IfG.CC - The Institute for eGovernment

Wenn der Prümer Vertrag auf die USA übertragen werde, sei kein gleichwertiger Datenschutzstandard garantiert, sagte Schaar am Dienstag im Deutschlandfunk. Das US- Datenschutzgesetz gelte nur für US-Bürger und für Personen, die sich dort langfristig aufhalten. Es gelte "ausdrücklich nicht für Daten, die aus dem Ausland kommen".

The agreement, signed 17 December, should create new opportunities for businesses in e-health, especially in the United States where the vast majority of general practitioners still use paper and pen to create patient profiles and little is automated.

As part of the Obama administration’s healthcare initiative, the country will invest around $20 billion to get doctors online and exchanging patient records, test results and other information.

Though it has been less than a year since the European Commission first unveiled its historic, €750 billion recovery package of loans and grants to lift the European Union out of a COVID-induced economic crisis, the narrative surrounding the “Next Generation EU” plan has shifted in the run-up to a deadline for EU member states to submit their national recovery plans for approval at the end of this month.

When the Commission first presented its stimulus plan last May, analysts and media outlets hailed the EU’s “groundbreaking stimulus” and its ‘Hamiltonian’ willingness to finally break its “bond taboo.” More recent coverage of Next Generation EU, however, has focused on growing concern over bureaucratic and legal hurdles to the disbursement of funds. On the other side of the Atlantic, and in contrast to the concerns being voiced in Europe, a new administration in the United States has used its first few months in office to push through a $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan,” immediately followed by a $2 trillion infrastructure spending package now under consideration by Congress.

The MoU between the European Commission and the US Department of Health and Human Services aims to boost the potential of the e-health market for EU companies wishing to do business in the US and vice versa.

Promoting the use of eHealth is a key objective of the Digital Agenda for Europe.

But as Cohen told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee this week: The U.S. has dropped to 15th among the world’s advanced economies in home broadband penetration. There is a serious digital divide based on income and geography….The U.S. is the only industrial nation without a national broadband policy.

Die Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will einen Teil des Funkspektrums für landesweites WLAN reservieren. Unternehmen wie Google und Microsoft unterstützen den Vorschlag der US-Regulierungsbehörde. Die Netzbetreiber sind dagegen.

The General Services Administration launched USA Services today, an e-mail and phone system that taps 12 agencies to provide answers to questions. The service, accessible through the FirstGov Web site, connects citizens to the government's call center in Pueblo, Colo. The staff can answer many questions within hours and almost all within two days, said M. J. Jameson, associate administrator for the Office of Citizen Services and Communications, at a news conference today.

36 municipalities recognized for success in leveraging emerging technology and innovation to support Smart City initiatives

IDC Government Insights named finalists this week in the seventh annual Smart Cities North America Awards (SCNAA). The awards were designed to recognize the progress North American municipalities have made in executing Smart Cities projects, as well as provide a forum for sharing best practices to help accelerate Smart City development in the region. Finalists include cities, states, counties, and universities.

A fleet of 100 remote-controlled scooters is being piloted at the city-owned Curiosity Lab technology testing ground in Peachtree Corners, Georgia. It is understood to be the first trial of its type on public roads.

Citizens will be able to hail a scooter via an app and the vehicle will be automatically returned to a base when the ride is over. Go X created the scooter and ride-hailing app, while Tortoise developed the remote repositioning system.

Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, and US offer advice on potential smart city vulnerabilities and how to mitigate them.

New guidance, Cybersecurity Best Practices for Smart Cities, wants to raise awareness among communities and organizations implementing smart city technologies that these beneficial technologies can also have potential vulnerabilities. A collaboration among the Five Eye nations (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the US), it advises communities considering becoming smart cities to assess and mitigate the cybersecurity risks that comes with the technology.

A joint effort between the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada and New Zealand yielded recommendations to prevent cyber attacks on increasingly digital infrastructure.

As municipal infrastructure becomes increasingly integrated with technologies to improve the operations and efficiency of basic utilities—running water, power, and internet access—the governments of the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada and New Zealand launched updated cybersecurity protocols.

The concept of heavily connected, internet driven Smart Cities bristling with digital cameras and sensors might have been the dream of Big Tech firms like Google and Amazon looking to rewire urban infrastructure in their own image, but the Five Eyes intelligence community, including the Australian Signals Directorate, has just fired off a serious new warning about the major cyber risks technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT)  and 5G now pose.

In a major upgrade to advice previously directed at the deployment of 5G networks, the Five Eyes agencies are now telling everyone from major carriers to town mayors and wastewater operators to take a serious second look at the heavily-pumped notion of connecting everything from rubbish bins to traffic lights to the net.