U.N. summit could lead to Internet regulations

By Amy Stewart posted on November 29, 2012 in News at Techwire

A free and open Internet may be at risk from the United Nations summit that will take place in Dubai next week, according to speakers at a Stanford University event.

Held on Tuesday at Stanford Law School, technology industry association CALinnovates hosted an afternoon session with several high-profile panelists including Ambassador David Gross, Larry Irving, former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and Patrick Ryan, Policy Counsel for Google, Inc., among others.

“We had a truly star-studded panel that came together in agreement that we must take action to protect the existing multi-stakeholder approach to regulating Internet services and infrastructure that has been critical to maintaining a free and open Internet, encouraging private investment, and supporting innovation and free flowing ideas,” said CALinnovates Executive Director Mike Montgomery. “I believe we succeeded in raising awareness about the implications of WCIT and in encouraging Silicon Valley leaders to pay close attention to and engage in global actions and federal policies regulating the Internet because it’s a direct threat to Silicon Valley’s prosperity and our nation’s digital future.”

The Dubai summit has received criticism from several groups, including the European Parliament, the Internet Society, and international civil liberties groups. The UN meeting is being organized by the International Telecommunication Union to rewrite the multilateral treaty International Telecommunications Regulations, originally written in 1988.

“A free and open Internet is the platform for free expression,” said Patrick Ryan, an attorney for Google, at the event.

Last fall, China, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan submitted a proposal to the UN asking for an International Code of Conduct for Information Security that would control information that “undermines other countries’ political, economic, and social stability.”

According to Larry Irving, world leaders are trying to regulate the Internet due to fear.

“Fear is a great driver and people like to regulate what they fear,” Irving said.

The United States has weighed in against regulating the Internet. The House of Representatives unanimously approved a resolution that endorsed a “global Internet free from government control.”
“The only difference between Republicans and Democrats is who can be harder in support of a free and open Internet,” said U. S. ambassador David Gross.

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CompTIA IT for Sales

 CompTIA

The CompTIA IT for Sales certification demonstrates a professional knowledge in technology basics necessary to complete sales activities with customers in technical fields.

The exam covers proper communication skills to engage a customer, identify types of technology users, provide appropriate solutions based on needs and requirements - including Green IT and preventative maintenance - and coordinate with technical staff throughout the sales process. The test will also assess the candidate's knowledge in ongoing customer case and engagement and proper customer satisfaction techniques.

Candidate job roles include sales engineer, account manager and business development manager. The IT for Sales certification is ideal for students or individuals considering sales in a technical field. The certificate is also recommended for individuals currently in a technical sales role as well as seasoned sales professionals new to selling technology products and solutions.

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App Academy - Interesting Education Model

This is a thought-provoking ICT education model.  http://www.appacademy.io/

Become a software developer

App Academy is an intensive web development course in San Francisco.
You only pay us if you find a job as a developer after the program.
Our first batch graduated Sep 2012. 93% of our graduates have offers or are working in tech jobs now at an average salary of $83,000.

Learn more!

Partner Recruiting Companies

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Washington Post Editorial: Keepin E-mail Private

By Editorial Board,

Nov 29, 2012 12:40 AM EST

The Washington Post Published: November 28

IF YOU LEFT a letter on your desk for 180 days, you wouldn’t imagine that the police could then swoop in and read it without your permission, or a judge’s. But that’s just what law enforcement officers can do with your e-mail. Using only a subpoena, government agents can demand that service providers turn over electronic communications they have stored, as long as those communications are more than six months old. Protections are even weaker for opened e-mail or documents stored in the “cloud.” The advertisements that the Postal Service piles into your mailbox every day are legally sacrosanct; the medical notifications your health-insurance company sends to your Gmail account are not.

This bizarre reality is thanks to the 1986 Electronic Privacy Communications Act, a law written before anyone dreamed that Americans would send, receive and store so much private information over third-party services such as Gmail or would draft documents using cloud computing that they intend to keep confidential. Now Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Judiciary Committee and the 1986 law’s original author, wants to amend it into the 21st century.
 

