COVID-19 Disinformation and Contact Tracing Discussed at DNC, Rural Cloud Initiative, NTIA Internet Use Survey

The Democratic National Convention prime-time convention kicked off Monday night. Much of the production was driven by testimonies from Americans. The way in which  their hardships have been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic were detailed.

Kristin Urquiza, the daughter of an Arizona man who lost his life to the coronavirus, delivered a powerful dialogues throughout the two-hour “virtual” program.

“My dad, Mark Anthony Urquiza, should be here today,” Urquiza said, but “he had faith in Donald Trump.”

He believed Trump’s mouthpieces when they said that coronavirus was under control and going to disappear, Urquiza detailed.

“Disinformation spread by Donald Trump made the virus so much worse,” she said.

“We need a leader with a national coordinated data driven response, to stop this pandemic from claiming more lives and to safely reopen the country,” she said.

Urquiza was one of many who highlighted the need for increased contact tracing efforts, throughout the night.

picoNETS partners with Trilogy Networks to join the Rural Cloud Initiative

picoNETS, a deep edge content delivery provider, that uses edge catching technology to provide the last mile connection between the network and end-user, has partnered with Trilogy Networks to join the Rural Cloud Initiative, reports IT Business Today.

The company’s “deep caching solution” is low latency, bringing the content delivery network closer to the edge. It will allow the Rural Cloud Initiative’s carrier providers to deliver superior network service, by reducing congestion on their networks.

The Rural Cloud Initiative is a coalition of network and edge innovation partners committed to promoting broadband usage in rural America.

Partners of the Rural Cloud Initiative are seeking to build a distributed cloud covering an 1.5 million square miles in rural America. The cloud would provide essential infrastructure for 5G, agriculture, and energy solutions.

NTIA seeks public recommendations on how to improve annual survey

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration has been surveying the American public on computer and Internet use, in partnership with the Census Bureau, for more than 25 years.

In anticipation of future surveys, NTIA is currently seeking recommendations from the public on how they can improve their survey, in an effort to make it as relevant as possible.

NTIA’s annual survey of individuals and households covers a range of topics related to digital inclusion and other internet policy issues, including the adoption of different devices, locations of internet use, online activities, and challenges preventing some Americans from taking full advantage of the internet.

By submitting your ideas for the next set of questions, you can ensure that NTIA’s survey is keeping up with evolving technologies and new policy challenges that arise.

Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before September 17, 2020. Written comments may be submitted by email to data@ntia.gov.