Category: Emerging Technologies

"Blockchain Technology as a Regulatory Technology: From Code Is Law to Law Is Code"

Primavera De Filippi and Samer Hassan have published "Blockchain Technology as a Regulatory Technology: From Code Is Law to Law Is Code" in First Monday.

Here's an excerpt:

To illustrate the extent to which blockchain code can assume the function of law, let us take the example of a hypothetical blockchain-based DRM system. Copyright law introduces "artificial scarcity" in the realm of information, by prohibiting (or constraining) the reproduction of creative works without the consent of the corresponding right holders. Yet, given the ease with which one can produce an identical copy of a digital work, copyright infringement has become widespread in the digital world. Since many years already, content providers have been relying on technological means (such as DRM systems, or other technological measures of protection) to restrain the way in which content can be accessed, used or reused by introducing a new set of technical rules, as a complement to the legal provisions of copyright law. Yet, most of these systems are limited by the fact that it is impossible to distinguish one digital file from another. By leveraging on the transparency and immutability of blockchain technologies, it is possible to restore the unicity and transferability of digital works, by linking every digital copy to a particular token on the blockchain. Authors can then associate these tokens with a particular set of rights to their digital works and trade them in the same way as they would trade digital tokens. Blockchain technology can thus be used to implement "artificial scarcity" at the level of each individual file—thus potentially allowing for the reintroduction of the first sale doctrine [11] in the digital realm, without the need to rely on any contractual or legal means.

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Internet of Things (IoT) Security and Privacy Recommendations

The Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group has released the Internet of Things (IoT) Security and Privacy Recommendations.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The emergence of IoT presents opportunities for significant innovation, from smart homes to smart cities. In many cases, straightforward changes to device development, distribution, and maintenance processes can prevent the distribution of IoT devices that suffer from significant security and privacy issues. BITAG believes that following the guidelines outlined in this report may dramatically improve the security and privacy of IoT devices and minimize the costs associated with the collateral damage that would otherwise affect both end users and ISPs.

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The Internet of Things: A UKeiG White Paper

UKeiG has released The Internet of Things: A UKeiG White Paper .

Here's an excerpt:

This White Paper presents an overview of some of the key issues surrounding the development and deployment of the collection of technologies commonly referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT).

The technological underpinnings of the IoT are discussed in the context of a rapidly developing new field of technology and with an acknowledgement that there is some way to go before commonly accepted standards are agreed upon and that the commercial case, particularly in the domestic sphere, for the IoT is yet to be made.

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NMC Horizon Report > 2016 Higher Education Edition

The New Media Consortium and EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative have released NMC Horizon Report > 2016 Higher Education Edition.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The report identifies six key trends, six significant challenges, and six important developments in educational technology across three adoption horizons spanning over the next one to five years, giving campus leaders, educational technologists, and faculty a valuable guide for strategic technology planning. The report provides higher education leaders with in-depth insight into how trends and challenges are accelerating and impeding the adoption of educational technology, along with their implications for policy, leadership, and practice.

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"How to Use Crowdsourcing Effectively: Guidelines and Examples"

Elena Simperl has published "How to Use Crowdsourcing Effectively: Guidelines and Examples" in LIBER Quarterly.

Here's an excerpt:

Crowdsourcing has become the mot du jour when it comes to resolving any types of problems, online or offline, that require sustained human involvement. We see it applied in order to motivate employees to engage with less rewarding daily routines, to attract the best possible ideas and approaches to boost innovation, or to complete data processing tasks that computing technology has yet to master quickly and accurately.

In this paper we look at its various forms and flavors, from gamification to human computation and grand challenges, and discuss how it could be used to turn conventional content management applications into social machines in which tasks are performed as optimal combinations of human and computational intelligence. We introduce a framework for the analysis of the most important building blocks of such systems, as well as design and participation best practices that should guide their development.

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"What Technology Skills Do Developers Need? A Text Analysis of Job Listings in Library and Information Science (LIS) from Jobs.code4lib.org"

Monica Maceli has published "What Technology Skills Do Developers Need? A Text Analysis of Job Listings in Library and Information Science (LIS) from Jobs.code4lib.org " in Information Technology and Libraries.

