Microsoft calls for Digital Geneva Convention
Responding to the rise of nation-state cybersecurity attacks, Microsoft's President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith has called for the adoption of a 'Digital Geneva Convention'.
"(T)he time has arrived to call on the world’s governments to implement international rules to protect the civilian use of the internet" he writes in a blog post. "(W)e now need a Digital Geneva Convention that will commit governments to protecting civilians from nation-state attacks in times of peace… The tech sector plays a unique role as the internet’s first responders, and we therefore should commit ourselves to collective action that will make the internet a safer place, affirming a role as a neutral Digital Switzerland that assists customers everywhere and retains the world’s trust."
Smith also calls for the creation of an independent international organisation, similar to the International Atomic Energy Agency, that can address cyber threats. This organisation should bring together “technical experts from across governments, the private sector, academia and civil society with the capability to examine specific attacks and share the evidence showing that a given attack was by a specific nation-state”.
Read more at https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2017/02/14/need-digital-geneva-convention/#ejJwY7IQqIDXZ94Y.99
AAAS and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation partner to advance scientific communication and open access publishing
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have formed a partnership to advance scientific communication and open access publishing. The partnership will also ensure open access to research that is funded by the Gates Foundation and published in the Science family of journals.
AAAS will allow authors funded by the Gates Foundation to publish their research under a Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY) in Science, Science Translational Medicine, Science Signaling, Science Advances, Science Immunology or Science Robotics. This means that the final published version of any article from a Foundation-funded author submitted to one of the AAAS journals after January 1, 2017 will be immediately available to read, download and reuse.
The Gates Foundation seeks to ensure that all of the research it funds is published on full open access terms.
http://www.sciencemag.org/about/aaas-and-gates-foundation-partnership-faq
Springer Healthcare launches new medical education website
Springer Healthcare has launched a new medical education website called Medicine Matters which aims to provide doctors and healthcare professionals with resources to support diagnosis and optimal treatment of major diseases, promoting best clinical practice and improving health outcomes.
The website provides expert insights and commentaries on peer-reviewed educational content. Also included are journal article synopses, themed collections, ‘Ask the Expert’, and eLearning modules. Additional features include access to full journal articles and conference coverage, monitoring of peer-reviewed research, and headline summaries.
The website currently focuses on the latest advances in diabetes medicine. Plans for a global rollout include local language-supported content within new websites for oncology, cardiology, rheumatology, and CNS, to be offered in key markets including the USA, the UK, Spain, India, Mexico, and China throughout 2017 and 2018.
http://www.springer.com/gp/about-springer/media/press-releases/corporate/springer-healthcare-launches-medicine-matters--a-new-medical-education-website/12068392
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