April 11, 2008
Colombia’s FTA – What is really at Stake?
When I started to write this week’s blog on Monday’s afternoon, I was very optimistic to see Congress finally voting an agreement that has been pending since 2006 and that should pass on its merits because of the economic and national security benefits for both Colombia and the U.S.
The significance of this agreement goes beyond the traditional benefits of free trade. This is also an agreement to back the closest U.S. ally in the hemisphere and a statement of support for democracy in the region.
After being very close to collapse ten years ago, something that as a Colombian/American I had an opportunity to witness first hand, Colombia has transformed to an increasingly prosperous and peaceful democracy. The FTA will help Colombia to continue its path to peace and prosperity, by strengthening its economy, while at the same time -according to the U.S. International Trade Commission- will allow U.S. to increase its exports to Colombia by 1.1 billion, benefiting 9,000 American businesses of which 8,000 are small businesses.
Unfortunately, my optimism from earlier this week did not last long. On Thursday, it was clear that the vote would not move forward, leaving the agreement indefinitely postponed.
What is at stake?
The consequences of the recent developments go well beyond the Colombia FTA. The U.S. credibility in negotiating and implementing trade agreements and the competitiveness of the U.S. industry are at risk.
Colombia, as well as many countries in the world are opening markets to reap the benefits of international trade. These countries will sign trade agreements with major Asian countries that have industries that compete directly with U.S. industry in every single line of the economy. – As other countries’ FTAs move forward, U.S. industry will be at disadvantage. Foreign companies would have significant price advantages because of the lower tariff and non-tariff barriers they would enjoy. Furthermore, the increased employment that could have been created in the U.S. as a result of trade would not be realized.
There is no doubt that among certain groups trade is a complex and sensitive issue, in particular in an election year. However, the stakes are too high to let short-term policy interests interfere with the future of our economy and the hemisphere.
Posted by Andres Maz at 10:39 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
March 27, 2008
Child Safety on the Internet
LONDON, UK - A substantial report called 'Safer Children in a Digital World' was published today by the Byron Review which set up by the British Government last autumn. The report looks at child safety in respect of video games and their use of the internet.
The report contains a number of recommendations for the technology industry to consider. The overall tone is very constructive and practical.
It makes it clear that there are no simple regulatory solutions but that the best outcomes will be achieved where there are partnerships between government, industry and parents working together. It points out that there is no such thing as a risk-free environment so we must also help children to gain the resilience they will need to deal with problems when they occur.
When commenting on the report, its author, Dr Tanya Byron, has been complimentary about the internet industry's willingness to engage with her on these sensitive issues, and of the partnership work that is already taking place. As well as UK specific initiatives, there are some good global examples of industry supporting child safety such as the Family Online Safety Institute.
Posted by Richard Allan at 07:25 AM Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
March 20, 2008
Approving the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement
WASHINGTON, DC -- Last week, President Bush announced that his Administration will send the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) implementing legislation to the Congress just after the congressional Easter Recess. There are commercially and politically meaningful reasons to pass this legislation, I'm almost breathless thinking about it (I'm also six months pregnant so maybe that has something to do with it, too):
- Goods from Colombia already enter the United States duty-free, so implementation of this agreement will provide open market access for U.S. goods and services being exported to Colombia. High-tech equipment currently encounters a 10% import duty upon entry to Colombia, but as soon as the bilateral agreement goes into effect, Colombia will eliminate import duties on ICT products via adoption of the WTO Information Technology Agreement.
- The Uribe government is pro-democracy and anti-crime, having reduced overall homicides by 40% between 2002-2007 and those among union members 87% in the same period. Some members of the U.S. Congress have used violence against unions as justification to oppose passage of the FTA. My question is: How will rejection of the FTA help further decrease union violence in Colombia? I would argue that walking away from further economic engagement with Colombia would actually deepen the economic and social woes of a nation struggling to reform and open up.
- It's also important for United States policymakers and lawmakers to continue their support for an open trade policy, especially as the economy slows. Exports from the U.S. are a bright spot in an otherwise bleak economic picture. Net exports added 1.4 percentage points to economic growth in the latter-half of 2007, more than making up for the 0.7 percentage point subtracted by the decline in residential construction. Lawmakers should embrace a policy mechanism that would help the U.S. economy grow further and help American companies compete internationally.
