Since our May 6th Committee kickoff meeting featuring US Chief Data Scientist DJ Patil, the NET Committee leadership has been hard at work building up the Committee’s portfolio. Here’s the latest:
Partnerships:
Building partnerships both inside and outside the Beltway is a great way to help build up capacity and amplify the Committee’s voice. We have now established partnerships with two organizations of note.
Smart Cities Council
The Smart Cities Council is an organization that represents roughly 200 stakeholders who focus on the convergence of digital technology and intelligent design to create smart, sustainable cities with high-quality living and high-quality jobs. A smart city gathers data from smart devices and sensors embedded in its roadways, power grids, buildings and other assets. It shares that data via a smart communications system that is typically a combination of wired and wireless. It then uses smart software to create valuable information and digitally enhanced services.
The NET Committee will be partnering with the Smart Cities Council for a September 14th forum focusing on the role of emerging technologies, internet of things, and smart cities in addressing the issue of drought. The forum will be part of the first ever national smart cities week, which will be held in Washington DC. Stay tuned for more details on the September 14th forum.
Center for Open Data Enterprise
The Center for Open Data Enterprise aims to improving the open data ecosystem in three ways. They map the uses of open data from around the world; convene data users and providers to identify challenges and opportunities; and implement solutions driven by user input.
The NET Committee will be teaming with the Center for Open Data Enterprise for a July 20th forum focusing on the role of emerging technologies in addressing the issue of public health. The Committee will also be partnering with the Enterprise on their Open Data Roundtables. The Open Data Roundtables are action-oriented dialogues that bring together government agencies and the organizations that use their data. These dialogues between data experts inside and outside of government are designed to help extract the value of each agency’s data reserves by:
- Identifying high value datasets so agencies can address them as a priority;
- Developing solutions to make data more accurate, complete, usable, and easy to work with; and
- Connecting data providers and users for ongoing collaboration.
NET on the Hill
Over the course of the past two months, we havemet with several Hill staffers. During these discussions, CompTIA explained that our Committee would like to provide guidance to the Hill on issues such as the Internet of Things. All staffers liked the idea (especially since we would be able to provide the “collective voice of industry”) with the Senate Commerce Committee wanting a NET committee briefing in the not too distant future. Please look for a notice for that briefing in the next few weeks.
NET and Cybersecurity
On June 2nd, CompTIA launched a new Cybersecurity Committee. During its initial meeting, the topic of cyber as it pertains to the Internet of Things was frequently mentioned. The NET and Cybersecurity Committees will convene a small team, which will work on addressing the cyber IOT issue. Stay tuned for more details.
