MEDIA OWNERSHIP
Commentary: A Private Windfall For Public Property
21ST CENTURY SKILLS
IT Literacy Needed for Promotion in Thai Civil Service
Women, Rural Malaysians Lack Exposure to Technology
E-GOVERNMENT
Commentary: Let's Fund E-Government
US Points to E-Government Law
INTERNET
Commentary: If You Owned Your Inbox, Spammers Would Pay to Get
Inside
EDTECH
Virtual PE Class Works Out
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MEDIA OWNERSHIP
A PRIVATE WINDFALL FOR PUBLIC PROPERTY
[Commentary] The battle between Congress and the FCC over media ownership
limits may be obscuring another important communications-related debates in
Washington. The commission is also altering the existing spectrum allocation
model, moving to a more privatized framework that critics argue would be
"the biggest special interest windfall at the expense of American taxpayers
in history." Under the current "command and control" model, spectrum is
licensed for a limited period in exchange for some public service. The new
model, which has begun to take effect via FCC rulings this year, allows
license holders to sell or rent unused swaths of spectrum -- regardless of
whether the licensee paid for the license. Nonprofit and educational
licensees are also permitted to sell off their spectrum to private firms,
which the authors suggest provides an incentive for public interest
institutions to "abandon their educational use of the airwaves in return for
a quick buck." While the authors agree that the command and control
framework has contributed to spectrum scarcity and needs revamping, the $500
billion windfall to a few lucky industries strips the public of a valuable
asset while slowing the emergence of "smart radio" technologies that would
more efficiently use bandwidth. The authors believe that spectrum reform can
be market-based "without a massive giveaway."
SOURCE: The Washington Post; AUTHORS: Norman Ornstein and Michael Calabrese
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46939-2003Aug11.html
21ST CENTURY SKILLS
I.T. LITERACY NEEDED FOR PROMOTION IN THAI CIVIL SERVICE
Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Suvit Khunkitti is chairing a program to
improve Thai civil servants' IT literacy. The program, to be managed by the
Thai Civil Service Commission, will train 3,000 high-ranking and 150,000
middle-ranking civil servants. While the initiative will be costly -- an
expected 3.6 billion baht (USD $86 million), cabinet officials believe that
civil servants who aspire to be managers should be expected to know how to
use computers.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post; AUTHOR: Pradit Ruangdit
http://www.bangkokpost.com/070803_News/07Aug2003_news20.html
WOMEN, RURAL MALAYSIANS LACK EXPOSURE TO TECHNOLOGY
At the launch of a telecenter dedicated to women's IT literacy needs,
Malaysia's Energy, Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Amar Leo
Moggie said that the number of women involved in technology remains too low
in the country. "We want more women to enter this field," he said. "The
government wants more people to become IT-literate." The new telecenter is
part of a broader "Networking Women" project, which will include the
establishment of more telecenters, training programs, and a netwomen.net
portal for women's IT literacy issues. Meanwhile, Deputy Science, Technology
and Environment Minister Datuk Zainal Dahlan added that it's also important
to insure that rural communities are given opportunities to build 21st
century skills so they don't fall behind their urban peers. The Malaysian
government has established programs such as the National Science Centre in
Villages initiative to raise IT literacy within rural villages.
SOURCE: Daily Express; AUTHOR: Bernama Press Agency
http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=20893
E-GOVERNMENT
LET'S FUND E-GOVERNMENT
(Commentary) The US Congress is on the verge of funding the federal
e-government initiative at only two percent of the recommended level,
causing the editors of EWeek.com to ask, "Is this any way to run a
government more like a business -- an e-business in particular?" The
e-government legislation, authored by Senators Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) and
Conrad Burns (R-MT) and signed into law by President Bush in November 2002,
was initially expected to receive $45 million, but the House Appropriations
Committee has cut this to a "laughable" $1 million. "These are difficult
economic times, but the point of the bill is not to pamper the taxpayer with
convenience; the point is to yield a return on investment by making
government more efficient," the editors write. If the government wishes to
use e-government to save tax dollars in the long run, it requires making a
sensible, but serious investment up front. "If there's an issue on which
citizens can agree, it's that government services can be greatly streamlined
through IT.... Legislators should take a hard look at costs and benefits of
the measure and then fund it in an amount that will result in better, faster
services."
SOURCE: EWeek.com
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,1216873,00.asp
US POINTS TO E-GOVERNMENT LAW
Meanwhile, at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, the Bush administration
has sent a memo to government officials laying out how the federal
e-government law should be put into practice. The memo, issued August 1 by
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), tackles a range of topics
including IT training for officials, privacy requirements, ways to help
citizens access services, and IT for crisis management. "The administration
sees this Act as a significant step forward in the way that federal agencies
should consider using information technology (IT) to transform agency
business into a more citizen oriented and user friendly process," OMB
director Joshua Bolten wrote in the memo. Putting the memo into practice
might be easier said than done, though, given the proposed congressional
funding cutbacks (see above story). The situation is compounded by the fact
that the US e-government czar, Marc Forman, has just announced his
resignation; Congress is pushing for the White House to replace him as soon
as possible.
SOURCE: KableNET.com
http://www.kablenet.com/kd.nsf/Frontpage/D19DB2FB49BA22D080256D80004DBF05
August 1 OMB memo on e-government:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/memoranda/m03-18.pdf
INTERNET
IF YOU OWNED YOUR INBOX, SPAMMERS WOULD PAY TO GET INSIDE
[Commentary] Author Jonathan Rauch suggests a new method for avoiding spam:
shift the cost from the "spammee" to the spammer. "The answer, I think, is
this: I should have property rights to my email inbox, and I should be able
to charge you for admission." Rauch likens the email problem with the
economic "tragedy of the commons," in which a freely available resource
tends to be overused by consumers, assuring its exhaustion. The solutions to
such an unsavory outcome typically come in the form of a conservator, such
as the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Rauch proposes that individuals act as
the conservator of their owns inboxes, which have become so freely available
that he refers to it as a "dumpster" through which he must sift to find
items of interest. "The whole problem is that email is expensive, and the
wrong people are paying for it. The solution is to make spammers pay their
targets, instead of forcing the targets to pay for spam." The "negotiation"
over price could be handled digitally, using technology similar to a
"digital handshake." As to the cost to the user, Rauch reminds readers,
"today's system is anything but free. You are already paying for it, and the
costs are going only one way."
SOURCE: Slate; AUTHOR: Jonathan Rauch
http://slate.msn.com/id/2086880/
EDTECH
VIRTUAL P.E. CLASS WORKS OUT
Students in Florida are taking gym class outside the gymnasium, thanks to a
widely available online course offered through the Florida Virtual School.
"We've found these kids have really made lifestyle changes," says Julie
Young, executive director of the state-funded public high school, which has
franchised the program to districts in Kansas, Ohio, Wisconsin and Texas.
The course involves a weekly workout regiment, online progress reports and
access to a live instructor using the Web, phone or fax. Students are also
asked to read up on nutrition and write reports. The program has attracted a
variety of students, from high academic achievers saving space in their fall
schedules to shy students seeking to exercise away from the pressures of
in-school class to active students seeking credit for their after school
hobbies. Judith Young of the National Association for Sports and Physical
Education sees value in such programs, though her preference would be for
them to supplement in-school programs, not replace them. "If we can convince
kids to be taking some responsibility for their own levels of health in
non-school time, they may be more likely to incorporate it in their outside
life," she says.
SOURCE: USA Today; AUTHOR: Scott Brooks
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2003-08-11-online-gym-usat_x.htm
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