Here's an excerpt:

Technology plays an indisputably vital role in library and information science (LIS) work; this rapidly moving landscape can create challenges for practitioners and educators seeking to keep pace with such change. In pursuit of building our understanding of currently sought technology competencies in developer-oriented positions within LIS, this paper reports the results of a text analysis of a large collection of job listings culled from the Code4lib jobs website. Beginning over a decade ago as a popular mailing list covering the intersection of technology and library work, the Code4lib organization's current offerings include a website that collects and organizes LIS-related technology job listings. The results of the text analysis of this dataset suggest the currently vital technology skills and concepts that existing and aspiring practitioners may target in their continuing education as developers.

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"Using Vine to Disseminate Library Information: A Practical Guide"

Antony Groves has published "Using Vine to Disseminate Library Information: A Practical Guide" in the LSE Impact Blog.

Here's an excerpt:

There are a number of blog posts recommending Vine to librarians, featuring some excellent examples of how the app is being used by libraries . . . Despite this, Vine remains an under-used tool. One reason for this may be the absence of a clear guide on how to use Vine. The following article intends to address this issue by equipping practitioners with a short guide to creating Vines. It will begin by introducing Vine, explaining what it is and why it should be considered when promoting certain aspects of the Library. This will be followed by a five-step guide to creating Vines on Android devices and iPhones.

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Rapid Fabrication/Makerspace Services, SPEC Kit 348

ARL has released Rapid Fabrication/Makerspace Services, SPEC Kit 348.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

ARL has released Rapid Fabrication/Makerspace Services, SPEC Kit 348, an exploration of current ARL member library engagement with 3-D printing, rapid fabrication and digitization technologies, and makerspaces. This study covers the types of services libraries offer, the location of these services, the hardware and software that is available for users, service hours and staffing, user outreach and training, budget and funding, and evaluation of the services.

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NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Library Edition

The New Media Consortium has released the NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Library Edition.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

What is on the five-year horizon for academic and research libraries? The NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Library Edition examines key trends, significant challenges, and important developments in technology for their impact on academic and research libraries worldwide.

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NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Higher Education Edition

The NMC and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative have released the NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Higher Education Edition.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

This 12th edition describes annual findings from the NMC Horizon Project, an ongoing research project designed to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have an impact on learning, teaching, and creative inquiry in education. Six key trends, six significant challenges, and six important developments in educational technology are identified across three adoption horizons over the next one to five years, giving campus leaders and practitioners a valuable guide for strategic technology planning. The report aims to provide these leaders with more in-depth insight into how the trends and challenges are accelerating and impeding the adoption of educational technology, along with their implications for policy, leadership and practice.

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"The Social, Political and Legal Aspects of Text and Data Mining (TDM)"

Michelle Brook, Peter Murray-Rust, and Charles Oppenheim have published "The Social, Political and Legal Aspects of Text and Data Mining (TDM)" in D-Lib Magazine.

Here's an excerpt:

The ideas of textual or data mining (TDM) and subsequent analysis go back hundreds if not thousands of years. Originally carried out manually, textual and data analysis has long been a tool which has enabled new insights to be drawn from text corpora. However, for the potential benefits of TDM to be unlocked, a number of non-technological barriers need to be overcome. These include legal uncertainty resulting from complicated copyright, database rights and licensing, the fact that some publishers are not currently embracing the opportunities TDM offers the academic community, and a lack of awareness of TDM among many academics, alongside a skills gap.

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Killer Apps in the Gigabit Age

The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project has released Killer Apps in the Gigabit Age.

Here's an excerpt:

To explore the possibilities of the next leap in connectivity we asked thousands of experts and Internet builders to share their thoughts about likely new Internet activities and applications that might emerge in the gigabit age. We call this a canvassing because it is not a representative, randomized survey. Its findings emerge from an "opt in" invitation to experts, many of whom play active roles in Internet evolution as technology builders, researchers, managers, policymakers, marketers, and analysts. We also invited comments from those who have made insightful predictions to our previous queries about the future of the Internet.

Digital Scholarship | "A Quarter-Century as an Open Access Publisher"

NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Library Edition

NMC has released the NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Library Edition.

Here’s an excerpt from the press release:

The NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Library Edition, examines key trends, significant challenges, and emerging technologies for their potential impact on academic and research libraries worldwide. While there are many local factors affecting libraries, there are also issues that transcend regional boundaries and common questions; it was with these questions in mind that this report was created.

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Alcatel-Lucent Transmits 10 GBS on Copper Telephone Lines

Alcatel-Lucent has announced that it has transmitted 10 GBS over copper wires.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Bell Labs, the research arm of Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU), has set a new broadband speed record of 10 gigabits-per-second (Gbps) using traditional copper telephone lines and a prototype technology that demonstrates how existing copper access networks can be used to deliver 1Gbps symmetrical ultra-broadband access services. . . .

