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This weekly blog is to explore the news around the larger issues around Digital Health, data security, data privacy, AI / ML. technology, social media and related matters.
I will also try to highlight ADHA Propaganda when I come upon it.
Just so we keep count, the latest Notes from the ADHA Board were dated 6 December, 2018 and we have seen none since! Its pretty sad!
Note: Appearance here is not to suggest I see any credibility or value in what follows. I will leave it to the reader to decide what is worthwhile and what is not! The point is to let people know what is being said / published that I have come upon.
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Smaller Australian publishers sign deals with Facebook and Google
7:44AM February 27, 2021
Australia’s competition regulator says negotiations between Facebook, Google and smaller media companies was definitely part of the revised media bargaining code and some deals already had been signed.
Mr Sims, who heads the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), made the comment following some public concern that the revised Australian media bargaining code would apply to larger Australian media companies such as News Corporation, Nine Fairfax, Seven West Media and The Guardian, and smaller media bodies would be forgotten.
The media bargaining code has now passed both houses of parliament in Australia and Mr Sims said Facebook had already reached agreement with a range of small publications.
In an interview with The Australian, Mr Sims said Facebook had already signed deals with Schwartz Media, publisher of The Monthly, The Saturday Paper and Quarterly Essay, and South Australia’s Solstice Media, whose titles include The New Daily. It has signed up Private Media which publishes Crikey The Mandarin and Smart Company.
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https://www.seek.com.au/job/51636946?type=standout
Branch Manager, Clinical & Digital Health Standards Governance
National
leadership of newly established branch focusing on whole of system clinical
governance & digital health outcomes.
The
Organisation - Australian Digital Health Agency
Technology is helping more Australians access safer, better quality healthcare,
and digital health has become a vital part of a modern, accessible, and
connected healthcare system. The Agency is responsible for the strategic
management of the National Digital Health Strategy, and the operations of the
national digital healthcare system (including My Health Record). Working in
close partnership with the national health sector, the Agency is committed to
the delivery of world-leading digital health capabilities for the betterment of
all Australians.
The
Opportunity - Strategic & Operational Leadership
Embedded within the Digital Strategy Division, the newly established Clinical
and Digital Health Standards Governance branch provides leadership and
governance across the Agency, with a focus on compliance, conformance, clinical
governance, digital health standards, and interoperability stewardship. This
newly created Senior Executive role reports to the Chief Digital Officer, and
will see you provide national leadership and a whole of system governance
approach, to ensure a shared responsibility for the delivery of Agency products
and services that are clinically safe, and provide an enhanced experience for
health practitioners and consumers.
As a Senior Executive that is part of a broad leadership team, you are
responsible for both mature, core/BAU functions which govern legislative and
clinical compliance/standards, assurance, and conformance, as well as new,
large and complex program delivery including establishing a Digital Health
Standards Governance Taskforce, and spearheading the National Interoperability
Roadmap). Combining Clinical and Digital Health expertise, you will enjoy
leading and bringing together experienced and capable teams into a cohesive,
aligned and high-performance Branch team. You will work across the Agency, to
continuously improve the culture of quality and assurance oversight.
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https://www.croakey.org/new-disinformation-code-slammed-as-pointless-shameless-shameful/
New disinformation code slammed as “pointless, shameless, shameful”
Melissa Sweet on: February 22, 2021
A new code of practice to address online misinformation and disinformation, developed for and by the digital tech industry, has been slammed by critics as falling way short of the critical action needed to prevent growing harms to public health and democracy.
Leading public health experts, who have fought long battles with food, alcohol, tobacco and gambling industries, warned that voluntary codes rarely work and challenged the tech industry to invite the public health sector to play “a serious role” in efforts to combat disinformation.
The Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) said Facebook’s move to block Australian news, which sparked a public health emergency by also shutting down multiple health agencies and services across Australia, showed how hard industry will resist regulation that it perceives as a threat.
PHAA CEO Terry Slevin welcomed the general direction of the Australian Code of Practice on Misinformation and Disinformation, including its acknowledgement that the Code must extend to “public goods such as public health”, but said, for the most part, “voluntary codes are an unenforced gossamer-thin veil of pretence, with the objective of avoiding genuine regulation”.
