Posted by Pamela PassmanCorporate Vice President & Deputy General Counsel, Global Corporate & Regulatory Affairs
In the emerging Web 3.0 world, privacy will likely become a principal feature on which consumers base decisions about which products and services to use.
Here’s why: Web 3.0 technologies will be able to understand your likes, dislikes and preferences based on your online activity, and proactively offer you information and services tailored to your interests.
Posted by Brad SmithSenior Vice President & General Counsel, Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft is filing a formal complaint with the European Commission as part of the Commission’s ongoing investigation into whether Google has violated European competition law. We thought it important to be transparent and provide some information on what we’re doing and why.
At the outset, we should be among the first to compliment Google for its genuine innovations, of which there have been many over the past decade. As the only viable search competitor to Google in the U.S. and much of Europe, we respect their engineering prowess and competitive drive. Google has done much to advance its laudable mission to “organize the world’s information,” but we’re concerned by a broadening pattern of conduct aimed at stopping anyone else from creating a competitive alternative.
We’ve therefore decided to join a large and growing number of companies registering their concerns about the European search market. By the European Commission’s own reckoning, Google has about 95 percent of the search market in Europe. This contrasts with the United States, where Microsoft serves about a quarter of Americans’ search needs either directly through Bing or through our partnership with Yahoo!.
Posted by Andrew KoSenior Director, U.S. Partners in Learning
Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in one of three panel discussions with some of the most influential school leaders at the ‘Unite to Make a Difference’ Education Forum, hosted by USA TODAY and the Council of Great City Schools. Superintendents from across the country gathered to discuss the state of education and to address some of the biggest issues facing education in our public schools today. You can watch the replay here.
My panel discussion focused on how businesses and the media can collaborate to improve education. I was joined by superintendents Mary Ellen Elia from Hillsborough County Schools in Tampa, Florida, Eugene White from Indianapolis Public Schools and Alberto Carvalho from Miami-Dade Public Schools, as well as business leaders Paula Prahl from Best Buy and Vin Seunath from SMART Technologies. Urban education is under tremendous pressure to improve, and while there is mounting criticism, schools are rising to the occasion.
Posted by Dermot BarryManaging Director, Worldwide Public Safety, Microsoft
Now more than ever, technology helps governments and non-government organizations address some of the most pressing public safety challenges, from responding to disasters and managing significant events to protecting critical information and national security needs.
This week, Microsoft is hosting its third annual worldwide Public Safety Symposium (PSS), an event designed to increase awareness of how technology is used to address daily challenges and ensure governments can better protect their citizens. This year, senior operational staff, first responders, policy makers, IT strategists and Microsoft partners from more than 35 countries are on hand to discuss trends and public safety.
Posted by Niels SoelbergVice President, Public Sector Sales, Microsoft EMEA
When I talk with government leaders and chief information officers across our region, I’m often asked questions that seek to learn more about the latest trend towards cloud computing. These questions range from legislative compliance such as data security and privacy, to data formats and interoperability, to budgeting policies and how Microsoft is responding to these specific public sector requirements. We have been working with our customers and legislators on these issues for many years and continue to do so. In fact, and surprising to some, Microsoft has been successfully delivering a range of cloud services that address these issues for millions of consumers since 1994.