Weekly Roundup 11/14
Good afternoon, Readers! Happy Monday. Last Tuesday, Donald Trump was elected president of the United States in one of the biggest political upsets in recent history. While we will have to wait and see if Mr. Trump delivers on many of the promises he made during the campaign trail, many have begun to speculate about what a Trump presidency means for the tech industry.
Trump’s regulatory platform does not specifically mention technology or the internet, but by all accounts points towards a laissez faire approach. Greg Autry, an entrepreneur, researcher and professor at the Marshall School of Business at USC argues this could mean big things for the tech industry, potentially reshaping how modern startups generally take off. Instead of developing a product stateside and then manufacturing overseas, Autry suggests that “they’ll see an environment where exports are supported over imports, versus the current environment which supports ‘overshoring’ and importation”.
Under President Trump, we could potentially see reversals in net neutrality rules. In 2014 he tweeted “Obama’s attack on the internet is another top down power grab. Net neutrality is the Fairness Doctrine. Will target conservative media”, suggesting the recent Federal Communications Commission's regulations should be revised. It is possible that the hard-fought battles for safeguarding net neutrality could have been in vain under his upcoming presidency. That being said, he has not mentioned any specific telecom regulations he would like to amend, nor has he touched on tech issues like expanding broadband access across the country. Trump has also remained silent on cyber security and encryption, though he did call for a boycott of Apple during the FBI-Apple dispute over whether Apple should help unlock the phone of the shooter in last year’s San Bernardino attacks. Because of this, it seems we will most likely have a clearer picture of his stances once he appoints more members to his administration.
Tech News:
What the Trump Win Means for Tech, Science, and Beyond
Why Trump might not block the AT&T-Time Warner merger, after all
China threatens to cut sales of iPhones and US cars if 'naive' Trump pursues trade war
Experts Express Concerns About Cybersecurity Under Trump
Science and Technology Under a Trump Presidency
People Want Automation but Are Afraid of Machines, Study Shows
Bangladesh Hopes to Recover $30 Million from Cyber Heist
How U.S. Manufacturing Is About to Get Smarter
The Looming Disaster of the Internet of (Hackable) Things
AI That Lip-Reads Better Than Humans
Rethinking Informed Consent in Digital Development
Civic Tech:
In Vietnam, Digital is Democratizing
How Can We Better Manage Informal Feedback?
Humanitarian Assistance in the Information Economy
Pop Quiz: What Is the Difference Between mHealth, mEducation, and mAgriculture?
IBM Diagnoses Skin Cancer with the Help of A Smartphone
How Iran Is Building Its Censorship-Friendly Domestic Internet