Press Releases: 2013

The latest announcements about our programs, fellows and projects are available below.

ADVISORY: OTI Sends Letter to Obama Urging a Public Interest Advocate to Head FCC

March 27, 2013

Washington, DC — Today, a coalition of over 25 organizations — including the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute [OTI], public interest, media reform, Internet freedom, grassroots, and business organizations — sent a letter to President Obama urging him to choose a strong public-interest advocate to become chairperson of the Federal Communication Commission.

NEW REPORT: Potential Solutions for Congress' Information Crisis

March 26, 2013

Washington, DC — The U.S. Congress is facing an information overload: elected leaders and their staffs have an overwhelming amount of information at their fingertips but severely lack a rigorous process to come up with unbiased facts. A new report from the New America Foundation’s Smart Congress pilot project within its Open Technology Institute [OTI] provides case studies of initiatives in the U.S.

STATEMENT: OTI: Obama Must Nominate FCC Chairman Who Will Promote Public Interest

March 25, 2013

Washington, DC —  On Friday, March 22, the current chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Julius Genachowski, announced that he will step down from the post.
 
The following statement can be attributed to the Open Technology Institute:
 

NEW REPORT: U.S. Interests Best Served in Syria with a Rebel Victory

March 20, 2013

Washington, DC — The best outcome for U.S. strategic interests in Syria is a rebel victory through indirect and clandestine support from America, according to a report released today from the New America Foundation's National Security Studies Program.

RELEASE: OTI Launches Commotion Beta: Free Wireless Mesh Network Software

March 20, 2013

Washington, DC — The New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute (OTI) announced today the public release of Commotion Beta - a free, open source, wireless networking platform. This “Developer Release #1” (DR1) makes Commotion’s technology available for testing and feedback and is freely available from the project website: www.commotionwireless.net.

ADVISORY: Expert to Testify to Congress Wednesday on Student Loans

March 12, 2013

Washington, DC — Jason Delisle, director of the New America Foundation’s Federal Education Budget Project, will testify before the U.S.

ADVISORY: OTI Director a Keynote Speaker at F2C Conference

February 27, 2013

Washington, DC -  Sascha Meinrath, New America Foundation vice president and director of the Open Technology Institute, will be a keynote speaker at the F2C: Freedom to Connect conference March 4-5. His address,“Causing a Commotion: The Rise of the Intranet Revolution," will focus on the increasing use of commotion wireless technology.

RELEASE: OTI: Data Caps No Bargain for American Public

February 20, 2013

Washington, DC — The cable industry is introducing a new justification for capping the amount of Internet its customers can use each month: fairness, meaning those who use more should pay more, while those who use less should receive discounted prices.

Experts Available to Discuss American Airlines, US Airways Merger

February 14, 2013

Washington, D.C. — American Airlines and US Airways announced today a $11 billion deal to merge that if approved would create the world’s largest airline and leave four national carriers controlling around 70 percent of U.S. travel. Experts from the New America Foundation’s Markets, Enterprise, and Resiliency Initiative (MERI) are available today to give reporters context for the proposed merger and its implications, which could include higher fares and less service in parts of the country.
 

AVAILABILITY: Education Experts Available to Discuss Proposals Made in State of the Union

February 13, 2013

Washington, DC — In his State of the Union Wednesday night President Obama made several proposals aimed at improving America's education system that would affect students in pre-K through high school and on to higher education. The New America Foundation's Education Policy Program has experts available on the full spectrum of education policy areas to provide insight, context, and explanation of issues the president noted in his speech.
 

NEW REPORT: Reorienting America's Foreign Policy Toward North Africa, Middle East

February 12, 2013

Washington, DC — The United States should reorient its strategic policies in the Middle East and North Africa to be better able to support protestors’ demands for “bread, freedom, and dignity,” according to a report released by the New America Foundation’s Middle East Task Force and the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs of the American University of Beirut.

RELEASE: Measurement Lab Tops 100 Servers Worldwide

February 6, 2013

Washington, DC — The Measurement Lab (M-Lab) — an open platform for researchers to deploy Internet measurement tools — is celebrating the deployment of 100 measurement servers worldwide. After launching three servers in California in 2009, M-Lab has grown to provide a robust measurement platform throughout North America, Europe, parts of Asia, and Australia. This broad coverage means that M-Lab’s open measurement can provide a unique and invaluable picture of the global Internet as a whole.

ADVISORY: Post-Sandy Tech Initiative to be Featured at White House Event

February 6, 2013

Washington, DC — An event at the White House today highlighting innovative disaster response solutions will feature the joint work of New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute (OTI) and the Red Hook Initiative (RHI).

NEW REPORT: The State of Global Jihad Online

February 5, 2013

Washington, DC —  Arabic-language jihadist web forums are much more active than those in English, and more jihadists are joining Twitter to communicate their beliefs, according to a new report commissioned by the New America Foundation's National Security Studies Program and written by Aaron Y. Zelin, a Richard Borow Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Studies.
 

Experts Available: How Budget Battles Will Affect Federal Education Programs

February 5, 2013

Washington, DC —  Fiscal year 2013 funding for federal education programs has been complicated by a temporary spending bill, looming across-the-board spending cuts called “sequestration,” and spending caps. The New America Foundation’s Federal Education Budget Project (FEBP) experts are available to explain the complex budget process and its implications.
 

NEW REPORT: Potential India-Pakistan Trade at Least 10 Times Current Amount

January 30, 2013

Civilian, military, and business leaders on both sides of the India-Pakistan border have long resisted normalizing trade with their historic rivals.

NEW REPORT: Specific Policy Proposals to Reform Student Financial Aid

January 29, 2013

Washington, DC – The New America Foundation’s Education Policy Program today released a comprehensive package of policy proposals that would provide an overhaul of federal financial aid.

REPORT: Regional Cooperation Needed to Combat Environmental Threats in South Asia

January 29, 2013

Washington, DC — South Asian countries, historic rivals India and Pakistan in particular, must work together to make meaningful improvement on shared issues related to climate change and resource scarcity, according to a report released today written by Saleem H. Ali and published by the New America Foundation's National Security Studies Program.
 

RELEASE: OTI Signs Letter to Skype About Confidentiality Concerns

January 24, 2013

Washington, DC — The New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute [OTI] is one of the nearly 50 organizations to sign an open letter to Skype, a U.S. company now owned by Microsoft, urging it to be more transparent about the confidentiality of Skype conversations and about its data protection and retention policies.

RELEASE: MANHUNT, Based on Peter Bergen's Book, Showing at 2013 Sundance Festival

January 23, 2013

Washington, DC — The HBO documentary MANHUNT — which tells the real-life story of the CIA operatives behind the hunt for Osama bin Laden — is showing at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival this week. The film is based on award-winning journalist and New America National Security Studies Program Director Peter Bergen’s book, MANHUNT: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden--from 9/11 to Abbottabad

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