Posted by Dana Blankenhorn @ 9:40 am
Digg This!
The decision by Croatia to endorse open source leads to this question. (I assume Hrvatska is Croatia in Croatian.)
What should government's role be in open source?
I know what many of you will say. None. Government's role in a capitalist society is to promote private enterprise, period.
Maybe. But to me that's a theological argument, one totally at odds with American history. From canals to railroads to highways to the Internet itself, the U.S. government has always funded public works, and endorsed policies aimed at improving conditions for certain industries over others.
Governments outside the U.S. are increasingly adopting policies that support open source. They have several reasons. They want to save money. But they also want to encourage local developers, and starting from an open source base means they start from a higher level of complexity than if they were building from scratch.
There is nothing Americans can do to change this. The open source genie is out of the bottle. The Internet is out of its Pandora Box. (Insert your own metaphor here.)
The problem is that, in the past, when American industries were threatened by foreign competition, America generally chose the worst possible policies to support them. Mainly we subsidized incumbents, the outfits with the biggest lobbying arms, rather than doing all we could to encourage entrepreneurship.
Now American software leadership is under threat, with a business model Americans had a big hand in creating. The first state to back open source, Massachusetts, is now backing away from that commitment, in favor of the proprietary model.
So what happens now?
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Standardized Medical Records
Bush Executive Order Unlikely To Pump Much Life Into Health IT
Though it pushes federal agencies to use standards-based IT, it won't drive many reluctant doctors to adopt such software.
By Marianne Kolbasuk McGee
InformationWeek
Aug 22, 2006 06:00 PM
In the latest U.S. government move aimed at pushing the nationwide adoption of health IT, President Bush Tuesday signed an executive order requiring federal agencies that sponsor or administer health programs, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to adopt and use interoperable, standards-based health IT systems such as electronic medical records.
In addition to HHS, other large federal agencies that sponsor or administer health programs include the Department of Defense, Veterans Affairs, and the Office of Personnel Management.
The order, which becomes effective Jan. 1, also requires that parties that contract with those federal agencies—such as private health plans that participate in Medicare programs—also adopt standards-based, interoperable systems as they upgrade or implement health IT.
Bush two years ago set out the goal for most Americans to have electronic health records by 2014. Yet progress has been slow, and these orders won't necessarily affect the private-practice doctors who have been most reluctant to adopt electronic-medical records. Some federal agencies, such as the VA, have in fact been aggressive adopters of health IT.
"These orders won't have much effect at all," predicts Stephen Davidson, professor of health-care management and management policy of Boston University's School of Management.
Specifically, the order says that "as each agency implements, acquires, or upgrades health information technology systems used for the direct exchange of health information between agencies and with non-Federal entities, it shall utilize, where available, health information technology systems and products that meet recognized interoperability standards."
In addition to those requirements, the executive order also requires that the agencies provide enrollees and beneficiaries of federal health-care programs with "transparency" regarding costs and quality of health-care services. Specifically, the public should have access to cost and quality information regarding the common health services the agencies pay for.
The last health-IT related executive order signed by Bush was in April 2004, when he ordered the creation of a federal health IT czar—the position of national health information technology coordinator. That position was held for two years by Dr. David Brailer, who resigned in the spring. A replacement hasn't been named yet.
The new executive order adds another level of formality in the push for IT adoption to reduce costs and improve quality of care. In addition to the various moves by the White House, a number of health-IT related bills have been introduced in the Senate and House of Representatives over the last year or so, including a health IT bill approved last month by the House.
Many doctors are unconvinced that they should buy costly systems that require many process changes, when the financial benefits from processing efficiency and even improved care don't flow to them.
"The missing link is that not many doctors have systems that talk to each other," says Davidson of Boston University, "and even if the software works in the way it's supposed to work, the benefits of those systems go to the payers and the patients."
Though it pushes federal agencies to use standards-based IT, it won't drive many reluctant doctors to adopt such software.
By Marianne Kolbasuk McGee
InformationWeek
Aug 22, 2006 06:00 PM
In the latest U.S. government move aimed at pushing the nationwide adoption of health IT, President Bush Tuesday signed an executive order requiring federal agencies that sponsor or administer health programs, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to adopt and use interoperable, standards-based health IT systems such as electronic medical records.
In addition to HHS, other large federal agencies that sponsor or administer health programs include the Department of Defense, Veterans Affairs, and the Office of Personnel Management.
The order, which becomes effective Jan. 1, also requires that parties that contract with those federal agencies—such as private health plans that participate in Medicare programs—also adopt standards-based, interoperable systems as they upgrade or implement health IT.
