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Fwd: [ NNSquad ] Susan Crawford on wireless vis-a-vis cable
by J.C. DE MARTIN Aug. 11, 2016

Aug. 11, 2016

(Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any)) Begin forwarded message: > The Next Generation of Wireless -- "5G" -- Is All Hype. > > https://backchannel.com/the-next-generation-of-wireless-5g-is-all-hype-1790… > > The meaning seems obvious -- our current communications system > is 4G, so of course we must already have the next generation > in line. Telecom executives play on this perception. Lowell > McAdam, the CEO of Verizon, says 5G is "wireless fiber." (And > I thought fiber was fiber.) SK Telecom says it will soon be > able to transfer holograms and enable virtual reality over 5G > networks that are 100 times faster than current 4G LTE > connections. Noise about 5G is incessant and triumphant, a > constant drumbeat of predictions crowing about the arrival any > day now of seemingly costless, ubiquitous, instantaneous, > unlimited connectivity. The promises are as lofty as those > made for cold fusion. But the science behind that > "breakthrough" turned out to be a bust. Likewise, the "5G" > story is far more complex, calculated, and contingent than > anyone in the carriers' PR departments wants you to know. > > - - - > > --Lauren-- > Lauren Weinstein (lauren(a)vortex.com) https://www.vortex.com/lauren > Lauren's Blog: https://lauren.vortex.com > Founder: Network Neutrality Squad: https://www.nnsquad.org > PRIVACY Forum: https://www.vortex.com/privacy-info > Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: https://www.pfir.org/pfir-info > Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy > Google+: https://google.com/+LaurenWeinstein > Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein > Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 > I have consulted to Google, but I am not currently > doing so -- my opinions expressed here are mine alone. > - - - > The correct term is "Internet" NOT "internet" -- please don't > fall into the trap of using the latter. It's just plain wrong! > _______________________________________________ > nnsquad mailing list > https://lists.nnsquad.org/mailman/listinfo/nnsquad

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approvate le modifiche al Codice di Amministrazione digitiale
by Mauro Alovisio Aug. 11, 2016

Aug. 11, 2016

Gent.me/mi segnalo news di interesse in ambito di amministrazione digitale http://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/notizie/2016-08-10/pa-cdm-approva-decreto-pa… Buona estate Mauro Alovisio

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Tim Berners-Lee and Solid Want to Protect Your Data | Digital Trends
by J.C. DE MARTIN Aug. 11, 2016

Aug. 11, 2016

http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/ways-to-decentralize-the-web/ (Sent from my wireless device; please excuse brevity and typos (if any))

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United Nations Global Pulse #bigdata
by J.C. DE MARTIN Aug. 10, 2016

Aug. 10, 2016

http://www.unglobalpulse.org/about-new *UNITED NATIONS GLOBAL PULSE* Harnessing big data for development and humanitarian action Global Pulse is a flagship innovation initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General on big data. Its vision is a future in which big data is harnessed safely and responsibly as a public good. Its mission is to accelerate discovery, development and scaled adoption of big data innovation for sustainable development and humanitarian action. The initiative was established based on a recognition that digital data offers the opportunity to gain a better understanding of changes in human well-being, and to get real-time feedback on how well policy responses are working. To this end, Global Pulse is working to promote awareness of the opportunities Big Data presents for sustainable development and humanitarian action, forge public-private data sharing partnerships, generate high-impact analytical tools and approaches through its network of Pulse Labs, and drive broad adoption of useful innovations across the UN System. How We Work Global Pulse functions as a network of innovation labs where research on Big Data for Development is conceived and coordinated. Global Pulse partners with experts from UN agencies, governments, academia, and the private sector to research, develop, and mainstream approaches for applying real-time digital data to 21st century development challenges. Objectives include: * Achieve a critical mass of implemented innovations * Lower systemic barriers to adoption and scaling * Strengthen the big data innovation ecosystem These objectives are acheived through a two-track implementation strategy: _TRACK 1: INNOVATION DRIVER_ - Implement data innovation programmes through Pulse Labs to provide UN and development partners with access to the data, tools and expertise required to discover new uses of big data for development. - Develop toolkits, applications and platforms to improve data-driven decision-making and support evaluation of promising solutions.   _TRACK 2: ECOSYSTEM CATALYST  _ - Contribute to the development of regulatory frameworks and technical standards to address data sharing and privacy protection challenges. - Engage key stakeholders on a priority innovation agenda. - Provide public sector organisations with policy guidance and technical assistance to strengthen their capacity for integrating real-time insights into operations.