Mr. Leahy is set to press his committee Thursday to adopt a series of changes that would establish the confidentiality of e-mail and other electronic communications. Service providers would be prohibited from handing over e-mail, and Mr. Leahy would get rid of the strange 180-day rule that the government can now use to compel disclosure. To access any e-mail content, law enforcement officers would be required to obtain a search warrant from a judge after demonstrating probable cause. The amendments would also oblige officials to give those whose e-mail they are reading a copy of the search warrant. This would bring the law in line with the reality that Americans are using electronic communications services to exchange and store all sorts of sensitive data. Many journalists rely on the cloud to transmit and store their work; the Newspaper Association of America, to which The Post belongs, is part of the Digital Due Process Coalition, which is lobbying for Mr. Leahy’s amendments.

There is always a trade-off between protecting Americans’ privacy and empowering law-enforcement officers to fight crime. But the choice is not difficult in this case. A letter to the Judiciary Committee from former federal, state and local prosecutors notes that the amendments would clarify the rules under which law-enforcement officials operate while maintaining essential exceptions — for example, in emergency situations such as kidnappings. In fact, the amendments would arguably not go far enough since they would still allow police to monitor some information, though not the content of digital documents, without a warrant — records regarding the time spent using electronic services, certain payment records and other information that service providers collect.

Still, Mr. Leahy’s amendments are worthy of enthusiastic support from his colleagues. They are already too long in coming.

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Southern California TechVoice Chapter 2012 Post-Election Briefing

Invite you to the Southern California TechVoice Chapter: 2012 Post-Election Briefing With the 2012 elections in our rearview mirror, join us for an overview of what the results will mean for the technology industry. Hear from elected officials and political experts on what your business can expect from Sacramento and Washington.

Featuring: •  State Senator Lou Correa Representing California’s #34 District •  Liz Hyman Vice President of Public Advocacy, CompTIA •  Dan Schnur Director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics, University of Southern California. •  Assemblyman Don Wagner Representing California’s 68th District. •  Moderator - Tim Jemal CEO, Jemal Public Affairs

Register: Register today for $30 ($50 at the door) Date: Friday, December 14, 2012 Time: 7:30 – 9:30 am Address: Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth 660 Newport Center Drive, Suite 1600 Newport Beach, CA 92660 Why Attend: Join us for an overview of California elections and their impact on the technology industry. We’ll discuss updates on the congressional "lame duck" agenda, including what can be expected for technology policy issues, expiring tax cuts, "sequestration," other "extenders," and the debt ceiling limit. We’ll also provide some insight on the new California State Legislature and Congress and what issues can be expected to impact business – specifically in the technology industry.

About Correa: State Senator Lou Correa was elected to the 34th Senate District in 2006 and reelected for a second and final term in 2010, representing Anaheim, Buena Park, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Santa Ana, Stanton and Westminster. Senator Correa serves on nine committees and commissions, including the Business, Professions & Economic Development Committee and the Economic Development & State Permitting Process Committee. He also serves as chair on the Veterans Affairs Committee and the Elections, Reapportionment & Constitutional Amendments Committee. Prior to serving in the California State Legislature, he was an investment banker and a real estate broker. See the full bio.   About Hyman: Liz Hyman is the vice president of public advocacy for CompTIA. Hyman is responsible for the association’s outreach to members of Congress, the Executive Branch, government agencies. Prior to joining CompTIA, Hyman worked for PC manufacturer Lenovo, and for the Consumer Electronics Association. She has also held various positions in the federal government, including special assistant to the attorney general, associate counsel to the vice president, and assistant counsel at the United States Trade Representative’s Office. Hyman is a graduate of Tufts University and holds a law degree from the Washington College of Law at American University.   About Schnur:  Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California, has been one of California’s leading political and media strategists, whose record includes work on four presidential and three gubernatorial campaigns. Schnur served as the national director of communications for the 2000 presidential campaign of U.S. Senator John McCain and spent five years as chief media spokesman for California Governor Pete Wilson. In 2010, he was appointed chairman of the California Fair Political Practices Commission, a position he held through that year's elections and until spring of 2011. See the full bio.   About Wagner: In the California Assembly, Don Wagner serves on the two key fiscal committees, Appropriations and Budget, where he sits on Subcommittee 4 that addresses state administration. Representing California’s 68th District, Wagner also works on the Aging and Long-Term Care Committee and the Education Committee. He serves as vice-chair of the Assembly Judiciary Committee and as the Deputy Republican Floor Leader. A practicing attorney, Wagner is active in the Orange County business and legal communities. See the full bio.