Approval of the U.S.-Colombia FTA presents an opportunity for American lawmakers to enhance the competitiveness of American IT companies internationally, embrace an important ally against violence and extremism in the region, and promote U.S. economic growth.
Posted by Jennifer Sanford at 12:04 PM Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)
March 09, 2008
Healthcare IT: Saving Lives, Saving Money
The US health care industry has been one of the last to benefit from the increased efficiencies brought by the adoption of information technology tools. Despite abundant evidence that technology could help lower costs and improve health care outcomes, providers have been slow to adopt. For most US providers the biggest obstacle has been poor return on investment. A small physician practice could face costs of over $30,000, yet that practice may see very little of the financial benefits. Instead, patients and insurers – either private or government-run Medicare and Medicaid - will benefit from fewer duplicative or unnecessary medical tests, reduced medical errors, and better care of chronic illnesses.
Posted by Paul Redifer at 11:25 PM Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
March 04, 2008
Amazing Bangalore
I've just returned from a fascinating visit to Bangalore, India. It's hard to put into words what is happening there. Sacred cows (literally) still roam the streets of the city, while an explosion in domestic and foreign information technology companies have fueled exponential population growth at a level unequaled in the US or Europe. The streets are overfilled with buses and motorcycles taking commuters on their way to work in buildings and corporate campuses that rival anything in the west. But perhaps most fascinating is the level of energy and commitment to building an economic foundation that will last for generations - people are not thinking about making their children better off, but their grandchildren, too. To accomplish that, they are turning Bangalore into a center of innovation in IT technology and business process. Thinking of India only as a place where outsourced call center jobs exist? If so, you seriously misunderstand and underestimate the economic transformation underway.
Posted by Mary Brown at 08:17 AM Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)
March 03, 2008
Green Is Good
From Saturday, February 23rd to Monday, February 26th, the National Governors Association held its Annual Winter Meeting in Washington DC which focused on clean energy and what Governors can do to help make “green” in the U.S. a reality.
Current NGA Chair, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced his initiative, Securing a Clean Energy Future , at the 2007 Summer meeting in Traverse City.
According to Gov. Pawlenty, "Governors and states are stepping forward to lead an energy revolution that will 'Americanize' our energy production in order to improve our national security, our economic well-being and our quality of life."
Although the topic is different, his comment made me think of last year’s winter meeting which focused on AZ Governor Napolitano’s platform of innovation and competitiveness and where Cisco’s CEO, John Chambers, shared his views on how states can compete more effectively in the global economy by promoting innovation.
Posted by Michelle Wright Conn at 01:08 PM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
February 19, 2008
Family & Technology
Yesterday a large percentage of us who work in the Province of Ontario celebrated a day off with the first ever statutory holiday in honour of families. The third Monday in February was recently designated as Family Day.
So what does this have to do with high tech? Lots. A break from routine allows for a little more contemplation on life. At risk of sounding melodramatic, it’s truly amazing how technology has eased the ability to remain connected with family who are out of state or even country. It wasn’t long ago that academics and psychologists fretted over email and how it was going to kill interpersonal communications. Admittedly, I initially fell into that school of thought. But compared to sitting down, writing a letter, finding a stamp, and then posting a letter - email is lot less painful. It’s that simplicity that leads to its pervasiveness and frequency.
We’ve moved a long way since those early days of simple messages to the point where seniors in their 70s & 80s, who are still challenged by TV and cable remotes, can attach photos and forward documents. If my own tech challenged parents can do this, then it’s truly a pervasive technology!!!
Now the next wave has become entrenched - video. While email is a great way to stay in contact with family, it just doesn’t convey the nuance, humour, or sarcasm that real-time sight and sound convey. It’s that live video interaction that will increase the frequency and ease at which families communicate.
Not many predicted pervasiveness of video in the mid 1990s, but I haven’t seen any recent articles from those who predicted the demise of human interaction via email. Maybe they’d be up for a Telepresence session to discuss?
