AI, NTIA, Crypto, ZTE & CyberSecurity Hearings LIVE June 26-27 (video)

ZTE: A Threat to America’s Small Businesses

ZTE: A Threat to America’s Small Businesses | house.gov - "The Committee on Small Business will meet for a hearing titled, “ZTE: A Threat to America’s Small Businesses.”  The hearing is scheduled to begin at 11:00 A.M. EDT on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 in Room 2360 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

"This hearing will examine the imminent threat posed to America’s small businesses by the Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE. The hearing will provide committee members the opportunity to hear from national security experts and cybersecurity firms on steps the administration can take to protect small businesses and American citizens from the dangers presented by ZTE. The hearing will also investigate ongoing efforts being by both the public and private sectors to reduce the challenges small businesses face in dealing with illicit Chinese backed enterprises."

Hearing Notice (pdf); Witness List (pdf)--witnesses:

• Mr. David Linger, President & CEO, TechSolve, Inc., Cincinnati, OH; 
• Mr. Andy Keiser, Visiting Fellow, National Security Institute, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University, Arlington, VA; 
• Mr. Matthew G. Olsen, President, IronNet Cybersecurity, Kensington, MD.

Editor's note: background--

• US government action re: ZTE (pdf)
• ZTE ceased most U.S. operations after the Trump administration imposed a ban in April. After that, the Trump administration reached a deal with ZTE which would allow it to continue doing business, which some in Washington now want Trump to reconsider, but other members of Congress support Trump’s deal with ZTE, noting it is the president’s prerogative to conduct foreign policy. For more read "U.S. senators want Trump to reconsider lifting ban on China's ZTE"--Reuters.com June 26, 2018. 

CyberSecurity: Examining The Trump Administration’s Government-Wide Reorganization Plan, Full House Committee On Oversight And Government Reform, Hearing Date: June 27, 2018 10:00 AM EDT. LIVE video and replay at link above.

The reform plan rolled out Thursday by the Office of Management and Budget makes addressing the federal government's cybersecurity workforce shortage among its priorities. It sets forth actions for OPM (Office of Personnel Management), the Department of Homeland Security, and the Pentagon to take to address the issue.

From the report: "The Federal Government struggles to recruit and retain cybersecurity professionals due to a shortage of talent along with growing demand for these employees across the public and private sectors ... The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), working in coordination with all Federal departments and agencies, will establish a unified cyber workforce capability across the civilian enterprise ... This Administration will work towards a standardized approach to Federal cybersecurity personnel, ensuring Government-wide visibility into talent gaps, as well as unified solutions to fill those gaps in a timely and prioritized manner."

The report (pdf) outlining the reform plan is embed below:

AI - With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

Artificial Intelligence (AI) – With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility - Subcommittee on Research and Technology and Subcommittee on Energy Hearing - Date: Tuesday, June 26, 2018 - 10:30 am EDT.

Hearing Purpose: The purpose of the hearing is to understand the state of artificial intelligence technology and the difference between narrow and general intelligence. The hearing will also examine the types of research being conducted to advance artificial general intelligence technology and explore its game-changing potential and implications.

Witnesses:

• Dr. Jaime Carbonell, director, Language Technologies Institute, and Allen Newell Professor, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University (Dr. Carbonell will not be present at the hearing.)
• Dr. Tim Persons, chief scientist, GAO 

• Mr. Greg Brockman, co-founder and chief technology officer, OpenAI

• Dr. Fei-Fei Li, chairperson of the board and co-founder, AI4ALL 

NTIA - Reauthorization Act of 2018

NTIA: The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing on Tuesday, June 26, 2018, at 1:15 p.m. EDT, in 2322 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing is entitled "DiscussionDraft: National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Reauthorization Act of 2018." [Editor's note: WHOIS & GDPR discussion begins at 1:45:47 in the video above.]