About TechVoice TechVoice is a newly–formed partnership of the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), the Technology Councils of North America (TECNA), and participating regional technology associations including the OC TechAlliance. Collectively, we represent thousands of technology companies across the country employing millions of workers. We are dedicated to empowering and mobilizing the grassroots tech community to impact legislative and regulatory issues important to growth, innovation and job creation.

About OC TechAlliance OC Technology Alliance is a 501(c)6 nonprofit trade association committed to fast-forwarding the Orange County's innovation economy. Tracing its roots back 40 years to the original Orange County American Electronics Association, its mission is to work in collaboration with members to foster a business eco system in Orange County that will nurture, develop and grow small to mid-size technology companies, and contribute to a new economic vitality to the local High-Tech community. The alliance serves members through local networking, professional development, state and federal advocacy, savings on business services and industry recognition. To learn more about membership, contact OC Technology Alliance at 949-306-5700 or www.octechalliance.com.

About CompTIA CompTIA is the voice of the world’s IT industry. As a non–profit trade association advancing the global interests of IT professionals and companies, CompTIA is the recognized authority for IT education and credentials and the primary advocate for IT businesses and workers. Through its foundation, CompTIA also enables disadvantaged populations to gain the skills they need for employment in the IT industry. CompTIA’s vision of the IT landscape is shaped by nearly 30 years of global perspective and more than 2,000 members and 1,000 business partners.

Sponsors for the Evening

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If you want to solve the IT skills gap, fix the gender gap

NextGov

In October, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta gave a speech at the Intrepid Air and Space Museum in New York where he stated “cyberspace is the new frontier.” Ears really perked when he said that cyber actors have already infiltrated America’s critical infrastructure, including the computers that operate chemical plants, the electric grid, and water facilities. Such collective attacks could result in a cyber Pearl Harbor, he said.

The candor with which government leaders are referring to the cyber threat isn’t surprising. There have been countless memoranda, reports, and speeches detailing the need to bolster the cybersecurity workforce as a result of continued cybersecurity breaches in federal IT systems. In the coming year and beyond, agencies want to hire more cybersecurity professionals to fill this growing need.

But agencies face a big problem – the shortfall of skilled professionals. A recent report by the Homeland Security Department’s cyber skills task force detailed the need for 600 new cybersecurity professionals in the near term who have mission critical skills. Finding these professionals is difficult given that agencies have to compete with government contractors and others in the private sector to hire them. While the DHS cyber skills report largely focused on the need for technical competencies, another report released by the Government Accountability Office in November 2011 found that nearly every agency has experienced difficulty in hiring cyber workers.

Agencies across government will need to train or hire more people with the right skills in the coming year and beyond. To make up for this shortfall, most experts recommend creating a pipeline of applicants by starting early in the primary school grades to get students interested in STEM fields.
But there’s another challenge associated with recruiting skilled workers: Most of those going into STEM fields are men. Only 13 percent of the US cybersecurity professionals are women. Further, the number of women enrolling in computer science degrees is actually decreasing. In 1985, 37 percent of computer science graduates were women; in 2005, women only made up 22 percent. Despite the growing need for cybersecurity professionals, female enrollment in the fields necessary to get into these jobs continues to decrease. In fact, in 2010 only about 18 percent of undergraduates in STEM fields were women.

Women, being about half the population, are a largely untapped resource for cybersecurity recruitment. In a recent study, women claimed they encountered more institutional barriers to entering cybersecurity fields. For example, the largely male-oriented “hacker” culture prevalent in IT can be hard for girls and women to penetrate and leaves them with fewer opportunities for building mentor-mentee relationships. A lack of interest in STEM fields also attributes to low participation numbers. Perhaps attributed to the lack of women in science and math teaching professions, the gap exists in middle school and increases in high school.

