Search

Begin New Search Topic Communications Publishing Institution Aspen Institute

1. In Harm’s Way: Smart Regulation of Digital & Network Technologies

Author:
Aspen Digital
Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
Misuse of personal information, manipulation of platforms to influence elections, and failure to extend broadband to underserved areas are a few of the problems facing governments at all levels. Increasingly, policymakers are taking up the challenge of shaping legal solutions to these problems, only to find they lack both the tools and technical expertise to regulate wisely, meaningfully and efficiently. Given the current technological environment, what goals are appropriate to assure that emerging technologies are used to benefit the populace and do not harm society? Participants of the 34th Aspen Institute Conference on Communications Policy, which took place in Aspen, Colorado in August 2019, examined regulatory frameworks that can provide a successful model for future problems as they inevitably appear. The report of the Conference explores approaches to impede harms from digital and network technologies that address user protection, promote consumer choice and competition, and foster access to essential services.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Communications, Regulation, and Digitization
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

2. The Future of Work 2.0: Navigating the Transition to New Possibilities

Author:
Aspen Institute
Publication Date:
05-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
Today’s leading businesses are dealing with a changing work environment that goes beyond artificial intelligence and robots. Instead, it encompasses the work machines and humans will do together. This report of the 2018 Roundtable, written by David Gibson, explores the Future of Work 2.0—focusing on how all stakeholders can realize the opportunities and possibilities of automation in the work landscape. It features a robust discussion on education, business structures, models of employment and leadership philosophies.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Communications, Employment, and Automation
Political Geography:
Global Focus

3. Engaging State Legislators: Lessons for the Education Sector

Author:
Kristin Soltis Anderson and Marisa Goldstein
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
This report distills the learnings from focus groups, in-depth interviews, and a two-day symposium with over 50 state legislative leaders and explores how they get their information, what matters most to them, and how groups that work with state legislators can engage them most effectively. As state legislators work to get education policy right, make sure you have the inside track on how they work and what they need to be effective.
Topic:
Education, Human Welfare, Communications, Governance, and Employment
Political Geography:
United States of America

4. Transforming U.S. Workforce Development Policies for the 21st Century

Author:
Carl Van Horn, Tammy Edwards, and Todd Greene
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
Transforming U.S. Workforce Development Policies for the 21st Century explores how new policies and practice can meet the changing needs of workers, businesses and their communities. Produced in partnership by the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Kansas City, and the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University, this edited volume presents contributions from more than 65 leading scholars and practitioners engaged in workforce development. The book includes chapters co-written by two leaders at the Economic Opportunities Program.
Topic:
Economics, Human Welfare, Politics, Communications, and Employment
Political Geography:
United States of America

5. Strengthening a Free and Open Internet in a Changing and Complex World

Author:
Elise Hu
Publication Date:
07-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
Strengthening a Free and Open Internet in a Changing and Complex World, the report of the 2014 Forum on Communications and Society, addresses critical issues related to openness on the Net. Highlights include details about the net neutrality debate, and a series of principles developed by participants that policy-makers can use when considering Internet regulatory decisions.
Topic:
Civil Society, Science and Technology, Communications, Governance, and Regulation

6. Fragmentation and Concentration in the New Digital Environment

Author:
Richard P. Adler
Publication Date:
08-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
In 1987, back at the dawn of the Internet age, two studies were published that provided perceptive looks at the evolution of electronic networks and the impact that they would likely have on the way business is conducted in the U.S. and globally. Both studies concluded that rapidly evolving information technologies were helping to break down old hierarchical business structures in favor of new, more decentralized models of economic activity.
Topic:
Economics, Science and Technology, Communications, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
United States

7. The Weightless Marketplace: Coming to Terms with Innovative Payment Systems, Digital Currencies and Online Labor Markets

Author:
David Bollier
Publication Date:
04-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
The structure and character of commerce has changed dramatically since the arrival of the World Wide Web and various digital technologies, particularly mobile phones and large, interconnected databases. Consumers now have much greater market power and choice. Markets can more easily scale, often globally. Co-production and fluid producer/consumer interactions are routine. Transactions themselves have become far cheaper and more easily consummated.
Topic:
Foreign Exchange, International Trade and Finance, Markets, Science and Technology, Communications, and Monetary Policy
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

