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Today's Top Stories
1. FAA proposes rule to ban use of wireless devices on flight deck for personal use
2. Free government apps serve as public resource in dealing with flu
3. Congress unveils inauguration mobile app
4. NOAA launches app to gather anonymous precipitation reports
5. British citizen with burning question: How many iPads has the U.K. Department for Transport bought? Editor's Corner: FAA going the wrong direction with in-flight mobile devices Also Noted: California AG posts app privacy guidelines report; BlackBerry aims for more federal clients and much more...  Follow @fiercegov on Twitter
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1. New, experimental products vital to USPS future
2. Who's visiting Steven VanRoekel?
3. Rand: American involvement in a cyber crisis is inevitable but manageable
| This week's sponsor is the Federal Mobile Computing Summit. |  | | As the 113th Congress comes to power, join us and examine how Mobility in the Federal Government will be affected in 2013. |
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FAA going the wrong direction with in-flight mobile devices
 The Federal Aviation Administration's proposed rulemaking regarding the banning of mobile devices for personal use within cockpits is excessive.
Nobody wants pilots checking their messages during takeoff or landing or other vital parts of the flight, but long stretches of flight--as pilots say--are dull and uneventful. Examples of supposed mobile-device-caused problems cited in the FAA Federal Register notice--such as the two Northwestern pilots who in 2009 let their plane go 150 miles off-course--weren't really problems caused by the devices per se. Still, the rule will no doubt go through, especially since it's required by the most recent FAA authorization. What the rule is an occasion to remark on, however, is the prolonged stupidity of the FAA's refusal to lift the ban on the portable electronic devices passengers use during takeoff and descent. In seeing the ban as based on unscientific worries about electromagnetic interference or silly safety concerns such as that they would be distracting during a crash or could hit another passenger during that crash, I'm not alone. (People are really going to text until the end? Mobile devices that weigh less than a hardcover book--the reading of which is perfectly allowable anytime on a flight--are actually inherently more dangerous? iPads are okay in the cockpit for flight manual use, but not back in the passenger cabin?) Even other government officials think the ban is silly--for example Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, who sent a letter in December to the FAA calling on it to "enable greater use of tablets, e-readers, and other portable devices," The Hill reported. The FAA has said it will review its in-flight portable electronics policy, but the New York Times' Nick Bilton notes the review has been slow-going. Clearly it's time for some action--unfortunately, it looks like the FAA is doing so in the wrong way. - Dave |
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Today's Top News 1. FAA proposes rule to ban use of wireless devices on flight deck for personal use
 The Federal Aviation Administration is proposing a rule that would prohibit flightcrew members from using a personal wireless communications device or laptop computer for personal use at their duty station on the flight deck while the aircraft is being operated, according to a Jan. 15 Federal Register announcement.
The rule conforms with the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, and is intended to "ensure that certain non-essential activities do not contribute to the challenge of task management on the flight deck or a loss of situational awareness due to attention to non-essential tasks." According to the FAA, several recent incidents involving a breakdown of "sterile cockpit discipline" prompted Congress to include in the most recent FAA authorization law language prohibiting pilots' personal use of wireless devices. In one 2009 incident, two Northwest pilots used their personal laptop computers during cruise flight and lost situational awareness, leading to a 150 mile fly-by of their Minneapolis-St. Paul destination. In another 2009 incident, a Colgan Air pilot sent a text message on her personal cell phone during the taxi phase of the flight, after the aircraft pushed back from the gate and before the take-off sequence. The agency says the amended regulatory language will also clarify that the prohibition on use of personal mobile devices doesn't apply to the use of such a device for a purpose directly related to the operation of the aircraft, or for emergency, safety-related, or employment-related communications. The FAA in 2011 began allowing iPads loaded with flight information into cockpits. In September 2012, American Airlines said it became the first commercial carrier to receive FAA approval to use the tablets during all phases of flight. The FAA will accept public comments on its proposed rule until March 18. For more:
- read the FAA notice in the Federal Register Related Articles:
FAA needs data policy changes to better address accidents, finds GAO
Spotlight: FAA reconsidering mobile device use on planes Read more about: mobile devices
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2. Free government apps serve as public resource in dealing with flu
Amid a particularly severe and early flu season, the General Services Administration is reminding the public that there are government apps available to help people deal with the flu outbreak. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's FluView app helps track flu-like illness activity around the country so users can monitor outbreaks in their local area. Users can view trends over several weeks. The app draws on multiple sources including the Outpatient Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network, which consists of more than 3,000 health care providers reporting more than 30 million patient visits each year. The app is only available for iOS devices. In addition, the CDC's main app and mobile site feature pertinent health articles, updates and access to related social media. The Health Resources and Services Administration within the Health and Human Services Department has an app that helps users locate nearby federally funded health centers. On Jan. 11, the CDC released data that shows the United States having an early flu season, with most of the country experiencing high levels of flu-like illness. Forty-seven states reported widespread flu activity for the week between Dec. 30 and Jan. 5, an increase from 41 states in the previous week. For more:
- read the Mobile Gov blog post Related Articles:
CDC app will mine injury data
CDC seeks better tracking of H1N1 in schools Read more about: mobile apps, CDC
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3. Congress unveils inauguration mobile app
 Attendees of President Obama's second inauguration will be able to use a mobile web app to find directions based on their device's location and even stream video of the ceremonies.
