Expect tech glitches when Obamacare launches Oct. 1

September 27, 2013 09:17 AM ETNetwork World - The countdown is on. In four days, the health insurance marketplaces mandated by the Obama administration's Affordable Care Act are scheduled to open for business. As with any sizable tech project, there are bound to be glitches. But this isn't just any large tech project. It's unprecedented for the U.S. government.

Come Tuesday, every state will have its own online healthcare exchange, where citizens can browse and buy insurance from healthcare providers as if they were shopping for flights on a travel website. Consumers will be able to find out if they qualify for financial assistance and compare plans based on pricing, quality and benefits. The portals will calculate premiums and potential tax credits based on citizens' income, eligibility for subsidies, and other parameters.

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Behind the scenes, a number of agencies, applications and data sources must swap information to keep the systems running.

"Homeland Security sends the citizenship information, IRS sends the income information, Social Security sends the Medicare eligibility information, and from the states you get the Medicaid eligibility," says Charlene Frizzera, president of consulting firm CF Health Advisors.

The requirements for data security and privacy are particularly onerous. Yet even before the sites launch, problems are emerging:

" Final security testing of the federal data hub, which links to databases maintained by multiple agencies and containing sensitive personal information, isn't slated to happen until Sept. 30, one day before the rollout. Lawmakers have raised significant concerns about the ability of the system to protect personal health records and other private information.

" The District of Columbia's DC Health Link marketplace announced that it won't deploy on Oct. 1 the function that makes new Medicaid eligibility determinations and calculates tax credits for purchase of private insurance "due to a high error rate discovered through extensive systems testing." Other states have reported similar functional setbacks.

" The Associated Press is reporting that online enrollment for small businesses will be delayed and business owners initially will have to mail or fax their enrollment info.

If technical glitches arise, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is prepared to issue workarounds, industry watchers say. In addition, nobody is expecting millions of enrollments at the start of the six-month open enrollment period, particularly since coverage won't begin until Jan. 2014 -- which could buy some time.

CMS "has designed a system that they've tested to the best of their ability, and they think it works," says Frizzera, who is a former CMS acting administrator.

The agency has identified where they think the biggest risks are in the system they designed, Frizzera says. If a few of those risks materialize, CMS has prepared workarounds to handle the issues, but "they're going to have a harder time keeping up if a lot of those come to fruition," she says.

Reprinted with permission from NetworkWorld.com. Story copyright 2012 Network World, Inc. All rights reserved.

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With new iPhone 5s, Apple launches the 64-bit smartphone war

September 13, 2013 03:37 PM ETComputerworld - The 64-bit smartphone clash has been joined between rivals Apple and Samsung. But will everyday smartphone buyers even care, much less notice?

Not in the short term, but then technology is often ahead of buyer awareness or popularity.

Samsung this week confirmed it will have ARM-based 64-bit processors in its next top-line Galaxy-branded smartphones. That move came almost immediately after Apple on Tuesday announced the iPhone 5s, saying it will ship Sept. 20 with a 64-bit A7 processor. The iPhone 5c and the older iPhone 5 use a 32-bit A6 chip.

Down the road, a 64-bit processor would be able to handle code for more demanding high-end games or health-related apps using bio-sensors that spit out tons of data. It could help in data-intensive video editing or for playing ultra high-definition 4K video, which has potential for businesses as well as consumers.

"Yes, our next smartphones will have 64-bit processing," JK Shin told the Korea Times shortly after the iPhone 5s was announced. He also said that Samsung, based in Korea, should be trying harder for Samsung sales in China, a renewed target for Apple.

In one sense, Samsung's move to match Apple in 64-bit computing indicates that 64-bit is an important advance for smartphones, similar to the way that PCs went from 32-bit to 64-bit several years ago.

But with 64-bit apps for smartphones not available yet and with puny memory allotments of 2GB or less in most smartphones, Apple's move -- and therefore Samsung's planned move -- are seen by many analysts as more of a marketing play than anything else.

"64 bits only adds memory addressability, nothing else, and that doesn't bring any value to mobile today," said Patrick Moorhead, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. "Right now, the 64-bit race is silly, as it doesn't bring anything to users.... Tomorrow, as memory densities get higher and apps get more sophisticated, there will [be benefit]."

British chip designer ARM first announced the ARMv8 architecture, which is being licensed by Apple and others, in 2011. Moorhead and other analysts believe that these same 64-bit ARM-based chips could be used to replace Intel chips in laptops, or used in a coming Chromebook.

Apple's iOS 7 update, rolling out for free to iPhone 4 and later versions on Sept. 18, is designed to handle the A7 64-bit architecture. But analysts noted that Samsung and Google don't even have Android ready yet for 64-bit hardware.

"It seems to me that Samsung is more interested in showing they can technically do 64-bit, too, although...Android is not being built for 64-bit," said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Gartner. It's likely that Android 5.0 will be the first version to fully take advantage of the ARMv8 design, according to various sources.