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https://www.zdnet.com/article/facebook-clears-the-air-as-media-bargaining-code-passes-both-houses/
Facebook clears the air as Media Bargaining Code passes both Houses
The Senate passed the Bill with amendments put forward by the Treasurer, paving the way for Facebook to return news to its platform.
By Asha Barbaschow | February 25, 2021 -- 01:39 GMT (12:39 AEDT) | Topic: Tech Industry
The Senate on Wednesday agreed to the Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill 2021, essentially giving effect to the media bargaining code that saw Facebook pull news from Australia, before it promised to restore it thanks to amendments put forward by the Treasurer.
As a result of the amended Media Bargaining Code receiving bipartisan support and officially passing both Houses on Thursday, Facebook said it looked forward to "agreeing to new deals with publishers and enabling Australians to share news links once again".
In a post penned by VP of global affairs Nick Clegg, Facebook took the opportunity to explain to its users what had happened, with many users unaware the social media giant, alongside Google, had been engaged in a stoush with the Australian government for many months on the code. Facebook had actually warned it might pull news from its platform six months ago and Google threatened to remove its search engine in Australia back in January.
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The Facebook outrage that’s far, far worse
Facebook’s arrogant and arbitrary treatment of Australians by suspending access to news, emergency services and community groups to protect profit severely damaged its reputation, turned away advertisers and subscribers and called into question its so-called social licence.
Imagine the outcry and further damage to Facebook if the global hi-tech giant were to arrogantly dismiss the concerns of governments and law enforcement bodies around the world to become complicit in hiding the evil of child sexual abuse.
Child sexual abuse so horrific that people just don’t want to hear about it, and yet so perverse and pervasive that every four minutes shockingly explicit material is accessed on the internet.
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How Facebook and Australia became friends again
Remembering the tortuous dealings of the National Energy Guarantee, Josh Frydenberg was determined to reach a better outcome in his negotiations with Mark Zuckerberg. But it came down to the wire.
John Kehoe Senior writer
Feb 27, 2021 – 12.00am
Five minutes before question time in Parliament on Tuesday and after days of back-and-forth negotiations, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg rang Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg for one final WhatsApp chat.
In the wake of Facebook’s shock blacklisting of local news pages and following more than a dozen calls, Frydenberg wanted confirmation from the social media network founder – worth $100 billion – that they had reached a compromise and Facebook would reboot its full services.
Frydenberg had deliberately engaged one-on-one with Zuckerberg to short-circuit the “lawyers at 50 paces”.
He set Zuckerberg a deadline of Tuesday to agree to changes, coinciding with the Coalition’s joint party room meeting to sign off on legislation. It went down to the wire, but the investment banker-turned-politician and the tech titan finally agreed to a deal. Frydenberg even joked to Zuckerberg he had been speaking with him more than his wife.
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Facebook signs letter of intent with three Australian media firms
By Staff Writer on Feb 26, 2021 12:18PM
As news reappears on its platform.
Facebook on Friday said it had signed letters of intent with three Australian media firms, a day after the country's Parliament passed a law forcing it to pay media companies for using content on its platform.
Facebook said it had signed partnership agreements with Private Media, which owns online magazines, Schwartz Media and Solstice Media. Commercial agreements will become effective within 60 days if a full deal is signed.
"These
agreements will bring a new slate of premium journalism, including some
previously paywalled content, to Facebook," the social media company said
in a statement.
It did not disclose the financial details of the deal.
Facebook on Tuesday struck a similar agreement with Seven West Media, which owns a free-to-air television network and the main metropolitan newspaper in the city of Perth.
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Australian news content refriended on Facebook from Friday
Australian news content will return to Facebook on Friday, eight days after the social media giant banned it from the feeds of the digital platform’s local users.
“I think there was understandable outrage across the broader community as to what Facebook did,” Josh Frydenberg said on Thursday night, adding that he understood the blackout would end before the weekend.
“Since that time, there’s been extensive discussions with the company and we’ve reached a solution and the way forward.”
The return of Australian news to Facebook follows the final passage of the federal government’s mandatory news media bargaining code into law on Thursday, which brought to a close a three-year campaign to ensure that digital platforms including Google and Facebook fairly remunerate media companies for the original content they generate. The law is primarily intended to address the bargaining power imbalance between news media businesses and digital platforms, and to sustain public interest journalism.
