Category «Economy»

Texas asks Trump judge to declare most of federal government unconstitutional

Vox: “Earlier this month, Texas’s Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit claiming that the $1.7 trillion spending law that keeps most of the federal government — including the US military — operating through September of 2023 is unconstitutional. Paxton’s claims in Texas v. Garland, which turn on the fact that many of the …

Subjects: Courts, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents

Linux Foundation Europe launches the OpenWallet Foundation to power interoperable digital wallets

Tech Crunch: “The Linux Foundation‘s European off-shoot has formally launched the OpenWallet Foundation (OWF), a new collaborative effort designed to support interoperability between digital wallets through open source software. The launch comes some five months after the Linux Foundation first revealed plans to set up the OWF, shortly before it spun out a region-specific entity …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Internet

Nearly 30 percent of work remains remote as workers dig in

The Hill: “The pandemic may be winding down, but the work-from-home revolution marches on.   Nearly 30 percent of all work happened at home in January, six times the rate in 2019, according to WFH Research, a data-collection project. In Washington and other large urban centers, the share of remote work is closer to half. In …

Subjects: Economy, Internet, Knowledge Management, Transportation

IRS Needs to Complete Modernization Plans and Fully Address Cloud Computing Requirements

Information Technology: IRS Needs to Complete Modernization Plans and Fully Address Cloud Computing Requirements, GAO-23-104719 Published: Jan 12, 2023. Publicly Released: Feb 07, 2023. “The Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) legacy IT environment includes applications, software, and hardware, which are outdated but still critical to day-to-day operations. Specifically, GAO’s analysis showed that about 33 percent of …

Subjects: Congress, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Salesforce offers 5 guidelines to reduce AI bias

Tech Republic: “Salesforce, which last year introduced its Einstein AI framework behind its Customer 360 platform, has published what it says is the industry’s first Guidelines for Trusted Generative AI. Written by Paula Goldman, chief ethical and humane use officer, and Kathy Baxter, principal architect of ethical AI at the company, the guidelines are meant …

Subjects: AI, Economy, Education, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Global internet connectivity at risk from climate disasters

E&E News ClimateWire: “The flow of digital information through fiber-optic cables lining the sea floor could be compromised by climate change. That’s according to new research published in the journal Earth-Science Reviews by scientists from the United Kingdom’s National Oceanography Centre and the University of Central Florida. They found that ocean and nearshore disturbances caused …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Environmental Law, Financial System, Internet

Commentary Early thoughts on regulating generative AI like ChatGPT

Brookings, Alex Engler: “With OpenAI’s ChatGPT now a constant presence both on social media and in the news, generative artificial intelligence (AI) models have taken hold of the public’s imagination. Policymakers have taken note too, with statements from Members addressing risks and AI-generated text read on the floor of the House of Representatives. While they …

Subjects: AI, Congress, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Legislation, Search Engines

Audit finds New York City agencies need AI usage policies

Statescoop – “Agencies in New York City need better policies and guidance for using AI technology, according to a state auditor’s report: “An audit by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found that the New York City Office of Technology and Innovation needs to create better artificial intelligence usage policies for city agencies. In examining …

Subjects: AI, Economy, Education, Government Documents, Housing, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

The return to the office could be the real reason for the slump in productivity

Fortune – Here’s the data to prove it: “The return to office looks like it’s going backward. After office occupancy rose to over 50.4% in late January, it dropped to 45.6% by early February before recovering slightly to 48.6%. That’s despite many business leaders trying to get their employees back to the office in an …

Subjects: Economy, Internet, Knowledge Management

Top Risks in Cybersecurity 2023

Bipartisan Policy Institute – Top Risks in Cybersecurity 2023 – “The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) convened a working group of leaders to strengthen America’s cybersecurity. The group’s approach was to identify the nation’s top cybersecurity risks to raise awareness so policymakers and businesses can take pragmatic action and invest in countermeasures. In assembling the working …

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Legal Research

Unpriced climate risk and the potential consequences of overvaluation in US housing markets

Gourevitch, J.D., Kousky, C., Liao, Y.(. et al. Unpriced climate risk and the potential consequences of overvaluation in US housing markets. Nat. Clim. Chang. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01594-8 “Climate change impacts threaten the stability of the US housing market. In response to growing concerns that increasing costs of flooding are not fully captured in property values, we …

Subjects: Economy, Environmental Law, Financial System, Government Documents, Housing, Poverty

Worsening climate shocks risk distracting from efforts to reduce carbon emissions, creating ‘doom loop’

“The world is entering a more difficult stage of the climate and ecological crisis where its symptoms are drawing attention away from efforts to tackle its root causes, according to a new report published by the IPPR and Chatham House think tanks. Huge resources are being deployed to respond to the growing number of climate …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Economy, Energy