Bush two years ago set out the goal for most Americans to have electronic health records by 2014. Yet progress has been slow, and these orders won't necessarily affect the private-practice doctors who have been most reluctant to adopt electronic-medical records. Some federal agencies, such as the VA, have in fact been aggressive adopters of health IT.
"These orders won't have much effect at all," predicts Stephen Davidson, professor of health-care management and management policy of Boston University's School of Management.
Specifically, the order says that "as each agency implements, acquires, or upgrades health information technology systems used for the direct exchange of health information between agencies and with non-Federal entities, it shall utilize, where available, health information technology systems and products that meet recognized interoperability standards."
In addition to those requirements, the executive order also requires that the agencies provide enrollees and beneficiaries of federal health-care programs with "transparency" regarding costs and quality of health-care services. Specifically, the public should have access to cost and quality information regarding the common health services the agencies pay for.
The last health-IT related executive order signed by Bush was in April 2004, when he ordered the creation of a federal health IT czar—the position of national health information technology coordinator. That position was held for two years by Dr. David Brailer, who resigned in the spring. A replacement hasn't been named yet.
The new executive order adds another level of formality in the push for IT adoption to reduce costs and improve quality of care. In addition to the various moves by the White House, a number of health-IT related bills have been introduced in the Senate and House of Representatives over the last year or so, including a health IT bill approved last month by the House.
Many doctors are unconvinced that they should buy costly systems that require many process changes, when the financial benefits from processing efficiency and even improved care don't flow to them.
"The missing link is that not many doctors have systems that talk to each other," says Davidson of Boston University, "and even if the software works in the way it's supposed to work, the benefits of those systems go to the payers and the patients."
Mass. to use Microsoft Office in ODF plan
Massachusetts will begin using OpenDocument as the default document format later this year as planned, but it will be sticking with Microsoft Office in the near term, the state's top technology executive said.
As expected, Louis Gutierrez, chief information officer of Massachusetts' Information Technology Division, on Wednesday sent a letter seen by CNET News.com to advocates of people with disabilities. The letter was in response to their concerns about the commonwealth's plan to move to the OpenDocument format, or ODF, standard.
In addition, Gutierrez last week wrote to the state's Information Technology Advisory Board with an update on the OpenDocument format implementation plan, as had been planned.
Last year, Massachusetts caught international attention for its decision to standardize by January 2007 on ODF, a document format standard not supported in Microsoft Office.
Disability unfriendly?
The move was criticized by disability-rights groups, which complained that going to ODF-compliant products, such as the open-source OpenOffice suite, would not adequately address their needs. In general, Microsoft Office has better assistive technologies, such as screen enlargers.
Earlier this year, Massachusetts' IT division said it would adjust the dates of the OpenDocument adoption if the state could not find adequate accessibility products.
In his letter to disability-rights groups, Gutierrez said emerging Microsoft Office plug-ins will enable Massachusetts to stick to its standardization policy while meeting accessibility needs. Plug-ins act as converters, enabling people to open and save documents in the OpenDocument format from Microsoft Office.
"This approach to ODF implementation will fulfill our legal and moral obligations to the community of people with disabilities, acknowledges the practical requirements of implementation and enables the Executive Department to continue to pursue the benefits of using open standards for information technology," Gutierrez wrote.
The state had considered adopting other office suites, such as OpenOffice and StarOffice, but Gutierrez decided against those because they would not support accessibility requirements by the January 2007 target date.
State executive branch agencies will take a phased approach to using a plug-in. Gutierrez did not indicate which plug-in the state intends to use but that he expects them to be fully functional by 2007.
"Early adopter" agencies, including the Massachusetts Office on Disability, will use a selected plug-in starting in December of this year. The IT division will then move all executive branch agencies in phases to the OpenDocument standard by June of next year.
Gutierrez added that the state will consider OpenDocument format-compliant Microsoft Office alternatives as they become more mature.
Not "anti"-vendor
In his letter to the state's Information Technology Advisory Board, Gutierrez referred to the economic and political factors that have weighed on the state's planned move to ODF.
His predecessor, former CIO Peter Quinn, and other ITD officials were faulted by a state senate oversight committee for, among other things, not providing an adequate cost-benefit analysis. Meanwhile, Microsoft executives argued that the OpenDocument format favored the open-source business model over Microsoft's closed-source model.
Gutierrez told Massachusetts officials that keeping Microsoft Office on state desktops enables the state to "thread the needle" by adhering to a document standard created and supported by multiple software providers without being opposed to, "anti," any one vendor.
Because Microsoft Office and the forthcoming Office 2007 do not support OpenDocument natively, many expected the state to move to a different productivity suite.
