Wireless Archives

The smartphone's rise in overseas markets is a "key development" that the State Department is watching over the next year, an adviser said Tuesday, signaling the agency's interest in using mobile technology to advance foreign policy goals.

The deployment of 3G and 4G mobile networks will enable more people to connect to the Internet at the same time and "up the stakes politically," said Ben Scott, Policy Advisor for Innovation at the Office of the Secretary of State. Mobile broadband penetration in the Middle East and Africa has lagged behind basic cellphone use. How international networks grow over the next 12 to 18 months will be monitored closely, said Scott. With that expansion, "there is going to be a whole lot more money on the table for pushing policies for attracting investment," he said.

Scott spoke at a panel discussion on the flow of Internet information hosted by Media Access Project, a Washington-based public interest law firm. His statement is the latest indication of State's push to leverage mobile technology to influence the political message in unsettled regions.

Using smartphones, activists can access Twitter and transmit photographs to the Internet. "Anyone with a smartphone can become a citizen reporter," he said.

State is also looking to use mobile channels to spread messages to stabilize regions. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, will fund programs that can "develop SMS messaging and other cell phone initiatives" for "countering extremist voices," it indicated in a grant document in November 2011.

It was reported last year that the State Department and Pentagon had spent at least $50 million on building an independent cellphone network inside Afghanistan. The network, created with towers on military bases, was set up to keep the Internet up even if official services were disabled.

State also has quietly supported the development of a phone app in which protesters can trigger a "panic button" that will delete all their contacts and transmit alerts to activists.

In just over the last three years, State would have spent about $70 million to promote free access to the Internet.

"The Internet is politically agnostic. It allows people to realize their desires whatever they may be," said Scott, "To me, that's the bedrock of Internet freedom -- and why it poses both vulnerabilities and opportunities for every government in the world, including ours."

State Department officials, following the United Nations' lead, now are accepting donations via text message to help support recovery and reconstruction in Pakistan where floods have displaced about 20 million people and spread deadly waterborne diseases.

Punching the word "FLOOD" to 27722 will automatically donate $10 to the U.S. government's new Pakistan relief fund.

Earlier in the month, the UN Refugee Agency partnered with mGive, a mobile donations provider, to allow Americans to make $10 mobile contributions by texting "SWAT" to 50555. State began promoting the effort on Aug. 2 and then created its own mobile-enabled charity late last week.

mGive processed more than $37 million for Haiti during three weeks earlier this year, after the State Department requested help in aiding the earthquake-devastated country.

I have pretty bad luck when it comes to wireless cell phone service. I was covering a conference call on July 9 but was out of the office, so I had to call in with my iPhone.

The iPhone is offered exclusively through AT&T, a cause of some controversy and consumer concern given problems with the company's coverage and service. After I dialed in and was patched through to the conference, my call was promptly dropped. Twice.

In both instances, I missed a few minutes--which may have contained important information, I can't be sure--while I repeated my name and affiliation and waited to be reconnected to the conference.

The irony? This particular executive call center is managed by AT&T.

The BlackBerry seems to be the accessory of choice in Washington. In bars, offices, the gym, you name it, you're likely to see more than a few of these gadgets. But could other smart phones catch up, even in the federal government?

In a Sunday Washington Post article, Michael S. Rosenwald points out that times may be changing for federal employees.

According to the article, the Washington metro area is the nation's eighth largest but ranks fourth in BlackBerry usage, and the devices often are required accessories for feds and anyone working with them. However, says Rosenwald, with President Obama's open government directive and the rapidly increasing number of apps, the iPhone soon may catch up.

For example, the Army, the Health and Human Services Department and the Defense Advanced Research Agency Projects Agency, the Pentagon's tech research arm, all have hosted app development contests. Apps for the Army drew far more entrants for iPhones and Androids than for BlackBerry devices.

Rosenwald cites figures showing that Hill staffers lean heavily toward Blackberrys -- 9,140 to the iPhone's 86 users. But what about in federal agencies? What will it take for you and your coworkers to shift away from the email- and work-focused BlackBerry toward the sexier, lifestyle-friendly iPhone or Android? Is "there's an app for that" enough?

Full disclosure: I'm a die-hard iPhone user.

While Washingtonians are just grateful when Metro subway cars move, some New Yorkers want mobile apps that will point them to the most convenient seats in New York City Transit cars.

App developers have created a few tools for directing passengers to the quickest routes and to cars that will drop you off closest to the exit, according to The New York Times' Bob Tedeschi.

He writes in the article Help in Shaving Minutes Off Your Underground Commute that one of the apps, Exit Strategy NYC ($4, iPhone and BlackBerry; $3, Android),

solves a problem faced by anyone who has ever reached their subway stop, only to face the dreaded staircase bottleneck.

If you approach the staircase from the rear, where people must squeeze along a narrow stretch of platform to reach the stairs, it's even worse. . . .The app is simple to use, and requires no cell or GPS connection to work. Select your stop from the map and choose an uptown or downtown train, and it tells you which car will put you in the best position to beat everyone to the exit. The app even shows the best door to choose on a given car, which is great.

Oh, to escape the dreaded broken escalator bottleneck.

