SIIA Digital Discourse Industry Blog

SIIA Estimates $7.76 Billion US Market for Educational Software and Digital Content

December 19, 2012 By Lindsay Harman

The Education Division released the “2011 U.S. Education Technology Industry Market: PreK-12 Report” today. The report values the overall PreK-12 non-hardware education technology market at $7.76 billion, compared to last year’s valuation of $7.5 billion.

This year’s report shows a strong response from content companies but also from companies offering testing and assessment and professional development products and services.

Data in the report was collected directly from service providers, publishers, and developers to show a supply-side view of the market not available through traditional customer data collection techniques. This report is important in showing a comprehensive view of the PreK-12 market with real data.

Consulting Services for Education Inc. (CS4Ed) used the results of the survey and publically available data to determine the size and scope of the market. The revenues and products were divided into four major market segments: content; instructional support; platforms and administrative tools; and a special segment that includes advanced placement, special education, and English language learner materials. Using these resources, the team was able to create a cohesive view of the education technology market and the trends in it over the past year.

The CS4Ed team of John Richards and Leslie Stebbins authored the report, which was made possible by the input of 105 contributing companies.

For more information visit the SIIA Market Survey Report page.

Lindsay Harman is Market and Policy Analyst for the SIIA Education Division.

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Filed Under: Education

Executive Profile – Gunnar Hellekson, Chief Technology Strategist, Red Hat

December 19, 2012 By Rhianna Collier

SIIA Software Division Executive Profile

Name: Gunnar Hellekson
Title: Chief Technology Strategist
Company: Red Hat

Gunnar Hellekson is the Chief Technology Strategist for Red Hat’s US Public Sector group, where he works with systems integrators and government agencies to encourage the use of open source software in government. He is co-chair of Open Source for America and one of Federal Computer Week’s Fed 100 for 2010. He is also an active member of the Military Open Source working group, the Freedom 2 Connect Technical Council, New America’s California Civic Innovation Project Advisory Council, and the CivicCommons Board of Advisors. He is especially interested in cross-domain security, edge innovation, and interagency collaboration through the open source model.

Home town: Honolulu, Hawaii

First job: Slaving away on an AS/400 for Louis Vuitton’s Honolulu operation when I was in high school.

What are you currently reading? “Industry and Empire”, by E.J. Hobsbawn

All-time favorite music: Reggae. I’m from Hawaii, so that’s mandatory.

What is the best meal you have had recently? The “Heather” from Taco Deli in Austin.

What is your next (dream) career? I’m doing it right now.

Hobbies: My wife, my dog, and fancy cocktails.

What do you think is the hot button issue for the software & services industry going into 2013? The elimination of customization and craftwork, and the introduction of standardization and automation.

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Filed Under: Cloud Computing, Cloud/Gov, Software, Uncategorized Tagged With: ISV, Open Source, Red Hat

FTC Closes Year w/ Privacy Bang, State Dept. Refutes Cloud Myths, and SIIA Calls for Patent Legislation

December 18, 2012 By David LeDuc

FTC Initiates Data Broker Study, Will Release Revised COPPA Rule Tomorrow

Finishing up a very busy year on the privacy front, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today announced that it is initiating a study on the “Data Broker Industry’s Collection and Use of Consumer Data.” The Commission issued orders requiring nine “data brokerage companies” to provide the agency with information about how they collect and use data about consumers, and it will use the responses it receives to prepare a study and to make recommendations on whether, and how, the data broker industry could improve its privacy practices.

And the Commission announced that the much-anticipated revisions to the COPPA Rule, providing regulations for Internet sites and services directed towards children, will be released tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Data Broker Briefing Reveals Complex Data Ecosystem

Last week, in a briefing convened by the Congressional Privacy Caucus, co-chairs Ed Markey (D-MA) and Joe Barton (R-TX) explored the roles of “data brokers,” along with two chief regulators from the FTC, Chairman Jon Leibowitz and Commissioner Julie Brill. The briefing and discussion was wide-ranging, and if anything, it seemed to raise more questions than provide answers.

If there was one single over-arching takeaway for me, it was that there exists a very complex data ecosystem that includes consumers, businesses and governments, and it’s increasingly difficult to label entities for purposes of creating new laws and regulations. I have written a blog post summarizing the key themes I took out of this briefing at the SIIA Digital Discourse blog.

SIIA Calls for Legislation to Fight Patent Trolls

Last week, SIIA joined with several other trade associations to issue a formal call on Congress to enact legislation that provides more safeguards to prevent the economic and consumer harm caused by abusive patent lawsuits.