Creating a pipeline of cybersecurity applicants will involve more than scholarships and competitions to recruit the professionals the government will need. Addressing the barriers to entry for women would open up a group of potential applicants largely overlooked in the past.

Find more insights and trends that the federal IT community will be facing in 2013 and beyond in a recent study released for the Government Business Council. And visit Nextgov Prime on December 3^rd to continue the conversation with leading thinkers, members of Congress and other experts in technology.

 

Dana Grinshpan

Dana Grinshpan is the Research Manager for the Government Business Council (GBC), the research division of Government Executive, where she specializes in primary research development and survey instrument creation. Prior to joining GBC, she worked for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), assisting in the research and writing of work on South Asian regional cooperation. She has a Master of Arts in international security and political economics from the University of Chicago and graduated magna cum laude from Ohio State University where she holds a B.A. in international studies with a minor in Arabic.

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Smart Grid Industry Sector Profile Now Available

The San Francisco Bay Center of Excellence has released a new industry sector profile on Smart Grid that is now available at: www.coeccc.net/energy

The Centers of Excellence developed this Smart Grid industry profile to help colleges better understand what this emerging field is all about and how jobs will be impacted in the Utility, Energy and Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) sectors over the next decade.

Because Energy and Utilities and ICT are priority industry sectors in California, community college leaders will be interested in learning more about how to align existing programs in Engineering, Energy and ICT with employers’ workforce needs as the Smart Grid transformation unfolds.
 

John Carrese
Director
San Francisco Bay Center of Excellence
City College of San Francisco

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A jobs market bright spot? ‘App economy’ sizzles

McClatchyDC

Ross Wayercaster designed the first of his four mobile apps as a high school senior in Tupelo, Mississippi, a game called Super Marrio Jump that has been downloaded from the Apple store more than 20,000 times | Kerry Smith/MCT

 

View larger image

By Rob Hotakainen | McClatchy Newspapers

By Rob Hotakainen McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Ross Waycaster designed the first of his four mobile apps as a high school senior in Tupelo, Miss., a game called Super Marrio Jump that’s been downloaded from the Apple store more than 20,000 times, earning him more than $16,000.
          
“I have an entrepreneurial spirit, so we’ll see where that takes me,” said Waycaster, 21, who’s now a junior at Mississippi State University in Starkville.

It could lead him to a top-paying job in a sizzling new industry, one that might provide the United States with a big opportunity to increase its exports in coming years.
          
While the overall economy still lags, the “app economy” has created nearly 500,000 jobs in the U.S. since 2007, when there were none.

Companies even worry that the nation isn’t moving fast enough to produce new talent for thousands of unfilled jobs as consumers demand more and more gizmos and gadgets for their smartphones.
As a result, salaries are rising quickly: Mobile apps developers can expect pay increases of 9 percent next year, among the highest of any jobs, putting them in the range of $92,750 to $133,500 a year, according to a survey that the staffing and consulting firm Robert Half International released last month.

If the United States can maintain its dominance in the industry, many say the app economy could make a big dent in the country’s federal trade deficit. Last year, for example, more than 20 percent of the apps downloaded in China were made by U.S. developers.

“There is unprecedented opportunity for America to capitalize on exploding international markets,” Peter Farago, the vice president of marketing for Flurry, a high-tech start-up company in San Francisco, testified in September before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade.

Farago said his company had more than 100 employees and 50 open positions and that “we literally cannot find the talent we need fast enough.” He told members of the subcommittee that the app economy would become increasingly international and that the United States should do more to improve education and retraining programs and to make it easier for companies to bring and keep more talent from foreign countries.

“We’re in a human capital crunch,” added Rey Ramsey, the president and chief executive officer of TechNet, a network of technology executives that promotes the industry.

According to a TechNet study released earlier this year, California is by far the most dominant player in the industry, accounting for nearly one of every four jobs. New York ranks second, followed by Washington state, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, Georgia, Virginia and Florida.
Among metropolitan regions, New York ranked first, followed by San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue.

Some universities have begun retooling their curricula. At Mississippi State, students are enrolled in such popular courses as Field Studies in iPhone Entrepreneurship.