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NYT Room for Debate: "Think Tanks and the Influence of Corporate Dollars"
by J.C. DE MARTIN Aug. 10, 2016

Aug. 10, 2016

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/08/10/think-tanks-and-the-influen…

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"Mobilisation for digital rights"
by J.C. DE MARTIN Aug. 10, 2016

Aug. 10, 2016

*Mobilisation for digital rights** * JOE MCNAMEE 13 June 2016 /Post-ACTA, decision-making has been adapted to avoid decision-moments. Of course, individual grassroots campaigns are still hugely valuable. But we need long-term advocacy.// / In a digital society, digital rights are simply our rights. They are our right to express ourselves freely, our right to a private life, our right to our possessions. But what if digital society fails to realise that our traditional rights and freedoms cannot always be defended by traditional thinking or traditional legal instruments? What if the entire framework for the regulation of the digital aspects of our societies is being built in a vacuum where politically expedient and populist policies are being put in place before society realises what is happening? Then our digital society will not have rights, because our rights nowadays have both an offline and an online dimension. Our society's hard-fought democratic rights will have been repealed without discussion. This is the challenge of digital rights advocacy in 2016. […] Continua qui: https://www.opendemocracy.net/joe-mcnamee/mobilisation-for-digital-rights

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"The DNC Breach and the Hijacking of Common Sense"
by J.C. DE MARTIN Aug. 10, 2016

Aug. 10, 2016

*The DNC Breach and the Hijacking of Common Sense* /Jeffrey Carr// //author, 'inside Cyber Warfare' (O'Reilly Media 2009, 2011); CEO, Taia Global, Inc.; Founder, Suits and Spooks conference/ June 19, 2016 This article is about the DNC breach and its attribution to the Russian government. But first, imagine that the DNC breach wasn’t a network breach but a shooting (no one was injured). No one knows who the shooter was but he left behind his weapon, a Kalishnikov AKM. The unknown shooter used a Russian-made weapon. Does that mean that the shooter is Russian? Or that the shooter works for the company, Kalishnikov Concern? Or even more likely in the crazy world of cyber investigations, that the designer of the AKM is also the shooter? Police would certainly explore the possibility that the shooter may have been Russian but they wouldn’t exclude other suspects. And no investigator in his right mind would arrest the CEO of Remington Arms, Sig Sauer, Kalishnikov Concern or any other arms manufacturer because a gun they made was used in a crime. In the physical world of crime investigation, common sense dictates that the perpetrator of a crime may use any weapon and not just one made in the country of his birth, and that the developer or manufacturer of the weapon most likely isn’t the criminal. And yet, those seemingly crazy assumptions are made every day by cybersecurity companies involved in incident response and threat intelligence. The malware was written in Russian? It was a Russian who attacked you. Chinese characters in the code? You’ve been hacked by the Peoples Liberation Army. […] Continua qui: https://medium.com/@jeffreycarr/the-dnc-breach-and-the-hijacking-of-common-…

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LAT: "Want cheaper Internet access? Hand over your privacy "
by J.C. DE MARTIN Aug. 10, 2016

Aug. 10, 2016

Los Angeles Times *Want cheaper Internet access? Hand over your privacy** * /David Lazarus// / It seems a simple enough proposition: Would you agree to receive marketing pitches in return for a discount on your high-speed Internet service? Telecom heavyweight Comcast made just such a case last week in a filing with the Federal Communications Commission. The company defended what it called “a bargained-for exchange of information for service,” which it said “is a perfectly acceptable and widely used model throughout the U.S. economy.” […] Continua qui: http://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-privacy-discount-2016…