The Bell Labs tests used a prototype technology called XG-FAST. This is an extension of G.fast technology, a new broadband standard currently being finalized by the ITU. When it becomes commercially available in 2015, G.fast will use a frequency range for data transmission of 106 MHz, giving broadband speeds up to 500 Mbps over a distance of 100 meters. In contrast, XG-FAST uses an increased frequency range up to 500 MHz to achieve higher speeds but over shorter distances. Bell Labs achieved 1 Gbps symmetrical over 70 meters on a single copper pair. 10 Gbps was achieved over a distance of 30 meters by using two pairs of lines (a technique known as "bonding"). Both tests used standard copper cable provided by a European operator.

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"The ‘Digital’ Scholarship Disconnect"

Clifford Lynch has published "The 'Digital' Scholarship Disconnect" in EDUCAUSE Review.

Here's an excerpt:

Still, in all of these examples of digital scholarship, a key challenge remains: How can we curate and manage data now that so much of it is being produced and collected in digital form? How can we ensure that it will be discovered, shared, and reused to advance scholarship? We are struggling through the establishment of institutions, funding models, policies and practices, and even new legal requirements and community norms—ranging from cultural changes about who can use data (and when) to economic decisions about who should pay for what. Some disciplines are less contentious than others: for example, astronomy data is technically well-understood and usually not terribly sensitive. Reputation, rather than commercial reward, is wrapped up in astronomical discoveries, and there is no institutional review board to ensure the safety and dignity of astronomical objects. On the other hand, human subjects and their data raise an enormous number of questions about informed consent, privacy, and anonymization; when there are genetic markers or possible treatments to be discovered or validated, serious high-value commercial interests may be at stake. All of these factors tend to work against the free and convenient sharing of data.

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"The University Library as Incubator for Digital Scholarship"

Bryan Sinclair has published "The University Library as Incubator for Digital Scholarship" in EDUCAUSE Review.

Here's an excerpt:

The campus of the future will be increasingly connected and collaborative, and the library can be the community center and beta test kitchen for new forms of interdisciplinary inquiry. Libraries have always been in the business of knowledge creation and transfer, and the digital scholarship incubator within the library can serve as a natural extension of this essential function. In an age of visualization, analytics, big data, and new forms of online publishing, these central spaces can facilitate knowledge creation and transfer by connecting people, data, and technology in a shared collaborative space.

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The Internet of Things Will Thrive by 2025

The Pew Research Center has released The Internet of Things Will Thrive by 2025.

Here's an excerpt:

This current report is an analysis of opinions about the likely expansion of the Internet of Things (sometimes called the Cloud of Things), a catchall phrase for the array of devices, appliances, vehicles, wearable material, and sensor-laden parts of the environment that connect to each other and feed data back and forth. It covers the over 1,600 responses that were offered specifically about our question about where the Internet of Things would stand by the year 2025. The report is the next in a series of eight Pew Research and Elon University analyses to be issued this year in which experts will share their expectations about the future of such things as privacy, cybersecurity, and net neutrality. It includes some of the best and most provocative of the predictions survey respondents made when specifically asked to share their views about the evolution of embedded and wearable computing and the Internet of Things.

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Big Data: Seizing Opportunities, Preserving Values

The Executive Office of the President has released Big Data: Seizing Opportunities, Preserving Values.

Here's an excerpt:

On January 17, in a speech at the Justice Department about reforming the United States' signals intelligence practices, President Obama tasked his Counselor John Podesta with leading a comprehensive review of the impact big data technologies are having, and will have, on a range of economic, social, and government activities. Podesta was joined in this effort by Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, the President's Science Advisor John Holdren, the President's Economic Advisor Jeffrey Zients, and other senior government officials. The President's Council of Advisors for Science & Technology conducted a parallel report to take measure of the underlying technologies. Their findings underpin many of the technological assertions in this report.

This review was conceived as fundamentally a scoping exercise. Over 90 days, the review group engaged with academic experts, industry representatives, privacy advocates, civil rights groups, law enforcement agents, and other government agencies. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy jointly organized three university conferences, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, and the University of California, Berkeley. The White House Office of Science & Technology Policy also issued a "Request for Information" seeking public comment on issues of big data and privacy and received more than 70 responses. In addition, the WhiteHouse.gov platform was used to conduct an unscientific survey of public attitudes about different uses of big data and various big data technologies. A list of the working group's activities can be found in the Appendix.

