“The CIO of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation is among the health-industry executives named to an 11-member federal commission to help the nation develop and implement health-IT standards that will serve as the foundation for establishing a system for universal electronic health records.” [Link] Reference: House Rpt. 108-391 – Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: October 2004
Report on Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction
Comprehensive Report of the Special Advisor to the Director of Central Intelligence on Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction, which was prepared by Charles Duelfer, chief weapons inspector for the Iraqi Survey Group. This report is in three volumes, comprising 1000 pages, PDF. September 30, 2004. [Link to table of contents, from the CIA website] Key… Continue Reading
The Challenges of Digitizing Government Records Management
NARA prepares for a new era in records management This article provides insight into, and factual data about, the huge challenge and the technology associated with the development and implementation, by the National Archives, of a new online system to manage and make accessible billions of government agency records. Continue Reading
House Gives Overwhelming Approval to Spy Act
The SPY Act, H.R. 2929, To protect users of the Internet from unknowing transmission of their personally identifiable information through spyware programs, and for other purposes, was approved today by the House. See the accompanying House Report 108-619. See also this related posting, Spy Act Receives Strong Endorsement from House Cmte, the Software Principles Yielding… Continue Reading
CRS Updates Report on Data Quality
CRS Report, The Information Quality Act: OMB’s Guidance and Initial Implementation, Updated September 17, 2004. “In December 2000, Congress passed and the President signed the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (P. L. 106-554). Section 515 of that more than 700-page bill has subsequently been referred to as the “Data Quality… Continue Reading
Commentary on Search Engines and the Process of Conducting Historical Research
From First Monday, Internet time and the reliability of search engines “Search engines are unreliable tools for research that aims to reconstruct the historical record. Why? Some search engines systematically relocate the time stamp of Web documents in their databases from the more distant past into the present and the very recent past.” Continue Reading
Recruiters and Job Seekers Turn to Blogs
From the New York Times, Need a New Job? Check Out a Blog. “Job seekers use blogs to establish a strong online presence, display their skills and advertise their availability…Corporate recruiters, in turn, use blogs to draw in qualified candidates, and they search for potential hires by reading bloggers who write about topics relevant to… Continue Reading
First State Gov’t Digital Archives Launched by Washington State
From the website: “The much-anticipated grand opening of America’s first state government digital archives occurred on October 4, 2004…The Washington State Digital Archives is the nation’s first archives dedicated specifically to the preservation of electronic records from both State and Local agencies that have permanent legal, fiscal or historical value.” Three search features are available… Continue Reading
GAO Report on Implementation of HIPAA Privacy Rule
Health Information: First-Year Experiences under the Federal Privacy Rule, GAO-04-965, September 3, 2004, Highlights (both documents in PDF). “Consumer and provider representatives contend that the general public is not well informed about their rights under the Privacy Rule. According to these organizations, patients may not understand the privacy notices they receive, or do not focus… Continue Reading
DHS OIG Assessment on Terror Watch List
Department of Home Security, Office of Inspector General, Office of Technology report: DHS Challenges in Consolidating Terrorist Watch List Information (54 pages, PDF, redacted). “DHS is not playing a lead role in consolidating terrorist watch list information…DHS offcials said that the new department lacked the resources and infrastructure to assume leadership for the consolidation…Effective use… Continue Reading
Commentary on Proposed E-Discovery Rules
See this article by Anita Ramasastry and my related posting. Continue Reading
Foreign Intelligence Gathering and the Challenges of Info Overload
“In a report issued jointly by the Center for Democracy & Technology and the Heritage Foundation, National Security Agency Inspector General Joel Brenner proposes ten practical principles that should be applied to the human and technical aspects of information systems in order to balance privacy and national security.” [From the Center for Democracy and Technology]… Continue Reading