It was an interesting move by Samsung to seek to compete with Apple on 64-bit smartphones, analysts said, given that Samsung has so done well with phones and phablets that focus on larger displays, while Apple has stuck with a 4-in. display -- even in the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. The Galaxy Note 3, announced by Samsung earlier this month, will sport a 5.7-in. display with a digital stylus and is set to ship in the U.S. in October.

Consumers will probably be far more interested in having a larger display than a 64-bit processor, analysts said, which should give Samsung and Android, and future Android apps, plenty of time to catch up to Apple.

"Other smartphone features will probably be more meaningful to buyers than 64-bit," said Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates. "But in a mature market where every marketing ploy is useful, 64-bit is one more weapon for Apple to wield. How important it will be remains to be seen, but it could sway some consumers."

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Microsoft launches ad-free Bing search for schools

IDG News Service - Microsoft has launched an ad-free, no cost version of its Bing search engine that can be used in public and private schools across the U.S.

Activating ad-free search also activates an automatic filter that blocks adult content and enhances privacy protections, said Microsoft in a statement Wednesday. The service is meant for primary and secondary (K-12) schools with students aged from 5 to 18.

Several schools with more than 800,000 students have already signed up for the pilot program including the Los Angeles Unified School District, Atlanta Public Schools, the Fresno, California, Unified School District and Detroit Country Day School, Microsoft said. Other interested schools can sign up for the pilot, although space is limited, it said.

Microsoft took the opportunity to lash out at its biggest competitor. "When students use Google for searches in school, they are shown ads that can distract from their studies," it said on the Bing for Schools site that is part of Microsoft's "Scroogled" campaign which targets Google's search practices.

A Google spokesman declined to comment on Microsoft's project.

As part of the pilot, people can also earn credits for their favorite schools through the Bing Rewards program by searching the Web from a desktop or mobile device using Bing, Microsoft said. When 30,000 credits are saved the school will receive a Microsoft Surface RT tablet. It will award about 60 tablets monthly.

Bing for Schools also offers three learning activities every school day targeted at children in different age groups between kindergarten and 12th grade, Microsoft said. The activities use the Bing homepage image of the day to pose a question that can be solved using search tools.

Reprinted with permission from IDG.net. Story copyright 2012 International Data Group. All rights reserved.

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University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business Launches Online MBA Program

University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business Launches
Online MBA Program

College Park, Md. – June 17, 2013 – The Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland will offer an online MBA program beginning in January 2014. Designed to accommodate working professionals, the flexible online program allows students to earn an MBA degree largely on their own time with minimal on-campus requirements. The program courses are taught by the same top faculty and adhere to the academic rigor of the Smith School’s other top MBA programs.

“This is a major step forward for the university and for business professionals who need flexible access to academic excellence,” said UMD President Wallace Loh. “The Smith School is combining a state-of-the-art online platform with the academic rigor that makes it a leader. University-wide we are exploring how best to use technology-based learning, and this is an excellent model.”

The Smith Online MBA is modeled after the school’s top-ranked and highly successful executive MBA program, but it is delivered primarily online. Students begin and end the program with structured, in-person residencies at the University of Maryland’s campus in College Park. The remainder of the program is completed online. Students can earn their MBA degree in 21 months.

The online MBA program offers a broad base of knowledge on a wide range of business concepts, such as entrepreneurship, managerial economics, information systems and global economic development to prepare students with a strong business background. Students select one of four specializations — accounting, information systems and analytics, finance or marketing – to focus on their own particular area of interest or they may choose the general track, which allows course selection in each of the areas.

Courses will include two “live,” approximately hour-long sessions per week, where students will log on at a specific time to interact with faculty and fellow students. Other coursework can be completed at times that work best for each student.

The program is fully accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, AACSB International, the premier accrediting agency for bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs in business administration and accounting. GMAT or GRE entrance exams will be required for admission.
“Different educational formats work best for different kinds of learners – this program is best for working professionals who can learn within a rigorous, structured program, but more-so on their own time,” said G. “Anand” Anandalingam, dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business. “The elements that make our MBA degree programs so successful will still be in place with this program, but the key difference will be the level of flexibility.”

The Smith School’s MBA curriculum is focused on experiential learning opportunities for students and the online MBA program will also offer these experiences. Students will work together in groups on action learning projects, using knowledge gained in courses to tackle a real challenge or opportunity faced in a team member’s organization. Students will self-select teams, conduct remote project meetings and deliver presentations virtually.

These team projects and online group discussions give students many opportunities to create relationships with business professionals in the program across the nation and the world. The two residencies also provide the chance to establish strong professional connections with peers and professors.

For more information about the curriculum or the program requirements or to apply, go to www.rhsmith.umd.edu/onlinemba or contact a school representative at 1-877-807-8741.

About the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and part-time MBA, executive MBA, executive MS, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.

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