December 2016

Citing an enormous potential to reduce crashes on US roadways, the US Department of Transportation issued a proposed rule that would advance the deployment of connected vehicle technologies throughout the US light vehicle fleet. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would enable vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication technology on all new light-duty vehicles, enabling a multitude of new crash-avoidance applications that, once fully deployed, could prevent hundreds of thousands of crashes every year by helping vehicles “talk” to each other. Separately, the Department’s Federal Highway Administration plans to soon issue guidance for Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communications, which will help transportation planners integrate the technologies to allow vehicles to “talk” to roadway infrastructure such as traffic lights, stop signs and work zones to improve mobility, reduce congestion and improve safety.

V2V devices would use the dedicated short range communications (DSRC) to transmit data, such as location, direction and speed, to nearby vehicles. That data would be updated and broadcast up to 10 times per second to nearby vehicles, and using that information, V2V-equipped vehicles can identify risks and provide warnings to drivers to avoid imminent crashes. Vehicles that contain automated driving functions—such as automatic emergency braking and adaptive cruise control—could also benefit from the use of V2V data to better avoid or reduce the consequences of crashes.

Forrester Research expects the US tech sector will grow less under President-elect Donald Trump than it would have under Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Forrester reworked its 2017 US tech market projections after Trump’s November victory because it anticipated a Clinton victory with more predictable policies similar to the last eight years under President Barack Obama. Forrester still expects the US tech sector to grow under Trump by 4.3 percent up to $1.49 trillion in 2017, compared to $1.44 trillion spent on goods, services and staff in 2016. Forrester’s pre-election forecast anticipated a 5.1 percent jump under an incoming Clinton administration, up to $1.51 trillion.

“Our pre-election forecast for the US tech market assumed the election of Hillary Clinton as president and the continuation of the Obama administration's policies,” said Forrester Vice President and Principal Analyst Andrew Bartels, the author of the report. “The election of Donald Trump as president introduces significant but still undefined shifts in the US economy's direction.”

[Commentary] Censorship and propaganda were once regarded as sources of shame, even in authoritarian settings, and the officials who carried out these shabby projects were shadowy figures unknown to the outside world. In the 21st century, however, things have changed.

Ironically, elements of democratic culture have contributed to the rise in modern propaganda. Propositions that there is no such thing as objective truth and that history is nothing more than a contest between competing narratives owe their popularity to radical theorists and even some journalists. While accusations that the press is biased are common fodder in American political campaigns, the exaggerated and repeated charges of media bias expressed during the presidential campaign reinforced the propagandist’s depiction of a world in which truth is determined by which side argues the loudest and formulates the cleverest lies. Others have cynically made use of the too-trusting model of Western journalism, which, in an effort to see both sides, has treated patently false assertions as symmetrical with legitimate views or facts. The struggle over the future of global democracy is still in its early stage. Right now, unfortunately, it is democracy’s adversaries who are advancing the tawdry case for propaganda and censorship with self-assurance, and freedom’s champions whose response is mired in bewilderment and hesitation.

[Arch Puddington is distinguished fellow in democracy studies at Freedom House.]