Keeping Office, however, makes the ODF implementation more economical and less disruptive to end users, Gutierrez wrote to state officials. Microsoft started its own OpenDocument format plug-in effort earlier this year by sponsoring an open-source project.
"Technology that did not exist at the time of the policy formulation--namely various plug-in or translator components that can be added to Microsoft Office to allow it to read/write to OpenDocument format (ODF)--is at the heart of our near-term approach," Gutierrez said.
As expected, Louis Gutierrez, chief information officer of Massachusetts' Information Technology Division, on Wednesday sent a letter seen by CNET News.com to advocates of people with disabilities. The letter was in response to their concerns about the commonwealth's plan to move to the OpenDocument format, or ODF, standard.
In addition, Gutierrez last week wrote to the state's Information Technology Advisory Board with an update on the OpenDocument format implementation plan, as had been planned.
Last year, Massachusetts caught international attention for its decision to standardize by January 2007 on ODF, a document format standard not supported in Microsoft Office.
Disability unfriendly?
The move was criticized by disability-rights groups, which complained that going to ODF-compliant products, such as the open-source OpenOffice suite, would not adequately address their needs. In general, Microsoft Office has better assistive technologies, such as screen enlargers.
Earlier this year, Massachusetts' IT division said it would adjust the dates of the OpenDocument adoption if the state could not find adequate accessibility products.
In his letter to disability-rights groups, Gutierrez said emerging Microsoft Office plug-ins will enable Massachusetts to stick to its standardization policy while meeting accessibility needs. Plug-ins act as converters, enabling people to open and save documents in the OpenDocument format from Microsoft Office.
"This approach to ODF implementation will fulfill our legal and moral obligations to the community of people with disabilities, acknowledges the practical requirements of implementation and enables the Executive Department to continue to pursue the benefits of using open standards for information technology," Gutierrez wrote.
The state had considered adopting other office suites, such as OpenOffice and StarOffice, but Gutierrez decided against those because they would not support accessibility requirements by the January 2007 target date.
State executive branch agencies will take a phased approach to using a plug-in. Gutierrez did not indicate which plug-in the state intends to use but that he expects them to be fully functional by 2007.
"Early adopter" agencies, including the Massachusetts Office on Disability, will use a selected plug-in starting in December of this year. The IT division will then move all executive branch agencies in phases to the OpenDocument standard by June of next year.
Gutierrez added that the state will consider OpenDocument format-compliant Microsoft Office alternatives as they become more mature.
Not "anti"-vendor
In his letter to the state's Information Technology Advisory Board, Gutierrez referred to the economic and political factors that have weighed on the state's planned move to ODF.
His predecessor, former CIO Peter Quinn, and other ITD officials were faulted by a state senate oversight committee for, among other things, not providing an adequate cost-benefit analysis. Meanwhile, Microsoft executives argued that the OpenDocument format favored the open-source business model over Microsoft's closed-source model.
Gutierrez told Massachusetts officials that keeping Microsoft Office on state desktops enables the state to "thread the needle" by adhering to a document standard created and supported by multiple software providers without being opposed to, "anti," any one vendor.
Because Microsoft Office and the forthcoming Office 2007 do not support OpenDocument natively, many expected the state to move to a different productivity suite.
Keeping Office, however, makes the ODF implementation more economical and less disruptive to end users, Gutierrez wrote to state officials. Microsoft started its own OpenDocument format plug-in effort earlier this year by sponsoring an open-source project.
"Technology that did not exist at the time of the policy formulation--namely various plug-in or translator components that can be added to Microsoft Office to allow it to read/write to OpenDocument format (ODF)--is at the heart of our near-term approach," Gutierrez said.
femtocells - small cellular base stations
By Stuart Corner
Thursday, 24 August 2006
When McDonalds started installing WiFi hotspots in its restaurants it provoked concerns about exposing its customers to radiation. That could be nothing compared to what will happen when the much maligned cellular base stations start appearing as 'femtocells' in residential and corporate environments.
According to ABI Research, in the near future, femtocells - small cellular base stations designed for use in residential or corporate environments - will be adopted by mobile operators with great enthusiasm. It forecasts that, by 2011 there will be 102 million users of femtocell products on 32 million access points worldwide.
The research company says operators will embrace femtocells because of "greater network efficiency, reduced churn, better in-building wireless coverage and the abilities to shape subscriber data usage patterns and to build platforms upon which fixed-mobile convergence services can be realised."