Professor Rodney Pearson, the head of the information systems department at Mississippi State, said most of the graduates from the business program made starting salaries of $45,000 to $50,000.
“But we have had six get jobs as app developers at $80,000,” he said.

He said students had created all kinds of apps, including a game called Poke the Pig, another that counted pitches during baseball games and one that aided in swimming pool maintenance. He predicted that Waycaster will become “a serial entrepreneur, for sure.”

Waycaster, who plans to graduate in May 2014, said he’d enrolled in the iPhone course after teaching himself how to create an app just by Googling and reading about them online.

“It really did help me out,” said Waycaster, who’s the technology chairman of his fraternity. “When you teach yourself something, you have other ways of thinking, and so when you actually go through a class in a structured way, things connected.”

Besides Super Marrio – that’s with two R’s to distinguish it from the registered trademark of the popular Super Mario game – Waycaster has created apps called Dye Birds, Football Cannon and New Earth Symbol. He described the latter as an app “that illustrates God’s promise of a new heaven and new earth” as described in the biblical Book of Revelation.

At Washington State University in Vancouver, Kerri Lingo managed a team that created an app for Dick Hannah Dealerships, allowing the auto dealer’s customers to schedule appointments or to make quick contact when they’re stranded on the road, using GPS – the Global Positioning System – to show their locations. After graduating last year with a degree in creative media and digital culture, Lingo went to work for the dealership in its marketing department.

“It was very fast. In 12 weeks, we went from not knowing anything about mobile apps to having one completed,” said Lingo, 34, of Vancouver.

Dene Grigar, an associate professor who’s the director of the creative media and digital culture program at Washington State Vancouver, said students enjoyed the hands-on approach of designing apps, noting that “practice and theory are inseparable.”

She said the university began updating its curriculum as soon as the iPhone was released.

“You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out where the future’s headed,” she said. “In 2007, we get the iPhone, and it’s kind of a no-brainer to say, ‘OK, well, there’s our new medium.’ . . .

Every company is realizing they need a social media specialist. Instead of hiring a communications specialist, they want someone that can work in digital media, everything from mobile environments to making a video.”

The TechNet study found the United States had created 460,000 jobs in the app economy since the iPhone was introduced. Those include programmers, designers, marketers, managers and support staff.

The industry’s rapid growth is raising some tough questions for Congress, with some saying that much more should be done to protect Americans’ privacy as they post more and more of their personal data on apps owned by private developers.

“The reality is that many online users have a false sense of privacy because they don’t understand the lengthy and complex privacy policies they are compelled to agree to in order to use the service,” North Carolina Rep. Mel Watt, the top-ranked Democrat on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet, said at a hearing in June.

Copyright 2012 McClatchy Newspapers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Email: rhotakainen@mcclatchydc.com; Twitter: @HotakainenRob

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/11/15/174767/a-jobs-market-bright-spot-app.html#storylink=cpy

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CA Career Briefs: Grow a Network to Find Work

Grow a Network

Did you know?

Many college students are struggling to find jobs because they fail to develop their careers while in college. Students need to market themselves online and actively network offline in order to secure the jobs they seek. In his book, The Start-Up of You, Linkedin co-founder Reid Hoffman suggests that to succeed in today’s work world- it takes a network. Hoffman emphasizes that relationships matter to a person’s career no matter the organization he/she seeks to join because people control resources, opportunities, information and access. He encourages his readers to reach out and connect to others as they develop and strengthen their personal and professional networks. He suggests that students take time to share information, make introductions and use social media tools to stay in touch. Get your students thinking about growing their networks with this activity.

Do this…

• Question students about how they are marketing themselves to find jobs.
• View video.
• Distribute Student Activity, discuss directions and complete.
• Discuss students’ ideas on growing their networks.
• List things students can begin doing now to market themselves.

Add an Experience!

For more ideas on developing a network invite students to stop by the CACareerCafe.Com to learn more about how to Network like a Pro. In addition, students can download a 9 page summary of The Start-Up of You right here. Finally, sugggest students take steps to add several people to their networks within the month.