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Slashdot: "White House Releases Federal Source Code Policy To Help Government Agencies Go Open Source"
by Marco Ciurcina Aug. 9, 2016

Aug. 9, 2016

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/16/08/08/2326222/white-house-releases-federa… White House Releases Federal Source Code Policy To Help Government Agencies Go Open Source The U.S. federal government just released a new Federal Source Code policy (PDF). For each of the next 3 years, at least 20 percent of custom-developed Federal source code is to be released as open-source software. Earlier this year, Tony Scott, Federal CIO of the U.S. government, wrote on the White House blog that the U.S. government "can save taxpayer dollars by avoiding duplicative custom software purchases and promote innovation and collaboration across Federal agencies." Today, they released the Federal Source Code policy. TechCrunch reports: "The main requirement is that any new custom source code developed 'by or for the Federal Government' has to be made available for sharing and re-use by all Federal agencies. For example, this means that the TSA can have access to custom made software that was commissioned by the FBI. Considering there is probably a great deal of overlap in applications needed by certain branches of the Federal Government, this rule alone should save the government (and taxpayers) a great deal of money. In fact, the policy states that 'ensuring Government-wide reuse rights for custom code that is developed using Federal funds has numerous benefits for American taxpayers.'"

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Paper: "Personalized Learning: The Conversations We’re Not Having"
by J.C. DE MARTIN Aug. 8, 2016

Aug. 8, 2016

*Personalized Learning: The Conversations We’re Not Having** * Data & Society Working Paper 07.22.2016 MONICA BULGER *Abstract* The pursuit of personalized education at a mass scale drives a number of current education technology initiatives that fall under the broad umbrella of personalized learning. The personalized learning space has seen a huge infusion of capital in recent years, with notable support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a range of other investors, philanthropists, and technologists. Federal support for personalized learning has come through Obama’s Race to the Top program and, looking ahead, will come through the recently passed Every Student Succeeds Act’s provision for competency-based assessments. The story of personalized learning is a complex one in which education technology developers are applying startup logics like risk taking and testing in the field and marketing tactics like personalized content delivery and recommender systems. Their products are designed to meet the needs of states and administrators, who seek to improve efficiency and performance through formative testing and tailored learning modules, but they are often narrated differently to the public. The promise of technologically enabled personalized learning – that through technology we can democratize access to information and instruction, scale excellence across the socioeconomic spectrum, and do so with efficiency and rigor – is a familiar one to educators. And yet there are tensions between the promises of personalized learning, the state-of-its-art, and the practical realities of its implementation. As a buzzword symbolizing the potential of data use in education, personalized learning enjoys a broad definitional reach and is aligned by proponents with educational best practices like “student-centered instruction.” At its best, personalized learning represents a pedagogy of adaptation to students’ unique combination of goals, interests, and competencies. But many so-called personalized learning platforms are more responsive than adaptive, as they provide materials appropriate to students’ proficiency levels without moving beyond a pre-determined decision tree. They do this by analyzing student data such as age, gender, grade level, and test performance against idealized models based on data sets of students with similar demographics, then offering content recommendations directly to the student or to the teacher for further intervention. The widespread adoption of personalized learning platforms may lead to unintended consequences. For example, the focus on performance may negatively affect students’ psychological wellbeing by promoting individualist notions of achievement and undermining the social dimensions of learning. With the wealth of data that such systems generate, it becomes possible to track and report students’ progression, reinforcing a laser focus on numbers and performance metrics which may undermine other key facets of learning, while forcing teachers to support algorithmic logics rather than leverage their knowledge about education. In addition, data-driven personalized learning algorithms depend upon data points but there is a lack of transparency over what data points are collected, how they are used, and who is permitted access, leading to the recent sharp uptick in proposed national and state student data privacy legislation. Full PDF here: http://www.datasociety.net/pubs/ecl/PersonalizedLearning_primer_2016.pdf

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