Posted by Owen Linderholm
Director, Microsoft on the Issues

Back in February, we wrote about Operation b49 – the groundbreaking legal and technical efforts led by Microsoft in cooperation with academic and industry experts around the world to shut down the notorious Waledac botnet, a network of tens of thousands of computers hijacked by bot-herders to spread malware, send spam and commit other forms of cybercrime. Today, we’re pleased to announce that our legal action to permanently shut down the botnet has been successful! The Official Microsoft Blog has additional details about today’s news, and you should also check out today’s edition of USA Today.

Posted by Owen Linderholm
Director, Microsoft on the Issues

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has announced that in conjunction with International Literacy Day it is launching a new portal for supporting and promoting literacy efforts globally. Microsoft shares the global concern with literacy – both for children and adults. It is estimated that there are 796 million illiterate adults worldwide and 67.4 million children not attending school and at risk of becoming illiterate adults. Reducing these numbers is a global priority. In fact, halving the global adult illiteracy rate by 2015 is one of the specific goals of the UN Literacy Decade that was launched in 2003.

The portal, called the Knowledge an Innovations Network for Literacy (KINL) has been supported by Microsoft and Verizon. 

This new portal is intended to be a global workplace where literacy researchers and workers can connect, share information and discuss literacy in English, Spanish and French. The portal, called the Knowledge and Innovations Network for Literacy (KINL) has been supported by Microsoft and Verizon. The hope and expectation is that KINL will foster creativity and innovation in advancing literacy as well as be a support worldwide for people working on literacy. Microsoft shares the global concern with literacy – both for children and adults. It is estimated that there are796 million illiterate adults worldwide and 67.4 million children not attending school and at risk of becoming illiterate adults.

Posted by Pamela Passman
Corporate Vice President, Global Corporate Affairs

At Microsoft, we are committed to help tackle some of society’s biggest challenges. In the past decade, I’ve worked alongside many dedicated colleagues who are passionate about making a difference in public education, as Microsoft employees, community advocates and parents. We all want to help improve educational outcomes for children and provide teachers with the tools and support they need. We are always looking for new and creative ways to support teachers, students and parents in these efforts.   

Microsoft has a long history of involvement in education, with national and community-based programs designed to empower teachers and inspire students, such as Partners in Learning, EduConnect and Imagine Cup, as well as our ongoing support for the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and math). 

Posted by Dan Reed
Corporate Vice President, Technology Strategy and Policy

A few weeks ago, Tim O’Reilly asked me if I would deliver a thought-provoking presentation on cognitive radio technologies and spectrum allocation policy at this year’s Gov 2.0 Summit.  In this post, I’d like to share a few highlights of my speech and expand on some related topics.

Today, feature-rich smartphones and mobile computing devices and consumers’ seemingly insatiable appetites for text services, social networking and streaming media are placing unprecedented demands on wireless communication networks.  YouTube reports that 24 hours of video is now uploaded to the social video site every 60 seconds, and Cisco projects that streaming video will increase wireless data transmission demands by 20X-40X over the next five years.  If you have ever experienced a loss of wireless services in a densely populated area, you understand the problem we’re facing.

In response, cellular carriers are scrambling to build new cell towers and deploy 4G technologies. However, all of this cellular infrastructure investment centers on a very small fraction of the total radio spectrum, allocated via regulatory and auction processes that date back decades to a far simpler and slower moving telecommunications world.

Posted by Brad Smith
SVP and General Counsel, Microsoft Corporation

In today’s Seattle Times, I wrote an op-ed calling upon Washington state to take new steps to improve education.   While much of this responsibility falls on legislators and educators, it’s also important for businesses to play a role in supporting positive educational reforms.  So, I’d like to describe what we are doing, at Microsoft, to support education at local, national and global levels.  

• Microsoft recently committed $1 million to support early learning in the Seattle area, through a new Parent-Child Home Program being launched by the United Way.
• In addition, we have spent $3 million to sponsor the multi-year Microsoft Math Partnership, which has helped eight Washington school districts improve their success rates in middle school math, thus helping students during this formative stage of their education.  We also support a number of local programs that encourage the pursuit of math and science, including MATHCOUNTS, MESA and FIRST Robotics Competitions, which add fun and excitement to learning.

