World Bank – “The 2015 edition of International Debt Statistics (IDS) has just been released. IDS 2015 draws from comprehensive databases of debt statistics collected from 124 low- and middle-income countries, as well as quarterly external and public sector debt from high-income countries. These databases continue to be a vital input for debt managers and researchers… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: December 2014
Centrality-based Capital Allocations
IMF Working Paper Working Paper No. 14/237. Adrian Alter, Ben Craig ; Peter Raupach. December 24, 2014. “We look at the effect of capital rules on a banking system that is connected through correlated credit exposures and interbank lending. The rules, which combine individual bank characteristics and interconnectivity measures of interbank lending, are to minimize a measure of system-wide… Continue Reading
NSA Reports to the President’s Intelligence Oversight Board
Bloomberg – U.S. Spy Agency Reports Improper Surveillance of Americans “Following a classification review, the National Security Agency (NSA) is releasing in redacted form NSA reports to the President’s Intelligence Oversight Board (IOB). The release includes quarterly reports submitted from the fourth quarter of 2001 to the second quarter of 2013. The materials also include… Continue Reading
2013 National Incident-Based Reporting System Data Available
“The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) was implemented to improve the quality of crime data collected by law enforcement by capturing detailed information on each single crime occurrence. Designed for law enforcement, the NIBRS has the flexibility to gather administrative facts on crime incidents as well as varied information about the victims, offenses, arrestees, and… Continue Reading
U.S. Department of Transportation Announces Decline in Traffic Fatalities in 2013
“The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released the 2013 Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data that shows a 3.1 percent decrease from the previous year and a nearly 25 percent decline in overall highway deaths since 2004. In 2013, 32,719 people died in traffic crashes. The estimated number of people… Continue Reading
Evaluation of DHS’ Information Security Program for Fiscal Year 2014
December 12, 2014 OIG-15-16: “DHS has taken steps to improve its information security program. For example, DHS expanded the ongoing authorization program to improve the security of its information systems through a revised risk management approach. Additionally, DHS developed and implemented the Fiscal Year 2014 Information Security Performance Plan, which defines the performance requirements, priorities, and overall goals for the Department. DHS has also… Continue Reading
Irish Government Joins Microsoft Against US Govt Access to Cloud Based Servers
The Register: “The Irish government today supported Microsoft in its ongoing fight against US prosecutors – who appear to want access to server hard drives anywhere in the world. Microsoft has garnered serious backing from the technology industry in its case against American investigators. The Feds believe they have the right to access emails stored on… Continue Reading
Survey of Mainframe Users
BMC Mainframe Survey points to continued reliance on IBM System z – “In October, BMC released their ninth annual mainframe survey, “2014 Annual Mainframe Research Results: Bringing IT to Life Through Digital Transformation”. The survey is widely regarded as a useful insight into today’s IBM mainframe world. Let’s explore some of the findings from the BMC study,… Continue Reading
National Archives Information Security Oversight Office Report to the President 2013
“This report provides statistics and analysis of the system of classification and declassification based on ISOO’s review of Departments’ and Agencies’ programs. It also contains the status of agency self-assessment reporting, the cost of security classification activity, and the National Industrial Security Program. I have also incorporated the required annual report on the development of the Controlled Unclassified… Continue Reading
Education Department Issues A College Ratings Framework
“Since the President took office, the Administration has worked to increase Pell Grants by more than $1,000 a year, created the new American Opportunity Tax Credit worth up to $10,000 over four years of college, capped student loan payments to 10 percent of monthly income, and laid out an ambitious agenda to keep college affordable.… Continue Reading
Relative Impacts of Projected Climate and Land-use Change on Conterminous US Bird Species from 2001 to 2075
Via USGS news release, includes data files and photos :”Species distribution modeling was used to assess the relative impacts of climate and land-use change on fifty bird species for the conterminous United States. Species presence data, current and projected land-cover data, current and projected climate data, and topographic data were used in a maximum entropy… Continue Reading
Federal Agencies’ Steps to Improve Mobile Access to Government Information and Services
Federal Agencies’ Steps to Improve Mobile Access to Government Information and Services, GAO-15-69: Published: Dec 22, 2014. Publicly Released: Dec 22, 2014. “According to Pew Research Center, in 2013, some demographic groups relied more on cellphones to access the Internet than others. Those who are young, earn more income, have a graduate degree, or are African American had… Continue Reading
