Hosted by the Government of Botswana through the Department of Research, Science and Technology, Supported by the European Commission and African Union Commission and Technical Co-Sponsored by IEEE, IST-Africa 2011 will take place in Gaborone, 04 - 06 May 2011. The scientific programme for IST-Africa 2011 is based on an open Call for Papers The core thematic areas are eHealth, eInfrastructures, Technology Enhanced Learning and ICT Skills, Digital Libraries and Intelligent Content, Living Labs, Open Source Software, ICT for eInclusion and eAccessibility, ICT for Environmental Sustainability, RFID and Networked Enterprise, eGovernment, Networked Media, Transformation of Research Results into Local Innovation, Cloud Computing and IPv6. Interested presenters are encouraged to prepare an 8 page paper (4,000 - 5,000) words following the IST-Africa 2011 paper guidelines and paper template for submission online by 30 November.

All submissions will be double blind reviewed by the International Programme Committee and authors will receive feedback in January. Accepted authors will then be invited to submit a final paper taking account of feedback provided for inclusion in the conference proceedings by 18 February.

(Source: IST Africa)

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IST Africa

A new research report on online government from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project shows that citizens are searching for information in unprecedented numbers. When they visit sites, they're increasingly making transactions and participating in discussion around policies. Forty-one percent have gone online to get forms, including tax forms, health forms or student aid forms, and 35 percent have researched government documents or statistics. Roughly one-third of all Internet users reported renewing driver's licenses and auto registrations online. In general, the use of government websites for information and transactions is nearly ubiquitous among Internet users, with 82 percent of online adults surveyed reporting one of the two activities.

(Source: Pew Research Center)

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Pew Research Center

At the eighth Ministerial eHealth Conference in Barcelona today, EU ministers have outlined a joint vision and policy priorities on how to make eHealth more accessible, interactive and customised to patients. The Declaration outlines a vision and identifies key objectives to be achieved in the next ten years.

The Declaration calls for policy coordination amongst the various areas where eHealth can have an impact on citizens' health in order to enhance benefits for patients, healthcare systems and society. It recognises the need for stronger synergies with policy areas like competitiveness, research and regional development both at European and national levels.

(Source: Europe's Information Society)

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Europe's Information Society

The government has added fresh resources to the fight against cybercrime with the launch of a £4.3m programme to help combat fraud, estimated to cost UK consumers £3.5bn per year. The programme, which aims to take down scam websites, was launched by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills this week. Under the scheme, up to 300 of the UK's approximately 3,000 existing trading standards officers will receive "intermediate" level training in tackling cybercrime.

In addition, a new cyber enforcement team within the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) will be set up. The team will lead investigations into websites selling fake or non-existent goods, tickets or services online, and will have an attached digital forensics lab that will be available to all OFT staff.

(Source: Silicon)

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Silicon

This three-day event fosters opportunities for IT and Telecommunication professionals to network, build relationships, and explore new ideas. It brings together IT professionals, developers, decisions and policy makers, governmental officials, experts, consultants, industry leaders, bankers, law enforcement officials, academics, networks security managers, database administrators, IT marketing executives, surveyors, etc. to share their protection experience in IT security and exchange ideas on most emerging technology trends, applications and practices.

Kuwait ICT Security Forum aims to keep you at the forefront of the latest security developments. Don't miss this opportunity to learn fresh approaches and develop innovative strategies and tactics to defeat today's biggest information security threats.

(Source: Kuwait ICT Security Forum)

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Kuwait ICT Security Forum

The government develops a new strategy to help the information technology industry cut down on waste While no one will ever confuse the polluting effects of the information and communications technology sector with, say, the oil industry, all is not green in the realm of ICT. The world throws away of hundreds of millions of mobile phones, computers, printers, batteries and gadgets annually, while energy and raw materials consumed by the industry account for more than 2% of global greenhouse gases emissions.

It is with this in mind that the Egyptian government has begun work on a green information and communication technology (ICT) strategy aimed at reducing the sector’s energy use and finding a place for the tons of hardware thrown away every year.

(Source: Business Today)

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Business Today

Former top US intelligence officials will become cyberwarriors on Tuesday in a simulation of how the US government would respond to a massive cyberattack on the United States. "The scenario itself is secret," said Eileen McMenamin, vice president of communications for the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), which is hosting the event dubbed "Cyber ShockWave." "The participants don't even know what it is," McMenamin told AFP. "None of them know what's going to transpire."

Former president George W. Bush's Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff will play the role of National Security Advisor to the president while former Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte will be Secretary of State.

