Led by former U.S. Senate Majority Leaders Tom Daschle and Trent Lott, and former Senator John Breaux, the Alliance for Connected Care (www.connectwithcare.org) was launched today to promote policy reform around telehealth and remote patient monitoring. Long thought of as an issue affecting only rural areas, advances in technology and broadband deployment have fostered new… Keep reading →
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Former Senators Daschle, Lott, Breaux Form Bipartisan Alliance to Improve Healthcare Delivery through Connected Care
By businesswireNovember 1 marked the start of the 2013 Kansas property tax season, as well as the launch of Kansas.gov’s newly redesigned, mobile-friendly Kansas Property Tax Payment service. Since its launch in 2000, nearly one-hundred thousand Kansans have been able to skip the line at their county treasurer’s office by using the desktop version of the… Keep reading →
The Colorado Statewide Internet Portal Authority (SIPA) and its partner, Colorado Interactive dba Colorado.gov, have offered up a new content management system (CMS) using Drupal. Drupal provides a modern, easy-to-use CMS that allows government partners across the State of Colorado to create content rich websites. SIPA serves more than two hundred CMS sites for state… Keep reading →
The Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV), Donor Alliance, and Colorado.gov announced a fourth win today for their joint “Save Time. Renew Online!” multimedia campaign, which has been selected by The International Academy of Visual Arts to receive a 2013 W3 Award. The “Save Time. Renew Online!” campaign was created in 2011 in an effort… Keep reading →
The Healthcare Trends Institute Announces Landmark Healthcare Benefit Trends Survey and Study
By businesswireAn unprecedented national survey regarding healthcare benefits, health insurance exchanges, and related topics will provide benchmarks for employers, and insights into adoption of new healthcare benefits options. The Healthcare Trends Institute, an educational platform for employers, consumers and other healthcare benefits stakeholders, will be surveying thousands of employers of all sizes across North America this… Keep reading →
Purdue University Software Toolkit Provides Visual Analytics to Aid Law Enforcement, First-Responders
By businesswirePurdue University researchers have developed a new tool for law enforcement officers and disaster assistance first-responders to reduce crime and assist people. The tool is called the Visual Analytics Law Enforcement Toolkit, or VALET. Developed at Purdue’s Homeland Security Center of Excellence, the toolkit software provides real-time data so officers can analyze high-volume criminal, traffic… Keep reading →
The following statement can be attributed to Michael Petricone, senior vice president, government and regulatory affairs, Consumer Electronics Association®, regarding House Judiciary Committee Chairman Goodlatte’s issuance of principles governing collection of sales taxes on products purchased online. “Leaders in both parties recognize that differential tax treatment of online and brick-and-mortar retailers is unjustifiable and unsustainable…. Keep reading →
CEA Challenges MPAA Study Pointing to Search Engines as Encouraging Online Content Infringement
By businesswireThe following statement can be attributed to Michael Petricone, senior vice president, government and regulatory affairs, Consumer Electronics Association®, regarding a study released today by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) purporting search engines aid in consumer infringement of online content: “This is a Hollywood formula as familiar as a rom-com: Blame the technology… Keep reading →
The United Nation’s International Telecommunications Union sent shock waves across the Internet with an agreement approved last night which would give countries a right to access international telecommunications services including Internet traffic.
(This story was updated a 4:30 p.m. ET to include additional reporting.) Keep reading →
Starting in 1973, when my colleagues and I proposed the technology behind the Internet, we advocated for an open standard to connect computer networks together. This wasn’t merely philosophical; it was also practical.
Our protocols were designed to make the networks of the Internet non-proprietary and interoperable. They avoided “lock-in,” and allowed for contributions from many sources. This openness is why the Internet creates so much value today.
Because it is borderless and belongs to everyone, it has brought unprecedented freedoms to billions of people worldwide: the freedom to create and innovate, to organize and influence, to speak and be heard.
But (this week), a closed-door meeting of the world’s governments is taking place in Dubai, and regulation of the Internet is on the agenda. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is convening a conference from December 3-14 to revise a decades-old treaty, in which only governments have a vote. Some proposals could allow governments to justify the censorship of legitimate speech, or even cut off Internet access in their countries.
You can read more about my concerns on CNN.com, but I am not alone. So far, more than 1,000 organizations from more than 160 countries have spoken up too, and they’re joined by hundreds of thousands of Internet users who are standing up for a free and open Internet.
On an interactive map at freeandopenweb.com, you can see that people from all corners of the world have signed our petition, used the #freeandopen hashtag on social media, or created and uploaded videos to say how important these issues are.
If you agree and want to support a free and open Internet too, I invite you to join us by signing the petition at google.com/takeaction. Please make your voice heard and spread the word.Vint Cerf is vice president and Chief Internet Evangelist at Google. This article was originally published on a Google blog site and republished by permission.
Read Cerf’s Breaking Gov commentary on the “Essential Ingredients for Innovating in Government“