Although the America Invents Act was an effective first step in addressing the problem of abusive patent litigation by trolls, patent trolls continue to damage the economy, hurt America’s tech industry, and threaten innovation. In calling on Congress to do more, SIIA has outlined a specific proposal, which was articulated in the joint letter to congressional leaders, for legislation that would help address this problem. Read more on SIIA’s Digital Discourse Blog.

State Department Refutes Global Cloud Myths, Defends U.S. Providers

In early December, U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, William Kennard, addressed Forum Europe’s 3rd Annual European Data Protection and Privacy Conference, and responded to the myth that the U. S. system of government access to information is a threat to the privacy rights of citizens of the other countries. He was especially effective in rebutting concerns directed at cloud computing, where the misconception has developed that information stored in cloud computing servers can be accessed by the U.S. government without any effective privacy controls. This very welcome effort to refute false barriers to U.S. cloud providers was also accompanied the release of State Department white paper that dispels the misconceptions about the U.S. legal system and government access to information. While SIIA is a leading proponent of policy changes to better enable U.S. cloud providers to compete around the world, this strong defense of current U.S. policies and practices of U.S. cloud providers is a very helpful for alleviating many of the misperceptions that currently serve as a barrier in global markets. Read more on SIIA’s Digital Discourse Blog.

David LeDuc is Senior Director, Public Policy at SIIA. He focuses on e-commerce, privacy, cyber security, cloud computing, open standards, e-government and information policy.

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Filed Under: Digital Policy Roundup

Data Broker Briefing Reveals Complex Data Ecosystem

December 18, 2012 By David LeDuc

In a briefing convened by the Congressional Privacy Caucus last week, co-chairs Ed Markey (D-MA) and Joe Barton (R-TX) explored the roles of “data brokers,” along with two chief regulators from the FTC, Chairman Jon Leibowitz and Commissioner Julie Brill. The briefing and discussion was wide-ranging, and if anything, it seemed to raise more questions than provide answers.

If there was one single over-arching takeaway for me, it was that there exists a very complex data ecosystem that includes consumers, businesses and governments, and it’s increasingly difficult to label entities for purposes of creating new laws and regulations. Following is a summary of key themes I took out of this briefing:

(1) There’s no broad agreement on the definition of “data broker.” The discussion did not include a clear articulation of what the lawmakers and regulators believe to be a data broker definition of exactly what is a “data broker,” which seems to be the key question before deciding on new policies. The best articulation was “an entity that collects data but which has no intersection w/ consumers directly.” While this may make sense on the surface, it quickly breaks-down when moving forward to craft rules for data brokers, because it clearly leaves open a wide range of entities that openly characterize themselves as brokers but also provide for direct interaction with consumers.

I wish we could put any discussion about new policies on hold until we can at least clearly know what we’re talking about as a “data broker.”

(2) It’s the “use” stupid. I was constantly reminded of the old refrain, “it’s the economy, stupid,” the now infamous phrase that explained ultimately why Bill Clinton would ultimately be elected President in 1992. If there is one thing that seems to enjoy broad agreement around data privacy, it’s that it is more important — and useful— to look at how a data is used, and the potential for harm, than it is to single out ill-defined entities and try to craft specific legal and regulatory roadmaps for their behavior. While, this was my takeaway and was surely shared by many other present at the briefing, it is the opposite of what leading lawmakers and regulators are thinking.

(3) The FTC will maintain a steady focus on “data brokers.” Regardless of the challenge in clearly defining data brokers, the FTC is sure they don’t like ‘em. As clearly articulated by Commissioners Leibowitz and Brill, the FTC will maintain a heavy focus on “data brokers” – as was a unanimous recommendation from the FTC’s Privacy Paper issued earlier this year. While they did recognize there are significant benefits provided by “data brokers,” they made the following pronouncements: (1) much more needs to be done on the transparency front, (2) industry needs to do more to articulate existing transparency mechanisms; and (3) the Commission is exploring “what can and should be done beyond merely enforcement” of existing laws.

(4) Reps. Markey and Barton will focus this conversation on children, then expand – As the bipartisan team leaders for increased privacy protection for consumers, Reps. Markey and Barton reiterated their commitment to continue moving forward with all deliberate speed in the next Congress, reintroducing their Do Not Track Kids Act (H.R. 1895) and promising to sign-on even more than the 45 cosponsors from the current bill. . While that is surely no surprise to anyone, they went further to effectively outline their strategy to use the conversation on children’s privacy, expand the current age qualification in COPPA, and use this as a gateway to adopting privacy laws more broadly beyond children.

(5) Transparency and industry leadership are key – Another theme that keeps coming up is the need for greater transparency and industry leadership in this area. Similar to the ongoing discussions regarding “mobile transparency,” industry can and will surely continue to improve practices in this area, or we’ll be building the case for regulators and legislators to step in.