CA Career Cafe

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Career Pathways Illustrated Video

Please see and share this excellent video on career pathways, prepared by Santa Cruz County College Commitment (S4C)!

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CCC "Maintaining a Quality Distance Education Program" Webinar 12-10-12

The CCC Chancellor's Office is conducting a “Maintaining a Quality Distance Education Program Webinar” on December 10, 2012.  It is offered exclusively for distance education programs in the California Community College System.  It is designed to provide colleges with comprehensive information about regulations, policies, and procedures impacting distance education programs in the CCC System.  This webinar is compliance oriented. 

Please follow the below links for two (2) PDF documents:
1.  A FLYER announcing the webinar and
2.  The AGENDA for the webinar

Registration for this webinar can be completed by clicking on the “Click Here to Register” box in either document.  Please distribute these to anyone interested in knowing more information about compliance issues related to distance education in the California Community Colleges.

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AACC Workforce Development Institute - San Diego 1-30-13

Early-Bird Registration Ends Soon!

Designed as a comprehensive program for community college-based workforce service providers, AACC's Workforce Development Institute (WDI) is a 3-day conference that will educate, invigorate, and motivate.

The deadline for the early-bird registration is Saturday, November 24. Additionally, The New 21st-Century Leader in the Community College preconference is now offering a discounted rate of $300 for AACC members.

To secure these special rates, register, make hotel reservations, and read about preconvention workshops, visit the WDI website.

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Career Ladders Project ICT Study Invitation

The Latino Institute for Corporate Inclusion, in partnership with the Career Ladders Project, is conducting a study on the Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) workforce, with a unique focus on entry and middle-level ICT careers.  We are looking at improving the educational pipeline to meet the industry’s workforce needs, as well as looking at increasing diversity, particularly for underrepresented groups in ICT such as Latinos and African Americans.

ICT is the umbrella term that encompasses everything related to computing, software, information, networking and communications technologies.  If it has or uses software controlled electronic circuitry or is a technology that helps people or devices communicate with each other, it is ICT.  This includes areas such as health informatics, social marketing, etc.  Our target audiences for completing the survey are people who hire, supervise, and/or educate entry and mid-level ICT employees in California, and ICT employees in entry and mid-level positions; especially those who are Latino or African American.

Pleasecomplete the 15 minute online survey and also share this request with others who meet the participation criteria. 

You can access the survey by clicking on:

http://www.careerladdersproject.org/initiatives-programs/information-communications-technologies-study-icts/

If clicking on it does not work, then please cut and paste the link into your browser. The survey is anonymous and confidential. At the end of the survey, you have the option of entering in your email address in order to receive the study results. Please complete the survey by November 20, 2012.

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GovTech: California Prepares to Launch Geoportal

By Techwire posted on November 15, 2012 in News

By Wayne Hanson, Government Technology

Scott Gregory, California’s geographic information officer, held a Google Hangout presentation Wednesday on the state’s plans for a new Geoportal and other initiatives that will enable the public to more readily access California GIS information held by federal, state tribal, city and county agencies.

Gregory said that 85 percent of all public-sector data has a geographic component, and while the state has compiled much of the state’s geo data, it has not been easily accessible to those who need it.
“GIS is the single most transformative technology that government can engage in,” said Gregory, who explained that GIS provides a visual location-based view of data that helps expose trends and patterns not otherwise available. “We want to take data and provide information from that data,” Gregory said.

Government, he said, can use this information to become more efficient and effective in answering questions such as how many people live within a flood-plain boundary, or what vegetation is likeliest to provide fuel to wild fires. And businesses can use it to answer questions related to locating a new facility, or finding where potential customers reside or work. For example, said Gregory, the California Department of Finance has data on population projections, demographics, ethnicity, income, education, etc., which would be useful for businesses seeking to locate in California. “You will be able to embed that info into your own maps,” And the public can put the data to use through technology such as mobile apps.

The geo portal — which will catalog state, city, county, federal, tribal and nonprofit data and operate based on “federated search” — will launch this January with the goal of enabling government, business and the public to find information within two to three clicks.

