INFORMATION NUMERIQUE

Source: france.usembassy

A Policymaker's Guide to Network Management
George Ou. Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). December 2008. 58 pages.

In this report, the author explains how advanced networks actually work and documents how, if Internet service providers (ISPs) are to provide customers a good Internet service and operate their networks efficiently, they must be able to allocate bandwidth between users and apply network management tools to shape traffic from multiple applications. He argues, however, that ISPs can and should do this in a fair and non-discriminatory manner.


News and information as digital media come of age
Persephone Miel and Robert Faris. Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. December 2008. 52 pages.

Every day, more people turn to the Internet as a primary source of news: reading blogs, visiting aggregators and online news sites, watching video clips, listening to podcasts, and opening links in emails from friends. Members of this growing audience are not only consumers of the news -- many are shaping the news agenda for themselves and others: selecting, combining, and commenting on stories as well as creating their own. The United States is now several years into what promises to be a transformation of the media. It is driven by the rapid expansion of the number of people and organizations newly engaged as authors, editors, and publishers. In the United States and other developed countries, this expansion is occurring in tandem with serious contractions in the traditional news media. This paper explores the impact of the remarkable array of new media structures that have arisen to take advantage of these new opportunities and evaluates the problems and limitations associated with these changes.

The Future of the Internet III
Janna Quitney Anderson and Lee Rainie. The Pew Internet & American Life Project. Report. December 14, 2008. 138 pages.

Experts expect major tech advances as the phone becomes a primary device for online access, voice-recognition improves, and the structure of the Internet itself improves. They disagree however about whether this will lead to more social tolerance, more forgiving human relations, or better home lives.


Adults and video games
Amanda Lenhart, Sydney Jones and Alexandra Rankin Macgill. The Pew Internet & American Life Project. Data Memo. December 7, 2008. 9 pages.
http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Adult_gaming_memo.pdf
More than half -- 53% -- of all American adults play video games of some kind, whether on a computer, on a gaming console, on a cell phone or other handheld device, on a portable gaming device, or online. About one in five adults (21%) play everyday or almost everyday. While the number of video gamers among adults is substantial, it is still well under the number of teens who play, as fully 97% of teens play video games.


Internet Overtakes Newspapers As News Source
Andrew Kohut and Michael Remez. The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. December 23, 2008. 7 pages.
http://people-press.org/reports/pdf/479.pdf
The Internet, which emerged this year as a leading source for campaign news, has now surpassed all other media except television as a main source for national and international news. Currently, 40% say they get most of their news about national and international issues from the internet, up from just 24% in September 2007. For the first time, more people say they rely mostly on the Internet for news than cite newspapers (35%). Television continues to be cited most frequently as a main source for national and international news, at 70%.


FIVE GUIDEPOSTS FOR THE FUTURE OF MUNICIPAL WIRELESS
Sascha D. Meinrath. New America Foundation. Wireless Future Program. Issue Brief #24. December 2008. 4 pages.

As municipalities rethink their broadband strategies, they should be looking to implement five best practices to support liberation and avoid lock-in: build hybrid infrastructures, utilize open technology, prioritize competition, think holistically, and Embrace change as the new status quo.

When Technology Fails
John B. Horrigan and Sydney Jones. The Pew Internet & American Life Project. Data Memo. November 16, 2008. 14 pages.

Modern information and communication technologies open doors to a wealth of information. But many users find it difficult to set up these devices and frustrating when they break. Half (48%) of adults who use the Internet or have a cell phone say they usually need someone else to set up a new device for them or show them how to use it. And many users of various devices and services encounter breakdowns from time to time. Coping with these failures helps to distance users from technology use.

From "Dinosaurs" to Digital: An Examination of Ongoing Innovations in Copyright Industries
Andrea Siwek. The Progress & Freedom Foundation. Progress on Point # 15.19. December 2008. 10 pages.

Cynics often argue that in the digital age “old media” has become obsolete. Despite such hyperbole, “old media” remains viable in the digital age. Various business model and technology innovations across a broad range of mediums are ensuring that these industries do not get bypassed as a result of new technologies. The Internet has changed two fundamental aspects for copyright industries and creators: the cost of distributing content and the means by which it is distributed. This paper explores how the traditional media industries are working innovatively to adapt to these changes to have not only a presence but a purpose in the digital age.

Staying the Course: Online Education in the United States, 2008
Elaine Allen and Jeff Seaman. The Sloan Consortium. November 2008. 28 pages.
http://www.sloanconsortium.org/publications/survey/pdf/staying_the_course.pdf

The number of students taking at least one online course continues to expand at a rate far in excess of the growth of overall higher education enrollments. The most recent estimate, for fall 2007, places this number at 3.94 million online students, an increase of 12.9 percent over fall 2006. This study is aimed at answering some of the fundamental questions about the nature and extent of online education.


Voir Teleformation