Search

Reports on the plight faced by paper form or printing industry. Threat from the growing electronic form and service industry; Necessity of launching information technology-based strategies to reinvent the printing companies; Information technology strategy of Moore Business Forms Inc.; Competition from established software companies. INSETS: The flow of the form.;Forms to function.;Through the roof..

This article provides information on the electronic paper or e-paper technology in the U.S. E-paper is a thin, flexible polymer sheet with the look of paper. But e-paper is a bit thicker than regular paper and weighs more than because it contains microscopic electronic ink particles sandwiched between two polymer sheets that display as either white or black in response to an electrical charge. E-paper is reflective, like real paper, so it can be read in any light. It uses no backlighting nor does it use an emissive light source, as with a CRT monitor. E-paper is also bi-stable, which means that the display uses power only to change the content. INSET: Inside E-paper.

Examines the impact of the September 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York City on Kemper Insurance. Background on the destruction of the office of Kemper Casualty, a division of Kemper Insurance, in the WTC; Information on the decision of the company to transform its paper files into a digital format; Details on the use of a content management software to transfer the paper files of Kemper.

The article focuses on the environment-friendly information technology (IT) practices of Cohoes, New York-based Mohawk Fine Papers Inc., a manufacturer of recycled paper. Chief information officer Paul Stamas has implemented the Infor Enterprise Asset Management system, which is intended to optimize the efficiency of manufacturing plants and equipment. In order to lessen energy consumption and carbon footprint, sensors that monitor office lighting to smokestack emissions were installed.

The article reports that the Committee on House of Representatives in the U.S. has approved the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act that would require touch-screen voting systems to provide a paper receipt for each ballot cast. The bill was sponsored by Representative Rush Holt, which according to the author, has long been a critic of touch screen systems that fail to produce a voter-verified paper trail. Holt expresses that the results of U.S. elections will always be uncertain until voting systems are required to produce a voter-verified paper ballot.

The article focuses on issues relating to voter-verified paper ballots with direct electronic recording (DRE) machines. Calls for the U.S. government to require that electronic voting machines produce voter-verified paper trails ran into opposition from two members of a Senate committee during a hearing on e-voting. Voting accuracy advocates and some lawmakers have repeatedly called for printers to be attached to e-voting machines to ensure their accuracy. Five bills introduced in Congress this year would require voter-verified paper ballots with DRE machines. DRE paper trails would reassure voters that ballots are being counted correctly. Two computer scientists disagreed over the effectiveness of voter-verified paper-trail ballots. DREs are tested before and after elections, and election officials have better forensic tools to find errors on DREs than on other types of ballots.

Reports that the state of North Carolina have posted Personal Computer/peripheral pricing on the state's Department of Administration (DOA) Web Site. Comments from King Prather, assistant purchasing administrator.

Reports on a lawsuit filed by the Boston University in Massachusetts against Internet-based sellers of term papers. Debate over whether World Wide Web-based businesses are subject tot he laws of every country, state and town where surfers connect; Paperz.com's response to the legal action.

The article reports that many regulatory agencies in the U.S. are slowing the process of obtaining H-1B visas and green cards. According to immigration attorneys, this move is shown by adding paperwork required by applicants. The Citizenship and Immigration Services bureau has compelled some applicants to provide corporate payroll records, zoning maps, and building fire-safety plans. The agency says that these actions are required as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

The article provides insight on the importance of information technology (IT)-related master degree in expecting well paid career in the U.S. According to the author, masters degree help professionals increase their salaries within few years just like in IT-related certifications. It cites that the master degrees are just an icing of the career but most important is the knowledge and talent that the individual can offer to the job. The IT and the corporate world is working together to enhance its leadership ability and services that would give them the edge and the people they are working with the opportunity to obtain success in the business.

The article reports on the move by Ecma International to oppose the International Organization for Standardization's (ISO) approval of Microsoft Corp.'s Office Open XML in the U.S. Ecma elaborated the changes made to Open XML which failed to win enough votes on the initial balloting held September 2007. The changes include the sidelining of a graphics-rendering technology used by few vendors other than Microsoft and the addition of more information on how Open XML supports file compatibility with older version of Office. Meanwhile, Open Document Format for Office Applications (ODF), a rival of Open XML, has already been signed as standard by ISO.