"Femtocells offer many benefits to operators," according to principal analyst Stuart Carlaw. "From a technological standpoint, their better in-building coverage for technologies such as WCDMA and HSDPA is an incredibly important aspect of service delivery. From a strategic and financial standpoint, the routing of traffic through the IP network significantly enhances network quality and capacity, and reduces the opex that carriers expend on backhaul."
The most interesting characteristic of femtocells, according to Carlaw, is that they can form the basis of a viable option for realising converged fixed-mobile services. "They give operators a cost-effective way to support fixed-mobile substitution, as well as a platform in the home upon which additional features such as Wi-Fi and IPTV can be layered."
However, Carlaw adds a note of caution: "This is a very nascent market and as such there is a pressing need for some standardisation, or at least a common recognition of what a femtocell's minimum requirements should be."
The development of femtocells could also open up a new front in what many see as a looming battle between operators of WiMAX and cellular technologies.
In July, UK chip maker, picoChip, and Korea Telecom formed a partnership to develop home-base stations, otherwise know as 'femtocells' conforming to the mobile WiMAX standard IEEE 802.16e-2005 and its Korean variant, WiBro, which KT is now using to launch a commercial network in Korea.
According to picoChip, "By enabling cost-effective deployment [femtocells] allow carriers to complete with UMA or voice-over-WiFi."
picoChip noted that the femtocell concept was being recognised in the 3G community, but said that, as the carrier most advanced in deploying WiBro, KT was the first to develop such a program for WiMAX. "WiBro, the South Korean wireless telecommunications standard, is compatible with WiMAX 802.16e-2005 (mobile WiMAX), and aims to be the technology that delivers personal broadband to consumers around the globe."
Thursday, 24 August 2006
When McDonalds started installing WiFi hotspots in its restaurants it provoked concerns about exposing its customers to radiation. That could be nothing compared to what will happen when the much maligned cellular base stations start appearing as 'femtocells' in residential and corporate environments.
According to ABI Research, in the near future, femtocells - small cellular base stations designed for use in residential or corporate environments - will be adopted by mobile operators with great enthusiasm. It forecasts that, by 2011 there will be 102 million users of femtocell products on 32 million access points worldwide.
The research company says operators will embrace femtocells because of "greater network efficiency, reduced churn, better in-building wireless coverage and the abilities to shape subscriber data usage patterns and to build platforms upon which fixed-mobile convergence services can be realised."
"Femtocells offer many benefits to operators," according to principal analyst Stuart Carlaw. "From a technological standpoint, their better in-building coverage for technologies such as WCDMA and HSDPA is an incredibly important aspect of service delivery. From a strategic and financial standpoint, the routing of traffic through the IP network significantly enhances network quality and capacity, and reduces the opex that carriers expend on backhaul."
The most interesting characteristic of femtocells, according to Carlaw, is that they can form the basis of a viable option for realising converged fixed-mobile services. "They give operators a cost-effective way to support fixed-mobile substitution, as well as a platform in the home upon which additional features such as Wi-Fi and IPTV can be layered."
However, Carlaw adds a note of caution: "This is a very nascent market and as such there is a pressing need for some standardisation, or at least a common recognition of what a femtocell's minimum requirements should be."
The development of femtocells could also open up a new front in what many see as a looming battle between operators of WiMAX and cellular technologies.
In July, UK chip maker, picoChip, and Korea Telecom formed a partnership to develop home-base stations, otherwise know as 'femtocells' conforming to the mobile WiMAX standard IEEE 802.16e-2005 and its Korean variant, WiBro, which KT is now using to launch a commercial network in Korea.
According to picoChip, "By enabling cost-effective deployment [femtocells] allow carriers to complete with UMA or voice-over-WiFi."
picoChip noted that the femtocell concept was being recognised in the 3G community, but said that, as the carrier most advanced in deploying WiBro, KT was the first to develop such a program for WiMAX. "WiBro, the South Korean wireless telecommunications standard, is compatible with WiMAX 802.16e-2005 (mobile WiMAX), and aims to be the technology that delivers personal broadband to consumers around the globe."
Saturday, August 12, 2006
More Fingures in the Pie!!
From: "Rusty Toth"
To: "John Teeter"
Subject: Stupid Evil Bastard: Cool demo of computer interface of the future.
http://stupidevilbastard.com/index/seb/comments/cool_demo_of_computer_interf
ace_of_the_future/
This is pretty cool tech.
To: "John Teeter"
Subject: Stupid Evil Bastard: Cool demo of computer interface of the future.
http://stupidevilbastard.com/index/seb/comments/cool_demo_of_computer_interf
ace_of_the_future/
This is pretty cool tech.
