Tag Archives: law

A ‘Golden Era’ of Insight: Big Data’s Bright Future

For over 20 years, Microsoft Research’s labs around the world have focused on research across a broad spectrum of topics in computer science. From the start, the organization has invested heavily in pioneering breakthroughs in machine intelligence, including efforts in machine learning and big data. In this interview, Distinguished Scientist Eric Horvitz talks about advances he sees on the horizon, the influence they will have on your daily life, and how insights from big data and developing more intelligent software and services will change the world.

REDMOND, Wash. – Feb. 15, 2013 – At Microsoft Research labs around the world, some very deep thinkers are contemplating big data.

This includes Eric Horvitz, distinguished scientist at Microsoft and co-director of Microsoft Research’s Redmond lab, who was recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering for his work in “computational mechanisms for decision making under uncertainty and with bounded resources.” (more…)

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Putin signs ‘anti-Magnitsky’ law

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, December 28th, signed the law, which had been passed in response to the USA’s “Magnitsky Act”. The law has been dubbed in Russia as the “Law of Dima Yakovlev” (named after the boy, who died in a hot car in the U.S.).

The full title of the law is “On measures against persons involved in violations of fundamental human rights and freedoms, rights and freedoms of citizens of the Russian Federation.” Previously, the bill was approved by the State Duma and the Federation Council. (more…)

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Canadian Police Agencies Suppressing Data on Race, Says Criminology Study

*Data essential for creating fair policies*

While only 20 per cent of Canada’s police forces have an explicit policy against reporting the race of victims and accused persons, criminologists from the University of Toronto and Nipissing show that the majority of police departments do not report race in practice.

The study, by Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Criminology, and Paul Millar, an associate professor at Nipissing University’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice,  is entitled Whitewashing Criminal Justice in Canada: Preventing Research through Data Suppression and appears in the current issue of the Canadian Journal of Law and Society. (more…)

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