Posted by Paula Boyd
Regulatory Affairs Counsel

On Thursday the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took an important step in making innovative wireless broadband services, devices and applications available to consumers. The Commissioners are now in the process of finalizing policies that will allow the vacant channels in the television bands (the so-called “TV white spaces”) to be used for wireless broadband.

What are TV white spaces? In markets around the country, broadcasters use some—but not all—of the available channels to provide over-the-air television. Today, technology can make use of the unused channels, the TV white spaces, to provide wireless broadband connectivity while ensuring that there is no harmful interference to current users of the band. TV white spaces are particularly valuable since signals in this spectrum range are better able to penetrate walls and trees, and also to cover greater distances: two to three times further than the spectrum that is currently used for Wi-Fi. This means more reliable, higher-bandwidth wireless broadband connectivity and the potential to unleash exciting new user products and scenarios. It also has the potential to lower costs for consumers since the better range offered by white spaces enables a service provider to cover a greater service area with less equipment.

Posted by Pamela Passman 
Corporate Vice President, Global Corporate Affairs

Today we are announcing the latest expansion of our Elevate America program, which aims to provide people across the United States with the technology skills they need to find employment. The Elevate America community initiative will focus on partnering with nonprofits to support job training programs and initiatives in local communities across the country.

Elevate America was launched in February 2009 and since that time we have worked with 32 states and the District of Columbia to distribute over 800,000 training and certification vouchers. In March we announced the Elevate America Veterans initiative which is focusing on building a nationwide coalition to help U.S. veterans and their spouses transition from military to civilian employment. Through this work we have already learned a lot about the complexity of the unemployment issue and the importance of technology skills to those trying to enter or renter the workforce.

The consistent theme across all our Elevate America programs is the necessity for partnership to be at the very core of addressing what is a complex and difficult issue. We acknowledge that while we can bring resources and expertise to bear, ultimately, to be successful, we need the knowledge, reach and skills of partner organizations in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Our Elevate America community initiative builds on a long standing commitment to working with nonprofits on the provision of technology skills training. Since 2003 we have worked in partnership with thousands of nonprofit organizations and reached more than 27 million people.

Today we are issuing a request for proposals (RFP) for nonprofits that have demonstrated expertise in providing employment services with a focus on technology skills training, job placement and related support to connect individuals to sustainable jobs and careers. Following the selection process we are committing $4 million in cash, $6 million worth of software and training curriculum to support the successful applicants over the next two years.

Posted by Tim Cranton
Associate General Counsel, Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit

For most of the 11 years I’ve worked at Microsoft, I’ve focused on ways to fight the constantly evolving threat of cybercrime. Computer facilitated crimes have many faces, and by far the most difficult and heartrending crimes I’ve come across in this work are crimes against children.  Consequently, some of the most rewarding experiences of my career have been those opportunities to work with the many incredible organizations around the world making a difference to protect children, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).

For 26 years, NCMEC has worked to help find missing children, prevent child abduction and sexual exploitation, and help the victims of abduction and sexual exploitation on their path to recovery. The children and families affected by these tragedies face difficult challenges and NCMEC’s support and service to these families has a profound impact. 

To help ensure NCMEC continues to have the tools it needs to carry on its critical mission, Microsoft this month made one of the largest singular software grants ever given through our Unlimited Potential program – a donation of software worth more than $1.9 million.  The grant brings the total software donations to NCMEC to more than $3.1 million to date, and includes a range of tools that will be applied to a variety of operational needs for the organization.

Posted by Claire Bonilla
Senior Director of Disaster Management

In recognition of World Humanitarian Day on August 19, Microsoft commends the thousands of aid workers who have devoted their lives to bringing assistance to others. The international humanitarian community is facing new challenges spawned by climate change, chronic poverty, food crisis, water and energy scarcity, migration, population growth, urbanization, pandemics, and natural disasters. While much has been achieved, the challenges faced by many millions of people around the world are still daunting and the need for effective humanitarian action is greater than ever.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) is leading the UN’s efforts around the world commemorating World Humanitarian Day. Microsoft has been working with UNOCHA to develop OneResponse, a collaborative inter-agency web portal which has been used to enhance humanitarian coordination during disasters like the devastating Haiti earthquake and recent floods in Pakistan.

Personally, I would like to pay tribute to the humanitarian community which has improved the capability to respond rapidly and effectively beyond all recognition in the last 20 years. This is largely due to the dedication of all who have worked tirelessly and contributed their ideas and actions to support the people in need.

