***************************************************** Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. *****************************************************
TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 2006 Internet2 Announces Abilene Replacement Digital Divide Shrinking Study Says Businesses Making Progress Against Hackers INTERNET2 ANNOUNCES ABILENE REPLACEMENT Speaking at an Internet2 conference, Douglas Van Houweling, president of the organization, gave some details about the backbone network that will replace Abilene, Internet2's current high-speed backbone, in about 18 months. The new network, currently being called "Newnet," will initially offer roughly 10 times the bandwidth now provided by Abilene. Each institution connected would have a wavelength dedicated to conventional Internet traffic and access to a separate wavelength that institutions could use as they choose, according to Steve Cotter, director of network services for Internet2. Cotter said the goal is to allow institutions to order extra bandwidth as necessary. The network would apportion the requested bandwidth and make it available within a few minutes, rather than the several months it often takes to get extra bandwidth from commercial vendors. The announcement to proceed with plans to replace Abilene came after merger talks between Internet2 and National LambdaRail broke down. Although Van Houweling and Larry Faulkner, chairman of Internet2's Board of Trustees, both said higher education would benefit from a single research network, Faulkner said of the merger talks, "At this moment, there is no mechanism for moving the discussion forward." Chronicle of Higher Education, 26 April 2006 http://chronicle.com/free/2006/04/2006042601t.htm DIGITAL DIVIDE SHRINKING According to a study conducted by IBM and "The Economist" magazine, although the digital divide remains considerable for some countries, the gaps are shrinking. The study assessed both availability and use of technology in 68 countries and assigned each an "e-readiness" score on a scale of 1 to 10. The gap from the top of the list (Denmark, 9.00) to the bottom (Azerbaijan, 2.92) is indeed significant, but in certain regions of China and India, connectivity rivals that of developed nations, according to Peter Korsten, European director at IBM's Institute for Business Value. The study noted that nearly every country's score improved from last year but that countries nearer the bottom of the list saw greater gains than those in the upper tiers, indicating a shrinking digital divide overall. Beyond the issue of connectivity lies the question of what efforts each country makes to use technology. As Korsten said, "It's up to governments to take advantage with education and other initiatives." CNET, 26 April 2006 http://news.com.com/2100-1034_3-6065240.html STUDY SAYS BUSINESSES MAKING PROGRESS AGAINST HACKERS A survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the Department of Trade and Industry indicates that British businesses are making strides in their efforts to thwart computer attacks. Overall, the number of U.K. businesses to suffer computer incidents dropped from 74 percent in 2004 to 62 percent in 2005, according to the Information Security Breaches survey. By far the largest drop was seen in computer viruses, which fell by one-third, while other sorts of attacks and accidental data loss stayed relatively steady, said Chris Potter, who led the survey. He noted that the reduction of incidents follows an increase in security spending in the business sector, which now spends between 4 and 5 percent of technology budgets on security, compared to just 3 percent in 2004. Still, said Potter, many businesses, particularly smaller ones, continue to leave themselves vulnerable to computer attacks. In fact, the survey showed that the number of computer incidents affecting small businesses has risen by 50 percent since 2004. BBC, 25 April 2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4939386.stm ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your settings, or access the Edupage archive, visit http://www.educause.edu/Edupage/639 Or, you can subscribe or unsubscribe by sending e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To SUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName To UNSUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SIGNOFF Edupage If you have subscription problems, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE RESOURCES The EDUCAUSE Resource Center is a repository for information concerning use and management of IT in higher education. To access resources including articles, books, conference sessions, contracts, effective practices, plans, policies, position descriptions, and blog content, go to http://www.educause.edu/resources ***************************************************** CONFERENCES For information on all EDUCAUSE learning and networking opportunities, see http://www.educause.edu/31 ***************************************************** COPYRIGHT Edupage copyright (c) 2006, EDUCAUSE