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Fab Lab work
Neil Gershenfeld -
Center for Bit's and Atom's (MIT - in the MIT dialect:)
"...An alarm clock you can wrestle with to prove you are awake."
pod-cast:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5008294
the center:
http://cba.mit.edu/projects/fablab/
for 25k you get:
http://cba.mit.edu/projects/fablab/tools.html
and can build things like:
http://cba.mit.edu/projects/fablab/apps.html
with workflow tutorials:
http://cba.mit.edu/projects/fablab/workflow.html
<http://cba.mit.edu/projects/fablab/docs/antenna_workflow.html>Making a Parabolic Antenna
<http://cba.mit.edu/projects/fablab/docs/buttons_workflow.html>Making Buttons
<http://cba.mit.edu/projects/fablab/docs/controller_workflow.html>Making an Antenna Controller
=====
Manufacture in a remote setting
reduce the threshold for invention
Open (NSF support) FabLab (steam turbines/Rural Telcom/...) Small hi-tech consumables (subtractive tools). rest are locally available materials.
Description of 20 year fabricator project - the outreach part exploded - 25k setup for a FabLab (not a "printing 3d object - only works in non-functional materials - "printing a thesis that gets up and walks off the printer":)
Ribosome (i.e. cellular) using threshold theorems which are molecular fabricators - making perfect things from imperfect parts. "Think about it to .." "...i wouldn't put too much effort in reading your mind ...") - programmability of the digital world out into the physical world.
the FabLab's are leapfrogging the the 20 year thing.
The minicomputer analogy (as dec is to sony; FabLab is to the 20 year thing).
"Overwhelming Passion to ...." spinning off microVC fab fund. Development organizations around the world to participate ....
"...the other 5.5 billion brains on the planet become part of the ..."
the secret of life is that is "to compute is to build" at the ...
"...the FabLabs are morphing/evolving into the 20 year vision ..."
"...download designs locally - collaboration on effective large designs ..."
"...Replicators - Digital Frabrication (today) --> "computeToBuild" (feed stock of engineered materials - that come together at the molecular level (too expensive in energy to do sub molecular constructions - only VERY special cases)..."
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Re: Fw: Global Movement Mgmt ...open.gov..pilot? (attachment!)
Stan,
do you know the relation of this IBM document (GMM) and the WCO Security Framework? In particular, is this IBM's stake in the ground as a uniform response to the WCO?
jt.
IBM Global Movement Management Framework:
http://www.opencommons.net/documents/GMM.pdf
World Customs Organization's Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade:
http://www.opencommons.net/documents/wco_framework.pdf
==========================================================================
A few quotes from each of the doucments...
================
W:
International trade is an essential driver for economic prosperity. The global trading
system is vulnerable to terrorist exploitation that would severely damage the entire global
economy. As government organizations that control and administer the international
movement of goods, Customs administrations are in a unique position to provide increased
security to the global supply chain and to contribute to socio-economic development
through revenue collection and trade facilitation.
================
W:
International trade is an essential driver for economic prosperity. The global trading
system is vulnerable to terrorist exploitation that would severely damage the entire global
economy. As government organizations that control and administer the international
movement of goods, Customs administrations are in a unique position to provide increased
security to the global supply chain and to contribute to socio-economic development
through revenue collection and trade facilitation.
================
W:
The WCO Framework rests on the twin pillars of Customs-to-Customs
network arrangements and Customs-to-Business partnerships.
================
I:
A Global Movement Management framework enables the system to overcome these challenges
through its two most important elements: a governance structure and a system architecture.
================
W:
This Framework provides a new and consolidated platform which will enhance world
trade, ensure better security against terrorism, and increase the contribution of Customs
and trade partners to the economic and social well-being of nations.
================
I:
Ultimately, security and resilience need to become embedded into
these broader system imperatives, creating a culture of .Total Security Management,. in a
manner similar to the drive for .Total Quality Management. in manufacturing,
================
I:
Several existing frameworks
and policies are applicable to cross-border transfers of personally-identifiable information,3 and
need to be reconciled with the new security imperatives of the system.
================
I:
The GMM system is intended to overcome the consequences
of these disparate interests, and create a framework that aligns the interests of stakeholders and
supports optimal participation by each country while allowing different policy choices.
================
I:
This imbalance of information between
private sector domain knowledge and public sector threat-related knowledge means that no
single party has the ability to operate solely on its own, and it creates uncertainty
================
I:
propose a governance structure
and system architecture that can enhance security and resilience in the entire system: a
framework of Global Movement Management.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Open and Innovation
"In addition to openness, tolerance is essential in an inventive modern society," a report sponsored by the Lemelson-M.I.T. Program said last year. "Creative people, whether artists or inventive engineers, are often nonconformists and rebels. Indeed, invention itself can be perceived as an act of rebellion against the status quo."