The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies created the app, which can be accessed via a mobile web browser at www.inaugural.senate.gov. The app's directions feature uses GPS to locate the device (with the user's permission) and then, for ticketed attendees, provides instructions to reach the entrance corresponding to each ticket color. For each entrance, the app provides directions by foot or public transit. It also shows where to find medical tents and restrooms. For those without tickets, the app will detect the nearest nonticketed entrance and display it on a map along with the device's location. The app has set aside a few currently blank spaces to be filled by a live video stream of the ceremonies, a streaming text feed, and the event program. Users will also see a list of prohibited items for the ticketed areas--ranging from guns and explosives to umbrellas and thermoses--and a feed of the 20 latest tweets from the Secret Service's Twitter account, @SecretService. Washington, D.C., officials have projected that about 600,000 to 800,000 people will attend the ceremony, down significantly from the 1.8 million who came for President Obama's first inauguration, the Associated Press says. Still, the expected crowd could easily double the city's population, which stood at roughly 618,000 in 2011, according to the Census Bureau. At the 2009 inauguration, thousands of ticketed attendees got stuck in an underground tunnel and were unable to make it to the swearing-in. For more:
- go to the web app (note: will appear as a regular website on a non-mobile web browser) Related Articles:
Arlington National Cemetery preps smartphone app
Report: Some government mobile apps are a waste
Six things government needs to know about mobile in 2013 Read more about: mobile apps
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4. NOAA launches app to gather anonymous precipitation reports
 To improve weather forecasts, a new mobile app from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration allows users to anonymously report precipitation from their mobile devices.
Using reports from the Precipitation Identification Near the Ground app, NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory hopes to build a database of observations from across the country, NOAA says in a Jan. 10 briefing. Researchers will compare the reports with what radar systems detect and then use the information to develop new radar and forecasting techniques to determine whether snow, rain, ice pellets, mixtures or hail is falling. The app is available for iOS and Android devices. Precipitation reports can be viewed on the National Severe Storms Laboratory's website in real time as the lab receives them. The NSSL developed the app in partnership with the University of Oklahoma--not the first time they have teamed up to leverage mobile technology. In August, NOAA announced that the university's Center for Applied Social Research in Norman, Okla., would lead a project that examines how Twitter messages can be tapped as a source of local weather observations and used to share weather updates. For more:
- read the NOAA announcement Related Articles:
NOAA: 2012 hurricane season 'above normal'
NOAA: Winter 2012-2013 particularly hard to predict
NOAA looks to social technology to improve weather warnings Read more about: Precipitation Identification Near the Ground, iOS
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5. British citizen with burning question: How many iPads has the U.K. Department for Transport bought?
Also Noted > HHS has 5 tips for mobile device security. Article (GovHealthIT)
> BlackBerry aims for more federal clients. Article (FedTimes)
> California AG posts app privacy guidelines report (.pdf). Report (Calif. DOJ)
> NASA launches second international space app challenge. Release (WhiteHouse)
> Agencies eye convergence of cloud, mobile and big data. Article (FedNewsRadio) And Finally… Chinese restaurants aren't what they used to be. Blog post (Scouting New York) > Federal security concerns and the cloud - January 29, 2013, 11 am ET/ 8 am PT Join FierceGovernmentIT for a webinar while we discuss the extent to which data security concerns act as a cloud computing adoption obstacle, the extent to which the can be mitigated and the resulting impacts those mitigations may have on use cases and deployment. Register Today.
| > Federal Mobile Computing Summit - 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. - Wednesday, January 23 - Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC As the 113th Congress comes to power on Inauguration Day, the third annual Federal Mobile Computing Summit and Technology Showcase will examine the impact of this big change and how it will affect Mobility in the Federal Government in 2013 and beyond. Register today!
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