The state will also develop high-value data sets that are used often across government, but presently reside in what Gregory called “disparate formats.” The state also is looking at building a GIS cloud for state government to share information as a Web service, and building a communication strategy that exploits the latest technology tools.

This story was originally published by Government Technology.

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CCC Board of Governors Supports Jobs & Economy Through Approval of Braided Expenditure Plan

  

  

The Community College Board of Governor meeting this Tuesday approved item 2.6, the Division’s expenditure plan for 2013-14 in support of the Doing What MATTERS for Jobs and the Economy framework. The expenditure plan braids the funds of SB1402 EWD, SB1070 and Perkins 1B to enable the targeting of investment against priority and emergent sectors of importance to regional economies. Braiding of funds is a resource allocation strategy whereby categoricals are applied towards a unified framework, rather than administered in isolation.

 

Brice Harris, the new Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, called the plan an important step in enhancing the alignment of college programs with labor market needs. “Community colleges have always been the workforce engine of our state. The current economy makes that mission all the more pressing, and we need to activate all methods that increase our contribution to jobs and the economy.”

 

The Board of Governors also discussed the continuum of recommendations put forth by Vice Chancellor Van Ton-Quinlivan for increasing the system’s responsiveness to workforce needs. The recommendations surfaced through 12+ Critical Conversations with the field and extensive engagement by system leaders active in the workforce mission. Discussed were:

 

1. administrative fixes as embodied in the Doing What MATTERS for Jobs and Economy framework, which are in-flight via the revised RFA process

 

2. the use of existing bodies to advise on ways to further empower regions:

• What enables regional responsiveness to labor market demand?
• What are impediments to regional collaboration?

3. the formation of a Chancellor-led system task force to rethink funding along these questions:

• How should transfer pathways in-demand by industry be funded?
• How should in-demand high-cost CTE programs be funded?
• How should basic skills contextualized in CTE be funded?

Also of note is the second reading of item 4.4 - the Proposed Performance Framework for the California Community Colleges ARCC 2.0/Scorecard, which upon approval will be foundational to the system.

 

We aspire to keep you updated in future communications.

 

Regards,

 

Van Ton-Quinlivan, Vice Chancellor

Workforce & Economic Development Division

Chancellor’s Office, California Community Colleges

1102 Q Street, 4th floor executive offices, Sacramento, CA 95811

 

 

 

Follow me on Twitter @WorkforceVan.

 

 

 

 

 

Find Jobs & Economy tips at http://doingwhatmatters.cccco.edu/.

 

 

 

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California Emerging Technology Fund: Broadband Awareness and Adoption

Vol. 2 No. 2  Fall 2012 Connecting Californians to Broadband The California Emerging Technology Fund and Broadband Awareness and Adoption partners (BAA) are breaking down the barriers to broadband adoption and closing the Digital Divide in California. BAA partners have provided computer training and consumer education about broadband to more than 640,000 Californians and enabled 199,000 low-income families to get connected at home. Monet Wilson, 9, visited Southern Baptist Missionary Church's new computer lab on its opening day. The Los Angeles congregation earned the free lab for signing up 345 families for broadband. Read more in the latest edition of Connections, a publication of CETF. Also in this issue of Connections: Welcome from the President and CEO Broadband Adoption Highlights: The percentage of Californians with home broadband connections is growing faster than the nation as a whole. Today, 73% of California households have a broadband Internet connection, up sharply from 58% in 2008. Broadband adoption has grown 70% in five years for Latino households, and now stands at 58%. Take Your Small Business to the Next Level With support from CETF and the National Telecommunications & Information Administration, California Resources and Training (CARAT) is offering free technology trainings throughout the state for small businesses. Through in-person and online trainings, participants learn about software and other tools to help businesses reach new customers, expand market presence, manage operations more efficiently, and increase profits. To sign up for a training, visit the CARAT website, email trainings@caratnet.org, or call 510-451-2545.

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How do you know if your broadband meter is accurate?