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The Facebook elephant is still in the room: what it’s doing with your intimate data
Columnist, co-host of Ten's The Project and academic
February 26, 2021 — 12.00am
Well, that ended quickly. Only late last week Facebook tore down Australian news from its site completely, in response to the federal government’s insistence that it pay news outlets for that content. It looked like an act of brinkmanship, forcing both the tech giant and the government into positions from which neither could retreat without humiliation. And yet, a few days later, all was resolved. Face saved, agreement reached, each claiming victory.
How? One way to answer that question would be to crunch through the deal’s details to determine exactly what each party gave up. Here, you’d note that the government got its wish of Facebook striking agreements with major news outlets it would rather not. Conversely, you’d say this gives Facebook the right to make completely different deals with each outlet. It’s not compelled to pay each one a similar amount for similar content. So it could, for instance, pay the ABC a lot less than it pays News Corp, in exchange for putting ABC content higher in its ranking algorithm – meaning ABC content gets shared more across the site. This potentially puts news organisations in the familiar position of trading money for distribution. It sends a little money to the big news companies, but leaves Facebook’s business model broadly undisturbed.
And that suggests a better way of answering the question. Instead of looking at what the new legislation changes, consider what it doesn’t even address. Because it seems to me that this whole stoush is misconceived. It’s pretending to be about something it’s not.
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Mark Zuckerberg made a big mistake in picking Aussie fight
By Robin Pagnamenta
February 26, 2021 — 8.05am
Australian rules football is a rough and tumble game. Umpires often have to work hard to prevent it from degenerating into an outright stoush, or brawl, between overheated players. By being drawn into a fight with Australia’s government, however, Facebook has clumsily miscalculated.
The proposed law forcing Google and Facebook to fork out for news content was poorly conceived, badly drafted and never likely to work effectively. Even so, Facebook’s ham-fisted and angry response - blocking news content not just from Australian news sites but from others headquartered in the country, as well as from government health and emergency service websites - may have backfired.
That’s because, far from strengthening Facebook’s hand, the response - which appears to have been ordered personally by Mark Zuckerberg - has united and intensified international pressure against the company, already facing antitrust pressure for a break-up, and led to calls for others to adopt similar steps.
Sir Nick Clegg, Facebook’s PR supremo, on Wednesday scrambled to repair some of the damage, insisting the row was all the result of a “fundamental misunderstanding” over Facebook’s relationship with publishers. It may be too late. Canada could be next, with Justin Trudeau and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison already holding talks about a similar law governing Canadian news sites.
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https://www.afr.com/technology/the-massive-challenge-of-regulating-big-tech-20210223-p5751x
The massive challenge of regulating Big Tech
As countries take on the growing political and economic power of the tech giants, the focus is moving beyond breaking them up to tougher rules around privacy protection and ownership of data.
Mariana Mazzucato, Rainer Kattel, Tim O'Reilly and Josh Entsminger
Feb 26, 2021 – 12.00am
As Donald Trump’s presidency careened to its ignominious end, with a mob of his supporters storming the US Capitol, Facebook and Twitter banned the US President for inciting the violence. With that act, the scope of the political power wielded by Big Tech became impossible to ignore.
Whether these platforms have too much political power is a debate that is just beginning. Their outsize economic power, though, is unquestionable.
The combined market capitalisation of the five largest US tech platforms – Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft – rose by $US2.7 trillion ($3.4 trillion) in 2020. Following the addition of Tesla to the S&P 500, the big six tech firms now represent nearly one-quarter of the index’s valuation.
And with the spread of COVID-19, the leading digital platforms have become de facto essential service providers, enabling a mass transition to remote and isolated living.
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Healthcare record standards - ensuring your hospital is accreditation ready
Event details
When Tuesday, 9 March 2021 3:00pm - 3:30pm (AEDT)
Where Online
Hosted by Australian Digital Health Agency
Contact us
General enquiries
Phone: 1300 901 001
8am - 5pm (AEST/AEDT) Monday - Friday
Email: help@digitalhealth.gov.au
The Australian Digital Health Agency is pleased to host interactive sessions discussing NSQHS healthcare record standards focusing on Actions 1.17 and 1.18, specifically as they relate to My Health Record. A key purpose of these sessions is to provide implementation advice and strategies to help hospitals meet the standards and be accreditation ready. Additionally, participants will also have the opportunity to raise questions about My Health Record features and how best to utilise the information in routine practice.
