Autorité de régulation des telecommunications (ART), announced that the Expert Committee, formed of operators and equipment manufacturers mandated by ART, approved the introduction of ADSL2+ at distribution frames. http://www.dmeurope.com/default.asp?ArticleID=4003 EUROPE LIKELY TO OPT FOR BIOMETRIC PASSPORTS - Ministers for European Union member states agreed to adopt biometric passports. http://news.com.com/Europe+opts+for+biometric+pasports/2100 MEPS WARNED ON IMPLICATIONS OF EU SOFTWARE MOVES - Europe's high-tech industry is urging the European parliament not to clamp down on its ability to register patents for software-related inventions, warning that such a move would have "catastrophic" consequences for business. http://news.ft.com/cms/s/0babebc2-2775-11d9-a0dd-00000e2511c8.html (Paid subscription required) DUBAI SEES ONLINE TRANSACTIONS VOLUME EQUAL OFFLINE – Online transactions represent 93 per cent of the total offline transactions in Dubai Municipality. |
| This Week@Americas International |
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BRAZIL POISED FOR BROADBAND BOOM - Brazilian phone companies are betting on strong demand for high-speed Internet access in the next few years and, in an effort to offset the country's shrinking fixed-line market, are rushing into the expected broadband boom. http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=reutersEdgeNew OPEN-SOURCE JAVA BREWING IN BRAZIL – A Brazilian government-supported group is working to develop an open-source version of the Java language. TRIAL LAUNCHED FOR BROADBAND OVER POWERLINES - IP Applications and Ontario-based electric utility PUC Telecom Inc. have launched a market trial of broadband over power lines Internet services. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20041025.gtbroad1025/BNStory/Technology |
| This Week@Asia-Pacific/Japan |
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INDIA UNVEILS NATIONAL INTERNET HUB - India has announced the creation of a national internet service hub to connect all service providers and boost web traffic in the country of one billion people. http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,11222365%5E15322%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html SURGE IN NUMBER OF BROADBAND USERS IN CHINA - Up to the end of September this year, the number of broadband access service users in China had reached 20.605 million, a rise of 9.458 million over the end of last year. http://au.news.yahoo.com/041028/3/rf4h.html AUSTRALIAN SENATE PUTS T3 BACK ONLINE - Federal Treasurer Peter Costello has firmly placed the full sale of Telstra on the agenda now the federal government has won control of the Senate. http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11212395%255E15306,00.html AUS PM HOWARD WINS CONTROL OF SENATE – Prime Minister John Howard vowed not to abuse the coalition government's control of the Senate. AUSTRALIA’S AGIMO MOVED TO FINANCE – Prime Minister John Howard has carved the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) out of tech minister Helen Coonan’s portfolio. http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11151480%255E15306,00.html AUSTRALIA’S CSIRO CENTRE READY FOR BUSINESS – The CSIRO's ICT Centre will be launched today in Sydney with a swag of funding and commercialisation announcements — more than a year after its creation. NSW, AUS POLICE SEEK SECURITY – The New South Wales Police service has put its network security systems under review and is seeking proposals for management of its firewall and intrusion detection systems. PROMOTING E-GOVT CHANNELS IN HONG KONG – Deputy CIO of Hong Kong, Betty Fung, has made the case for penalising citizens who use more expensive offline channels to access government services. SINGAPORE SHARES SMART CARD EXPERIENCE – Singapore's Minister of Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng, shares the country’s experience of chip card and biometrics technology. SINGAPORE BIOMETRIC PASSPORTS BY END-2005 – Singapore will issue electronic passports with biometric measures such as fingerprints late next year to meet new US border security rules, a government minister said. |
| This Week@US States |
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BROADBAND IN SUBURBIA - Just eight years ago, broadband was the domain of the workplace. Now, 30 percent of U.S. homes have high-speed access to the Internet and it's common to find wireless connections everywhere from highway truck stops to luxury hotels. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62590-2004Oct25.html (Free registration required) VA RE-EXAMINES IT POLICY – The governance process that officials have been putting in place focuses on mission, strategy and value, and that requires sharing resources and services like never before, Virginia's CIO said. VIRGINIA LAUNCHES NATION'S FIRST FELONY ANTI-SPAM TRIAL – Three defendants are being tried under a 2003 Virginia anti-spam law that prosecutors say is the harshest of its kind in the nation. CITY OF LOS ANGELES WILL TEST WIRELESS BROADBAND – San Fernando Valley project will serve a 142,000-square foot building housing city agencies with an 802.11b wireless mesh network. SAN FRANCISCO TO EXPAND WI-FI PROGRAM - The mayor says San Francisco plans to rapidly expand its free wireless Internet access program and will soon make free computers available at housing projects and community centers. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/aptech_story. |
| Other Tech News Of The Week |
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REPORT: U.S. FALLING BEHIND REST OF WORLD IN BROADBAND ADOPTION –U.S. slips to thirteenth place worldwide and digital divide widens because of government policies, concludes study. VOICE OVER INTERNET REVOLUTION WILL BE BIG BUT QUIET, PROMINENT BOOSTER SAYS - Telecommunications is a witches' brew of acronyms like TDM, FTTH, ISDN, PSTN, POTS and CDMA. Another one is quickly catching on — VOIP, for voice over Internet protocol, a technology that breaks up a voice call into data packets and sends it, like e-mail, along a high-speed connection. http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-pulver26oct26,1,852367.story?coll=la- TECH CEOS CHAT ABOUT NEW PRODUCTS, GLOBALIZATION - Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers, Intel CEO Craig Barrett and Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy met with USA TODAY reporter Michelle Kessler to sound off on new technologies, stock options and globalization. http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2004-10-24-tech-qanda_x.htm REPORT: Expanding the Digital Divide & Falling Behind in Broadband: Why a Telecommunications Policy of Neglect is Not Benign. http://www.consumersunion.org/pub/ddnewbook.pdf TWO WIRELESS BROADBAND STANDARDS GET A BOOST – Intel and Clearwire agree to push WiMAX technology and network development while Netgear and Flarion join to create hardware for FLASH-OFDM. http://update.internetweek.com/cgi-bin4/DM/y/ekKc0GPLoY0G4X0CtfQ0Aq HEALTH-CARE EXECUTIVES RECOGNIZE THE VALUE OF E-HEALTH RECORDS – Survey finds that despite worries about cost and physician resistance, most health-care organizations will implement digital health-record systems. |
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