Need to get the latest info from the White House on the go? The Obama administration announced Friday that Whitehouse.gov has now been optimized for mobile devices, from the BlackBerry to the Palm Pre. (I'm looking at it right now on my Motorola Droid, and it's not bad.)

White House officials also say that since they're using "the latest web standards," the site is iPad-ready, too.

If you've ever had a burning desire to read Zachary Taylor's inaugural address, wondered about the exact wording of the Mayflower Compact or simply forgotten the 17th Amendment, worry no more. There's an app for that.

MultiEducator Inc., a multimedia software developer, earlier this month released American Dreams, an iPhone/iPod application that compiles historical documents, speeches and Supreme Court decisions. The program allows users to search and favorite text versions of 480 speeches (including every inaugural address), 90 Supreme Court rulings and 18 audio recordings, which will expand as events occur and other historical documents are deemed worthy of inclusion.

Students of history, government officials and anyone who wants to have this information in the palm of their hand -- literally -- will appreciate American Dreams, said Marc Schulman, the app's developer.

The most important documents and decisions for inclusion jumped right out, added Schulman, who has been working to bring history to multimedia platforms since the early 1990s. He said that the app also shows users why the document or speech was important with a contextual description, an added value similar apps lack.

A quick search of the iTunes app store revealed U.S. Historical Documents, which lets users search, bookmark and create inline notes. Other related apps compile information on members of Congress, presidents and famous speeches.

Schulman anticipates an updgrade in a month or so to fix various formatting inconsistencies and spelling errors, and users will be able to download a free update every three to six months as new content becomes available. The app is supposed to have an email function, which Schulman said will be added immediately. The development team also is exploring a video component and adapting the app for Apple's new iPad.

The app, available for $2.99 in iTunes, was released Feb. 1.

Do you know a federal manager who recently took risks to push through a bold idea, policy or program that uses technology to make government work better or improve public services? If so, we'd like to hear your story by nominating your colleague for a Nextgov Award.

The Nextgov Award program, developed in partnership with O'Reilly Media Inc. and TechWeb, will recognize government executives who stepped outside their comfortable confines to think and manage differently. They acted boldly to push through an innovative program, policy or new management practice that relied on technology to move government in a new direction, to challenge employees to think and work differently, and that ultimately improved the lives of citizens.

We know there are many managers who have done just that, and we want you to tell us about them by nominating them for a Nextgov Award. The deadline is March 12, but we suggest you don't wait. Visit the nomination page and spend just a few minutes filling out the form. We'll tell the stories of the winners later this spring on Nextgov.

A panel of respected judges will make choose the winners, who will be honored at a luncheon on May 27 at the Gov 2.0 Expo at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. The expo is co-sponsored by O'Reilly Media Inc. and TechWeb, and Nextgov is the premier media sponsor.

Local governments already are starting to lobby Google for a spot along an experimental super-speed network the company announced Wednesday.

Axcess Ontario, a public-benefit corporation overseeing the development of Ontario County, N.Y.'s community fiber network, began the application process on behalf of the county government on Thursday.

Google plans to test "ultra -high-speed" networks, delivering 1 gigabit of data per second -- more than 100 times faster than typical access -- in a small number of locations. The company that started as a search firm has issued a request for information to identify interested locales.

Ontario County, a rural and suburban community near Rochester, has pledged $12 million for its own 180-mile endeavor. About 60 miles are complete and the rest is expected to be deployed by year's end.

"What Google seeks to accomplish is exactly what the Ontario County fiber optic ring was built for," Ed Hemminger, Axcess Ontario president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "Ontario County should be at the top of Google's list of potential test sites -- we've been working on this project for seven years."

Currently, service providers including Verizon Wireless, are providing cost-effective telecommunications to businesses along the 60 miles, according to Axcess Ontario. "This means Ontario County actually has the infrastructure to do what Google wants to do -- and quickly," a company press release states.

Hemminger added, "The fiber ring ensures our community will never be left behind in the global economy, and this week we can see with the Google experiment that Ontario County, N.Y., may, in fact, have an opportunity to lead the way."

Nextgov has launched the Nextgov Awards, an inaugural program to recognize federal managers who have shepherded a program, policy or management practice that is not only innovative, but bold and brave.

Yes, we know, there are a lot of awards programs in government. But when we asked federal managers and industry executives what is missing, they told us unanimously: No awards recognize federal employees who took on risks -- personal, political and otherwise -- and boldly acted to see their idea to fruition. Or if their idea died, at least they took on entrenched bureaucratic interests in an attempt to make government better through the use of technology.

We invite you to visit our awards page to learn more and to nominate someone who fits the criteria. The technology isn't the reason for the award, but the bold idea must rely on it in some way. And we encourage you to tell us a story about the individuals you nominate. We want you to wow us because we know there are dozens of stories of federal employees trying to improve government and the lives of citizens, but they are up against big odds. Yet, they have acted bravely and with resolve to bring about change. We want to know about them, the drama they faced and the results they achieved. And, of course, the technology they used.

The winners of the Nextgov Awards will be honored at a luncheon at TechWeb's Gov 2.0 Expo in May. (Nextgov is a TechWeb partner for the event.) We'd love to see you there.

More to come.