This article looks at how Shell Pipeline Corp. was able to improve the efficiency of its U.S. pipeline maintenance operations. Shell decided to implement the Telispark Mobile Enterprise suite from Infowave Software Inc. to allow its technicians to better track and service its pipelines as well as improve reporting compliance. It has also provided access to equipment information and work orders, thus saving time.

This article reports that on October 28, 2004, the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act or Check 21, will require that U.S. banks accept paper documents with check images and data related to transactions in lieu of original paper checks, which, once digitized, can then be destroyed. The image replacement documents (IRD) will also allow banks to transmit check images electronically, eliminating the need to ship paper checks around the country for clearance and settlement. The legislation doesn't force financial institutions to exchange IRDs electronically.

The article discusses the different licensing structure in information technology in the U.S. The paper offers a comprehensive discussion on the application and the problems of the three traditional licensing practices, such as the central processing unit (CPU) license, the seat license, and the enterprise or site licenses. On the other hand, the transactions license, which is considered a better licensing structure that fairly balances the interests of licensors and licensees, is also explored.

The article discusses the result of the Vital Signs survey conducted by the periodical "Computerworld" regarding the top technologies tested by companies in the U.S. Capital One Financial Corp has been testing the server virtualization technology which enables them to drop their number of servers to about 1,100. Wolters Kluwer NV made use of an enterprise content management system which enables to them to cut the costs of printing and delivering paper materials. Other technologies tested include content or security control, asset management and business process management. INSET: 3 Questions For Warren Bennis.

The article reports on the technical problems and the challenges faced by the board of elections with the electronic voting systems in the U.S. In Colorado, technical and procedural problems of the machines arise in both registration and voting. Voters in Florida find difficulties in viewing the candidates that they will vote for due to touch-screen systems malfunction. However, co-director of Voter Action Holly Jacobson stresses that the reported machine malfunctions were misleading. Spokesman Alan Melamed of the board of elections emphasizes the used of paper ballots for those voters affected with machine malfunctions. Moreover, elections judge in Maryland Avi Rubin stresses is opposition on the voting system since the system still lack adequate security measures. INSET: Critics Split on Whether to Abandon DREs.

The article provides information on the journal's second annual Top Green-IT Organizations for 2009 in the U.S. These 12 organizations decreased electric power demands and used technology to create energy efficiencies. Mohawk Fine Papers Inc., which applied technology to lessen energy consumption, topped the list. State Street Corp. followed Mohawk Fine Papers Inc. in the second spot whose data centers were set up as regional hubs serving many local sites.

The article reports on a paper from the U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO) which indicates the Global Positioning System (GPS) failure that is being disputed by the Air Force. Dave Buckman of the Air Force argued that the GPS is not a failure, although he admitted that there is some risk of degraded performances due to delays. The paper from GAO indicated that it is uncertain whether the Air Force can launch new satellites to replace older ones.

The author reflects on the paper-less census project initiated by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which is in trouble of not to be pursued due to various problems faced. He asserts that the big problem is the custom handheld device designed to be used by temporarily hired to track down the estimated 100 million Americans who wont return their census forms. He contends that if the custom handheld device will not work, the Census Bureau will use paper instead.

The article features an inkless printing process developed by Zink Imaging LLC, which uses paper embedded with dye crystals that become colored when heated in the U.S. It uses millions of colorless dye crystals layered under polymer-coated paper, making the prints durable enough for long-lasting photos. Zink went through a long process of trial and error to create the right combination of molecules, which could be controlled on the paper. However, Scott Wicker, company's chief marketing officer, explains can be built into small, mobile devices such as digital cameras without the need for ink cartridges or ribbons.

The article reports on the growing criticism of the proposed legislation which requires that all touch-screen voting machines must provide a paper trail in the U.S. Due to the delay for a congressional vote of the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act which aims to address security and reliability flaws in electronic voting machines, criticisms increased while its losing the support of the bill's co-sponsor Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. Critics from voter advocacy groups and analysts regard the bill to offer the public a false sense of security to the voter. These critics further suggest that rather than requiring a paper trails for electronic voting, the banning of touch-screen systems must be considered primarily.

