Seriously, besides Instagram and Github it's one of the most widespread platforms where it sucks that there's no better (= more ethical) alternative available.
There's so many good people that I'd support even more happily if I hadn't to go through THAT.
"Related Companies Invests $8 Billion in Data Centers to Fuel AI and Cloud Growth"
#AI #CloudComputing #DataCenters #TechInvestment #RelatedDigital #Hyperscale #ArtificialIntelligence #CloudTechnology #TechGrowth #MorganStanley #PowerGrid #DigitalInfrastructure #TechRace #Google #Microsoft #Amazon #Equinix #Blackstone #CyrusOne #Ontario #NorthAmerica
https://www.techi.com/related-invests-8-billion-ai-data-centers-across-north-america/
European Tech Leaders Urge Digital EU Sovereignty In Letter To European Commission
#AI #Europe #EUCommission #EuropeanTech #EUPolicy #EuroStack #TechInvestment #DigitalInfrastructure
"Companies spanning areas including cloud, telecoms, defence, along with several regional business and startup associations, have put their names to the letter — which was sent to the Commission on Sunday — urging the bloc to switch its tech strategy onto a quasi-war footing by committing to support “sovereign digital infrastructure.”
The plan pushes for reducing reliance on foreign-owned Big Tech by actively fostering development of a so-called “Euro stack.” The European digital infrastructure pitch is not coming out of thin air — a Euro Stack paper written by, among others, the competition economist Cristina Caffarra was published in January fleshing out the strategy in some detail.
There has also been, over the last half year or so, a smattering of conference chatter turning over the potential for enterprising Europeans to seize a geopolitically fraught moment to press the case for the EU to adopt a digital industrial strategy that’s squarely focused on favoring local innovation."
"Now Meta has announced Waterworth, the company’s plan to build the world’s longest submarine cable system. It will be Meta’s first single-contract private cable of this scale. It will be built primarily for the company’s internal consumption. The longest cable in the world will thus be owned by a single Silicon Valley firm.
This shift may be significant to policymakers concerned with concentration in digital markets and infrastructure: not only do Big Tech firms dominate digital platforms and services, but increasingly also the physical underpinnings of the digital world. Rather than renting capacity from infrastructure providers, the firms are vertically integrating infrastructure with their content services. Around 60 new submarine cables are planned up until the year 2027. Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon are all investing in new submarine cable systems.
Waterworth’s route diverges from more established cable corridors. The current longest cable, 2Africa, starts from Europe to circle Africa and the Middle East. Waterworth skips Europe and China to connect the United States directly with major markets in the Southern Hemisphere. Unlike many existing intercontinental cables, Waterworth’s choice of route avoids geopolitical hotspots like the Red Sea and the South China Sea."
At the AI Action Summit, Europe reaffirmed its commitment to sovereign AI—but open #digitalinfrastructure, the foundation on which AI innovation is being built, was largely overlooked. In a discussion with Dr. Magnus Sahlgren, Dr. Alexander Ilic, Dr. Marta Villegas, Prof. Petri Myllymäki, Brandon Jackson and Dr. Joshua Tan, #SovereignTechAgency CEO Adriana Groh reminded those gathered that without strong investment in open source, AI risks being controlled by a few dominant players. 1/2
New paper on the evolution of “Digital Public Infrastructure".
Mila T Samdub traces how DPI has transformed globally from openness (2012-2020) through consolidation (2020-2024) to localization.
This research calls for moving beyond one-size-fits-all approaches toward locally-adapted solutions.
Read how different regions are reimagining digital public infrastructure: https://openfuture.eu/publication/digital-public-infrastructure-at-a-turning-point/
#DPI #DigitalInfrastructure #PublicTech
https://www.europesays.com/1737928/ they’re a brilliant idea, but a herculean challenge #ArtificialIntelligence #DataTransmission #DataCentres #DigitalInfrastructure #SocialMediaPlatforms #space
New work: We’ve been teaming up with the @sovtechfund for 1.5 years now, empowering them with all things branding, website, merch and even a printed report. You can find a few impressions in the attached videos and images, but of course also directly on their website: https://www.sovereign.tech – lots more planned for next year already!