Witnesses:

• The Honorable Michael D. Gallagher, CEO, Entertainment Software Association, Witness Statement (pdf)
• The Honorable John Kneuer, President, JKC Consulting, Witness Statement
• Ms. Joanne S. Hovis, President, CTC Technology and Energy, Witness Statement

Documents: Hearing Notice and Background Memo (pdf)--excerpt:

"Internet Governance: NTIA leads and participates in an interagency effort to develop American internet policy and works directly with stakeholders to develop policies that preserve an open, interconnected global internet, continued innovation, and economic growth. To that point, NTIA has jurisdiction over the Domain Name Service (DNS) and is the U.S. voice in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)’s Government Advisory Committee, ICANN maintains and enforces contracts with all registrars, requiring them to continue to collect identifying information from registries during the domain registration process. This information is maintained by registrars in a WHOIS database, pursuant to the terms of the registrar’s contract with ICANN. The discussion draft contains a sense of Congress that states NTIA should work to ensure that the multistakeholder model of internet governance maintains the security, stability, and resiliency of the DNS, and that new laws and regulations around the world do not undermine the WHOIS service."

The hearing webcast will also be available at energycommerce.house.gov. The legislative text may be found here. #SubCommTech

Crypto: Protecting Our Elections: Examining Shell Companies and Virtual Currencies [Crypto] as Avenues for Foreign Interference - US Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, Tuesday, June 26, 2018, at  2:30 P.M. EDT, Dirksen Senate Office Building 226. Presiding: Senator Graham. LIVE video and replay at link above.

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Tech Hearings Thursday: FinTech, Virtual Currency, Comey, NTIA Nominee

Disrupter Series: Improving Consumer's Financial Options With FinTech

Scheduled for Thursday, June 8, 2017, at 10am EDT #SubDCCP -- The U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on financial technology (FinTech), part of its Disruptors Series on how emerging technologies are disrupting various industries.

Witnesses:

Ms. Jeanne Hogarth
Vice President, Center for Financial Services Innovation
Witness Statement and Truth in Testimony and CV

Mr. Javier Saade
Managing Director, Fenway Summer Ventures
Witness Statement and Truth in Testimony and CV

Ms. Christina Tetreault
Staff Attorney, Consumer Union
Witness Statement

Mr. Peter Van Valkenburgh
Research Director, Coin Center
Witness Statement and Truth in Testimony and CV

Documents: Hearing Notice and Hearing Memo

Also on Thursday, June 8, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. EDT:

• Hearing entitled “Virtual Currency: Financial Innovation and National Security Implications” | House Committee on Financial Services. This will be a one-panel hearing with the following witnesses: • Jerry Brito, Executive Director, Coin Center • Scott Dueweke, President, The Identity and Payments Association • Kathryn Haun, Lecturer, Stanford Law School • Jonathan Levin, Co-Founder, Chainalysis • Luke Wilson, Vice President, Business Development-Investigations, Elliptic. This hearing will explore terrorists and illicit use of financial technology (FinTech), the national security implications of virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, and the use of “blockchain” technologies to record transactions and uncover illicit activities. Witnesses will provide testimony about the exploitation of virtual currency by terrorists and transnational criminal groups, as well as provide risk assessments and policy considerations to mitigate illicit financing but not to impede the development of FinTech innovations.

• US Senate Intelligence Committee hearing
UPDATE June 8, 2017, video--President Trump's lawyer Marc Kasowitz (kasowitz.com) responds to Comey testimony:

Streamed live June 8, 2017: President Trump's lawyer Marc Kasowitz holds a press conference following the testimony of former FBI Director James Comey before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

US Senate Intelligence Committee hearing: Former FBI Director James Comey testifying:

WATCH LIVE: Fired FBI Director James Comey testifies about alleged Russian hacking and interference in the U.S. election--this is the media circus extravaganza upon which all of Washington, D.C. and most of  "liberal media" (e.g.,Washington Post, New York Times, et al) has been obsessed--Comey is a real prima donna with a grudge against President Donald Trump who fired Comey after receiving a recommendation from the U.S. Attorney General that Comey be terminated due to his violations of U.S. Department of Justice protocols and policies in the course of the investigation of Hillary Clinton last year. Expect fireworks! But be prepared for a complete lack of actual evidence on "Russia interfering with the 2016 election" that would stand up in a court of law--actual facts supporting the hysteria, innuendo, anonymous source "leaks," rumors, and other #FakeNews published by the Washington Post, New York Times, et al. [Editor's tip: If you're not obsessed with the "Washington D.C. media circus over Russia and Trump," you might want to skip this and catch the highlights via Twitter]. Here's Comey's opening statement (pdf)(no 'smoking gun' there either).