As a technology leader, Microsoft is committed to helping humanitarian workers and agencies with the important work they do around the world by providing technology that makes collaboration and communication easier, faster and more efficient. We believe technology has and will continue to transform the way organizations operate to help in the world both in times of disaster and in ongoing humanitarian and development work.

Posted by Cameron Evans
National and Chief Technology Officer, U.S. Education

Cameron Evans

At EDUCOMM 2010, identity was one of the most tweeted topics during the panel session when I remarked, “…it’s easier for me to enter a foreign country than it is to log into a university network!”  I took the laughter as both agreement and the stark reality of managing identity in higher education.  As of last week, Microsoft is now an InCommon Affiliate, which means that institutions can get community support to implement federated identity networks more quickly and cost effectively so students and faculty won’t need multiple credentials to collaborate and be productive between schools and universities. InCommon is part of Internet2 and is dedicated to creating and supporting a common framework for trustworthy shared access of online materials in support of education and research in the United States.

Federated Identity is not single sign-on.  I like the analogy that the United States is a federation of states. We share common infrastructure across all of the states in order to facilitate commerce and our lives.  But what if you couldn’t use that common infrastructure to access another state unless you were first given permission from that state?  What would happen to the productivity of our nation if we were confined to only doing business within each state’s borders with each state’s local resources?  For most colleges and universities today, that analogy provides a picture of their campus network and the lingering limitations on collegial collaboration and productivity.

Posted by Andrea L. Taylor
Director, North America Community Affairs
 
Last week the White House announced the inaugural grants of the Social Innovation Fund (SIF) that included the National Fund for Workforce Solutions (NFWS), as one of 11 award recipients. The two-year, $7.7 million award will fund an expansion of existing training programs in several of 23 NFWS sites and the establishment of 6-8 new sites.
 
Displaced workers in America’s cities are the beneficiaries of the good news here.  The National Fund is already providing sector-based training for adults in cities such as Baltimore, Hartford, New York and Seattle and is developing best practices that can be replicated in other communities.  As an SIF recipient, the National Fund is uniquely positioned to help transform the way we cultivate talent in the U.S., especially for more than 80 million adults who struggle without 21st century skills that  align with today’s new knowledge economy.

Governor Gregoire has created a new Higher Education Task Force and asked me to serve as its chair.  In keeping with the task force approach, our group is scheduled to meet four times this summer and early fall to develop a long-term strategic approach to maximizing the impact and return our state receives on its investment in higher education.
 
Our specific charges are (1) to develop a realistic and viable funding strategy that keeps higher education affordable for Washington students; (2) recommend ways to improve accountability for performance among our higher education institutions; and (3) examine whether the governance system for higher education could be updated to become more effective.
 
The challenges are clear.  Our state is home to numerous employers, including Microsoft, that utilize great numbers of employees with higher education degrees.  The future of our state economy is directly tied to these high-skilled workers.  At the same time, our four-year institutions are at the low end in producing graduates with these types of skills and degrees.  And the state budget crisis has put additional financial pressure on all our colleges and universities, making it even harder for them to invest in programs to produce graduates ready to step into these high-demand fields.

By Dave Heiner
Vice President and Deputy General Counsel

In November 2008, the U.S. Department of Justice determined that a plan by Google to provide advertising next to just a portion of the search results on Yahoo’s competing search engine was illegal under the antitrust laws. Google wasn’t especially interested in the additional viewership for its ads—it already had massive ad volume—but rather in scuttling Microsoft’s efforts to combine with Yahoo to form a stronger competitor to Google in search.  Google was quite open about this.  When asked in September 2008 to name the most important development for Google in the preceding six months, Google’s Eric Schmidt replied “the Yahoo business deal . . . It was a setback for Microsoft.”  (Ken Auletta, Googled, 2009)

History seems to be repeating itself, now on the other side of the Pacific. The two main search advertising platforms in Japan are run by Google and Yahoo Japan (which is controlled by Softbank Corp.)  Google plans to replace Yahoo Japan’s search advertising platform with its own, reducing the number of ad platforms in Japan to just one.  Google will take over the natural search results on Yahoo Japan too, replacing the Yahoo search service that Yahoo Japan had optimized for Japanese queries. The proposed deal will eliminate search competition in Japan—in paid advertising and natural search results. 

