Tag Archives: European Union

At 10-Year Milestone, Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Initiative More Important than Ever

*Industry collaboration critical to helping businesses, governments and citizens realize safer computing experiences.*

REDMOND, Wash. Ten years ago this week, during a time when security problems were threatening trust in software products, Bill Gates sent an email to all Microsoft full-time employees announcing the creation of the Trustworthy Computing (TwC) initiative. A pivotal moment in the company’s history, Gates defined the key aspects of Trustworthy Computing, stating the company must make this initiative the highest priority.

Gates’ memo called upon employees across the company to fundamentally rethink their approach to product development and strive to deliver products that are “as available, reliable and secure as standard services such as electricity, water services and telephony.” (more…)

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Thawing Permafrost Could Release Vast Amounts of Carbon and Accelerate Climate Change by the end of this Century

*New computer modeling study, led by a Berkeley Lab scientist, could help revise understanding of permafrost’s role in global warming*

Billions of tons of carbon trapped in high-latitude permafrost may be released into the atmosphere by the end of this century as the Earth’s climate changes, further accelerating global warming, a new computer modeling study indicates.

The study also found that soil in high-latitude regions could shift from being a sink to a source of carbon dioxide by the end of the 21st century as the soil warms in response to climate change. (more…)

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Evaluation of Climate Policy Rocketing But in an Undeveloped and Unsystematic Way

*New research led by the University of East Anglia and the VU University Amsterdam shines new light on the little studied but politically vital practices of climate policy evaluation in Europe.*

Published in the international journal Policy Sciences, a meta-analysis by a team of researchers from across Europe offers the very first systematic cataloging of the emerging patterns of policy evaluation undertaken in different parts of the European Union.

In the last decade or so the politics surrounding the development of new policies has attracted unprecedented attention. Many new targets and policies have been adopted. But a lot less is known about what is being done to check that the resulting policies are actually delivering on their promises. (more…)

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Mastering Disaster: Students Create Software to Save Lives

*At the Imagine Cup 2011 Worldwide Finals, dozens of student teams showcase software projects that in some cases are already improving disaster relief efforts.*

REDMOND, Wash. – July 7, 2011 – When floodwaters swept across northern Thailand last fall, Kriangkrai Pipatvilaikul knew he had to help. So he boarded a bus with fellow students from Chulalongkorn University and went to a devastated village he had seen on TV.

The students joined scores of volunteers arriving at the same village with food, water and medical supplies. As they helped with the relief effort, the group heard about a harder hit area, one that hadn’t made the news, and they decided to push on. What they found shocked them. As they paddled through the submerged town, desperate villagers surrounded their boat and tried to grab whatever food they could. The students realized no other volunteers had been there despite the short distance from the previous site. (more…)

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Population Change: Another Influence on Climate Change

*Changes in population, including aging and urbanization, could affect global carbon dioxide emissions*

Changes in the human population, including aging and urbanization, could significantly affect global emissions of carbon dioxide over the next 40 years, according to research results published this week. (more…)

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IBM and European Union Join to Develop New Collaborative e-Business Model Extending Open Source and Cloud Technologies

*Aims for 40% cost reductions in the design, deployment and management of e-service blends*  

HAIFA, Israel – 07 Jul: IBM today announced, in collaboration with the European Union, industry and academia, the launch of a research consortium which aims to help businesses more easily take advantage of Internet-based services – or “e-services” – to create collaborative business operations and achieve shared business goals.

(more…)

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