• Committee Chairman: Richard Burr (R-NC) 
• Vice Chairman: Mark Warner (D-VA)
• Other members of the Senate Intelligence Committee  

• Senate Commerce Committee hearing on nominee David Redl to be Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information at the Department of Commerce. If confirmed, Redl will be in charge of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and serve as President Trump's top telecom adviser, including how to expand the nation's broadband infrastructure. Trump has mentioned broadband buildout in his fiscal 2018 budget proposal, as part of infrastructure spending. Redl is currently chief counsel at House Committee on Energy and Commerce, advisor to Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) and panel Republicans on communications and technology matters, and previously was a registered lobbyist and director of regulatory affairs at CTIA, a trade association representing wireless companies such as AT&T, Dish and Verizon. Redl sees the top three challenges facing the NTIA as maximizing how agencies effectively use spectrum, improving broadband reliability – particularly in rural places, and better addressing the needs of the U.S. digital economy.

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Craig Wright, Creator of Bitcoin? Bitcoin Mystery Explained (video)

Bitcoin mystery explained:

The mysterious revelation from Australian Craig Wright that he created bitcoin raises more questions about the digital currency. The FT's Izabella Kaminska explains. Published on May 6, 2016

Another take:

The Man Who Reportedly Created Bitcoin Has Finally Come Forward: Whether Craig Steven Wright is the creator of bitcoin that he claims to be, a potentially more important mystery remains: Where is the substantial pile of the initial digital currency he is believed to own and does the inventor plan to sell it? Bruce Fenton, Bitcoin Foundation executive director, has more on "Bloomberg West" May 2, 2016.

Craig Wright has lost the benefit of the bitcoin doubt https://t.co/tRnOy0VTMy pic.twitter.com/3uwBXPqAHq

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) May 8, 2016

Tweets about "Craig Wright"

Bitcoin Foundation: bitcoinfoundation.org
Tweets by @BTCFoundation

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Disruption: Finance, Banking, Money, Trust, WEF Davos 2016 (video)

The Transformation of Finance, Davos 2016 WEF Video: What trends and uncertainties are shaping the future of financial services? Transformations to be addressed:

• Digitization and new business models
• Regulatory requirements and new client needs
• Data privacy and systemic connectedness

Speakers:
Dan Schulman - President and CEO of PayPal and Chairman of Symantec
Gillian R. Tett - author and journalist at the Financial Times
John Cryan - businessman and co-chief executive of Deutsche Bank AG in Frankfurt am Main
James P. Gorman - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Stanley
Tom de Swaan - Chairman, Interim Chief Executive Officer, Zurich Insurance Group AG
Christine Lagarde - Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

The parallels between the financial industry and the domain name industry are interesting--take note particularly (begins @37:00) the public role of banks and financial institutions as regulated utilities, with duties to act as extensions of law enforcement, required to collect and analyze data, report "suspicious" patterns and transactions, even closing customer accounts, etc.--if you want an insight into the future of the domain name industry and internet governance, watch this video.

Notes: What is the future of finance? What are the trends and uncertainties that are disrupting financial services, and how should we react? Panel member Christine Lagarde addressed this topic on the WEF website, Agenda. The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) looked ahead to what 2016 might hold for the global economy. She wrote:

“One reason that the global economy is so sluggish is that, seven years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, financial stability is not yet assured. Financial-sector weaknesses linger in many countries – and financial risks are growing in emerging markets.”

“Putting all of this together, global growth in 2016 will be disappointing and uneven. The global economy’s medium-term growth prospects have weakened as well, because potential growth is being held back by low productivity, aging populations, and the legacies of the global financial crisis. High debt, low investment, and weak banks continue to burden some advanced economies, especially in Europe; and many emerging economies continue to face adjustments after their post-crisis credit and investment boom.