Today Google accounts for about 51% of paid search advertising in Japan.  Yahoo Japan accounts for 47%.  Their combined share of natural search results is almost as high.  If Google is permitted to proceed with its plan, it would gain nearly complete control over search and search advertising in Japan through contract, not organic growth.  Google alone would decide what consumers in Japan will find, or not find, on the Web.  And Google will obtain massive amounts of data regarding the search history and Web sites visited by every consumer, business and government agency that conducts Web searches.

Posted by John Seethoff        
Vice President and Deputy General Counsel

Earlier this week President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act into law.  While the legislation is focused primarily on overhauling the U.S. financial regulatory system, the Act contains eight provisions addressing corporate governance and executive compensation that will have a significant impact on public companies.

The Act writes another chapter in the discussion about shareholders voting on executive pay (commonly referred to as “say-on-pay”).  Last year, we considered two shareholder proposals for our 2009 annual meeting requesting an advisory vote on whether to implement “say-on-pay.” Instead we went a step further and held our first say-on-pay vote giving shareholders the opportunity to weigh in on the policies and practices for compensation of the Company’s top leaders.  Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel and senior vice president, Legal and Corporate Affairs details Microsoft's say-on-pay policy in the latest edition of Directors & Boards, one of the industry’s leading voices on governance matters.

Posted by Dan Kasun
Senior Director, Microsoft Developer and Platform Evangelism

Over the past weekend, Microsoft announced support for Code for America at a dinner event in Seattle attended by Tim O’Reilly, CEO of O’Reilly Media, as well as local officials like Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and City Councilmember Bruce Harrell.  Code for America has embarked on a program to connect city governments with developers, and to foster strong collaboration and sharing between cities on technology solutions.  We believe that this type of initiative can help drive innovative applications in the city government space, help grow the workforce of qualified developers, and help drive efficiency through reuse and sharing of best practices and solutions.

Here at Microsoft, we see the issues facing city governments and we believe that the power of software can help governments overcome these challenges and succeed in their missions.  However, there needs to be a strong base of developers who understand not only technology, but also government issues, infrastructure, organization, systems, and needs.  Another advantage is that broad collaboration between city governments can help them learn from solutions and experiences across the U.S.

Posted by Laura Ruby
Director, Accessibility Policy & Standards
 
Yesterday the White House announced that the government will renew its commitment to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, which requires access to the federal government's electronic and information technology for people with disabilities. The announcement was part of the celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which gives 43 million Americans with disabilities the promise of equal access to all the benefits and advantages of society.
 
Section 508 applies to all Federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain or use electronic and information technology. Today’s announcement focused on ensuring better agency accountability and more responsibility for implementing Section 508 requirements, so that the benefits of information technology are made available to those with disabilities and to older people who often experience vision, hearing or dexterity impairments as they age.
 
Accessible technology enables people with disabilities to access services and pursue education and employment in today’s competitive and connected digital workplace. It also helps business leaders and governments empower and retain top employees and aging workers. The United States has been a leader on accessibility, and many other countries look to Section 508 as a model. The law helps ensure a more vibrant and competitive technology industry, as the government’s commitment to adopt the most accessible technology products creates a powerful incentive for investment in accessibility improvements. To continue sending the right signals to industry, however, the government must set clear goals and guidelines, without favoring one technology or business framework over another. Also, agency staff who carry out the policy need sufficient training in how to use, evaluate and maintain accessible technology.

Posted by Craig Mundie
Chief Research and Strategy Officer

photo caption: Officials in Washington gathered at the Willard Hotel on July 14th, 2010, to launch the APEC 2011 USA Host Committee. Photo credit: BusinessWire.

The United States this week took one more step forward in its plans to host the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) year in 2011. Microsoft joined with Chevron, Federal Express, JP Morgan Chase, Procter & Gamble, Underwriters Labs, and Walmart as founding members of the 2011 private sector host committee. I am honored to chair the APEC 2011 Host Committee. [APEC membership is drawn from 21 countries on the Pacific Rim from Asia, Latin America and North America.]

Hosting APEC in 2011 is a key opportunity for the United States to reassert its leadership on broad economic issues affecting not only business but also health, education and security in Asia. Secretary Clinton framed this opportunity perfectly in her speech in Hawaii earlier this year, when she said that “America’s future is linked to the future of the Asia‐Pacific region; and the future of this region depends on America.” We could not agree more.

The 21 APEC economies represent 2.5 billion consumers and 60% of the world’s global income. For the United States, some 60% of our exports are destined for APEC economies. Our partnerships in Asia are essential to our economic growth.

