VIDEO AND DIGITAL INNOVATION in the Nation’s Capital

Iam currently attending the Government Video Expo and GovComm held at the Washington DC Convention Center (December 4-5, 2013).  This partnership event is one that moves video and digital innovation forward here in the nation’s capital.

I also went to this event last year where GovComm co-located with Government Video Expo. The combined event brought together the east coast’s largest contingent of government AV/IT specialists with video production, post, digital media and broadcast professionals, featuring over 150 exhibits and drawing nearly 6,000 registrants from across military, government agencies, government contractors and the AV industry.

Similar number of attendees and participants are also expected.  Exhibiting are leading manufacturers of products in the following fields:

·       Videoconferencing and telepresence ·         ·       Secure network-enabled AV systems ·         ·       Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) ·         ·       Common Operating Picture (COP) ·         ·       AV modernization ·         ·       Visualization and simulation ·         ·       Media-rich training

·       Remote monitoring and surveillance ·         ·       Enterprise Collaboration ·         ·       Command and control ·         ·       Streaming video ·         ·       Digital signage ·         ·       AV integration services  ·

I plan to attend and listen to some selected presentations, namely:

Wireless Microphones — Digital vs. Analog Technology
 which will be presented by Audio-Technica, U.S. Inc.
 Speaker: Mark Donovan, CTS-D, CTS-I

This session will discuss the trade-offs, advantages and disadvantages of emerging digital technologies versus traditional wireless microphones.

Providing Reliable Service Delivery in a Complex Unified Communications Environment – Proper Instrumentation is Only Part of the Solution
 Presented by Applied Network Solutions, Inc.


Crestron's DigitalMedia is the Standard
 Presented by Crestron Electronics 
Speaker: Jerry Wagner

Video Collaboration and Video Conferencing: What is the Difference? 
Presented by Crestron Electronics
Speaker: Morgan Burdett

Addressing Cyber Security and Information Assurance Concerns in a Collaborative Environment — Are Your Assets Protected? 
Panel discussion moderated by Ken Scaturro


One Room — One Cable™: Simplifying AV Room Installs
Presented by Aurora Multimedia
Speaker: Rick Seegull

Versatility of Portable PA System Solutions
 Presented by Anchor Audio
Speaker: Scott Merrel

I also would like to hear Anchor Audio case studies on:

            Specialized modifications for the Admiral Lectern, purchased by the Marines for trainings at Camp Pendleton.

            A military pilot training program purchased our PORTACOM/PROLINK system to be used by the trainees and needed them to be high temperature tolerant. Engineers made it happen!

            How a hostage negotiator used the MegaVox as a portable public address system and how it still worked after it was shot!

Other presentations worth listening to are:

Wireless Communication Technology: From the Boardroom to the Battlefield
Presented by Williams Sound
 Speaker: Tony Strong

Language barriers can prove challenging in foreign countries, especially when communicating in the field or working from a mobile base camp.

What to Consider When Sourcing a Collaboration Communication Solution for Your Agency
Presented by Compunetix
 Speaker: Robert Haley


Using Multi-WAN Routers for High Performance Connectivity in Mobile Solutions
Presented by Patton Electronics
Speaker: David Puckett

Attending the Government Video Expo and GovComm is my way of updating myself re digital video technology which the U.S. Government and professionals in the field are exposed to and are seriously considering.

mHEALTH Summit 2013 and CES DIGITAL Summit 2014

Healthcare is the hottest issue not only in Washington, D.C. but also in the entire United States.  Occupying the politicians is the debate on the Affordable Care Act or what is commonly dubbed as OBAMACARE.

From causing the government shutdown earlier to the glitches in the rollout of the Healthcare insurance program, its importance and role cannot be ignored.

Mobile devices are the hottest gadgets today.  They are the devices of choice by the majority of the world’s population be they consumers, enterprises, health enthusiasts and patients, health providers, and policy-makers.

Users choose mobile and electronic devices for their utility and functional features as well as the software applications that are available in these devices.  For this, our world has been dubbed as the “Planet of the Apps.”