“This outlook is heavily affected by some major economic transitions that are creating global spillovers and spillbacks, particularly China’s transition to a new growth model and the normalization of US monetary policy. Both shifts are necessary and healthy. They are good for China, good for the US, and good for the world. The challenge is to manage them as efficiently and as smoothly as possible.”

The role of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, theme of this year’s Annual Meeting, in disrupting finance: is technological change creating a new global economy? The Forum’s Chief Economist, Jennifer Blanke:

“Our lives are being shaken to their very core by technological change, with the Fourth Industrial Revolution transforming economies as never before. The unprecedented speed of change, as well as the breadth and the depth of many radical changes unleashed by new digital, robotic and 3D technologies, is having major impacts on what we produce and do, how and where we do it and indeed how we earn a living. And while the transformation will proceed differently in advanced and developing parts of the world, no country or market will be spared from the tidal wave of change.”

The Future of the Global Financial System is a World Economic Forum Global Challenge. The challenge – how to create a resilient, accessible financial system that people trust.

It’s an interesting time for finance, says moderator Gillian R Tett. In 2007, bankers were on top of the world, holding their heads up high. Then, the crash, and since then many of the panels here in Davos have been dominated by what went wrong and what could be done to make things safer. Now, the discussions are forward looking, with less focus on regulation and more attention on fintech and the changes – both positive and negative – that are happening in the world of finance. The biggest challenge, argues Tett, isn’t a crisis in regulation, but the new players. Although regulation has moved out of the spotlight, there is still work to be done in this area, argues Christine Lagarde. There are issues between the US and Europe around over-the-counter derivatives and clearing systems which are not progressing at the speed at which they should. These areas need more regulation, says the IMF head. Basic retail banking is changing, Lagarde goes on to say. It’s being disrupted by innovations and there are people now who have never been – never had to – go into a bank. But this is merely another way of doing business. Virtual currencies and blockchains, on the other hand, can cause deeper disruptions. They may be relatively small (the current value of virtual currencies is around $7 billion), and may be nothing to worry about. They could also turn out to be beneficial – in reducing costs, providing better value and reaching the unbanked. But they could also a great instrument for crime. There is the potential for financing terrorism and the illicit economy, and they could disrupt monetary policy. The IMF has today released a report on this topic: Virtual Currencies and Beyond.

Will cash exist in the future?
The consensus is that, in 10 years, cash will no longer exist. Why? Because it’s inefficient, unnecessary and plays a key role in the illicit economy.

Tom de Swaan believes that insurance will be the most affected of all the finance industries. Life at the top of a financial group was not, is not and will not be easy, because it is disruptive. “You have to find alliances with disruptors,” he says. “I haven’t met one who wants the insurance liability on their balance sheet.”

Dan Schulman, who heads perhaps one of the biggest disruptors in the industy – PayPal – says the biggest impediment to future success, is past success. “A lot of big companies extrapolate from what was and don’t imagine what could be. And this is a big danger.” His  five key trends:

1. Money is definitely digitizing, cheques are disappearing. But let’s not forget that 85% of global transactions are still made with cash.
2. Mobile is exploding across the world. Soon everyone will have a smartphone and hold the power of a bank branch in one hand. This allows the industry to think about consumer transactions in an entirely different way, and it brings in billions of people.
3. The amount of data is exploding, and it’s not going to stop. Algorithms are the weapons of the digital company, and the ammunition is data. The better the quality of this data, the more value it is to the consumer. Security and privacy are genuine concerns, but data is going to change value propositions.
4. Industry lines are blurring, and product lines are blurring. Take digital payments – which involve tech companies, mobile carriers, handset manufacturers and merchants.
5. Security – something Schulman thinks about every day. There is so much data, and authentication is therefore very challenging.

Are regulators ready for this transformation? Tom de Swaan argues that regulators first need to define, what are they going to regulate? Privacy? The movement of data? The financial world is still rebuilding trust with consumers, and doing this while convincing them we need their data to create new products is a huge challenge. The regulatory environment also needs to be globally applicable.