David LeDuc is Senior Director, Public Policy at SIIA. He focuses on e-commerce, privacy, cyber security, cloud computing, open standards, e-government and information policy.

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Filed Under: Policy, Policy - Privacy

SIIA CODiE Awards Announce 2013 Content Category Finalists

December 18, 2012 By Wendy Tanner

Today SIIA announced the 82 finalists for the 2013 SIIA CODiE Awards in Content categories. These finalists represent the information industry’s best products, technologies, and services created by or for media, publishers, and information services providers.

This year there were 25 Content categories, featuring several new and updated ones, to reflect the latest industry trends and business models. New categories include Best Crowd Sourced Solution, Best Press Release Distribution Solution, Best Semantic Technology Solution, and Best Social Media Platform.

Winners will be announced during a special Awards luncheon on January 31 in New York City during the SIIA’s annual flagship conference for information industry leaders, IIS 2013: Breakthrough.

This year, finalists are invited to showcase their products in the CODiE Awards Finalist Showcase during IIS 2013: Breakthrough.

The SIIA CODiE Awards are the industry’s only peer-reviewed awards program. The first round review of all nominees is conducted by media, publishing, and information services executives with considerable industry expertise, including members of the industry, analysts, media and bloggers, and bankers and investors. The judges are responsible for selecting the CODiE Awards finalists. SIIA members then vote on the finalist products and the scores from both rounds are tabulated to select the winners.

Details about each finalist are listed here.

2013 CODiE Awards Content Finalists
Best Advertising Management Platform

Adobe Media Optimizer, Adobe Systems, Inc.
BRIQ (BrightRoll IQ), BrightRoll
OpenX Digital Advertising Platform, OpenX

Best Business Directory

NetProspex B2B Data Services, NetProspex
OneSource iSell, OneSource Information Services

Best Business Information Solution

Cision, Cision, Inc.
Cortera Pulse, Cortera, Inc.
ACCESS GE, GE Capital
Web Preserver, Reed Technology (a member of the LexisNexis family)
Dodge BuildShare, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Tax & Accounting eBooks [on Thomson Reuters ProView eReader app], Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters

Best Consumer Information Resource

Lawyers.com, LexisNexis Group
Questia, Questia
Safari Books Online, Safari Books Online
TalentBrew Platform/Premier Job Postings, TMP Worldwide, LLC

Best Content Management Platform

Adobe CQ, Adobe Systems, Inc.
iAPPS Content Manager, Bridgeline Software, Inc.
Customer Engagement Platform, Sitecore
TERMINALFOUR Site Manager, TERMINALFOUR

Best Crowd Sourced Solution

Dell Boomi AtomSphere, Dell Boomi
InfoArmy Competitive Intelligence Reports, InfoArmy
NetProspex B2B Data Services, NetProspex

Best Digital Rights Management Solution

Get It Now, Copyright Clearance Center
iCopyright Content Licensing Toolbar, iCopyright
Sentinel License Development Kit (LDK), SafeNet, Inc. – SRM Group

Best eCommerce & Billing Platform

Aria Subscription Billing Platform, Aria Systems, Inc.
Avangate SkyCommerce Suite, Avangate
Recurly, Recurly

Best Financial & Market Data Information Solution

PitchBook, PitchBook Data, Inc.
OPIS Retail DataHouse, United Communications Group (UCG)
TTR – Transactional Track Record, ZUVINOVA

Best General Reference Service

Literati Public, Credo Reference
SAGE Knowledge, Sage Publications

Best Governance, Risk and Compliance Solution

ControlPoint, Axceler
Bloomberg Government, Bloomberg Government
Dow Jones Risk & Compliance Portal, Dow Jones & Company
EDR Lender Portal, Environmental Data Resources
Keylight platform, LockPath
Sonatype Insight, Sonatype

Best Lead Generation Solution

HubSpot 3, HubSpot, Inc.
salesPRISM, Lattice Engines
NetProspex B2B Data Services, NetProspex
ZoomInfo Pro, Zoom Information Inc.

Best Legal Information Solution

Lexis Advance, LexisNexis Group
Web Preserver, Reed Technology (a member of the LexisNexis family)
IA Watch, United Communications Group (UCG)
Workshare/SkyDox for Cloud Collaboration, Workshare

Best Media & Information Monitoring Solution

Cision, Cision, Inc.
AllMedia, Critical Mention
Nexis with Media Coverage Analyzer, LexisNexis Group

Best Medical Information Solution

DG Suite-DG Image Share, DICOM Grid
ProQuest Hospital Collection, ProQuest
Home Health Coding Center, UCG/DecisionHealth
UpToDate for Android, UpToDate

Best Press Release Distribution Solution

iReach, PR Newswire Association, Inc.
PRWeb Financial Visibility, Vocus, Inc.

