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The European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC) is the European organization which –on a non-profit basis– promotes the use of EO technology and especially the companies in Europe which offer EO-related products and services. We are a membership based organization with the mission to foster the development of the European EO geo-information services industry.
More information on our activities can be found on this site and in other tools which we develop on behalf of our members. All our on-line information and services can be accessed through the links at the top of this page. Our goal is to provide a rich source of information about the sector and the products on offer; we would welcome your contribution and / or your views via the contact form or via the EO Forum in the EARSC EO Portal. continued…
The Obama administration got its hand slapped last year with the revelation that government agencies had spent literally billions of dollars promoting themselves with the public and news media in contravention of federal rules against just such activities.
A Congressional Research Service study revealed that the administration had spent at minimum a total of $4.4 billion on outside advertising contracts between fiscal 2009 and 2013 – including $419 million for the Pentagon, $197.4 million for the Department of Health and Human Services and $128.8 million for the Department of Education. continued…
Megan Smith, the United States’ chief technology officer, says the U.S. government is still years behind countries like the United Kingdom in terms of embracing technology. And while she believes it’s possible to catch up, first, she says, the tech industry here needs to “show up” for its government.
“Government is only what we make of it,” Smith said on stage at the Building the Business of Civic Tech conference in New York City today. “If we show up, it’ll include our skills.”
This is advice that Smith herself has taken to heart, having left the private sector and a vibrant career at Google last year to become the country’s CTO last fall. Now, she’s calling on others to do the same.
But this will take some convincing. The standard Silicon Valley attitude to government has been that it gets in the way and slows things down, stymieing the quick work that talented technologists could otherwise make of big, hairy problems. It’s the essence of Silicon Valley libertarianism: Why wait for the government to act, the thinking goes, when we can build nearly anything ourselves? continued…
The Internet of Things (IoT) has gained momentum. Sensors are now small and cheap enough to embed in all kinds of devices, and more companies are leveraging the vast data generated. Here are some key drivers your company needs to remember as you jump into IoT.
Gartner expects 6.4 billion "things" will be connected to the Internet in 2016, up 30% from 2015. Although sensors aren't new, they're being built into more types of devices because they are considerably smaller and cheaper than they once were. More organizations, regardless of industry segment, will embrace IoT devices to lower operating costs, increase revenue, or provide more relevant customer experiences. The road to success comes with pitfalls, however, some of which can be avoided or minimized with little effort or cost. continued…
Box and Salesforce announced a new partnership Wednesday aimed at helping their joint customers get work done more efficiently by bringing documents from their cloud storage and content management solution into Salesforce.
Using a new connector that will launch in February, users will be able to share Box files inside Salesforce, both from the service's web interface and mobile applications. For example, when commenting on a sales opportunity, users will be able to browse the files that are available to them in Box, and attach them to a message.
It's designed to be useful for collaborating on things like sales slide decks and other materials, to make sure that people are always up to date with the content they need.
All of the sharing permissions are still managed by Box, so users will have to make sure that the people who they're sharing files with through Salesforce are authorized to view them in Box. However, once that's all set up, they should be good to share.
According to Salesforce Senior Vice President Mike Micucci, that decision was by design. Salesforce Files Connect, the underlying system behind the integration, is designed to keep the permissions for sharing and modifying files tied to the systems that it's integrated with, which also include Google Drive and Microsoft's OneDrive. continued…
Google researchers find code-execution bug in FireEye threat-prevention devices.
When you're a Fortune 500 company that's a favorite target of sophisticated hackers, it often makes sense to install security appliances at the outer edges of your network to stop attacks before they get far. Now, researchers say they have uncovered a vulnerability in such a product from security firm FireEye that can give attackers full network access.
The vulnerability, which is on by default in the NX, EX, AX, FX series of FireEye products, was FireEye last week, after researchers from Google's Project Zero privately reported it. It made it possible for attackers to penetrate a network by sending one of its members a single malicious e-mail, even if it's never opened. It's not uncommon for outsiders to find such critical flaws in a security product. Still, the proof-of-concept exploit underscores that such game-over threats often extend to some of a network's most critical equipment. As Google employee Tavis Ormandy explained in a blog post published Tuesday: continued…
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Private owners of small unmanned aerial systems are required to begin registering the drones with the government, according to new Federal Aviation Administration rules released on Dec. 14.
The agency has been working double-time to get the registration process set up before an expected onslaught of what FAA Administrator Michael Huerta has said could be more than half a million of the aircraft purchased for the holidays.
FAA officials said they needed to move quickly because of increasing reports in 2015 of drones interfering with civilian aviation and other airborne activity, including drones operating near airports, at high altitudes or in the vicinity of emergency response aircraft.
Beginning Dec. 21, the FAA will institute a simple, web-based registration system that will issue a single identification number to each registrant to cover all the unmanned aircraft owned by that person. Registrants must be at least 13 years old.
The registration is good for three years and costs $5 per person, although the agency said it is waiving the fee for the first 30 days to encourage people to sign up. The fee is based on estimated costs to develop and maintain the registry, and officials said they will adjust the fee based on the actual costs associated with the system.
The FAA estimated that the system will cost the government about $56 million through 2020. Using the paper-based system that applies to larger commercial drones for recreational owners would have cost $383 million.The data collected via the site will include the owner's name, physical address and email address, as well as the aircraft's manufacturer, model name and, in some cases, serial number. Officials said that in the future, they might "require use of serial number for aircraft marking purposes in place of an FAA-issued registration number." continued…
GE introduced its new Renewable Energy business at the European Wind Energy Association’s 2015 Annual Event in Paris. The new unit significantly expands GE’s wind portfolio in the wake of its recent acquisition of Alstom’s power and grid businesses
“With the creation of our new business, GE now has one of the world’s largest renewable energy footprints, and our goal is to help drive the wind industry forward by drawing on the shared expertise of two innovative companies,” said Jérôme Pécresse, President & CEO of GE Renewable Energy.
The new business expands GE’s global wind footprint to more than 30,000 turbines worldwide and significantly increases its presence in regions like Europe and Latin America. In Europe alone, GE’s installed base will grow by approximately 50 percent as a result of the deal.
“Over the past few years, we have really focused on making our wind business more global,” explained Anne McEntee, President & CEO of GE’s onshore wind unit. “The Alstom deal helps us gain local experience in key growth regions, and we will be extending our services capabilities to a broader group of customers across the newly combined fleet.”
Connecticut's trash-to-energy agency is seeking a 21st-century makeover for its Hartford plant as it grapples with shifting recyclable and energy markets that undercut its finances.
More than a decade after its predecessor agency lost $200 million in a deal with bankrupt energy giant Enron, the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority, which handles trash from more than 50 municipalities, is looking to hire a company to redevelop the waste-to-energy plant in Hartford and other facilities.
The goal is to recycle more trash — and burn less — using composting, biological processes to break down biodegradable materials and other technologies. A new plant is not expected to be built and operating until 2023, said Tom Kirk, the authority's president and chief executive officer. State energy officials do not have a cost estimate.
The Hartford plant, in operation since 1988, is "long in the tooth" and nearing the end of its design life, he said. continued…