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Facebook to spend $US1 Billion on news content over three years
· The Wall Street Journal
Facebook said it would spend at least $US1 billion to licence material from news publishers over the next three years, a pledge that comes as tech giants face scrutiny from governments around the world over paying for news content that appears on their platforms.
The spending plans are in addition to $US600 million that Facebook paid since 2018 in deals with publishers like the Guardian, Financial Times and others to populate its Facebook News product in some countries, according to a blog post by Nick Clegg, a senior Facebook policy executive.
The social-media giant’s new pledge is similar to a plan Alphabet’s Google announced last year to pay more than $US1 billion to licence news content for its Google News Showcase over a three-year period.
Facebook removed news from its platform in Australia last week as the country’s legislature debated a proposal that would have required Facebook and Alphabet’s Google to pay traditional media companies for their content.
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https://www.itnews.com.au/news/accc-chief-claims-victory-after-facebook-standoff-561455
ACCC chief claims victory after Facebook standoff
By Byron Kaye and Colin Packham on Feb 25, 2021 6:21AM
Despite last-minute changes to bill.
The architect of Australia's laws forcing Google and Facebook to pay media companies for content claimed victory on Wednesday, though critics said last-minute changes to appease Facebook favoured Big Tech over smaller news outlets.
After tense negotiations prompted Facebook to cut off news in the country last week, Australia offered a host of technical concessions and the social media giant said it would restore news as the revamped bill looked set to become law this week.
While Facebook said its concerns had been met and opposition lawmakers warned that smaller media players may be overlooked, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Rod Sims said the bargaining power imbalance had been righted.
"The changes the government's done are things that either don't matter much or are just to clarify things that, at least in Facebook's mind, were unclear," Sims, who helped draft the original laws, told Reuters.
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https://jobs.collaw.com/job/12830/senior-legal-counsel/
Senior Legal Counsel
· ADHA
· Feb 24, 2021
Part-time PLT Work Experience Placement
Job Description
The Australian Digital Health Agency, in the Health portfolio of the Australian Government, is responsible for national digital health services and systems, with a focus on engagement, innovation and clinical quality and safety. Our focus is on putting data and technology safely to work for patients, consumers and the healthcare professionals who look after them.
To read more about this high profile national program, please visit the Agency’s website at: https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au.
We invite a Practical Legal Training (PLT) student to propose a flexible work day schedule to work with our busy Legal team based in Sydney starting as soon as practicable, to complete the 75 days of placement in accordance with the NSW College of Law Work Experience Rules.
This program will allow you to complete the work experience component of your PLT course and will be conducted under structured supervision from our senior in-house lawyers in the following areas of law:
- Commercial and Commonwealth procurement in accordance with the Commonwealth Procurement Rules.
- Research and preparation of legal training, including on intellectual property (IP) and My Health Record subject matters.
- Legal drafting of commercial contracts, including IP licences.
- Meeting, communicating and interacting with internal clients from a diverse range of backgrounds associated with digital health.
Whilst the position is unpaid, you will learn about our work and contribute to the day to day legal activities of the Agency whilst developing the practical skills you will need as an entry-level lawyer.
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https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/financial-rules-for-the-algorithm-age-20210223-p5752n
Financial rules for the algorithm age
Brilliant new financial technologies are coming. But they will be a nightmare for regulators without changes of the law.
Chris Berg Contributor
Feb 24, 2021 – 2.01pm
A lot has changed in cryptocurrency since the last bull run in 2017. And these changes have made the regulatory regime that emerged in Australia since the invention of bitcoin look decidedly creaky – if not completely incoherent – and a serious barrier to fintech innovation and investment.
For the most part, Australian policymakers have preferred to squeeze digital assets into existing regulatory frameworks rather than create new frameworks.
For tax purposes, cryptocurrency has been treated as a traditional financial asset subject to capital gains tax – unless it is used in regular transactions, then it is treated like currency. An initial coin offering, where tokens are sold to early investors and users, is generally treated as a share offering or managed investment scheme.
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Tuesday, 23 February 2021 16:19
Govt climbs down, Facebook to restore Australian news pages
Social media giant Facebook has agreed to restore Australian news content in "coming days" after the Federal Government made additional amendments to the news media code bill that is currently in the Senate.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told a media conference in Canberra on Tuesday afternoon that the new amendments to the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code would be introduced today.