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Project Management in Community Source Efforts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_interaction_management
Defines 2 types of processes (Mechanistic/Human-driven). We are, i think, in the midst of:
Human-driven
...
Running an election campaign
Solving a crime
Military action
Restoring an old building
....
The dynamics are different and the project management methodology should, if possible?, reflect those dynamics.
jt.
Defines 2 types of processes (Mechanistic/Human-driven). We are, i think, in the midst of:
Human-driven
- involve innovation
- Depend on interaction
- Dynamically shaped by the participants
...
Running an election campaign
Solving a crime
Military action
Restoring an old building
....
The dynamics are different and the project management methodology should, if possible?, reflect those dynamics.
jt.
Friday, November 11, 2005
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Freeing Linux!!
Five big backers of Linux are funding an effort to buy up related software patents, the latest in a series of efforts to reduce legal risks that could impede the wider use of the operating system.
A new nonprofit company, called Open Invention Network, is receiving an undisclosed amount of money from International Business Machines Corp., Sony Corp., Philips Electronics NV, Novell Inc. and Red Hat Inc. It plans to buy Linux-related patents, offering royalty-free licenses to companies and individuals that pledge not to assert their own patents against the network's other licensees.
Friday, November 04, 2005
bits
By incorporating this support within the kernel, it makes it easier for Linux distributors to support Centrino-based Wi-Fi. However, vendors must still <http://ipw2100.sourceforge.net/firmware.php?fid=4>obtain the Intel driver firmware itself separately from the kernel due to Intel's licensing restrictions.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1881470,00.asp?kc=ewnws110405dtx1k0000599
The Intel firmware license (http://ipw2100.sourceforge.net/firmware.php?fid=4) basically says you are licensed to use it ONLY on Intel Components -- does that include a system with an AMD CPU??:)
Monday, October 31, 2005
The Great Northern: A Cluster?
Or are Chicago+Detroit in the cluster too (along with Lacrosse!:)
>==============================================================================
>www.TheGreatNorth.com
>======================
>
>the four stages(sic?) of the innovation economy -
> - Current Performance
> - Resource Flow
> - Innovation Capacity
> - Development Capacity
>
>======================
>Innovation Indicators
> ...
> Indicators of regional inspiration compare research and development
> (R&D) expenditures by academic institutions, small businesses,
> corporations, and medical institutions. The successful competition
> for federal research grants assesses the quality of the regional
> research infrastructure.
> ...
> Of the 21 indicators used to assess inspiration??? <-- what are they?
>
>Invention Indicators
> (I think the Invention==patents metric is limited:)
> Invention Indicators focus on patents and the commercial possibility
> that regional patents represent....the perceived commercial
> potential of new knowledge in the region and a common benchmark for
> innovation.
>
>Momentum Indicators
> (...hmmm...sounds good - smells like apple pie - what is it?? just me?)
> Success breeds more success, ...branded 'hot spots'... Economic
> momentum provides a solid foundation for future growth, creates
> civic pride and aspiration, and contributes to regional wealth.
>
>Means Indicators
> (this one sounds more real to me?)
> Means Indicators assess the presence, cost, and willingness to
> support critical regional infrastructure in the areas of education,
> communications, transportation, business costs, and
> government supplied services.
>
>================
>
>Great Northern - A Partner in Innovation?
> (other than they may not get it??:)
>
> The Great North acts as the regional catalyst and conscience to
> sustain the core community values, work ethic, and spirit of
> innovation that distinguish our region. Founded on the premise that
> our region's greatest challenges are best met by the collaborative
> efforts of business, academic, government, labor, and media
> organizations, The Great North unites civic-minded, CEO-level
> leadership, who are purposefully invited onto The Great North Board
> of Directors for their multiple regional perspectives.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Beyond catalyzing changes in what we do, technology profoundly affects how we think. The Internet is a new context for self-exploration and social encounter. Psychopharmacology, robotics, nanotechnology, genetic engineering, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence are among the technologies that raise fundamental questions about selfhood, identity, community, and what it means to be human.
Once It Was Direct to Video, Now It's Direct to the Web - New York Times
Once It Was Direct to Video, Now It's Direct to the Web - New York Times: "As cheaper technology and a seemingly inexhaustible hipness quotient have led to more filmmakers and films being produced, theatrical distribution has become more expensive, the outlets more cautious, and the returns on investments more dubious. The Internet has absorbed some of the spillover, although the bigger success stories - notably, the political films of Robert Greenwald ('Uncovered: The War on Iraq,' 'Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism'), or 'Faster,' a highly lucrative motorcycle documentary narrated by Ewan McGregor - have been niche movies with a core audience."
