Topic: Government
In the face of Hurricane Irene, New York City's website was overwhelmed by residents checking evacuation plans and searching for updates. Fortunately, the data on flood zones were available from other sources on the web. Rachel Sterne heads the City of New York's digital efforts. From providing WiFi in parks and libraries, supporting digital training for the underprivileged, running app competitions, making interagency connections, to setting up FAQs on Facebook and running Twitter hashtags, New York City government is connected.
Why are researchers in the United States accepting money from the government of China, in exchange for improving their surveillance ability? This is one of many uncomfortable questions Evgeny Morozov submits for consideration. He reminds us that although China may be the elephant in the room among obviously repressive governments, the role played by Western policymakers, corporations, and institutions which trade with them, make excuses for them, and profit from business with them is a more immediate peril to us all.
Our long-term interaction with the web will be defined by six trends. These trends will will involve dramatic changes that will make computing more like what we are used to seeing in many of today's movies. Kevin Kelly explains why he believes that soon the internet will beneficially surround us in ways that most users don't imagine today.
In the future consumers may have lower costs for services they demand but at the cost of their privacy and attention, while private enterprise will benefit from a wide variety of customers and more expansive relationships with those customers. Martin Geddes imagines the public will soon be ready to receive billing and customer service notices via pay-per-moment options added to Twitter or other social media instead of through today's minute-based telephony.
How can the Unites States get its K-12 schools out of their current crisis? In this panel, experts from various fields who are passionate about improving our kids' lives and our nation's future discuss why things are failing, what's working to make them better, and what the best options are, from teacher education to integrating technology. They spoke at the Global Education Conference at Stanford.
The Veteran's Administration, Medicare, and Medicaid make up the largest repository of public health data in the world, and now it's being made available in appropriate forms for the use of patients and innovators alike. Todd Parks, CTO of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, wants to change the fee structure of healthcare from "Fee for Service" to something more efficient, and he's freeing up information on public health so everyone can see and help design better health systems.
Drug safety data as reported by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration's Web site is plagued by misspellings and an ill-formatted data structure. Brian Overstreet of Adverse Events explains how the company's new filtering technology refines and demystifies access to this FDA data.
Could it be that Defense takes the lead on climate change initiatives? An important DoD report cited climate change as a top national security concern. On this Future of Green Call, Daniel Kreeger explains how Defense is planning ways to avoid conflict over essential supplies such as clean water, resource consumption and keeping bases safe from predicted coastal flooding. Discussion also includes lessons learned from climate catastrophes and how to respond more quickly and efficiently to crisis.
New Obama administration goals are making this an excellent time for professionals interested in environmental sustainability. So say senior government energy and technology officials in this panel discussion convened by the Stanford's Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance. Pointing to the challenges ahead, they outline where the opportunities will lie for energy-focused entrepreneurs.
Despite falling to number 49 on the list of countries ranked by life expectancy, the United States still spends roughly twice as much on health care per capita as other top-ranked nations. In this panel discussion, Dr. David Shern and Father Larry Snyder discuss the role of the voluntary sector in this period of necessary reform, and what their organizations specifically are doing to improve the quality of American lives.
