Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/63913
GOREADER'S ELECTRONIC BOOK NOT ONLY MAY MAKE TEXTBOOKS OBSOLETE, BUT ALSO PROMISES TO REVOLUTIONIZE THE LONGTIME STUDENT PRACTICE OF HIGHLIGHTING INFORMATION AND TAKING MARGINAL NOTES. already being tested with groups of law students, says goReader's director of sales Mark Cassin. Eventually, the company plans to offer e-textbooks in five major disciplines, including busi- ness, law, engineering, medicine, and science, as well as to K–12 schools, corporations, the military, and govern- ment offices. From a marketing standpoint, the Publishers have started offering books in formats compatible with the goReader device. The device is primary drawback of goReader is its price: more than $900 per unit. With students already investing in their own desktops, will they be willing to pay another few hundred for an all-in-one textbook? "We asked students that question, will cost 30 percent less than printed textbooks." With students carrying course loads that often require four or more heavy textbooks, this sleek, five- pound device promises to leave them quite a few pounds lighter. Hail to the CIO The United State's first MBA president is very likely to have the country's first chief information officer, reports CNN. This summer, a group of Congress members initiated the E-Government Act of 2001. If passed, the act will lead to a $200 mil- lion annual budget to fund initiatives such as a federal IT training center. The act also requires the appointment of a federal CIO to allocate the budget and to oversee the development of new information policies in government. Some municipal governments already and 71 percent of them said they would be willing to purchase goReader," says Cassin. "Plus, downloaded textbooks are one step ahead of the country at large in IT. Boston, for example, appointed its first-ever CIO last year. If the E- Government Act passes, it will mean a new form of "e-government" and an end to the "era of big government," Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) said. In its place will be a government streamlined through technology. Although many in Congress sup- port the act's philosophy, dissent in the ranks is already brewing over its execu- tion. Not surprisingly, some are objecting to placing too many layers of management between the CIO and the Presi - dent himself. Instead, they're looking to new business practices, rather than old politics, to suggest what form e-government should take—primarily, they want the CIO to report directly to President Bush. Representative Jane Harmon (D- D ATA B I T The e-learning industry is expected to generate $6.1 billion this year, and will grow to $23 billion in 2004, accord- ing to market research company IDC. Calif.) noted the importance of the new approach during a press confer- ence on the new E-Government Act. "President Bush has an MBA. He should know that information flow is critical to effective management," she said. "No CEO would run her compa- ny without a chief information officer. The federal government should learn from the private sector." EDUCAUSE to Manage ".edu" The National Telecommunications and Administration Association of the Department of Commerce has named Washington, D.C.-based EDUCAUSE, as the manager of the ".edu" domain on the Internet. EDUCAUSE, an organization with more than 1,800 member schools and IT organizations, will take over new registrations of Web addresses with the ".edu" exten- sion and oversee its use by schools worldwide. The most pressing issue the organization faces, says company vice president Marc Luker, will be the inclusion of community colleges, which now are excluded from the use of the ".edu" extension. EDUCAUSE will administer the domain under a five-year contract. EU Battens Down the Net The European Union is implementing a com- prehensive strategy to protect itself and its citizens from security risks caused by an increased use of the Internet, said Erkki Liikanen, European Commis - sioner for the Enterprise and Informa - tion Society. The EU is starting a cam- paign to educate its citizens in ways to protect their systems from attack and keep the security of their networks intact. The plan also calls for a central- ized warning system that could quickly respond to a threat throughout the countries of the EU.(Source: CNET) s z z BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2001 55