The article discusses the technical and security-related glitches of the touch screen electronic voting systems and software from Diebold Election Systems in the U.S. With the use of the system, also called direct recording equipment, paper ballots are no longer needed thus, ensuring safer voting. The voting machines includes a thermal printer where the printed summary reassures the voter and provides a paper-based alternative that officials can use to verify the electronic tabulations. Computers have helped become easier and faster in terms of reading and tallying votes.

This article reports on the decision of a federal judge in a California directive that decertified touch-screen voting machines and withheld future certification until vendors of those systems can meet specific security requirements as of July 2004. The decision arose from a lawsuit, Benavidez v. Shelley, brought by disability rights advocates and four California counties that oppose California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley's requirement for voter-verifiable paper audit trails. The counties also oppose Shelley's order to decertify direct-recording equipment (DRE) voting systems. The plaintiffs argued that banning the systems would disenfranchise visually or physically impaired voters. The opinion written by Judge Florence-Marie Cooper was given. Cooper noted that Shelley is responsible for ensuring that votes are counted accurately, and requiring a paper audit trail is one way of fulfilling that obligation. State and local elections officials around the country are scrambling to ensure that e-voting systems in different jurisdictions are reliable and can be secured from tampering in time for the November election. The decision follows the release of a report two weeks ago by an IT security panel that outlined a strategy for certifying the security and reliability of touch-screen DRE voting systems QuickLink 47931.

Reports on criticism by the banking industry over plans of the United States Department of the Treasury to convert paper checks into automated clearinghouse electronic debit entries by 2002. Advantage of the plans; Impact of the automated clearinghouse on manpower of government agencies; Reasons banks are reluctant to link automated clearinghouse systems with paper check systems.

The article focuses on the environment-friendly information technology practices of U.S.-based Citigroup Inc. Michelle Erickson manages all of the company's environment-friendly information technology practices ranging from paper substitution to power management. The company has created a program to market benefits of virtual servers to individual business managers.

The article reports on the formal resignation of health information technology(IT) czar David Brailer, a point man for federal health IT efforts and a national coordinator for health information technology. David Brailer was appointed by U.S. President George W. Bush in May 2004 to lead a national effort to replace paper-based health records with electronic medical records (EMR). According to Health care IT executives, Brailer was a high-profile advocate of EMR and of creating the standards and infrastructures needed to exchange them.

The article reports on the use of handheld computers by Federal census takers rather than pens and papers to automate collection of census data in the United States. The project is planned to hit the streets in 2010 with a 600 million dollar budget, rolling out around 500,000 devices. The U.S. Census Bureau plans to buy the handhelds and related technology from Harris Corp.

As more organizations store more data longer, the information technology industry in the U.S. seeks a better way for data management in 2005. A record is a record, whether it's a sheet of paper, an e-mail, an electronic document or a digital image. It is the content that drives retention, not the media it's written on. Recent federal regulations are requiring more companies to save more content for longer periods of time. While content may be king in theory, in practice, the media on which it's stored and the software that stores it present problems. As digital tapes and optical discs pile higher and higher in the cavernous rooms of offsite archive providers, businesses are finding them increasingly expensive to maintain. The storage industry is working on the problems of data archiving from various angles. One solution to the backward-compatibility problem is to convert data to common plain-text formats, such as ASCII or Unicode. Another approach is to use PDF files to store long-term data. On the media side, the Storage Networking Industry Association is working toward solving what it calls the '100-year archive dilemma' through a standards effort for media.

This article focuses on the function of enterprise content management (ECM) software in the U.S. ECM is designed to keep track of documents and records that are stored in a variety of locations and formats such as paper, Web pages, PDF files and, increasingly, audio and video media, throughout a company. ECM software aims to provide organizations with a singleInterest in ECM systems has intensified as information technology managers feel increased pressure both from their own executives and from regulatory agencies to carefully track and consolidate all of the organization's key documents.

