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Technology at the Margins – Social Innovators and Innovations
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Posted by Akhtar Badshah
Senior Director, Global Community Affairs
Akhtar Badshah, Senior Director, Global Community Affairs
Can technology be used to create positive social change, and if so, how? This was the focus of a talk I gave recently to a class on Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Columbia University. The class discussion was very illuminating and thought provoking.
As you might expect, I answered the above question in the affirmative. But I also argued that nonprofits and social innovators sometimes view technology with trepidation. It can be seen as disruptive, and there is much hesitation to fully embrace the power of technology-based innovation. Although most everyone recognizes that information and communication technology (ICT) has transformed the lives of people in developed societies, some are skeptical as to whether it holds the same potential for people living in the poorer regions of our planet.
But what if ICT were even more affordable, relevant and accessible? What impact would that have on further reducing poverty and improving lives? What innovation is required? What partnerships need to be forged? How can the diffusion of innovations be sped up? What‘s the role of multi-national corporations, non-governmental organizations, governments and, most importantly, individual social entrepreneurs?
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White House CIO Vivek Kundra Helps Showcase Windows Azure
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Posted by Teresa Carlson
Vice President, Microsoft Federal
When it comes to cloud computing, federal customers have a lot to consider and new business options to explore nearly every day. And while “the cloud” is still in its infancy, today, I’m excited to extend our cloud announcements coming out of Microsoft’s Professional Developer Conference (PDC09) in L.A., to the federal community. One of our own fearless leaders in the federal government, CIO Vivek Kundra, today joined Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie as Ray unveiled Microsoft’s cloud-based platforms Windows Azure and SQL Azure. Windows Azure provides developers with on-demand compute and storage power to host, scale and manage Web applications on the Internet through Microsoft data centers. Think of Windows Azure as a sort of operating system in the cloud, extending the Windows platform to allow for the creation of new, transformative cloud experiences that federal enterprises can take advantage of.
With help from Vivek, we showcased a community technology preview (CTP) of a subset of Windows Azure - codename “Dallas. ” Powered by Windows Azure and SQL Azure, this “data as a service” provides an open catalogue and marketplace for data – both public and commercial. Vivek demonstrated an app we helped to build for his iPhone - to find, query, and make meaningful use of Department of Labor teaching information and data that stored and catalogued in Windows Azure’s “Dallas.” Not only could he find out where teachers were most needed, but he could even get to the level of jobs for special education teachers.
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Partnering With Customers – and Competitors - on Green IT
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Posted by Steve Lippman
Director, Environmental Engagement Strategy
As part of our capacity-building efforts with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and non-profits, Microsoft recently partnered with TechSoup Global to present a set of webinars with green technology guidance specifically tailored to small and large NGOs. These webinars are one small part of a larger proactive campaign to help all our customers—large and small businesses, government agencies and others—optimize the energy efficiency and environmental sustainability of their information technology.
Advances in both hardware and software have dramatically increased the energy efficiency of computing. The leading energy-efficient laptops now entering the market use less energy than a single compact fluorescent light bulb. However, with more than 1 billion computers on the planet and 250 million new laptops, desktops and servers deployed each year, the IT industry must continue improving the energy efficiency of its products.
We have improved the efficiency of the Windows operating system with increasingly sophisticated energy-saving features and are building new energy efficiency requirements into our design process for future operating systems.
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White Spaces: Delivering Broadband to America
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Posted by Paula Boyd
Regulatory Counsel
Earlier today we were pleased to join Rep. Rick Boucher of Virginia, Spectrum Bridge, Dell and the TDF Foundation to mark the launch of a network that leverages vacant channels in the TV broadcasting band (the so-called “TV white spaces”) to provide broadband Internet access to the residents of Claudville, Virginia.
We commend Rep. Boucher for his leadership in promoting broadband connectivity, and applaud Spectrum Bridge for its hard work developing and installing a wireless network that uses the available TV white spaces in Claudville to enable the small, rural town’s roughly 1,000 residents to have much greater access to information and services.
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Empowering Families in the Digital Age
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Posted by Steve Crown
Deputy General Counsel and Vice President, Entertainment & Devices
I recently spent time in Washington, D.C., meeting with leading child safety experts who focus on addressing technology’s impact on kids. I was eager to gain new insights as we build out our Get Game Smart public education initiative, which we launched in January. I also wanted to hear these experts’ thoughts on ways we can improve Microsoft products and platforms to better meet parents’ needs, a topic I spoke about at a panel hosted by the Progress and Freedom Foundation during my visit (you can listen to it here).
These child safety leaders gave me a great level-set about the challenges we’re all working to address. They confirmed that while parents want their families to embrace the digital age and all the advantages it can bring, many remain uncertain how to do it safely and appropriately. Whether it’s a lack of awareness, our busy lifestyles or the intimidation of new technology, too many parents are not taking advantage of parental controls that can help prevent kids from interacting with strangers online or viewing inappropriate content.
With the rise of handheld devices and increased access to the Internet, it’s harder than ever for parents to monitor what their children see and who they talk to online. It’s no longer enough to keep the PC in the family room. “Sexting,” cyber-bullying and “digital reputations” have come to the fore as some of the toughest issues to manage. As a result, child safety experts are turning their focus to helping kids deal with each other.