"These amendments will provide further clarity to digital platforms and news media businesses about the way the Code is intended to operate and strengthen the framework for ensuring news media businesses are fairly remunerated," he said in a statement.
A two-month mediation period will give both sides more time to negotiate commercial deals that could help Facebook avoid having to work under provisions of the Code.
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Tuesday, 23 February 2021 17:53
Facebook allowed to decide if it will use news and the sources as well
ANALYSIS Despite all the brave talk emanating from Canberra, Facebook has comprehensively dictated the terms under which it will restore news content to Australians.
The company has been told that it can decide whether news appears on the site at all, and also been assured it will not be forced to negotiate with news publishers.
In other words, the news media code — officially known as the News Media and Digital Platforms Bargaining Code — will not apply to Mark Zuckerberg's company if it so chooses.
Several news outlets, which are government backers have been busy pumping up the tyres for both Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Prime Minister Scott Morrison who have caved in and used words to paint a picture that is, as usual, somewhat different from the reality.
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Wednesday, 24 February 2021 13:58
Facebook has triumphed in govt stoush and nothing has changed: Budde
Veteran telecommunications consultant Paul Budde has summed up Tuesday's events in the stoush between the digital platforms and the Federal Government in a rather pithy way: "Facebook stays, everybody is happy. but nothing has changed."
He said after a brief skirmish, Facebook emerged triumphant because the changes made to the legislation — officially known as News Media and Digital Platforms Bargaining Code — would not make it necessary for the social media firm to change its business model in any way.
Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced on Tuesday afternoon that Facebook would restore news content to Australia sites after the government had made concessions which the company had demanded.
"Those subtleties are lost in the general press. What counts for the popular media is that they were able to spin some great stories around the fact that Australia stood up to the giants and that brought international attention which boosted the ego of the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison," Budde commented.
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Facebook will remain scarred by its antics over the Australian news media bargaining code
10:19AM February 24, 2021
Facebook’s agreement to pay for news is a good outcome for major Australian media outlets, but the social media company’s relations with the Australian public will remain scarred.
It’s hard not to describe an estimated overall pay out of hundreds of millions of dollars to media companies as anything but a good outcome, considering where proceedings were until recently.
Until a few days ago Facebook claimed news offered it only a marginal financial benefit, and the only news displayed was that posted by users. It had virtually no interest in carrying news. It abrogated any responsibility for the state of journalism in this country.
By agreeing to making payments to news organisations, the philosophy around Facebook, news organisations and journalism has changed.
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New resource: Safety and Quality Benefits of Secure Messaging
The need for healthcare providers to connect safely and securely is greater than ever.
Secure messaging is an efficient and timely method for sending and receiving clinical information, minimising the burden of paper and manual processes. Increased uptake improves continuity of care for patients, saves time and can help protect vital health information.
Following a review conducted by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) has released Safety and Quality Benefits of Secure Messaging. This new resource delves into findings from the review and subsequent recommendations for healthcare organisations.
(Link above goes to report)
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Australia’s win a start, but Facebook has hardly capitulated
Lawmakers elsewhere should not feel limited by Australia’s precedent in the regulation of social media, says the Financial Times.
The Lex Column
Feb 24, 2021 – 9.15am
Facebook has made up with the Australian government. The social network has promised to restore news on its platform. This is a victory for Australia, which believes Facebook and Google benefit more from news journalism than vice versa.
Do not see this as a complete capitulation by the tech group. It has extracted concessions that may influence copycat legislation in other jurisdictions.
Amendments to the proposed Australian law forcing Big Tech to pay for news will make it easier for Facebook to strike deals on its own terms. The code will not apply if the company can show a “significant contribution” to the Australian news industry by reaching agreements with publishers.
Should those be deemed insufficient, even then there would be some breathing space before Facebook became subject to the code. That would allow it to strike more deals, or pull out of news altogether.
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Why tech needs to drive Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout
Yolanda Redrup Reporter
Feb 23, 2021 – 12.00am
Artificial intelligence algorithms will be critical to Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout, according to local tech experts, who fear thousands of doses could go to waste if data science is not used to drive it.
On Monday, the rollout of the first 80,000 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine began in earnest, with the first batch of the vaccines set to go to at-risk members of the community including hotel quarantine, border workers and frontline healthcare workers, as well as aged and disability care residents.