Information technology security researchers in the U.S. said they have uncovered significant vulnerabilities in the electronic voting systems that will be used by nearly 30% of all registered voters in the presidential election in November 2004. In testimony before the U.S. Election Assistance Commission in May 2004, security researchers said that without voter-verifiable paper receipts, the 50 million Americans who will use electronic voting machines this fall will have no way of knowing if their votes were subject to electronic tampering. Moreover, the code base powering the systems is so large and complex that there is no efficient way for election officials to be sure that it is free of malicious code designed to manipulate election results. Avi Rubin, a professor at the Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute in Baltimore, Maryland said his biggest concern is the threat of individuals who have access to the code base rigging the election. Rubin recently had 40 Doctorate candidates design Trojan horse programs to assess the security of the electronic voting systems. The IT vendors that make the systems in question sought to discredit Rubin's research by characterizing it as laboratory work that has little relevance to a real-world voting environment. Some also complained that until last year, election officials were more interested in usability improvements than in better security

This article presents Visa U.S.A. Inc. as the recipient of Premier 100 Information Technology Leaders 2004 Best in Class award in Foster City, California. When an inaccurate charge is listed on a credit card bill, it is not just the customer who sees red. Settling a disputed charge is one of the costliest components of a credit card company's business. At Visa, a new back-office infrastructure will reduce the time and labor required to handle a customer-disputed charge by creating an online, automated process. The Visa Resolve Online project is a Web-enabled application used to facilitate changes to the re-engineered disputes process. The greatest benefit of the project has been to simplify the process by eliminating most paper documentation, reducing the time required to resolve disputes and eliminating unnecessary steps in the process. The Web-based tool gives member banks, merchants and customer support representatives real-time access to transaction data through secure browser screens or private Internet Protocol network. Subsequent releases of Visa Resolve included the ability to create and transmit chargebacks, attach images and supporting documentation and transmit large volumes of images relevant to disputes.

This article discusses the DOC Insider technology used by the U.S. Department of Commerce to offer advice about how to do business abroad. The DOC Insider is adopting technology for knowledge capture and management from AskMe Corp. The service uses the technology to accelerate the counseling it offers to companies seeking to engage in international trade. The DOC Insider has been using Web-based technology to create a knowledge network connecting its 100 offices in the country, another 150 in 80 countries overseas and a group of approximately 1,700 trade specialists who have expertise in what it takes to succeed abroad. These specialists can tell what trade show to attend if interested in selling medical equipment or what papers to file when trying to expand a software business. Program manager Laura McCall says using AskMe's system is part of the department's fulfillment of its mandate to help businesses compete abroad. The aim of the technology is to help companies do things such as perform international market research or locate overseas partners. Each trade expert accesses the knowledge network via the Web and logs answers to questions. Before selecting AskMe, McCall reviewed the department's business processes to see where the gaps in information counseling existed.

Reports that the Los Angeles Police Department in California has launched a computerization effort aimed at reducing administrative costs. Improvement on efficiency; Reduction of police officers' paper work.

Reports on the production of a white paper for the US Department of Justice that focuses on how Microsoft Corp. could take monopolistic control of the markets for personal computer (PC) software, PC networks and on-line services. Correlation with Microsoft's acquisition plans of Intuit Inc.; Feedback from industry executives.

Highlights how handheld devices are saving the city of Palo Alto, California, large sums of money. Impact of using devices on paper usage and the workload of technicians; Use of 3Com Corporation's PalmPilots handheld device by help desk employees in California; Amount of money city invested for seven of these devices; Information on the PalmPilot device.

Reports on the states' efforts to collect taxes from Internet service providers. Complaints on one provider who is being taxes in multiple states; Concerns about paper requirements in taxation; Supreme Court's ruling on online sales tax. INSET: The scramble to replace tax sources..

The article focuses on a report, according to which U.S. healthcare providers are seeking qualified information technology (IT) job candidates in an effort to meet federal government deadlines for converting paper charts to electronic health records.

The article reports on the use of the Web 2.0 tools in the political campaigns of the Grand Old Party (GOP) in the U.S. The politicians have now recognized the importance of the social networking on their campaigns as the Republican National Committee launched a Facebook that discrediting presidential candidate and Senator Barack Obama through his friends who can affect his presidential bid. On the other hand, the supporters of Obama also started to post some policy papers in the web site called Scribd.

The article focuses on the federal rules governing the retention of electronic documents in the U.S. The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (FRCP) are definitely within the purview of legal counsel. The FRCP require companies to preserve data, be it on paper or some electronic medium, that might be related to litigation, whether it's pending or merely anticipated. E-discovery is where the FRCP intersect with IT and information security. The FRCP bring the process into the 21st century, extending discovery to electronic media.

