NewsWatch: Information Technology -- Top 10 City and County CIO Issues, Five Windows Problems, More ...

"These topics demonstrate how Public CIOs are responding to the economic challenges
of recent years, leveraging process, people and technology to sustain and improve
citizen services." -- Bill Schrier (pictured) Seattle CIO and president of the Metropolitan Information Exchange

Top 10 Issues for City and County CIOs
The Metropolitan Information Exchange (MIX), a national organization of city and county government chief information officers and key technology executives, released its Top Ten CIO Issues for 2010. Topping this year's list is managing demand and client expectations as CIOs seek better ways to manage both planned and unexpected demand for technology services. Metropolitan Information Exchange

New York City Building Expanded Data Center
The New York City Department of Technology and Telecommunications began building new space this month at the city's primary data center, according to Crain's New York Business. The department recently signed a 20-year lease on nearly 82,000 square feet of additional space in Brooklyn's MetroTech Center. According to Crain's, the city already leases more than 210,000 square feet at the complex. The additional space will be used to further completion of the city's IT consolidation initiative. Crain's New York Business

The World's Most Advanced Smart ID Card?
Starting on 1st November, the German government is to roll out a new national identity card that is billed as the most advanced of its kind. The contactless smartcard can be used as a travel document, enables transactions such as online banking, airline passenger check-in and tax declaration, and gives German citizens control over which service providers can access ID card data. FutureGov

Overcome Five Common Windows Problems
Computers are a big part of our daily lives. But as software and hardware improves, the old annoyances seem to remain. You encounter error messages. Windows slows down for no apparent reason. And files start opening in the wrong program. Fortunately, you don't have to live with all of this. Here are five easy ways to overcome common Windows problems.  USA Today

FCC: Less Than Half of Nation's Net Connections Meet Speed Target
According to the FCC's just-released report on Internet access service, only 44 percent of fixed connections have advertised speeds that approximate the national broadband plan's deployment target of 4 megabits per second downstream and 1 Mbps upstream (it used 3 Mbps/768 kbps as the benchmark). Broadcasting and Cable

New York Warned of 'Electoral Chaos' in Transition to Electronic Voting
Nassau County Attorney John Ciampoli warned that the transition from lever-pull to electronic voting machines will cause "electoral chaos" in the primaries, and that all it will take to "fix" an election is a flash drive that anyone can buy at Staples. Courthouse News Service

China's Rare-Earth Monopoly Impedes U.S. Progress in Computers, E-Vehicles
China's monopoly on the global supply of elements critical for production of computer hard disc drives, hybrid-electric cars, military weapons, and other key products -- and its increasingly strict limits on exports -- is setting the stage for a crisis in the United States. Chemical and Engineering News