Speaking to The Australian Financial Review, Arq Group chief executive Tristan Sternson said the rollout needed to be treated like an exercise in supply chain optimisation.
“It’s similar to getting fresh produce to a supermarket, but around the world it hasn’t been looked at that way,” he said.
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Tuesday, 23 February 2021 00:13
Epicor calls for Aged Care Royal Commission final report to include improvements for digital infrastructures in aged care
By Peter Dinham
Global enterprise software provider Epicor says consideration must be made towards improvements to digital infrastructures, digital skillsets of the aged care workforce, and interoperability between aged care providers, healthcare providers and the Australian Government.
Epicor said on Monday that it strongly urged consideration of the improvements to promote business growth across manufacturing, distribution and aged care, noting that these considerations come after seeing a range of critical technology-based recommendations from the upcoming report via the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety final report, to be completed this Friday, 26 February 2021
The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety was established to report on the quality of aged care services and whether those services are meeting the needs of the older Australian community, including care for older people living at home, people living with dementia, and people living in residential aged care including younger people with disabilities.
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Monday, 22 February 2021 15:04
Digi launches code of practice on disinformation; Reset Australia rejects as 'pointless'
Reset Australia describes the Australian Code of Practice on Disinformation and Misinformation newly promulgated by Digi – the body representing several of the digital giants – as "pointless".
The Digital Industry Group (Digi) representing Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, Redbubble, and TikTok in Australia today published its Australian Code of Practice on Disinformation and Misinformation [PDF] as its response to the Commonwealth Government's request for a voluntary code.
"Voluntary" means it is up to operators to opt in to the code. There seems to be no limit on the amount of time operators can take to respond to complaints, and the code does not require operators to delete or prevent access to material determined to be misleading, deceptive or fake.
So perhaps it is not surprising that Reset Australia – the local affiliate of the global initiative working to counter digital threats to democracy – describes the code as "pointless".
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Digital Health Project Officer
Wentworth Healthcare Limited ADHA Propaganda
Job description
- Salary packaging of up to $18,550 tax free per year, annual leave loading and 9.5% superannuation
- New, modern, eco-friendly offices with open space surrounded by nature
- Free parking on-site
- Great company culture
About the Organisation
Wentworth Healthcare Limited, provider of the Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network (NBMPHN) is a not-for profit organisation which works to improve health for the people in our community. This includes the Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, Lithgow and Penrith local government areas.
Our mission is to empower general practice and other healthcare professionals to deliver high-quality, accessible and integrated primary healthcare that meets the needs of our community.
Culture and Benefits
- Wentworth Healthcare offers staff a flexible, supportive and safe working environment.
- Attractive remuneration plus super and salary packaging options will be available.
About the Opportunity
The Digital Health Project Officer will support general practices (allied health, specialists and pharmacy will also be supported on an occasional basis) with the meaningful use of My Health Record and Secure Message Delivery in the Nepean Blue Mountains region.
This position is full-time. Part-time employment may be negotiated for the right applicant.
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IBM’s retreat from Watson highlights broader AI struggles in health
· The Wall Street Journal
Ten years ago, International Business Machine’s artificial intelligence system Watson bested humans at the quiz show Jeopardy!.
The feat was supposed to herald a shift in the way machines served up answers to questions big and small, opening up new revenue streams for Big Blue specifically and Big Tech more generally. A key target: healthcare, a trillion-dollar industry many say is saddled with inefficiencies that some tech advocates say AI could cure.
A decade later, reality has fallen short of that promise. IBM is now exploring the sale of Watson Health, a unit whose marquee product was supposed to help doctors diagnose and cure cancer.
IBM spent several billion dollars on acquisitions to build up Watson. Former senior IBM executive John Kelly once touted the initiative as a “bet the ranch” move. It didn’t live up to the hype. Watson Health has struggled for market share in the U.S. and abroad and currently isn’t profitable.
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https://www.health.gov.au/using-our-websites/privacy/privacy-notice-for-covid-19-vaccinations
Privacy notice for COVID-19 vaccinations
Find out how we manage any personal information we collect when you choose to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.
- Personal information is entered into the Australian Immunisation Register
- We will use and disclose your personal information to:
- Reporting on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout
- How your information is stored
- Can I opt out from being included in the Register?