The article reports on the developments of information technology industry in the U.S. in 2008. The opening of Storage Networking World Spring will be held in Orlando, Florida in 2008. The meeting of the executive advisory board of the MIT Kerberos Consortium and Microsoft Corp. will be conducted after joining the single-sign-on group last week. The paper also discourses the plans of Microsoft Corp. to issue eight software updates as part of its monthly patch release and the conference of the RSA Security Inc. to be held in San Francisco, California in 2008.

The article offers news briefs related to the computer industry in the U.S. A paper by VeriSign Inc., which operates the global .com and .net registries, stated that the number of registered Internet domain names topped 153 million in 2007. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. demonstrated its first 45-nanometer processors at the CeBIT trade show. Research In Motion Ltd. agreed to pay $612.5 million to NTP Inc. to settle a patent dispute.

Information about several papers discussed at the Mobile & Wireless Enterprise conference in March 2008 in the U.S. is presented. Chief information officer Jim Swartz of Sybase Inc. asserts that the company, which deals with 27 varied wireless carriers, has a supply of loaner telephones in various countries. Eileen Bridges of Bank of America Corp. cited green buildings with energy-efficient windows that can block cellular signals as another cost concern.

The article discusses the significance of the U.S. government's effort to take a regulation which intends to lessen the carbon footprint in data centers by using less electricity. A paper on server and data center energy efficiency by the Environmental Protection Agency reveals that as of 2006, data centers accounted for 1.5 percent of the electricity used in the country. It is stated that without government intervention, the 1.5 percent will double in the coming years since data center managers curb electricity consumption.

The article recognizes information technology (IT) professionals in the IT industry in the U.S. Carol Bartz, executive chairman of Autodesk Inc. changed a sleepy vertical application company into a diversified $1.5 billion software industry powerhouse. Dan Bricklin, co-founder of Software Arts Inc., invented the electronic spreadsheet with the introduction of VisiCalc in 1979. Edgar Codd, an International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) fellow, named father of the relational databases with his seminal 1970 paper, "A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks."

The article offers news briefs related to the computer industry in the U.S. The release of the last plan alpha version of Firefox 3.0 from Mozilla Corp. on July 13, 2007. ECMA International formed a technical committee which will develop a standard based on Extensible Markup Language Paper Specification from Microsoft Corp. Thirty years ago, the first crime bill related to data processing was introduced in the U.S. Senate.

The article reports on the paper issue by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' inspector general which claims that an information technology worker at the department did not secure data stored on an external hard drive which lost or stolen in January 2007. It blamed officials at the agency's medical center in Alabama for letting the worker access large amounts of information that was beyond the scope of the projects he process. Directors of the center are also liable for not ensuring which proper safeguards were put in place for securing data on external drives.

Information about several papers discussed at the meeting of a chapter of the Society for Information Management in February 2007 in the U.S. is presented. The main focus is about the qualities of a good chief information officer. Management consultant Bart Bolton believes that introverted technologists with the right qualities can lead the industry. Tom Pettibone of Transition Partners Co. asserted that an effective leader has the ability to communicate visions for his organization.

The article reports on the appeal by California Senator Dianne Feinstein to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in February 2007 to conduct an investigation of electronic voting machines that failed to produce paper receipts for the ballot cast. She called on the GAO for the completion of the investigation before the presidential election in 2008. Also included in the investigation are the claims of electronic-voting critics that these machines are prone to error and can be easily altered or hacked.

The article offers news briefs related to computer industry in the U.S. Florida Governor Charlie Crist decides to spend $32.5 million to replace touch-screen electronic voting machines that are used across the state to print out paper records. CA Inc. stressed that revenue rose by 4% in its third fiscal quarter, an increase to just over $1 billion. A California judge has dropped state charges against Bryan Wagnerin connection with Hewlett-Packard Co.'s efforts to spy on its board members.

Information about several papers discussed at the Lotusphere 2007 conference in the U.S. is presented. IBM Corp. has detailed its upcoming software tools which is designed to enable corporate user to collaborate different streams of internal information. Software users were interviewed about the advantage of the new tools in their organizations. Public beta-testing for Notes and Domino 8 was also announced. The conference featured several executive like Hugh Roddick and Geert van de Steen.