European Union (EU)

See the following -

The Grim Propect of Antibiotic Resistance

Staff Writer | The Economist | May 21, 2016

When people hear about antibiotic resistance creating “superbugs”, they tend to think of new diseases and pandemics spreading out of control. The real threat is less flamboyant, but still serious: existing problems getting worse, sometimes dramatically. Infections acquired in hospital are a prime example. They are already a problem, but with more antibiotic resistance they could become a much worse one. Elective surgery, such as hip replacements, now routine, would come to carry what might be seen as unacceptable risk. So might Caesarean sections. The risks of procedures which suppress the immune system, such as organ transplants and cancer chemotherapies, would increase...

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The New Health IT Arms Race Between The US And EU

Nicole Fisher and Ben Heubl | Forbes.com | March 10, 2014

If you were to ask anyone in the United States what “health access” meant to them, you would get a different answer. In the UK, for most people, it means the ability to access National Health Service (NHS) amenities.

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The Web Is in Danger, Copyright Reform Can Break the Internet

Nino Vranešič | El Nino Blog | September 15, 2016

Basic copyright laws and enforcements have been in effect for hundreds of years.
Let’s go back in the history: First Industrial Revolution was based on water and steam power to mechanize production. The second was all about electricity which helped create mass production. The third, connected electronics and information technology to automate production. Now we live in “Fourth Industrial Revolution” which we also call the digital revolution...

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The ‘privacy by design’ approach for mobile apps: why it is not enough

The mobile apps installed on our smartphones are one of the biggest threats to our digital privacy. They are capable of collecting vast amounts of personal data, often highly sensitive. The consent model on which privacy laws are based doesn’t work. App users remain concerned about privacy, as a recent survey shows, but they still aren’t very good at protecting it. They may lack the technical know-how or the time to review privacy terms, or they may lack the willpower to resist the lure of trending apps and personalized in-app offers...

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Top 10 Open Source Legal Developments in 2015

In 2015 there were a variety of legal issues of importance to the FOSS (free and open source) community. Continuing the tradition of looking back over the top ten legal developments in FOSS, my selection of the top ten issues for 2015 is as follows:

  1. Settlement of Versata cases interpreting General Public License version 2 (GPLv2)
  2. First decision interpreting General Public License version 3 (GPLv3)
  3. Linux programmer sues VMware for violation of GPLv2 for Linux
  4. Community GPL compliance
  5. European Commission antitrust investigation of Google and its Android operating System (Android OS)...

U.S. Conducts Nuclear Response Exercises

Staff Writer | Defense One | May 12, 2014

U.S. Strategic Command this week is conducting a massive nuclear arms drill designed to “deter and detect strategic attacks” on the United States and allies.  A Sunday press release announcing the May 12-16  “Global Lightning” exercise explicitly noted that the event’s timing is “unrelated to real-world events.”

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U.S. To Begin Ebola Hospital Equipment Lift To Liberia

David Morgan | Reuters | September 17, 2014

The first planeload of hospital equipment in the U.S. military's battle against West Africa's deadly Ebola outbreak will arrive in Liberia on Friday, a senior administration official said on Wednesday...

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Understanding the Cyber Resilience Act: What Everyone involved in Open Source Development Should Know

The European Union is making big changes to cybersecurity requirements with its proposed Cyber Resilience Act (CRA). You may have heard about the CRA’s potential impact on the open source ecosystem. But what does the Cyber Resilience Act mean for you? This post is an introduction to the Act and explains how it may affect the open source maintainers and developer community. Note that this post is based on a draft of the CRA from September 15, 2022. The Act is still in a draft stage and getting feedback, and its provisions may differ before it is passed into law. The Cyber Resilience Act was introduced by the European Parliament in September 2022. Its purpose is to establish cybersecurity requirements for devices and software marketed in the EU. Everybody who places digital products in the EU market will be responsible for additional obligations around reporting and compliance, such as fixing discovered vulnerabilities, providing software updates, and auditing and certifying the products.

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USDA Reports Honeybee Death Rate Too High For Long-Term Survival

Staff Writer | EcoWatch | May 16, 2014

Honeybees in the U.S. are dying at a rate too high to ensure their long-term survival, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Read More »

Vibrent Health Joins Europe’s Open Source RADAR-CNS Program to Develop Scalable Analytics Platform for Health Wearables

Press Release | Vibrent Health, RADAR-CNS | April 24, 2018

Health technology company Vibrent Health...expands its digital health solutions business into Europe through a partnership with Remote Assessment of Disease and Relapse – Central Nervous System (RADAR-CNS). Vibrent Health will work with the Europe-led consortium on developing digital health programs featuring predictive analytics designed to monitor and help improve treatment for depression, multiple sclerosis, and epilepsy. RADAR-CNS is conducting research using a range of medical-grade sensors, such as electro-cardiograms, as well as a growing portfolio of consumer-grade sensors, including accelerometers and smartphone applications, that collect participant data from surveys and smartphone sensors.

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What Is The 'Right To Be Forgotten'?

Dave Lee | BBC News | May 13, 2014

...Google - and other search engines - are extremely efficient at crawling the web to find and store data. Even if websites are taken offline, a cache is kept - meaning they can still be accessed.  This is good for making the web as useful as possible, but bad if you don't like what it finds about you...

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Why Giving Birth Is Safer In Britain Than In The US

Kate Womersley | Digg | September 1, 2017

At 11:58 pm this past June 25, Helen Taylor gave birth to her first baby, a boy, at West Suffolk Hospital in the east of England. At 11:59 pm, with 15 seconds to spare before midnight, his sister was born. The obstetrician and her team were pleased; the cesarean section was going smoothly, fulfilling Helen’s wish that her twins share a birthday...

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eHealth Week 2013

Event Details
Type: 
Conference
Date: 
May 13, 2013 (All day) - May 15, 2013 (All day)
Location: 
Dublin
Ireland

eHealth Week 2013 will be held this year in Dublin, Ireland. The conference brings together two main events: (1) the High Level eHealth Conference co-organized by the European Commission and the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and (2) the World of Health IT Conference & Exhibition (WoHIT) organized by HIMSS Europe. Read More »

Open Source as Sustainable Digital Infrastructure - OpenForum Europe

Event Details
Type: 
Conference
Date: 
November 21, 2022 (All day)

OpenForum Europe (OFE), together with the Swedish Public Sector Network Open Source and Data, are organizing a track on Cybersecurity, sustainability and Digital Sovereignty as part of the Internet Days in Stockholm, Sweden. Open source software is a critical and extensive part of our common digital infrastructure. It presents both opportunities and risks. Opportunities such as enhanced interoperability of infrastructure and services within and across borders, as well as reducing dependencies and lock-in to individual vendors and system solutions. The risks stem from sustainability issues and include the fact that many open source applications are maintained by volunteers and there is a general under-investment in maintenance.

This in a rapidly changing geopolitical and digital environment, where vulnerabilities, introduced knowingly or unknowingly, are increasingly at risk of being exploited by malicious third parties with potentially major consequences. As the public sector intends to reuse more of each other’s digital infrastructure, there is a growing need to ensure that what we do is secure. Therefore, this thematic track aims to show the extent of open source software in our own and shared digital infrastructure, and its importance for our digital sovereignty and cybersecurity.

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