Parents Fret That Dialing Up Interferes With Growing Up - New York Times
A report on teenagers and technology released this summer by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that teenagers' use of computers has increased significantly. More than half of teenage Internet users go online daily, up from 42 percent in 2000, the report said; 81 percent of those users play video games, up from 52 percent.
Instant messaging has become "the digital communication backbone of teens' daily lives," used by 75 percent of online teenagers, according to the Pew report. "Parents are really struggling with this," said David Walsh, the president of the National Institute on Media and the Family, a nonprofit educational organization in Minneapolis that began a program this year to help families reduce screen time and increase physical activity. "As the gadgets keep evolving, they keep consuming more and more of our kids' time. Our kids need a balanced diet of activity, and the problem is that it's getting out of balance. I don't think as a society we're dealing with it yet."">Parents Fret That Dialing Up Interferes With Growing Up - New York Times: "A report on teenagers and technology released this summer by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that teenagers' use of computers has increased significantly. More than half of teenage Internet users go online daily, up from 42 percent in 2000, the report said; 81 percent of those users play video games, up from 52 percent.
Instant messaging has become 'the digital communication backbone of teens' daily lives,' used by 75 percent of online teenagers, according to the Pew report. 'Parents are really struggling with this,' said David Walsh, the president of the National Institute on Media and the Family, a nonprofit educational organization in Minneapolis that began a program this year to help families reduce screen time and increase physical activity. 'As the gadgets keep evolving, they keep consuming more and more of our kids' time. Our kids need a balanced diet of activity, and the problem is that it's getting out of balance. I don't think as a society we're dealing with it yet.'"
Thursday, October 20, 2005
A Journey to a Thousand Maps Begins With an Open Code
By DAMON DARLIN
Published: October 20, 2005
A Google map is no longer just a Google map.
You can still search Google Maps to figure out how to get from here to there, but why would you, when you can use it to pinpoint kosher restaurants in Cincinnati, traffic cameras in Dublin, or hot spring spas anywhere in the United States? How about finding coffee shops in Seattle that provide free wireless Internet access? Or would you prefer to locate the McMansion your boss just bought and find how out exactly how much he paid for it?
An army of programmers, most of them doing it just for fun, has grabbed the software code that generates the distinctive maps with their drop-shadowed virtual pushpins, and combined it with other data like the locations of potholes, taco trucks and U.F.O. sightings, and even the sites of murders and muggings.
The result is Google map mash-ups, the latest form of Internet information repackaged for entertainment and, perhaps, profit. For instance, type the official airline flight abbreviation and flight number into the Google search engine and FBOweb.com should come up at the top of the results page. Click on that and you will see a pushpin marking the spot where the plane is. The service also provides a data box listing the speed, altitude and estimated time of arrival of the flight.
Published: October 20, 2005
A Google map is no longer just a Google map.
You can still search Google Maps to figure out how to get from here to there, but why would you, when you can use it to pinpoint kosher restaurants in Cincinnati, traffic cameras in Dublin, or hot spring spas anywhere in the United States? How about finding coffee shops in Seattle that provide free wireless Internet access? Or would you prefer to locate the McMansion your boss just bought and find how out exactly how much he paid for it?
An army of programmers, most of them doing it just for fun, has grabbed the software code that generates the distinctive maps with their drop-shadowed virtual pushpins, and combined it with other data like the locations of potholes, taco trucks and U.F.O. sightings, and even the sites of murders and muggings.
The result is Google map mash-ups, the latest form of Internet information repackaged for entertainment and, perhaps, profit. For instance, type the official airline flight abbreviation and flight number into the Google search engine and FBOweb.com should come up at the top of the results page. Click on that and you will see a pushpin marking the spot where the plane is. The service also provides a data box listing the speed, altitude and estimated time of arrival of the flight.
Friday, September 30, 2005
US deploys global IP strategy
USPTO launches three-pronged attack
By Faultline
29 September 2005
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is rapidly becoming the cornerstone of US global hegemony, and this week a new initiative, supposedly from US President George Bush, and talked up by US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, was intended to push the intellectual property agenda overseas.
There are three new initiatives, one to put intellectual property rights experts on watch in key overseas countries including Brazil, China, India and Russia, and a new Small Business Outreach program to educate US small businesses on how to protect their intellectual property rights and a global intellectual property academy which is expected to provide training for foreign government officials on IP issues."
