Good Morning and welcome to the Wednesday Innovation Trail Mix.
Love it or hate it: that's the Adirondack Land Deal, (and fracking).
The UN's new report on broadband also finds that 1/3 of the world is online, but cumbersome regulations continue to hamper attempts at increasing inclusion.
“The damn answer is right there — grab it!”: That's the U.S. Chamber of Commerce position on fracking.
Alarming national student dropout rates are in the spotlight this week in a major media collaborative.
Government
Policymakers need to pay attention to the gender digital divide, with women over 20% LESS likely than a man to have a mobile phone. That's one of the findings from The State of Broadband 2012: Achieving Digital Inclusion For All, a new report released by the United Nations Broadband Commission.
Amongst its main policy recommendations the report suggests:
Converging broadcast and telecommunications regulatory bodies. Consider a unified licensing regime to allow companies to provide ANY service. Reduce the taxes and charges on imported telecommunication/ICT* equipment. Stimulate the creation of local content in local languages . Incorporate the language of sustainability into ICT* regulations.
*ICT stands for Information and Communication Technologies.
North Country Public Radio's Brian Mann outlines the community tensions around the 70,000 acre land deal in the Adirondacks highlighted by Governor Cuomo from a canoe over the weekend.
Having done a little arithmetical revision, the Cuomo administration and the New York Power Authority say that the 38 companies coming onboard the Recharge NY program will be able to create around 2000 jobs through their access to cut rate energy and Capitol Confidential reported the machinations.
Albany airport is sprucing itself up and has put out $1.3 million in contracts to local businesses in the process reports bizjournal.
Energy
Natural gas and propane customers will be warm and comfy this winter,but not so folks using heating oil says the Times-Union.
Fracking
Fracking is New York's cash cow says the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as reported by the ithaca indy.
Hydrologist and watershed planner Kim Sherwood offered a preview of the proposed fracking regulations at an event at SUNY Fredonia on Monday reports the Dunkirk Observer.
The Albany law office West Firm say they are close to finalizing the details of an appeal that is effectively a challenge to local fracking bans in Dryden and Middlefield reports the legislativegazzette.com.
Meanwhile the environmental journalist Andrew Revkin rather bravely called for a "pragmatic approach" to the hydrofracking discussion. I say bravely because he was speaking in Ithaca and is reported by the Ithaca Journal.
The Joint Landowners Coalition has praised a court decision rejecting a suit by the state's Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for a full environmental review in the Delaware River Basin. There's more on this rather convoluted case from the Associated Press.