(Source: AFP)

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AFP

The government has called on the mobile phone industry to do more to protect handset owners against theft. Alan Campbell, Minister for Crime Prevention, said firms "have a social and a corporate responsibility to tackle crime". Around 2% of British mobile phone users report they have suffered a theft in the last year, although for teenagers the figure is three times higher.

The government's call comes as the Home Office unveiled the winning designs in a crime prevention contest, aimed at making mobile phones less attractive to thieves. Designs included an alarm that sounds when a phone is too far from its owner and locks the handset.

(Source: BBC)

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BBC

The design of the future German identity card has been unveiled. Credit-card sized and made of polycarbonate, it will be issued from November 2010 on. The new card aims to ease the citizens' transactions with government and businesses and to increase security as well as to enhance public confidence in electronic services.

The front side has the image of the federal eagle, whereas on its reverse side the Brandenburg Gate is depicted. The new card contains numerous security features in order to increase protection against forgery. A special feature is that the holder's details are digitally stored. It is also capable to carry a digital signature. Both features will allow card holders to complete commercial online transactions as well as official business with government offices.

(Source: eGov Monitor)

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eGov Monitor

The 'Health-e-Space' website has gone online in Moray, Scotland, aiming to encourage individuals to play an active role in personal health matters by providing them with a series of online tools and information.

The website allows anybody living in Moray to become a member and to obtain local health information, links to recommended websites and suggestions on how to live with health conditions. Its sister website, the 'Health-e-Space Community', serves as a social networking platform for people to share their health concerns and experiences among them in the Moray area.

(Source: eGov Monitor)

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eGov Monitor

Chinese authorities caught nearly 5,400 suspects last year in a crackdown on online pornography and have vowed to strengthen Internet policing.

Beijing's pervasive policing of cyberspace and attempts to block the Internet are already among the world's most stringent. In a statement late Thursday, the Ministry of Public Security said the "purification of the Internet" and fighting of online crime are closely tied to the country's stability. "Lewd and pornographic content seriously pollutes the online environment, depraves social morals and poisons the physical and psychological health of the masses of young people," the statement said. "It must be firmly controlled."

(Source: AP)

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AP

Australia said Tuesday it would push ahead with a mandatory China-style plan to filter the Internet, despite widespread criticism that it will strangle free speech and is doomed to fail.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said new laws would be introduced to ban access to "refused classification" (RC) sites featuring criminal content such as child sex abuse, bestiality, rape and detailed drug use. Blacklisted sites would be determined by an independent classification body via a "public complaint" process, said Conroy, admitting there was "no silver bullet solution to cyber-safety".

(Source: AFP)

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AFP

In the EU27, 65% of households 1 had access to the internet during the first quarter of 2009, compared with 60% during the first quarter of 2008, and 56% had a broadband internet connection in 2009, compared with 49% in 2008.

The se data 2 published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities , represent only a small part of the results of a survey on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) usage in households and by individuals in the EU27 Member States, the candidate countries, Norway , Iceland and Serbia . As well as internet use and broadband connections, the survey also covers other indicators such as e-shopping, e-government and advanced communication and content related services.

(Source: Euro Stat)

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European Commission

The government is preparing to set up a National Identity Management Center (NIMC) to distribute National Identity Cards (NIDC) across the country. Government officials said that the center will be located in Kathmandu and will distribute cards through thousands of government employees mobilized across the country.

Government officials are making preparations to set up the center on the basis of the recently submitted recommendations of a task force formed to study the need and structure of such a center. “We have recommended to the government to set up NIMC to distribute NIDCs as committed in the national budget and government policy and programs," Lilamani Paudel, Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM), told myrepublica.com.

(Source: Republica)

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BBC

The Taiwan government says it will spend 2 billion New Taiwan dollars ($65 million) to support its electronic-book industry and help makers cash in on the rapidly growing world market.

Companies can receive government subsidies of up to 40 percent of costs for programs developing related technologies, according to an Industrial Development Bureau report released Thursday. Taiwan is already a leading player in the digital book market, being the exclusive supplier of e-paper displays for Amazon's Kindle and Sony's e-Reader through collaboration with foreign firms that hold cutting-edge electronic ink technologies, officials said.

(Source: AP)

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AP

It’s not good news for IT cities. According to a report prepared by the Computer Emergency Research Team from the Union IT ministry, a total of 692 websites have been affected in September alone.

The unit has now asked the respective state governments to secure their own websites. “We have instructed all state governments to instal security measures, especially for those sites which contain sensitive data,’’ said a senior ministry official. Of the websites hacked, a whopping 74% belong to the dotin domain Most common hacking method is to steal password from administrator Hackers also enter web server and destroy the site Another method is to try and poison the URL.