As the global economy begins to recover, we share with our partners in Asia the common objectives of creating jobs and economic opportunity to raise living standards. This is a crucial moment for U.S. leadership and the public-private partnership that we enjoy in America. For all of the companies involved, and for our country, hosting APEC 2011 is a pivotal event in U.S. engagement in this important region. We are committed to building and working in a strong partnership with the Administration and Congress to ensure successful outcomes for both government and the private sector throughout the year. With the Administration and Congress, including the important APEC Caucus in the House, we have put in place a three-way partnership for a successful APEC year in 2011.

Joining us at the launch were U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and Representative Kevin Brady, a co-chair of the House Caucus on APEC, and Bob Hormats, Under Secretary of State for Agricultural, Economic and Business Affairs (insert others). All are outspoken leaders who are working to strengthen U.S. economic relations with our partners in the Asia Pacific.

Posted by Caroline Curtin
Policy Counsel, U.S. Government Affairs

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Insurance, held a hearing on “Protecting Youths in an Online World.” On behalf of Microsoft, Julie Inman-Grant and I attended the hearing to support Microsoft’s continued commitment to finding ways to keep families safer online. Among other topics, there was an increased focus on the risks to the teen audience, and what the industry and others can do to increase awareness of risks and tools for this demographic and their parents.

Today, the Windows Live Family Safety team blogged about what’s new with Family Safety, and it was exciting to read about how Family Safety is increasing its effort to not only keep younger children safer online, but teens as well. In the post, Microsoft Senior Product Manager, Phil Sohn, blogs about how he uses Family Safety to facilitate safer social networking for his own teenagers. Here’s part of what Phil has to say in the post:

Posted by Owen Linderholm
Director, Microsoft on the Issues

This week at the Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft executives are speaking with our more than 640,000 local partners around the world. Back in October, Pamela Passman blogged about the economic impact of Microsoft’s partner ecosystem, who together, generated more than $500 billion in revenues in 2009. One of our partners, Ramona Pierson, founder of SynapticMash, also shared her story about finding success in the ecosystem.

As economic recovery remains a key priority for our nation, our partners are doing their part to fuel innovation and jobs in towns and villages, cities and states and countries and continents around the globe. For more info, check out Fred Humphries, on Politico: Collaboration brings opportunity and take a look at the Washington Post’s Cecilia Kang’s interview with Steve Ballmer. You can also check out our virtual press kit for the event on the Microsoft News Center.

Posted by Linda Zecher
Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Public Sector

This morning at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington, DC, we had the privilege of welcoming former President Bill Clinton, who spoke about the need for sustainable systems and how IT can be a key catalyst in building a virtuous cycle of sustained social and economic development. He pointed out how the IT revolution has led the dramatic improvements in productivity, access to information, and prosperity for those at the top of the pyramid, but noted that for more than 5 billion people, the opportunity to learn, connect, create, and succeed remains elusive. He noted that the job of the 21st Century is to build up this inequality and said the most important question we need to answer in the next 20-40 years is “How?”.

During the Worldwide Public Sector keynote this afternoon, we had the opportunity to expand on those some of the themes highlighting the opportunity for technology innovation. My team at Microsoft is working to spur discussions with educators, governments and a host of local and global partners about expanding access to relevant and affordable technology so that all communities can experience the benefits of social and economic opportunity. We want to help people answer the “how”; how to help governments become more efficient, engage citizens and create opportunities and jobs.

Governments around the world are looking for game-changing answers in providing quality healthcare, keeping their people safe and secure, and educating their young people. They are looking for the best ways to spur local economic growth, create jobs and lay the foundation for long-term economic competitiveness. 

Posted by Dorothy Dwoskin
Senior Director of Global Trade Policy and Strategy

The United States and South Korea are, once again, focused on realizing the benefits of enhanced trade and investment opportunities between our two countries.  This is great news! 

President Obama and South Korea’s President Lee agreed, on the margins of the G-20 Summit, to put the US- Korea FTA (Free Trade Agreement) (also known as “KORUS”) on a path towards approval.  Trade Ministers are now working to meet the deadline of resolving outstanding issues by the time President Obama visits Seoul in November.    As President Obama said, “It is the right thing to do for our country.  It is the right thing to do for Korea.  It will strengthen our commercial ties and create enormous potential economic benefits and create jobs here in the United States, which is my number one priority.”  In Korea, there is a similarly strong sentiment about the importance of KORUS for the Korean economy.

