Information Policy

ISIS Turns to Social Media Recruitment

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The criminal complaint filed against Arafat Nagi alleges he used social media, primarily Twitter, to promote and support ISIS. Social media has become a powerful tool for members of the terror group to reach people around the world, and it's also changing how law enforcement goes after potential terrorists.

Lithuania: MEZON to migrate from WiMAX to LTE platform

Lithuanian Radio and Television Centre (LRTC, also known as Telecentras), which provides telecoms services under the brand MEZON, is upgrading its networks with a view to migrating from WiMAX to LTE technology. Verslo Zinios cites communication manager Vaida Burviene as saying that the state-owned company has already purchased the LTE network equipment and software, but did not disclose the value of the deal. TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database notes that LRTC launched its MEZON mobile WiMAX service, which utilises the 3.5GHz band, in Vilnius in early March 2009, and quickly went on to deploy networks in Panevezys, Klaipeda, Siauliai and the second largest city Kaunas. Since then, services have been expanded to around 100 cities, towns and villages, representing around 70% of the population.

Source: https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2015/07/30/mezon-to-migrate-from-wimax-to-lte-platform/

American cities increased their use of civic engagement tools during the Great Recession, but did not fully embrace citizen involvement in decision-making

As the Great Recession hit, American cities professional organizations and foundations increased efforts to promote civic engagement activities.  Through analysis of 2006, 2009, and 2012 survey results, Marcia Godwin finds that cities increased their use of civic engagement tools, especially those involving technology, but reduced strategic planning efforts and the use of citizen surveys.  Coming out of the Great Recession, managers in the most affected cities were the most supportive of civic engagement.  While managers generally support civic engagement, this support does not widely extend to giving citizens the authority to make decisions. 

Partnership for Progress on the Digital Divide

NDIA <http://www.digitalinclusionalliance.org/> is co-sponsoring the international conference Partnership for Progress on the Digital Divide <http://www.ppdd.org/conferences/ppdd2015/>. Our co-sponsorship involves us providing outreach to practitioner and policymakers and myself serving on the conference's leadership team. The PPDD organizing team is looking for additional co-sponsors plus financial sponsors. Let me know if you are interested.

Challenges in e-government implementation

With over 250 million people, Indonesia has the world’s fourth-largest population and the largest in Southeast Asia. While the government’s vision for information and communications technology (ICT) is “to bring into reality a modern information society, prosperous and highly competitive, with strong support from ICT”, the current development is still a long way off this goal.