Nov 14, 2012 - 8:17PM PT, Gigaom

• By Stacey Higginbotham

After four years, broadband caps are common in the U.S., but so far no agency is watching to make sure those caps are implemented fairly. So what happens when an internet user claims his ISP’s data usage numbers don’t match his own?
 

photo: Shutterstock / Aperture 51

When happens when your ISP says you’re going over your broadband cap, but your own self-installed usage meter still says you have plenty of gigabytes left? That’s what Ken Stox is about to find out, as he takes on his ISP to try to figure out why his own usage numbers are 20 percent to 30 percent lower than those provided by AT&T.

Stox, a Chicago-area resident, posted his tale Wednesday morning on Slashdot after AT&T notified him that he was approaching his broadband cap. This is exactly how AT&T’s cap is supposed to work: When a user gets to 60 percent of the monthly allotment consumed, followed by the 95 percent and the 100 percent mark, AT&T sends an email. But in this case, the user was tracking his data consumption and saw AT&T’s totals didn’t match his own records.

From his Slashdot post:

When this was implemented, I started getting emails letting me know my usage as likely to exceed the cap. After consulting their Internet Usage web page, I felt the numbers just weren’t right. With the help of Tomato on my router, I started measuring my usage, and ended up with numbers substantially below what AT&T was reporting on a day-to-day basis. Typically around 20-30% less. By the way, this usage is the sum of inbound and outbound.

He then detailed how AT&T gave him the runaround when he asked about the discrepancy. He was told that AT&T’s measurement of data was “proprietary,” and that if he wanted to dispute it, he would need to write a letter. He ended his post asking if there were any regulatory agencies that monitor the accuracy of ISPs’ meters. So far, there aren’t, something I’ve called on the FCC to address, especially given that more than six in 10 U.S. broadband subscribers have some kind of data cap.


I’ve emailed the FCC to see if the agency is aware of Stox’s issue and if it had reached out to either Stox or AT&T for more information. I also reached out to AT&T with a list of questions, and will update the story if I hear back from either party.

I did speak with Stox this afternoon to find out a bit more about his situation. He says that he’s a customer of AT&T’s DSL service because he cannot get access to U-Verse in his home. (Maybe AT&T’s planned investment in expanding U-verse will help him out on this front). For now, as a DSL customer, he has a 150 GB per month cap. Once he goes over that amount he would have to pay $10 for another 50 gigabytes.

Stox said that he has received several notices from AT&T since the ISP started enforcing its bandwidth cap, so he started tracking his data consumption by using Tomato, a Linux program installed on his router that allows him to write programs to track his data and customize his router settings. He said he couldn’t send me charts of his data because he had mistakenly erased them, but as an example he said his measurements showed the he consumed 5.1 GB on November 8 while AT&T’s usage meter showed he had consumed 8.1 GB. Stox is one of the lucky AT&T customers that actually has a meter he can check.

Now, there are a couple of things that might account for this discrepancy. Stox said that AT&T might be tracking a gigabyte in the more commercial sense as 1 billion bytes, as opposed to the more technical method that would result in a number that would be roughly 7 percent higher (1,073,741,824 bytes). Stox also noted that packet headings and other information that AT&T sends to route his traffic might also account for some overage — those are bytes his router wouldn’t necessarily count. He also mentioned that his timing might not match up with AT&T’s version (for example if AT&T’s daily totals ended at 12 ET while his ended at 12 CT).

For him, the problem is that AT&T won’t share any of its methodology with him. “What’s their definition of a byte?” he asked. “What’s their version of a day? I just want to know,” he said.
AT&T offers the following from its Frequently Asked Questions section:

What is included in my usage?
Usage includes all of the data you have received (downloaded) or sent (uploaded). In addition, we take into account the standard network protocols (such as Ethernet and IP activity) that are used to transmit content via the Internet.

But that doesn’t answer all of Stox’s questions. To him AT&T’s ability to charge him $10 for more Internet access just because he’s hit some cap that’s defined by AT&T and overseen by AT&T without any required disclosure seems anti-consumer. So far, he hasn’t filed a complaint with the FCC, or with the Illinois Commerce Commission, but he did say he had been contacted by Public Knowledge and he might wait for their advice before making any formal complaint. Already the advocacy organization is using the case as an example of why the FCC needs to get more involved in monitoring and asking questions data caps.

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