Best Sales & Marketing Intelligence Solution

DiscoverOrg Database, DiscoverOrg
InfoArmy Competitive Intelligence Reports, InfoArmy
InsideView TEAM, InsideView
IQ Intelligence Suite, Visual IQ

Best Science and Technology Information Solution

Mobile Library Rx, Infotrieve, Inc.
Udini from ProQuest, ProQuest
Safari Books Online, Safari Books Online

Best Search Technology Solution

ClinicalKey, Elsevier
Discovery Search Engine, Transparensee Systems

Best Semantic Technology Solution

ClinicalKey, Elsevier
Luxid Content Enrichment Platform, TEMIS Inc.

Best Service Using Aggregated Content

Lexis(R) Practice Advisor, LexisNexis Group
Nexis, LexisNexis Group
ebrary Academic Complete
Checkpoint World, Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters
Zoomph, Zoomph

Best Social Media Platform

Bizo Marketing Platform, Bizo, Inc.
The All-New ePals, ePals
Moontoast Social Marketing Apps, Moontoast, LLC.

Best Solution for Integrating Content into the Workflow

Adobe FrameMaker 11, Adobe Systems, Inc.
LexisSmart Precedents, LexisNexis
Lexis for Microsoft Office, LexisNexis Group
Thomson Reuters Checkpoint [mobile versions], Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters

Best Testing, Monitoring and Analytics Platform

Adobe Marketing Cloud, Adobe Systems, Inc.
Zoomph, Zoomph

Best Video Platform for Media & Publishers

WSJ Live, Dow Jones & Company
The NewsLook Platform, NewsLook
ARC Engagement Platform, PR Newswire Association, Inc.

For more information on the Information Industry Summit, attending the CODiE Awards lunch, and to see a full schedule of events, visit the Information Industry Summit website.

Wendy Tanner is CODiE Awards Coordinator. Follow the CODiE Awards on Twitter @CODiEAwards

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Filed Under: CODiEs, Content, Information Industry Summit

SIIA Welcomes State Department’s Interventions on Cloud Computing and Privacy

December 14, 2012 By Mark MacCarthy

Last week U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, William Kennard, addressed Forum Europe’s 3rd Annual European Data Protection and Privacy Conference, and responded to the myth that the U. S. system of government access to information is a threat to the privacy rights of citizens of the other countries. He was especially effective in rebutting concerns directed at cloud computing, where the misconception has developed that information stored in cloud computing servers can be accessed by the U.S. government without any effective privacy controls.

His intervention is a welcome attempt to set the record straight before these erroneous beliefs become widespread and entrenched. It was accompanied the release of State Department white paper that dispels the misconceptions about the U.S. legal system and government access to information.

The fact is that the U.S. has a well-developed and established system to protect individual liberties from government intrusion. We have a general distrust of a powerful government and are suspicious of anything that advances the growth of government power. Our bias is in favor of a limited government that lets people chose their own good in their own way. As a result we are far less tolerant of government intrusion into our private lives than other countries, and have set up a system whereby the U.S. extends privacy protections to non-U.S. citizens as well.

At the same time, the U.S. is more tolerant of the use of information for innovative and productive use by businesses than other countries, to our great advantage in the race for economic growth, business development and job creation. Our system of protecting the individual privacy in the business context shows that this can be done while maintaining strong and effective protections for consumer privacy. This system also respects the rights of non-U.S. consumers established in other privacy regimes.

None of this means that the U.S. system is perfect. We think that steps can be taken to improve the consumer privacy system for mobile app notifications and are actively working with the U.S. Commerce Department and other stakeholders on a voluntary code of conduct and an effective system of screen notices. We have joined with others in the Digital Due Process Coalition to modernize the 1986 U.S. Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which needs updating to fit the realities of email and document storage in the cloud.

But the need for these reforms does not suggest that the current U.S. system is a threat to privacy or justifies a move away from cloud computing as a way to avoid government scrutiny. Ambassador Kennard is to be commended for his strong defense of the U.S. approach to privacy in the cloud.

Mark MacCarthy, Vice President, Public Policy at SIIA, directs SIIA’s public policy initiatives in the areas of intellectual property enforcement, information privacy, cybersecurity, cloud computing and the promotion of educational technology. Follow the SIIA Public Policy team on Twitter at @SIIAPolicy

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Filed Under: Policy, Policy - Cloud Computing, Policy - Privacy Tagged With: cloud computing, europe, privacy

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