The White House is releasing a five-year plan to strengthen education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), developed by the National Science and Technology Council Committee on STEM Education and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The plan seeks to ensure that all Americans have access to quality STEM education and safeguard America’s place as the global leader in STEM innovation and employment.
More than 19 million people living in rural America do not have access to broadband, a service as necessary as electricity in today’s digital economy. Microsoft President Brad Smith reiterated his call for a national strategy to close the rural broadband gap and highlighted that this is a problem the country can solve. The Microsoft Airband Initiative launched in July 2017 with the goal of working with partners to make broadband available to 2 million Americans in rural communities who lack access today and to help catalyze an ecosystem to connect millions more.
The Defense Department is giving industry more time to come up with plans to quarantine the agency’s internal networks using the cloud. The Defense Information Systems Agency extended the deadline for vendors to submit white papers on how to build a cloud-based system that cuts off agency networks from the public web while still allowing employees to access the internet. The tech would close many of the digital doorways hackers and other online bad actors use to attack the Department of Defense Information Network, or DODIN, according to the solicitation.
I’m pleased to note that the Americas region continues to work hard and steadily advance regional proposals for the 2019 International Telecommunication Union World Radio Conference. We are deeply focused on the WRC-19.
A half day event bringing together members of Congress and other federal, state, and local agencies, community leaders, and policy experts. Keynote conversations and panel discussions will work to determine key policy goals and action steps for the new Congress, with a specific focus on rural broadband and digital privacy legislation.
Event registration and additional information will be circulated soon.
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