Schulman: What are we trying to regulate, he asks? Let’s not look back at what happened, but what is likely to happen in the future. He thinks it’s likely a major hack could happen, but innovation needs to be responsible and we need to be able to try new things without worrying about over-regulation.

Lagarde supports Schulman’s idea of a “sandbox” to try new ideas, as this would help us to deal with trust and limit any damage to consumers. She doesn’t entirely agree, however, with John Cryan’s suggestion that regulation is made by policy-makers, rather than the regulators themselves. Governments do participate, she says, but the decisions are still being made by the likes of the Financial Stability Board and the Basel Committee, and then channelled into the regulatory system. For bad or for good, the profession still has a lot to do with how supervision is defined. Gorman believes that cyber-security issues need to be addressed. At the heart of the banking system, he says, is trust. When this goes, people want their money back, but the banks don’t have this money, they’ve given it to someone else, and this is what caused the 2008 crisis.

What about the future of blockchains? Cryan does not see this sector growing too quickly in the next 4-5 years. Banks are better prepared to manage cash flow of debt and are able to gain insights regarding the credit worthiness of debtors better than someone who can’t access this knowledge.

Source: weforum.org Jan 20, 2016 (emphasis and links added)

See also:
Domain Mondo: 2016 World Economic Forum LIVE, Twitter Feeds, Video Links and China's Slowdown, Stock Markets, Global Economy: What It Means (videos)

WEF 2016: The future of the European Union. The Prime Ministers of France, the Netherlands and Greece plus the German Finance Minister on Europe's many challenges.


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The Decade Ahead by Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan Chase CEO (video)

Video above: JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon on the Decade Ahead (Fortune Global Forum, San Francisco, November 4, 2015)

Jamie Dimon, the head of the nation’s biggest bank, has this piece of advice for other CEOs: It’s time to start thinking positive.

The CEO of JP Morgan Chase said leaders have been programmed to be risk averse since the recession and related financial crisis. But he argued that the economic forces are generally in America’s and the world’s favor. “Don’t be so damned depressed,” Dimon said at Fortune’s Global Forum in San Francisco. “We have all become risk experts and are afraid of our own shadow at this point. Move on. The world is going to be fine.” Dimon said the American economy was improving and that the world economy would double in size in 15 years. Dimon also said there has been too much focus recently on when the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates — an issue that he insisted didn’t matter much. But he described the waiting as a distraction. Instead, Dimon pushed of the idea of increasing rates sooner rather than later, as a sort of psychological boost. “I would argue that would reduce uncertainty,” he said. (source: Fortune Global Forum)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is the name of the holding company and the firm serves its customers and clients under its Chase and J.P. Morgan brands.

Domain names:

• jpmorganchase.com
• chase.com
• jpmorgan.com

re: faster, better, quicker, cheaper--serve your clients, your customers; economy, blockchain, bitcoin, virtual currency, technology, banking, Future of the EU—“A breakup of the Euro today would cause a depression;” immigration reform, fiscal policy, government bureaucracy, regulation,


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Blockchain Technology? YES! Bitcoin & Virtual Currency? No Way! (video)

“Blockchain is like any other technology, if it is cheaper, effective, works, and secure, then we are going to use it... Virtual currency, where it’s called a bitcoin vs. a U.S. dollar, that’s going to be stopped ... No government will ever support a virtual currency that goes around borders and doesn’t have the same controls. It’s not going to happen.” -- Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan CEO



Digital Asset Holdings CEO Blythe Masters Explains Blockchain (video above) - Blythe Masters, Digital Asset Holdings CEO, speaks at the Bloomberg Markets Most Influential Summit on "Bloomberg Markets." Published on Oct 6, 2015

Digital Asset Holdings: "Reducing Settlement Latency and Counterparty Risk - Digital Asset brings 21st century technology to existing financial infrastructure. We develop technology that aids efficiency, transparency, compliance and settlement speed using cryptographic, distributed ledgers."

Domain name: digitalasset.com

@digitalassetcom
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