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Digital Life in 2025

The Pew Research Center has released Digital Life in 2025.

Here's an excerpt:

To a notable extent, the experts agree on the technology change that lies ahead, even as they disagree about its ramifications. Most believe there will be:

  • A global, immersive, invisible, ambient networked computing environment built through the continued proliferation of smart sensors, cameras, software, databases, and massive data centers in a world-spanning information fabric known as the Internet of Things.
  • "Augmented reality" enhancements to the real-world input that people perceive through the use of portable/wearable/implantable technologies.
  • Disruption of business models established in the 20 th century (most notably impacting finance, entertainment, publishers of all sorts, and education).
  • Tagging, databasing, and intelligent analytical mapping of the physical and social realms.

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MOOC Content Licensing Solution Launched

The Copyright Clearance Center has Launched the MOOC Content Licensing Solution.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

The MOOC Content Licensing Solution uses the current per-page or per-article academic-based pricing rightsholders have established through CCC's Electronic Course Content pay-per-use service. CCC offers digital rights from over 5,000 rightsholders around the world to public, private not-for-profit, and private for-profit U.S.-based institutions of higher education that conduct academic MOOCs.

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"Keeping Up With… Augmented Reality"

ACRL has released "Keeping Up With… Augmented Reality."

Here's an excerpt:

At a minimum, libraries will need to be prepared to support augmented reality if and when it becomes more prevalent in textbooks and other print materials. But, while these materials are certainly relevant to the work of academic libraries, there are also several interesting library-specific augmented reality tools in use at various institutions. ShelvAR, developed by the Miami University Library, is an excellent example of how augmented reality can increase the efficiency of libraries' existing workflows. Available for use with any iOS or Android device with a camera, this app can scan any tagged library materials and overlay a red X over any item that is out of place on the shelf.

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NMC Horizon Report > 2014 Higher Education Edition

The New Media Consortium and EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative have released the NMC Horizon Report > 2014 Higher Education Edition.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

This eleventh edition describes annual findings from the NMC Horizon Project, an ongoing research project designed to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have an impact on learning, teaching, and creative inquiry in education. Six key trends, six significant challenges, and six emerging technologies are identified across three adoption horizons over the next one to five years, giving campus leaders and practitioners a valuable guide for strategic technology planning

.

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"A Compendium of MOOC Perspectives, Research, and Resources"

Judith A. Pirani has published "A Compendium of MOOC Perspectives, Research, and Resources" in EDUCAUSE Review.

Here's an excerpt:

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) remain higher education's hot and sexy topic, influencing discussion and media, and creating conjecture and controversy. Nearly every publication and pundit has offered a view on the subject, resulting in an avalanche of information for busy IT leaders and others who want to discern what all this means for their institutions.

This compendium attempts to lend a helping hand, recounting perspectives, research, and resources gleaned from a search of EDUCAUSE and other published sources. It is by no means absolute, but rather aims to provide a starting point of discovery for interested parties.

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"Text & Data Mining—A Librarian Overview"

IFLA has released "Text & Data Mining—A Librarian Overview" by Ann Okerson.

Here's an excerpt:

Text and data mining offers exciting research opportunities over a broad range of fields. . . .

This paper reviews some of the possibilities for such work and outlines the challenges and the way ahead for librarians. One challenge lies in the terms by which data sets are licensed and made available to academic and other users; librarians need to be proactive in ensuring that these terms are favorable for the kind of use researchers will need and that the resources themselves are available in a format that allows innovative mining-based research. Another challenge is the need to support users who wish to engage in text and data mining with limited experience, especially when they approach data sets made available through library resources. Librarians should develop the expertise to support their users by making data resources available to them on favorable terms and supporting their mining efforts.

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Riding the Waves or Caught in the Tide? Insights from the IFLA Trend Report

IFLA has released Riding the Waves or Caught in the Tide? Insights from the IFLA Trend Report.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

In the global information environment, time moves quickly and there's an abundance of commentators trying to keep up. With each new technological development, a new report emerges assessing its impact on different sectors of society. The IFLA Trend Report takes a broader approach and identifies five high level trends shaping the information society, spanning access to education, privacy, civic engagement and transformation. Its findings reflect a year's consultation with a range of experts and stakeholders from different disciplines to map broader societal changes occurring, or likely to occur in the information environment.

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