This interest in Healthcare, Mobile, and Digital devices and Apps must have been the reason for the two summits being held in the next two months.

The first is the mHealth Summit on December 8-11, 2013 at the National Harbor, Washington, D.C.; and the second is the International CES Digital Health Summit to be held on January 7-10, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

I plan to attend both summits as a credentialed member of the Press representing Asian Journal USA again.  Attended by representatives from more than 150 countries, it would be exciting to meet people of varied cultures but with similar interests in the Healthcare, Mobile, and Digital fields.

Mobilization and digitization via online networks have indeed made it easier for healthcare providers to communicate and share their expertise and localize global health knowledge as well as globalizing local health knowledge.

As I have done in the past, I will be looking for new health products and technologies that fall under what I call “Little Miracles, Magic, or Mind-Boggling Technologies.”

The mHealth Summit is noted for being the event “where Technology, Business, Research, and Policy connect.”  It is the largest of its kind.  It brings together “leaders in government, the private sector, industry, academia, providers and not-for-profit organizations from across the mHealth ecosystems to advance collaboration in the use of wireless technology to improve health outcomes in the United States and abroad.”

This year, mHealth Summit is expected to get participants like me to experience 6 Keynotes; 100 Educational Sessions; 400+ Exhibitors; 5,500+ Attendees and exclusive co-located events such as: MHealth in the Hospital Symposium; Health 2.0 Symposium; Pharma Roundtable; Games for Health Workshop; ONC Town Hall Meeting; M2M Now Workshop; Policy Forum; NIH Training Institute; and WIP Jam.

Because of my legal background, I am particularly interested in the sessions that deal with “developing an appropriate legal infrastructure that is essential for all executives, practitioners and organizations seeking to implement electronic health records, introduce mobile devices into the enterprise, and comply with federal health care statutes and regulations.”

The meaning of health law and how legal principles are applied to the use of mobile devices in health care are subjects that I would like to explore.

I hope to know more about the legal framework for managing security and risk in the mobile device ecosystem; the legal aspects of Telemedicine; the role of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in Health Care in the U.S. and abroad; and emerging legal issues when protected health information is stored in the Cloud.

These are all subjects in the scheduled sessions I intend to participate in.

The CES Digital Health Summit 2014 in Las Vegas is supposed to be the conference where “Health and Technology Transform Lives.”  A conference plus 4 days of exhibition, the Summit focuses on the emerging market of consumer-based digital health and wellness devices, related applications and services. 

Like last year and previous ones, the event will expose developers, manufacturers, distributors and service providers to the opportunities, partnerships, business models, distribution channels, and standards of the rapidly evolving industry of digital health technologies.

The topics and the corresponding speakers at the conference are quite interesting.  One session deals with “Point-of-Care Everywhere”.  Tele-health systems, seamless experiences between devices, meeting patients and consumers exactly where they are, are the areas of focus in this session.

Another session deals with the topic “Loudmouth Patients: Making Noise and Making Change.” The focus here is about empowering the patient.  The brochure says, “The empowered patient is not a new concept, but now more than ever, patient and physician influencers are armed to advocate for better care and to impact decision-making on a broader scale.  Join a leading journalist, a social analyst and two of the loudest mouth patients we know for an explosive conversation, as they make huge strides in advocating for all of us.” I might attend this one.

The last session is on “The Radical Hospital”.  Speakers will be discussing cutting-edge surgical spider robots, augmented reality guided clinical applications, RFID biometric-tracked patients, physiological monitoring, artificial intelligence – just a few of the radical technologies making their way into hospital.  We are supposed to hear first-hand how these innovations are changing the way medicine is practiced and how they are saving money and saving lives.

It is probably in this session that I would get some leads as to what health technologies could qualify as “miracles, magic or mind-boggling.”

Analyzing SWS and PNoy’s GPS

The SWS

Social Weather Stations is considered the most credible and reliable pollster in the Philippines.  Politicians and Philippine Business have relied on SWS’s technical capabilities in determining the political and economic public pulse for some time.

