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Tuning In To Britain's Radio Spectrum
by William New
The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) on Tuesday praised the United Kingdom Department of Trade and Industry's decision to allow wireless devices to operate without a license in the band of spectrum reserved for radio.
Monday's decision, announced by E-Commerce Minister Stephen Timms, followed ITI's recommendation made earlier this year, the organization said in a press release. Changes will be made to regulations that allow the 2.4-gigahertz band of radio spectrum to be used for commercial telecommunications services without obtaining previously required licenses.
The change, which takes effect July 31, will expand opportunities for telecom operators to develop new services and increase the availability of high-speed Internet access for laptop users in public places, such as airports and coffee shops.
Aussie Prime Minister Talks Trade, Not Tech
During his visit to Washington this week, Australian Prime Minister John Howard will meet with all the key officials for getting agreement to move ahead on negotiations for a free-trade agreement with the United States. But he will not be trying to get that agreement or discussing high-tech issues, according to an Australian official.
"We don't want to be ahead of Congress on this," the official said, referring to the House and Senate's ongoing effort to resolve differences on bills to renew presidential trade-negotiating authority. "We're waiting for [trade-negotiating authority]."
Howard is using the June 8-13 visit to continue to "register interest in a free-trade agreement," offer praise for the U.S. decision to largely exempt his country from duties on steel imports and complain about agricultural subsidies in U.S. farm legislation. He also will discuss regional security and anti-terrorism efforts.
Howard has met with Commerce Secretary Donald Evans and Secretary of State Colin Powell, who heads to Whistler, British Columbia, on Wednesday and Thursday for a meeting of the Group of Eight industrialized nations' foreign ministers. The annual summit of G-8 leaders will follow June 26-27 in Kananaskis, Alberta.
On Wednesday, Howard is scheduled to: have meetings with Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont.; address a joint meeting of the House and Senate; and lunch with House International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, R-Ill., ranking Democrat Tom Lantos of California and other members of the committee. Howard also will meet with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, R-Calif.
On Thursday, he meets with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and President Bush.
In other Australian news, Meg McDonald, the deputy chief of mission of the Australian Embassy, and her husband John Hall, the embassy's top official on information technology issues, will hold a farewell reception on Thursday at their residence.
International E-Government Forum Takes Shape
The Commerce Department is still receiving input from people or organizations interested in e-government for an upcoming international e-government forum, according to a Commerce official. The forum would be held during a two-week meeting of senior officials from the Asia Pacific Economic Forum (APEC), which includes nations that border the Pacific. The APEC meeting will be held in Acapulco, Mexico, in August.
Commerce's Office of Electronic Commerce is planning the APEC E-Commerce Steering Group e-government meeting. The date has not been set but is expected to be in mid-August.
Tech Firm Garners German Army's IT Contract
Computer Services Corp. announced last week that a consortium it leads called ISIC21 has been exclusively selected to provide information technology services to the German military.
The outsourcing contract is to upgrade the German Army's IT and communications systems for an estimated $6.1 billion over 10 years. The consortium also includes European aerospace company EADS and telecommunications firm MobilCom.
New Border-Security Materials Available
The Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies has made various materials available online, including a detailed summary of the new border-security law and transcripts of May panel discussions on terrorism and immigration, and on secure identification.
Rosemary Jenks, director of government relations at NumbersUSA.com, prepared the section-by-section summary of the border-security law, H.R. 3525.
Separately in Canada, the formation of new anti-terrorism squads in Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver and Toronto is nearly completed, according to Canadian press reports. They will group in one task force specialized members of the mounted police and other agencies into national-security enforcement teams announced in October.
In addition to police, teams will include investigators and analysts from customs and immigration, and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. There will be international participation from groups such as the FBI.
More Business Opportunities In China
Opportunities in the high-tech center of Tianjin, China, will be the focus of an event on Monday at the St. Regis Hotel in Washington.
Tianjin is home to 10 million skilled professionals, contains an industrial park with 3,100 companies and has investment of more than $10 billion. The event will include presentations by Pi Qiansheng, senior adviser of the municipal government of Tianjin, and officials from companies that have successfully located there, such as Motorola, Honeywell and CTS Wireless. Officials from Commerce, the Export-Import Bank and the Trade and Development Agency will provide advice on locating there.
In related news, the Maryland-China Business Council will hold the 2002 Spring North America-China Business Exchange and Recruiting Conference on June 24-25 in Gaithersburg, Md. The event is for businesses seeking to expand opportunities or people seeking employment in China. Senior business leaders and government officials from 17 cities in the Jiangsu province will attend.
Looking ahead, the U.S.-China High-Tech Business Conference is scheduled for Sept. 26-28 in Tyson's Corner, Va., according to the Northern Virginia Technology Council. The event will include more than 100 Chinese high-tech firms from seven disciplines: information technology, biotechnology, venture capital, intelligent transportation systems, environmental protection, new materials and agricultural technology.
Business Travelers Concerned About Transport Security
In a recently concluded survey of "international trade professionals" by the International Trade Association of Northern Virginia, 74 percent of respondents said private and public sector authorities could do more to prevent more terrorism on flights. Eighty-nine percent lacked confidence in the quality of airport personnel screening freight and passengers, and 71 percent recommended a purely federal workforce providing security. Other concerns raised by the respondents were security delays and increased insurance premiums, but few said they had changed their business operations to allow for greater security. Full findings of the survey will be presented Wednesday.
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