By Faultline
29 September 2005
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is rapidly becoming the cornerstone of US global hegemony, and this week a new initiative, supposedly from US President George Bush, and talked up by US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, was intended to push the intellectual property agenda overseas.
There are three new initiatives, one to put intellectual property rights experts on watch in key overseas countries including Brazil, China, India and Russia, and a new Small Business Outreach program to educate US small businesses on how to protect their intellectual property rights and a global intellectual property academy which is expected to provide training for foreign government officials on IP issues."
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Information Commons: A bright star for the future of information
September 27, 2005
-Posted by Chris Jablonski
In the eyes of its creators, the World Wide Web was never designed to take on the role as the be-all end-all architecture for a truly distributed global information system. But while large vendors, standards groups and technologists have grown dependent on the Web and treat it that way, some researchers are taking a revolutionary approach to the problem and addressing it at the very core of information design. A newly published white paper from Harbor Research (a firm specializing in pervasive computing), entitled Designing the Future of Information, The Internet beyond the Web looks at two initiatives—the 'Information Commons” of Maya Design, and 'Internet Zero' from MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms.
The Information Commons is a universal database to which anyone can contribute, and which liberates information by abandoning relational databasing and the client-server computing model, according to the white paper. It has been under development at Maya Design for over 15 years as the result of a $50 million research contract from several federal agencies, including DARPA, to pursue 'information liquidity,' or the flow of information in distributed computing environments. Their goal is to build a scalable information space that can support trillions of devices.
I spoke today with Josh Knauer, director of advanced development at MAYA Design about the Information Commons and how it is progressing. According to Knauer, Maya (which stands for Most Advanced Yet Acceptable) is using P2P technology—in the sense of information sharing and not file sharing—to link together repositories of public and private datasets in the public information space created by Maya. These data and data relationships are stored in universal data containers called 'u-forms,' which are then coded with a UUID, or universally unique identifiers. These are the basic building blocks of the company's Visage Information Architecture (VIA), which allows data repositories to effortlessly link or fuse together to achieve 'liquidity' (the paper has more details)."
-Posted by Chris Jablonski
In the eyes of its creators, the World Wide Web was never designed to take on the role as the be-all end-all architecture for a truly distributed global information system. But while large vendors, standards groups and technologists have grown dependent on the Web and treat it that way, some researchers are taking a revolutionary approach to the problem and addressing it at the very core of information design. A newly published white paper from Harbor Research (a firm specializing in pervasive computing), entitled Designing the Future of Information, The Internet beyond the Web looks at two initiatives—the 'Information Commons” of Maya Design, and 'Internet Zero' from MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms.
The Information Commons is a universal database to which anyone can contribute, and which liberates information by abandoning relational databasing and the client-server computing model, according to the white paper. It has been under development at Maya Design for over 15 years as the result of a $50 million research contract from several federal agencies, including DARPA, to pursue 'information liquidity,' or the flow of information in distributed computing environments. Their goal is to build a scalable information space that can support trillions of devices.
I spoke today with Josh Knauer, director of advanced development at MAYA Design about the Information Commons and how it is progressing. According to Knauer, Maya (which stands for Most Advanced Yet Acceptable) is using P2P technology—in the sense of information sharing and not file sharing—to link together repositories of public and private datasets in the public information space created by Maya. These data and data relationships are stored in universal data containers called 'u-forms,' which are then coded with a UUID, or universally unique identifiers. These are the basic building blocks of the company's Visage Information Architecture (VIA), which allows data repositories to effortlessly link or fuse together to achieve 'liquidity' (the paper has more details)."
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
The $100 laptop moves closer to reality
By Mike Ricciuti, CNET News.com
September 28, 2005, 8:55 AM PT
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--A low-cost computer for the masses moved one step closer to reality on Wednesday.
Nicholas Negroponte, the co-founder of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, detailed specifications for a $100 windup-powered laptop targeted at children in developing nations.
Negroponte, who laid out his original proposal at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January, said MIT and his nonprofit group, called One Laptop Per Child, is in discussions with five countries--Brazil, China, Thailand, Egypt and South Africa--to distribute up to 15 million test systems to children."
September 28, 2005, 8:55 AM PT
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--A low-cost computer for the masses moved one step closer to reality on Wednesday.
Nicholas Negroponte, the co-founder of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, detailed specifications for a $100 windup-powered laptop targeted at children in developing nations.
Negroponte, who laid out his original proposal at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January, said MIT and his nonprofit group, called One Laptop Per Child, is in discussions with five countries--Brazil, China, Thailand, Egypt and South Africa--to distribute up to 15 million test systems to children."
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