No wonder that when it publishes its latest surveys, more particularly the approval/satisfaction ratings of government officials, the press and a number of movers and shakers react.

SWS terminology for Net Satisfaction Ratings: +70 and above, "excellent"; +50 to +69, "very good"; +30 to +49, "good"; +10 to +29, "moderate", +9 to -9, "neutral"; -10 to -29, "poor"; -30 to -49, "bad"; -50 to -69, "very bad"; -70 and below, "execrable".

The Net Public Satisfaction with President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III in the 3^rd Quarter of 2013 is +49, down from the previous quarter’s +64.  The survey has a margin of error of +/- 3% and +/-6% for national and regional, respectively.  The SWS terminology based on the ratings numbers is that PNoy’s net satisfaction rating is GOOD compared to VERY GOOD previously.

 

A deeper look at the numbers would show that +49 is in the border of GOOD and VERY GOOD – only 1% point difference.  Considering the margin of error mentioned, it could very well be termed VERY GOOD.

Of course, some members of the press, PNoy’s critics, and the naysayers focused on the result that it was down.  The fact that PNoy’s net satisfaction rating is GOOD/VERY GOOD borderline is, for them, BAD.

Yet, a careful analysis of the survey results would also show that while PNoy’s Net Satisfaction rating in Metro Manila is only GOOD, the balance of the entire Luzon stayed VERY GOOD.

In the South, while his net rating is GOOD in the Visayas, his rating in Mindanao remains VERY GOOD.

Among economic classes, ABC and D still rate him VERY GOOD while the E class rate him GOOD.

In the rural areas, the people rate PNoy VERY GOOD; while in the urban areas, they rate him GOOD.

Among women, PNoy is VERY GOOD.  Among men, PNoy is GOOD.

In short, contrary to what some press people report and what the naysayers claim, there is nothing in the latest SWS survey that would make anybody conclude that PNoy is BAD by any standard.  This is regardless of wherever they are, rich, middle class, or poor, and whatever their sex.

Historical Comparisons

Unsatisfied with the current perspective, I decided to also look at the Net Satisfaction Ratings of previous Presidents during a similar period in their respective tenures.

If you are a GMA fan, friend and/or follower, you should be reminded that she obtained a Net Satisfaction Rating of -6 during the 3^rd Quarter of her 4^th Year term (2004), which was down from +26 in the previous one.  That’s down by 32 percentage points.  In fact, in the 3^rd Quarter of her last year (2009) in office, her rating of -38 came down from -31 in the previous quarter.

If you are an ERAP fan, friend, and/or follower, you should also remember that his Net Satisfaction Rating during a comparative period prior to his ouster was only +19.  That’s 30 points below that of PNoy’s +49.

During a similar period, Presidents Cory Aquino and Fidel Ramos had Net Satisfaction Ratings of  +29 and +19 respectively.  

For their entire Presidential terms, the average Net Satisfaction Ratings of each President were the following:

CORY AQUINO:                    +35.06  (GOOD)

FIDEL RAMOS:                     +37.96  (GOOD)

ERAP ESTRADA:                 +29.47  (MODERATE)

GLORIA M. ARROYO:          - 5.9    (POOR)

PNoy:                                      +55.38  (VERY GOOD)

I wrote about this in my other column, “Take It From Barber” on this paper in the same issue. The Filipino people clamored for PNoy to become President because they saw in him – Hope, Honesty- Humility, and Honor.

Based on the numbers, the people showed and continue to show their satisfaction of his performance.  As I explained, PNoy is following a GPS that I call Grand Prosecution of the Sleazy.

As he and his team pursue this route, we now have, in this period of our history, a President who is sincere and serious in eradicating both the culture of corruption and culture of impunity.  We see in him a determination to cleanse the government of corrupt officials as he institutes socio-political and economic reforms.

Time and human limitations may prevent him from accomplishing his goals fully, expectedly.  We should all support him in sticking to his GPS, and not get distracted by his critics’ devious desire for him to deviate from his Grand Prosecution of the Sleazy.