Posted by Lauren Woodman
General Manager of Government and Education Programs, Worldwide Public Sector

Lauren Woodman

This week Microsoft is hosting the Education Leaders Forum in Warsaw, Poland in conjunction with the 2010 Imagine Cup World Finals. Great event – great to bring together education leaders to talk about the role that education plays in building economic competitiveness, and particularly interesting to do so against the backdrop of the Imagine Cup Finals where so many great examples of innovation and the new perspective that students can bring to the  world are being celebrated.

While we are inspired by the student projects at Imagine Cup, we can use that inspiration to spark discussion on serious issues with education leaders from all over the world. Nurturing a competitive economy is a challenge that all governments face, and we believe that a combination of information communication technology (ICT) and targeted policy focus will create the best possible environment for education to thrive and improve a country’s economic competitiveness.  This morning we all had a chance to hear from President of Microsoft International, Jean-Philippe Courtois about what he believes ICT can do to help people and organizations around the world reach their full potential. One thing that really resonated with me as I think of my work with schools and teachers all over the world as part of Microsoft Partners in Learning is the fact that,  in 5 years, more than 90% of all jobs will require ICT skills of some kind. This means that ICT education cannot be just for the traditional Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Design students any more, but for ALL students as they prepare for new careers.  You can read a summary of Jean-Philippe’s comments and all of the keynotes from the event at www.ELF2010.org.  

Creating the right environment in which innovation and economic growth can occur is challenging and requires that policymakers look broadly at business, research, and workforce development areas.  Many times, these discussions are appropriately focused on how to train young people through university or vocational education for productive careers.  This is why we are so excited to hear that both in Europe & North America, some of our Microsoft technical certifications are being accredited to count for college credit by HETAC in Ireland and ACE in the US & Canada, as well as the new global availability of some of our most popular stepping stones to these courses, the Microsoft Technology Associate program.

This is important work and cannot be overlooked.  But we must also not forget the critically important role of primary and secondary education in laying the best foundation for future success.  In my work, I have the privilege of working with teachers from around the world who recognize that their young students need more than just a solid foundation in reading, writing and arithmetic to be prepared for tomorrow.  They need new skills, like critical thinking, problem-solving, and the ability to work collaboratively, for example, to be ready for both the workplace and university.

Posted by Owen Linderholm
Director, Microsoft on the Issues

Our colleagues in Africa have launched an interesting new blog for discussion of social and economic development on that continent, which is advancing rapidly in its use of and contributions to information and communications technology.

Having opened our first office in Africa in 1992, Microsoft now has more than 600 full-time staff and 17,000 partners there, working to innovate, expand access to technology, strengthen economies and address societal challenges. For a fresh perspective on the issues facing Africa and the world, check out Microsoft on the Issues Africa.

Posted by Scott Charney
Corporate Vice President, Trustworthy Computing

Today I’m testifying at a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.  The hearing is on the benefits and risks of the federal government’s adoption of cloud computing.

Cloud computing in its many forms creates tremendous new opportunities for cost savings, flexibility, scalability and improved computing performance for government, enterprises and citizens. At the same time, it presents new security, privacy and reliability challenges, which raise questions about functional responsibility (who must maintain controls) and legal accountability (who is legally accountable if those controls fail). Customers, including the government, need to make informed decisions about adoption of the cloud and its various service models because the model that is embraced will entail different allocations of responsibility between the customer and the cloud provider(s).

This shifting responsibility requires that both cloud providers and governments take seriously their distinct and shared responsibilities for addressing the security, privacy and reliability of cloud services. Both customers and cloud providers must understand their respective roles. Customers must be able to communicate their compliance requirements, and cloud providers must be transparent about the controls in place to meet those requirements:

Posted by Fred Humphries
Managing Director, U.S. Government Affairs  

Last night, an important audience experienced Microsoft’s commitment to ensuring that children use digital media and video games in safer, healthier, and more balanced ways. The audience was the U.S. Congress.

In cooperation with Reps. Mike Rogers (R-MI), Bobby Scott (D-VA), John Shimkus (R-IL), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Microsoft and the Get Game Smart program hosted Capitol Hill Family Game Night. More than 150 members of Congress, staff and their family members were joined at this educational event by parents and children from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington.