International Civic Engagement

States Take Action to Expand Access to Broadband Communication

From the National Governors Association:

Broadband communication is transforming the way Americans use the Internet and creating the potential for significant economic benefits in communities nationwide. Recognizing this, states have employed a variety of strategies to promote broadband access and adoption, which are highlighted in a new issue brief from the NGA Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) titled State Efforts to Expand Broadband Access.

"Governors recognize the economic and social promise broadband holds, whether for helping businesses grow, increasing access to health care or enhancing public safety," said John Thomasian, director of the NGA Center. "That's why states are playing a prominent role in helping the private sector expand broadband access."

All Media Consumption Will Occur Online within 10 Years - Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer

In a discussion with Washington Post editors and reporters yesterday, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer stated that all media consumption will occur online within 10 years.

What is your outlook for the future of media?

In the next 10 years, the whole world of media, communications and advertising are going to be turned upside down -- my opinion.

Here are the premises I have. Number one, there will be no media consumption left in 10 years that is not delivered over an IP network. There will be no newspapers, no magazines that are delivered in paper form. Everything gets delivered in an electronic form.

10 years?

Yeah. If it's 14 or if it's 8, it's immaterial to my fundamental point. . . . If we want TV to be more interactive, you'll deliver it over an IP network. I mean, it's sort of funny today. My son will stay up all night basically playing Xbox Live with friends that are in various parts of the world, and yet I can't sit there in front of the TV and have the same kind of a social interaction around my favorite basketball game or golf match. It's just because one of these things is delivered over an IP network and the other is not. . . .

Also in the world of 10 years from now, there are going to be far more producers of content than exist today. We've already started to see that certainly in the online world, but we've just scratched the surface. . . . I always take my favorite case: I grew up in Detroit. I went to a place called Detroit Country Day School. They've got a great basketball team. Why can't I sit in front of my television and watch the Country Day basketball game when I know darn well it's being video-recorded at all times? It's there. It's just not easy to navigate to.

Is There a Five-Year Generation Gap in Terms of How We Use Technology?

I came across a telling article in today's edition of The Partnership's Daily Pipeline.

Federal Computer Week's Steve Kelman reports on the two-day Government Leadership Summit held in Williamsburg, Va.  He chaired a panel with two 28-year-olds and two 23-year-olds.  Kelman writes:

Both 28-year-olds agreed that they were uneasy about the Facebook world, hesitant to open up as much private information about themselves as that world encourages. One of the two did not even put his picture on his Facebook entry; the other was not on Facebook at all. For the 23-year-olds Facebook was an important part of life, but it was also interesting that they (particularly the college senior who hadn't started working yet) saw it strictly as an entertainment, college kid phenomenon, and had real difficulty associating it at all with the work world -- he was very surprised to learn that any older people, or government/industry folks, were on Facebook themselves.

[snip]

The 23-year-olds in turn noted that their younger siblings used technology in different ways from them. They are even bigger multitaskers than their older siblings (and than Blackberry-toting government managers). They use IM for collaborating on homework, while the 23-year-olds use it only for socializing.

If 28-year-olds are uneasy about Facebook, 23-year-olds socialize via Facebook and 18-year-olds use IM to collaborate on homework, what can or should we expect of 13-year-olds?

NCDD on Facebook

I recently joined the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation's (NCDD) Facebook group.  NCDD is a network for those dedicated to solving tough problems with honest talk, quality thinking and collaborative action (online at thataway.org).

IBM Online Forum on Global Leadership - April 23-29, 2008

I received a copy of this announcement from Kansas City's International Relations Council earlier today:

IBM Online Forum on Global Leadership

April 23-29, 2008 Only!

Please alert your members to a limited-time opportunity to explore ideas for leveraging U.S. leadership in a globally integrated economy through an online discussion forum. This is a special chance to engage your members in a national discourse of leaders looking to the future.

The forum, which is an extension of a two-day forum on this topic held in July 2007 in Washington, DC, will feature leaders from the business, government, economic development, and academic communities. The goal is to circulate ideas to shape the future of government, academia, business and society amongst leaders best-positioned to affect change. For more information, visit the Forum on Global Leadership's website at www.ibm.com/ibm/globalleadership.

The online discussion will focus on "actionable ideas" in these four key areas:

• Understanding the Role of the Globally Integrated Enterprise
• Promoting Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Creating an Attractive Business Environment: State and Regional Strategies
• Developing a Skilled, Flexible and Competitive Workforce for the 21st Century

Individuals can register by sending an email to usforum@us.ibm.com. Once they have registered, they can participate in the online forum at any time of day. Participants will be informed of the times when featured guests will be participating online.

Richard Florida on Bloggingheads.tv

The University of Toronto's Richard Florida, author of the recently published Who's Your City?, appeared on Bloggingheads.tv with The Cato Institute's Will Wilkinson in a diavlog posted yesterday.

Nextgov.com

Government Executive.com has created a spin off, Nextgov.com, which provides coverage and commentary on the management of information technology in the U.S. federal government.  Nextgov.com's essential editorial mission is to cover the IT and business processes that the federal government deploys to meet agency missions – dozens of which dwarf the largest institutions in the private sector.

Partnership for Public Service Launches New Facebook Feature

From the Partnership for Public Service:

Early this month, the Partnership launched a new feature through Facebook's "Causes" application. The site allows Facebook subscribers to be a part of our network of supporters and help us revitalize our federal government. With the new application supporters of the cause can ask questions on the discussion board, donate and invite other friends to join. We'll also be keeping our members up-to-date on Partnership news and special events.

Join our Facebook Cause!

U.S. States/Cities E-Governance Survey 2008

From the H-PUBADMIN list:

The E-Governance Institute at Rutgers University-Newark is conducting its First U.S. States/Cities E-Governance Survey in collaboration with the Department of Public Administration, San Francisco State University. The Survey evaluates websites of the 50 American States and the largest municipalities, and compares their rankings on a national e-governance scale.

We are seeking to recruit volunteers who would be interested in surveying websites of states or selected municipalities in each state.

Surveyors will have the opportunity to learn about e-governance and related issues such as e-democracy, e-voting, e-bulletin boards, website usability and online citizen participation. Each evaluation can be done within two to three hours and surveyors will be credited in the published results.

If you are interested in participating in the survey, please email me at amano@rutgers.edu and I will send you further details. Please forward this message to your friends and colleagues.

Sincerely,
Aroon

--
Aroon Manoharan
Doctoral Student/Associate Director
E-Governance Institute

School of Public Affairs and Administration
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
360 Martin Luther King Blvd.
Hill Hall, 7th floor
Newark · New Jersey 07102-1801

Let Soldiers Blog, Post YouTube Videos, General Says

From GovExec.com:

By Greg Grant

To compete in the global information war played out on Web sites and e-mail, soldiers in Iraq should upload videos of their experiences in the combat zone to YouTube and post their personal stories online, a top Army general said recently -- a recommendation that appears to run counter to Pentagon policy.

Digital age warfare requires that the Army change its "attitudes and the organizational culture," which has discouraged soldiers from posting to YouTube or blogging, said Army Lt. Gen. William Caldwell in a recent post on the Small Wars Journal Web site.

Insurgents in Iraq frequently post videos of roadside bomb and sniper attacks on Web sites for propaganda purposes. "The first images broadcast become reality to viewers," Caldwell said. "We have to get our images out first." He suggested that unit leaders be given camcorders to document combat operations and daily life.

Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=39166&dcn=e_gvet