We talked about ways to ensure that kids understand that the information they share, the pictures they post and the messages they leave on social networks have a long shelf-life. Inappropriate use of social networks can harm young adults’ social standing, their experiences in college and even their chances in the job market. There is no single response to these challenges. I shared some of the ways we at Microsoft are trying to reach families through our Get Game Smart site, in schools, via retailers, and by engaging with community organizations and social networks.
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A Celebration of World Standards Day
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Posted by Bill Harmon
Global Standards Lead, Microsoft Legal and Corporate Affairs
October 14 is World Standards Day, which has been observed for more than 40 years to highlight the economic importance of global standards and to honor the thousands of volunteers around the world who participate in standardization activities. It’s a day well worth celebrating.
When you bank at an ATM or log onto a Wi-Fi network at your favorite coffee shop, you don’t think about the effort that went into creating the standards that make all this convenience possible. Often, it’s the result of extensive and complex discussions.
Wi-Fi is a great example. In the early days of wireless computing, competing technologies caused confusion, created security issues, and hindered adoption. Responding to consumer demand, more than 130 companies collaborated in the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers industry standards group on the 802.11 Wi-Fi standard, now available to all manufacturers.
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IT as an Engine of Economic Growth -- Another Perspective
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Posted by Robert D. Atkinson
President, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
(Editor’s note: This is the first of what we anticipate will be a steady stream of posts from guest bloggers on Microsoft on the Issues. Robert Atkinson is the founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based technology policy think tank, and has an extensive background in technology policy. His comments help to place the recently released study "Aid to Recovery: The Economic Impact of IT, Software, and the Microsoft Ecosystem on the Global Economy," by IDC, in a richer context.)
Last week’s disappointing U.S. jobs numbers, which revealed that national unemployment climbed to 9.8 percent in September, reiterated how severe this global recession has been and how long it is likely to take to get to full recovery and growth, especially on the employment side. If there is a bright side it is that the continued global transformation to a digital economy is serving as an engine for economic recovery and growth.
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The Local Economic Benefits of the Global Software Business
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Posted by Pamela Passman
Corporate Vice President
Creating jobs and speeding economic recovery are top of mind for everyone these days, including those of us in the information technology (IT) industry. A recently released study entitled “Aid to Recovery: The Economic Impact of IT, Software, and the Microsoft Ecosystem on the Global Economy,” illustrates some of the ways the industry is doing its part to get the economy growing again.
This study, which was conducted by research firm IDC and commissioned by Microsoft, supports what academics and other researchers have believed for some time: Innovation and IT are core drivers of economic growth.
IDC found that the global IT industry will create 5.8 million new IT jobs by the end of 2013, a 3 percent annual growth rate – more than three times the growth rate of total employment. Similarly, IT spending will grow more than 3 percent annually for the next few years, more than three times faster than global GDP. And more than 75,000 new IT companies will be created by the end of 2013, most of them small and locally owned.
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Engineering Accessibility into Windows 7
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Posted by Laura Ruby
Director, Accessibility Policy and Standards
A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post about Government 2.0, accessibility and tools that are available to help developers make information technology more accessible to people with disabilities. As a longtime member of Microsoft’s accessibility community, I’m pleased to share with you another valuable resource – a new book entitled, Engineering Software for Accessibility (Microsoft Press, 2009; 100 pages). The book is available as a free download or as a hard-copy via Barnes & Noble and Amazon. My Microsoft accessibility colleague Jason Grieves, a program manager on the Windows Accessibility Team, and his colleague Masahiko Kaneko co-authored the book, which describes much of the process our engineers used to make Windows 7 the most accessible operating system Microsoft has yet produced.
Read more from the Windows team about the book and the efforts that went into writing it.
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Microsoft Develops Plug-in for Moodle to Aid Teachers, Students
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Posted by L. Michael Golden
Corporate Vice President, Education Products Group
As my colleagues and I talk to teachers, students and educational institutions about their use of information technology, we learn a lot about the applications with the greatest capacity to extend the abilities of teachers and schools to meet the needs of students in ways that are engaging, affordable, and personal.
One of these technologies is Moodle, a free, open-source, Web-based course management system that teachers use to create Web sites for their classes. Typical Moodle sites include class resources, homework assignments and quizzes. With nearly 30 million users in 207 countries, Moodle has clearly developed a loyal following among teachers and students.
At the same time, millions of teachers and students are also using live@edu, which provides collaboration and communication services to support their classroom work. By signing up for Live@edu, schools gain access to a comprehensive suite of services that includes Outlook Live for e-mail, Office Live Workspace for sharing documents and collaborating, Windows Live Messenger for instant messaging and Windows Live SkyDrive for 25 GB of online data storage space. Live@edu works across the full range of computing devices that students already use, giving them ubiquitous access to their coursework as well as powerful communications and collaboration tools.
This got us thinking: How can we integrate Live@edu services and Moodle applications, to make the learning and classroom experience even better?
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