[NEW PAPER ALERT!] Our grantees
@A__W______O
new paper puts forward a vision for balancing the benefits and risks of #opensource #GenAI (funded by
@DigInfFund
). Drafted by NickBotton
& Mathias Vermeulen
- a short thread on #boundariesofopenness #digitalinfrastructure
USGS Releases ‘The 3D National Topography Model [3DTNM] Call For Action - Part 1: The 3D Hydrography Program [3DHP]’
--
https://www.usgs.gov/news/technical-announcement/now-available-usgs-releases-3d-national-topography-model-call-action <-- technical announcement
--
https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/cir1519 <-- USGS Circular 1519 publication link
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https://www.usgs.gov/3DHP <-- shared USGS 3DHP home page
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https://internetofwater.org/ <-- shared Internet of Water home page
--
[ nice to see this, although I am maybe biased ~wink~ ]
#GIS #spatial #mapping #water #hydrology #surfacewater #3D #opendata #3DHP #3DEP #EDH #3DTNM #elevationderivedhydrology #topography #hydrography #CallForAction #publicdata #HYFeatures #opensource #IOW #InternetOfWater #DEMs #digitalinfrastructure #waterresources #resourcemanagement #inventory #planning
@USGS
The TRACTOR program - short for Translating All C to Rust - is a significant, large-scale initiative by DARPA to rid our digital infrastructure of memory unsafety.
In the blog below:
- Why it's important (although we hope you already know)
- Why it might not be enough
https://thenewstack.io/can-darpas-tractor-pull-c-to-rust-for-memory-safe-overhaul/
The article includes statements by our own @erikjee and our good friends Per Larsen at Immunant and @joshaas from @ProssimoISRG
Roads are not financed with ads or donations. Neither are water mains, waste treatment plants, power lines, train tracks, schools, and so much more.
The world is going to shit for many reasons, but one of them is that online tools must have ads to survive, and free software tools don't get nearly enough donations.
Maybe it's time to finance more of our digital infrastructure trough taxes?
Working to sustainably strengthen the open source ecosystem, @sovtechfund is seeking a Communications Manager to support the development of the organization. Learn more on #OSJH https://opensourcejobhub.com/company/950/
#jobs #marketing #communications #PR #OpenSource #DigitalInfrastructure #content
In more dismal infrastructure news: analysis of disappearing repositories.
"The findings demonstrate that repository shutdown does happen and can result in permanent data loss."
From Aadhaar to Digiyatra, How Japan Is Helping Build India’s Tech Infrastructure
It should not come as a surprise that the technology used to build Aadhaar and DigiYatra is being supplied by the same company that also provides technology to India’s policing agencies for surveillance and control. Srinivas Kodali writes.
#aadhaar #UIDAI #DigiYatra #IndianRailways #NEC #JICA #japan #biometrics #FacialRecognition #DigitalInfrastructure #authentication #surveillance #india
New #Disintermedia blog post, on the challenges of building digital network infrastructure as commons;
https://disintermedia.substack.com/p/re-democratising-the-internet
"Building a network infrastructure as neutral to purpose as water, electricity, roads and sewage treatment should be a top priority for the city. It can’t do that if it’s wearing blinders supplied by Verizon, Time Warner and AT&T.
Re-base the questions on the founding protocols of the Net itself, and its city-like possibilities. Not on what we think the carriers can do for us, or what we can do that’s carrier-like."
#DocSearl, 2013
https://nycwireless.net/2013/05/05/in-preparation-for-april-23rds-start-up-city-conference/
"#AudreyTang has served as #Taiwan's 1st Digital Minister since 2016, known for revitalizing #Perl and #Haskell, and for building the online spreadsheet #EtherCalc along with Dan Bricklin.
In this episode:
Using technology including #AI to help surface our areas of agreement, &
Why maintaining credible neutrality from partisan politics and developing strong public and civic #digitalinfrastructure are key to advancing #democracy."
Working on #research to understand how open #digitalinfrastructure is built and deployed? Don’t miss the opportunity to apply to the Digital Infrastructure Insights Fund, by October 1, 2023.
Find out more about the request for proposals
https://fordfoundation.forms.fm/2023-digital-infrastructure-insights-fund-rfp/forms/9724
Greg Cocks 