- You can access or correct your information
- Complaints
- Contact details
The COVID-19 vaccine is voluntary and free. As safe and effective vaccines become available, the Government will vaccinate as many people in Australian as possible for COVID-19. If you choose not to have a COVID-19 vaccine, your eligibility for Government payments won’t be affected. Find out more about COVID-19 vaccines and getting vaccinated for COVID-19.
This notice explains how we (the Australian Government Department of Health) manage your personal information, consistent with our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Immunisation Register Act 2015, when you choose to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.
Personal information is entered into the Australian Immunisation Register
When you receive your vaccination, your personal information will be entered into the Australian Immunisation Register (the Register) by your vaccination provider. The provider will enter your:
- name
- date of birth
- contact details
- gender
- Medicare number (if any)
- healthcare identifier (if any).
Collection of your personal information for this purpose is required under the Australian Immunisation Register Act.
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https://www.smh.com.au/technology/timely-tech-sector-code-on-disinformation-20210221-p574fz.html
Timely tech sector code on disinformation
By Sunita Bose
February 22, 2021 — 12.00am
In December 2019, when the federal government asked the digital industry to develop a code of practice on disinformation, the world was a very different place.
But when the Digital Industry Group (DIGI) began developing the Australian Code of Practice on Misinformation and Disinformation that we’re launching today, it was the start of Australia’s first wave of COVID-19. The unprecedented challenges of these uncertain times remained front of mind.
The pandemic has stress-tested this code in a way that we may not have achieved outside of a time of crisis. This past year, the digital industry ramped up their efforts to combat misinformation and disinformation, adapting policies, directing people to official information, and initiating new collaborations with researchers.
This disinformation code has been adopted by Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Tik-Tok, Twitter, Redbubble. It provides a consistent framework and transparency with such work in Australia. Not just in relation to coronavirus, but any issue where harmful misinformation or disinformation may proliferate online.
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Facebook, Google join voluntary code to combat fake news
Miranda Ward Media writer
Feb 22, 2021 – 8.10am
Facebook and Google have signed up to a new voluntary code of practice designed to reduce the risk of online misinformation and disinformation.
The Digital Industry Group (DIGI) has launched the new code following a request by the government in December 2019 following the digital platforms inquiry.
Twitter, Microsoft, TikTok and Redbubble have also signed up to the code, committing to adopt a range of measures that should reduce the spread and visibility of misinformation and disinformation.
Misinformation is categorised as false or misleading information that is likely to cause harm while disinformation is false or misleading information that is distributed by users via spam and bots.
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https://insightplus.mja.com.au/2021/5/we-need-to-talk-about-social-media/
We need to talk about social media
Authored by Jane McCredie
WE need to talk about social media.
Good things have come from platforms like Twitter and Facebook: the ability to share and access important content widely and swiftly, a more powerful voice for people who might be denied access to traditional media, unparalleled global connection.
But, boy, is there a dark side.
On most platforms, it’s pretty easy to hide behind a pseudonym, and anonymity tends to give people a licence to act and speak in a way they would consider unacceptable in an encounter with somebody they knew IRL (that’s “in real life” for those not familiar with online acronyms).
Pre-Twitter, road rage was probably the most common way people diverted their underlying fury at the unfairness of life onto perfect strangers. How innocent that seems now.
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https://apo.org.au/node/311045
The future of vulnerability: humanity in the digital age
Ensuring data and technology benefit people and society
1 Feb 2021
Publisher Humanitech
|
Resources The future of vulnerability: humanity in the digital age |
2.99 MB |
Description
This report explores how data and technology are shaping the future of vulnerability, particularly through new and evolving forms of inequality, intrusion and insecurity.
The report establishes the urgency to change the status quo and summarises a growing agenda for change across research, policy and practice towards responsible, inclusive and ethical uses of data and technology. Through six case studies the report shows examples of emerging good practice where tools are being used to support dignity, safety and trust for vulnerable groups. Finally, it highlights why civil society-led initiatives have a vital role to play as brokers and translators across sectors and disciplines and from communities to technologists, researchers and regulators.
The report is intended as a resource for humanitarians, technologists and leaders across sectors and community to explore the complexities at the intersection of humanitarian action and technology and develop and promote ‘humanity first’ approaches to data and technology.
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Comments more than welcome!
David.
