Web Headlines

Headlines from around the Web for Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Compiled by Melanie Bender

Overwhelmed By Unstructured Data, IT Pros Seek New Platforms

InformationWeek

A survey of 200 IT professionals has found that nearly one-half of the respondents (47 percent) said content management offerings today require too much effort to implement.

CIOs Still Plan To Hire Despite Economic Slowdown

InformationWeek

According to IT staffing firm Robert Half Technology, the economic downturn is not affecting the hiring plans of CIOs. In a survey conducted in January, the company found most CIOs of the 1,400 polled planned on maintaining staff levels. While stock market tumbles and news of the weakening ecomony occurred after the data was collected, Robert Half officials said they haven't experienced dampening of demand for IT talent.

Maryland Lawmakers Vote to Create State IT Department

The Baltimore Sun

The Maryland House voted 105-31 on Tuesday to create a new Department of Information Technology to focus on coordinating the state's computer networks. Currently, an office in the Department of Budget and Management handles this task.

Denver Airport keeps Wi-Fi on the Mild Side

The Denver Post

Officials say they are using prudent judgment in a public, family-friendly atmosphere in blocking sites like Vanity Fair and popular blog BoingBoing from the airport's WiFi signal. But some see it as cyber-censorship that taints Denver's self-portrayal as a progressive economy.

DHS Tests of Radiation Detectors Were Inconclusive, Report Says

The Washington Post

Department of Homeland Security performance tests of new radiation detection machines last year did not show whether the costly devices performed well enough to be used as planned at ports and borders to protect the country against nuclear attacks or dirty bombs, according to a new report about the process.

Interest in Computer Science Degrees Has Plummeted Since 2000

eWeek

While there seems to be little question in anyone's mind that interest in degrees in computers and technology have declined since 2000, two new studies sought to quantify the decline by looking at declared computer science majors, undergraduate computer science enrollments and granted computer science bachelors degrees. Both emerged with sobering numbers.

Border Security in North to Rely on Tech, Chertoff Says

Federal Computer Week

The United States’ strategy for securing its border with Canada primarily will focus on using technology, while the Homeland Security Department’s strategy for securing the southern border also includes hundreds of miles of fencing, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff told senators on the Appropriations Committee’s Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee on Tuesday.

Data as defense against IEDs

Government Computer News

DOD’s Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization recently began using data analysis tools that detect and monitor connections between groups and individuals to identify the potential support networks of militants staging IED attacks.

Michigan Ranks 5th in U.S. in Electronic Prescriptions

Detroit Free Press

Michigan ranks fifth in the nation for doctors who write prescriptions electronically, up from 10th two years ago, according to new national rankings released today in Washington, D.C. Still, only 16 percent of the state’s doctors write prescriptions electronically.