(Source: The Economic Times)

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The Economic Times

A computer worm that China warned Internet users against is an updated version of the Panda Burning Incense virus, which infected millions of PCs in the country three years ago, according to McAfee.

The original Panda worm, also known as Fujacks, caused widespread damage at a time when public knowledge about online security was low, and led to the country's first arrests for virus-writing in 2007. The new worm variant, one of many that have appeared since late 2006, adds a malicious component meant to make infection harder to detect.

(Source: PC World)

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PC World

Developing countries risk missing out on the benefits of information technology because of their lack of broadband infrastructure, a U.N. agency said.

Lack of broadband Internet access deprives countries of the possibility of building up offshoring industries, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in a report late on Thursday. It also prevents people from tapping into all the advantages of mobile phones, whose use is exploding in poor countries. "What is known as the broadband gap for example is becoming a serious handicap for companies in many poor countries," he told a briefing to launch UNCTAD's Information Economy Report.

(Source: Reuters)

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Reuters  

Nigeria's anti-corruption police is working with Microsoft to halt thousands of fraudulent emails in a crackdown on internet crime in Africa's most populous country, an agency spokesman said.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said on Thursday its new project "Eagle Claw," expected to become fully operational within six months, is aimed at improving Nigeria's tarnished image as one of the world's top countries for internet crime. The agency said it has already shut down 800 scam websites and arrested 18 people.

(Source: Reuters)

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Reuters  

The European Parliament has given the green light for member states to cut persistent file-sharers off from the net. It has dropped an amendment to its Telcoms Package which would have made it hard for countries to cut off pirates without court authority. It follows pressure from countries keen to adopt tough anti-piracy laws.

The French government has just approved plans which could see pirates removed from the net for up to a year. The UK's file-sharing policy is also likely to include a clause about disconnecting persistent offenders. The European Parliament was originally opposed to such legislation, claiming internet access was a basic human right.

(Source: BBC)

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BBC  

The Republic of Montenegro officially became a member of the International Multilateral Partnership against Cyber Threats (IMPACT), which is established under the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and consists of 191 members. The President of the Board of Directors of IMPACT -Mr. Datuk Muhd Noor Amin- welcomed Montenegro's membership in IMPACT and stated that Montenegro acquired the status of a full member in this international organization.

Montenegro has recently acquired the capability to track new information on cyber threats. More particularly, the participation in IMPACT will assist Montenegro in the identification of cyber threats in the early stages of their development.

(Source: eGov Monitor)

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eGov Monitor

US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Thursday that her department has received the green light to hire up to 1,000 cybersecurity experts over the next three years.

Kicking off "National Cybersecurity Awareness Month," she said the new recruits would "help fulfill the department's broad mission to protect the nation's cyber infrastructure, systems and networks." "Effective cybersecurity requires all partners -- individuals, communities, government entities and the private sector -- to work together to protect our networks and strengthen our cyber resiliency," Napolitano said.

(Source: AFP)

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AFP

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski is expected to outline network-neutrality proposals on Monday, according to Reuters. The proposals could become rules at the FCC's October meeting.

Neutrality advocates want Internet service providers barred from blocking or slowing Internet traffic based on content. ISPs, including AT&T, Verizon Communications, and Comcast, say growing traffic needs to be managed, and they contend that neutrality could stifle innovation.

(Source: NewsFactor)

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NewsFactor

South Korea plans to train 3,000 "cyber sheriffs" by next year to protect businesses after a spate of attacks on state and private websites, a report said Sunday. The "cyber sheriffs" would be tasked with "protecting corporate information and preventing the leaks of industrial secrets," Yonhap news agency said.

In the event of cyber attacks, the National Intelligence Service, the country's main spy agency, would set up a taskforce including civilian and government experts to counter the online threats, it added. The country already has a military cyber unit. South Korea, where 95 percent of homes have broadband, is among the top countries in terms of access to the high-speed Internet.

(Source: AFP)

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AFP

President Barack Obama warned American teenagers on Tuesday of the dangers of putting too much personal information on Internet social networking sites, saying it could come back to haunt them in later life. "Well, let me give you some very practical tips. First of all, I want everybody here to be careful about what you post on Facebook, because in the YouTube age, whatever you do, it will be pulled up again later somewhere in your life," Obama said.

The presidential words of advice follow recent studies that suggest U.S. employers are increasingly turning to sites such as Facebook and News Corp's MySpace to conduct background checks on job applicants.

(Source: Reuter)

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Reuter