8. Networks and Citizenship: Using Technology for Civic Innovation

Author:
Jeffrey Abramson
Publication Date:
04-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
In any robust understanding of democracy, citizenship is a crucial component of self-government. In turn, the free flow of information, the accuracy of that information, opportunities to participate in the affairs of government and a sense of civic engagement with others are crucial components of citizenship. In evaluating these components, participants in the 2011 Aspen Institute Forum on Communications and Society (FOCAS) explored how best to take citizenship digital. Participants gathered to take stock of innovative ways that citizens can use information and communication technologies (ICTs) to better practice the core—but often unrealized—ideals of citizen participation and empowerment.
Topic:
Civil Society, Globalization, Science and Technology, Communications, and Governance

9. Updating Rules of the Digital Road: Privacy, Security, Intellectual Property

Author:
Richard P. Adler
Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
The Internet is rapidly becoming the main thoroughfare over which the vital functions of society—communications, commerce, news, finance, civic and government affairs—are carried. The Net has already had enormous impact on a range of industry sectors, ranging from retailing and financial services to publishing and entertainment, and it has begun to reshape critical institutions, ranging from education to health care. Virtually every enterprise, no matter what business it is in, has been touched in multiple ways by the digital revolution: functions such as advertising, business intelligence, research, sales, orders, payments, logistics and even the management of daily activities have moved online. Internet-driven connectivity has made the world increasingly "flat" by creating a global marketplace. Government agencies at all levels are in the midst of putting their functions online in order to increase efficiency of operations and enhance transparency. Social media have emerged as a new way for people-especially young people-to connect with one other and express their individuality. These online tools have also demonstrated the capacity to organize political action and to galvanize resistance to repressive regimes, even as they strive to exercise control over these grassroots networks. Wireless media have extended the reach of the Net to the entire world. A series of reports from the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program have documented these tectonic shifts (see table) and explored some of the issues that they are raising.
Topic:
Security, Science and Technology, Communications, and Intellectual Property/Copyright

10. Spectrum for the Next Generation of Wireless

Author:
Mark MacCarthy
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
In November 2010, the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program held the latest in its continuing series of roundtable discussions on spectrum policy, “The Search for 500 MHz: Spectrum for the Next Generation of Wireless.” The Roundtable brought together technical experts, industry representatives, congressional staff, officials from the Executive Office of the President and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, industry analysts, officials from foundations and public interest groups, and academics.
Topic:
Globalization, Science and Technology, and Communications

11. News Cities: The Next Generation of Healthy Informed Communities

Author:
Richard P. Adler
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
Even as the magnitude of the digital revolution becomes more evident, its implications remain a matter of intense debate. Stewards of traditional media worry about the values that are being lost or threatened in the transition, while new media enthusiasts prefer to focus on the potential of digital technology not merely to inform citizens about their communities but to empower them to become directly involved in democratic processes. Policymakers often find themselves in the middle, attempting to negotiate between the impulse to let the marketplace freely determine winners and losers and the desire to protect the public interest by mitigating market failures and encouraging socially beneficial trends. All of these forces were represented at the 2010 Forum on Communications and Society (FOCAS) in Aspen.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Government, Science and Technology, Communications, and Mass Media

12. Unmassing America: Ethnic Media and the New Advertising Marketplace

Author:
Amy Korzick Garmer
Publication Date:
11-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
Fundamental changes are taking place in the advertising marketplace. Audiences are moving away from big media and adopting niche media, with indisputable trends toward fragmentation, disintermediation and greater consumer control affecting the media sector. Consumers have expressed preferences for more personalized, relevant forms of media that speak directly to their needs and interests. Advertisers are experimenting with new ways of communicating with customers and searching for new ways of reaggregating audiences. In this new environment, new media expert Jeff Jarvis has observed, “the economies of scale must compete with the economies of small.”
Topic:
Civil Society and Communications
Political Geography:
United States and America