Posted by Morgan Elliott at 08:57 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
February 05, 2008
A Step Towards IPv6
EUROPE - A step forward has been taken in the transition to the larger internet address space, IPv6, this week with news that computers can now find each other without having to use the old IPv4 addressing system at all.
This has been exercising policy makers for some time as you can see from the policy section of the very helpful IPv6 Task Force website, though it's interesting to note that much of this work is now a few years old. The European Commission has been very active in this area and supports a European IPv6 Task Force.
It will be interesting to see how governmental activity ramps up again on this issue over the next couple of years as we get closer to full implementation.
Posted by Richard Allan at 05:43 AM Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
February 04, 2008
Developing a Digital Strategy - Where to start?
The benefits in economic growth, productivity, competitiveness, social inclusion, good government that the power of information and communications technology (ICT) could create are demanding high policy initiatives (Digital Agendas or Digital Strategies) to increase the adoption of ICT and network connectivity.
In order to remain competitive developed and developing countries around the world that understand the benefits of ICT are looking on ways to outperforms its peers and get closer to their respective inspirational peers on broadband penetration and ICT sector contribution to GDP.
Posted by Andres Maz at 08:40 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
January 25, 2008
US DTV transition shifting into high gear
The US transition to all-digital television broadcasting is ramping up quickly. For consumers, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has launched its program to hand out coupons for the purchase of set top converter boxes. Some 30 boxes have been certificated under the program, and will be appearing on store shelves soon - over the next 4-6 weeks.
Consumer education programs are also shifting in to high gear as well, beginning February 17, 2008 -- one year ahead of the DTV transition date of February 17, 2009. Soon, consumers will see public service announcements about the transition, as well as a host of materials in newspapers and magazines.
Posted by Mary Brown at 07:43 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
January 10, 2008
CES: Viewed From DC
This year, I missed the annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show due to a cold. For those who have never attended CES, it is the electronics industry's largest trade show where all the new and interesting products are dangled in public. Having missed the show itself, I have only been able to watch the product announcements from afar. In some sense, this is actually a better way to judge the show than being there in the midst of all the glitz and excitement.
So what was this year's CES all about? Video, video, and more video. Whether it was bigger, smaller, thinner, lighter, or cheaper, flat panel HDTVs were all the rage in CES announcement, as they have been for years. But video is bleeding far beyond just the living room, with cellphones with video, wireless video networking, and video Internet connections being added to TVs. Consumers want their video from any source on any device at any place. And increasingly, that video is going to be delivered across a broadband network. This is a trend that will accelerate over time.
Now the flood of demand for video brings up two questions to me. The first is why can't the industry make these devices compatible and easily interoperable with each other? As I am not a software architect, I have no idea how to solve this problem.
The second question is how will the broadband networks handle the increased traffic coming from video? I am a telecom policy geek and have some insight into this question. Video presents new demands on the broadband access networks. It is partly a question the huge volume of data that video requires (several orders of magnitude greater than browsing or audio), but also the need to maintain a quality of service for the video stream itself. Without quality of service, the video packets will not arrive on time when the network is congested and the user will not have a good experience. The flood of video traffic means that service providers will need to increase overall capacity on their networks and also manage the traffic to provide quality of service. These increasing demands make it ever more important the regulators continue a deregulatory approach to broadband that encourages investment in infrastructure and the use of important network management technologies.
So what did I learn from CES while stuck in my sickbed in DC? That onerous Net Neutrality regulations are a threat to our great video future.
Posted by Jeff Campbell at 10:50 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
December 20, 2007
Cozy Up With Some Year-End Reading on Security
As we approach the end of 2007, lots of folks and entities are putting out security reports. I’d like to add one that I think should go on the top of your list. Cisco has just issued its first of what will be an Annual Security Report, and even though I’m at Cisco—and because of that you might discount the source—I still commend it to you.
Posted by Adam Golodner at 02:06 PM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
December 13, 2007
The Power of Web 2.0 on Government Legislation
Recently, the power of Web 2.0 came to the fore front on influencing copyright legislation in Canada.
The story wasn’t about individuals on Facebook, MySpace, or in blogs influencing the drafting of legislation, but rather how they were able to prevent it from being introduced.
Prior to this chapter of Canada's ongoing copyright protection saga, government officials had signalled they were about to introduce legislation, rumoured to be ratifying specific WIPO treaties. However the bill’s specifics were not shared with those concerned and naturally, the lack of information lead stakeholders to draw their own conclusions on what it would or wouldn’t entail.
Through a number of social media outlets, the ringleaders against potential copyright measures were able to quickly generate a flood of negative press and even mobilize a protest at the office of the government Minister who is responsible for copyright. The coverage forced the government to withhold the tabling of legislation and rethink its strategy.
No matter what side of this issue you fall on, the reaction demonstrates the power of Web 2.0 to disseminate information and mobilize support or opposition to an idea. It certainly bodes well for the evolution of e-government and participatory democracy.
Gauging reaction to the potential bill, it was obvious that views of all stakeholders had not been properly presented to the Minister. In addition to formal hearings and written submissions, elected officials and government bureaucrats need to put resources into more collaborate consultations. Future generations will demand government use these types of tools.
Here are links to some of the coverage the issue garnered:
Posted by Morgan Elliott at 11:05 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
November 27, 2007
Verizon Wireless changes the spectrum game
With just days left before "short form" applications to be filed in the high-profile US 700 MHz spectrum auction, Verizon Wireless has made a bold move -- announcing Nov. 27 a new open applications, open software, and open handset policy for its existing network effective next year. Wow... this from the company that at first filed an appeal of the FCC's decision imposing those conditions on the 700 MHz "C-block". Verizon has since withdrawn that appeal. This is a game-changing moment for the US mobility industry. Text of the press release below.
Posted by Mary Brown at 07:39 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
November 19, 2007
US Digital Transition coming into focus
Washington, D.C. - We’re almost exactly 15 months away from the most audacious technology migration in modern US history – a one day “flash cut” of the way in which Americans receive their free, over-the-air television signals. Elected and appointed officials here in Washington are picking up the pace in an effort to ensure that the transition goes smoothly … a goal that will be achieved if all households who want to continue to receive free over-the-air broadcasting can do so on the day after the transition.
Let’s get to the most important developments first.
It appears that the vendor responsible for issuing $40 government-issued coupons toward the purchase of analog-to-digital set top converter boxes will begin mailing those coupons around April 1, 2008. Households that have TVs currently receiving free over-the-air analog signals, and who want to continue to use those TVs post-transition, may want to consider applying for and obtaining up to two coupons, which will pay for the majority of the cost of a digital set top converter box (retail: $50-$70) that you’ll attach to your old analog TV. Households will likely be able to apply for coupons before April 1, 2008 – maybe as soon as January 2008 (more details on how to do that will be forthcoming). The federal government will keep the coupon application process open throughout 2008 and into the first part of 2009. I’ve previously written about the benefits of the digital switch for consumers and the choices that consumers will need to make here.
While the details about the process are firming up, will there be converter boxes available? Yes. The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration has already certified the first two set top converter boxes to participate in the program. The first two boxes are manufactured by Digital Stream Technology, Inc., but NTIA officials say that additional boxes from other companies are in line to be certified soon. That’s good news for consumers, who will have a choice of boxes and manufacturers.
Even better, most of the large national chains have announced their intent to participate in the retailer program, accepting the government-issued coupons. Executives from Radio Shack, Best Buy, Circuit City, Target and WalMart have all advised Washington officials of their intent to participate. Participation by these major chains is enormously important to ensuring that consumers have easy access to boxes and a way to redeem their coupons.
You can find more information about the converter box program at NTIA’s website.
This website includes a short quiz that will help you decide what you need to do to get ready for the digital transition.
Even more information about the transition is also available from the Federal Communications Commission. In fact, the FCC’s site has a very educational test you can take to become a certified “DTV Deputy,” able to explain the DTV transition to your family and friends. I took the quiz and got my certificate! You should, too!
And even more information is available from a coalition representing private industry .
Check out these sites and start learning about the digital transition!
Posted by Mary Brown at 11:40 AM Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
