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Articles by Betsy Cooper
Washington is shunning remote work, and we’re all losing
Recent layoffs at major tech companies pose a tremendous opportunity for the federal government: to bring much-needed talent into the workforce. Government has long lamented its inability to compete with the private sector on white collar roles requiring specialty expertise, from human resources and communications to information technology. Suddenly, large swaths of experienced workers are out of work and looking for new opportunities.
Aspen Tech Policy Hub
A climate-focused iteration of the Hub Fellowship that trains technical experts in climate change on the policy process The climate cohort of the Hub Fellowship is a 10-week, full-time, paid program that trains engineers, scientists, technologists, and business experts who already understand climate how to better apply their ideas to policy.
The metaverse will make your meetings worse
Hear from CIOs, CTOs, and other C-level and senior execs on data and AI strategies at the Future of Work Summit this January 12, 2022. Learn more As part of its recently announced rebranding, Facebook is doubling down on its vision of the metaverse, an immersive virtual-reality environment for gaming, work meetings, and socializing.
My First Job: Betsy Cooper
What was your first job? My first job was a “TV hostess” at Holston Valley Community Hospital during the summer of 1976. How much were you paid? I was hired for a job making $2.10 an hour renting, then installing small black and white televisions to the end of individual hospital beds at Holston Valley. Tell us a bit about the job. This involved attaching the TVs that were on a pole to the end of the patient’s bed and then crawling under the bed to hook up the cable.
My First Job: Betsy Cooper installed TVs at Holston Valley
What was your first job? My first job was a “TV hostess” at Holston Valley Community Hospital during the summer of 1976. How much were you paid? I was hired for a job making $2.10 an hour renting, then installing small black and white televisions to the end of individual hospital beds at Holston Valley. Tell us a bit about the job. This involved attaching the TVs that were on a pole to the end of the patient’s bed and then crawling under the bed to hook up the cable.
Letter: Here's a cure for COVID cabin fever: Pick up litter Original
I recently traveled from Greenville County to Mt. Pleasant and was appalled at the amount of trash that littered the highways. Even the sides of streets and roads in Greenville and Laurens counties are full of trash. It's shocking that people would rather throw trash out their car windows than place it all in a proper receptacle. Even some businesses don't seem to care about the trash that accumulates in their own parking lots.
Opinion | I’m Six Weeks Pregnant, and I’m Telling the World
Against the mandatory secret first trimester. By Betsy Cooper Ms. Cooper is the director of the Aspen Tech Policy Hub. Jan. 14, 2020 For the past five years or so, I have been an interested observer of a vast unnamed secret club: a large number of women in their 30s who are pregnant, or trying to get pregnant, but don’t want anyone to know. These women take a sudden interest in drinking “gin and tonics” at the bar, when everyone knows Manhattans are their drink.
5 things you can do to make your conferences diverse and inclusive
Sometimes, I think I should update my LinkedIn job title to “Manel,” which stands for all-male panels preventer. Several times a year, I get requests to participate on a panel of all men at a big conference. It happens in both of my core fields: national security and technology. It happens even when I am not the best person for the job (I know nothing about FinTech, for example, and still get asked to speak on it again and again).
Paid Policy Incubator Fellowship For Technologists: A Call for Applications
Silicon Valley needs to understand Washington. While Valley companies increasingly make decisions that affect millions—even billions—of people, too many technologists still fail to grasp the important role of public policy, how to participate in the policy process, and how to explain their work in language that lawmakers can grasp. Washington policymakers need to understand Silicon Valley.
Paid Policy Incubator Fellowship For Technologists: A Call for Applications
Silicon Valley needs to understand Washington. While Valley companies increasingly make decisions that affect millions—even billions—of people, too many technologists still fail to grasp the important role of public policy, how to participate in the policy process, and how to explain their work in language that lawmakers can grasp. Washington policymakers need to understand Silicon Valley.
Aspen Tech Policy Hub
The Aspen Tech Policy Hub mixes the best of both Washington and Silicon Valley, bringing together stakeholders in policy, science, and technology to train the next generation of policy entrepreneurs. At the Aspen Tech Policy Hub, we take STEM experts, teach them the policy process through fellowship and executive education programs, and encourage them to develop outside-the-box solutions to society’s problems.
Not My First Rodeo: An Agency Owner's Experience
Becoming an agency owner is an intimidating concept for many people. How do I do it? Can I afford to go out on my own? Where are my customers going to come from? What can we offer that differs from everyone else? These are all questions we ask ourselves, when we contemplate going out on our own. And they’re all very important. There’s no simple solution or magic recipe to guarantee success.
Paid Policy Incubator Fellowship For Technologists: A Call for Applications
If 2018 was the year that the D.C.-Silicon Valley divide became abundantly apparent, then 2019 is the year that we can and should do more to bridge that divide. To do so, we need more bridge crossers: experts in both technology and policy. This is why we are so excited to announce that the Aspen Tech Policy Hub, a West Coast policy incubator training a new generation of tech policy entrepreneurs, has opened for applications for its inaugural 2019 cohort.
Paid Policy Incubator Fellowship For Technologists: A Call for Applications
If 2018 was the year that the D.C.-Silicon Valley divide became abundantly apparent, then 2019 is the year that we can and should do more to bridge that divide. To do so, we need more bridge crossers: experts in both technology and policy. This is why we are so excited to announce that the Aspen Tech Policy Hub, a West Coast policy incubator training a new generation of tech policy entrepreneurs, has opened for applications for its inaugural 2019 cohort.
Facebook breach changes calculus for third-party logins
Why it matters: Single-sign-on login systems do not make a hack more likely. But they do affect what a hacker can access from inside a system. While Facebook reports there is no evidence third-party apps were accessed , this incident should cause consumers to re-evaluate whether to link accounts in the first place. Single-sign-on systems allow hackers to get more information in one sweep. So, for third-party apps that contain sensitive data, it’s important to compartmentalize.
LETTER: Flying the flag at half-staff
First of all, THANK YOU for flying the American flag! Those of us who value patriotism and love our country appreciate seeing the different places you are choosing to fly our flag. BUT, when we are asked to lower this flag to half-staff (not half-mast unless you’re on a boat) please know the proper way to display it. When lowering the flag you must first raise it to the top of the flag pole then bring it down half-way and secure it.
Could computer hacks produce wrong winners at the 2018 Olympics?
Sporting events are only meaningful if we trust the results. But as digital devices proliferate, so will the risks of cybersecurity failures. Imagine if, at next month’s 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the women’s figure skating competition were to be halted mid-event. Several coaches file a protest alleging that the International Skating Union Scoring System, the computer-based system that captures and calculates judges’ scores, is found to be reporting false scores.
2018 Olympics: Could computer hacks produce the wrong winners?
Sporting events are only meaningful if we trust the results. But as digital devices proliferate, so will the risks of cybersecurity failures. Imagine if, at next month’s 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the women’s figure skating competition were to be halted mid-event. Several coaches file a protest alleging that the International Skating Union Scoring System, the computer-based system that captures and calculates judges’ scores, is found to be reporting false scores.
The dangerous data hack that you won’t even notice
A recent wave of cyberattacks — from WannaCry and Equifax to the alleged Russian influence on the U.S. election — has demonstrated how hackers can wreak havoc on our largest institutions. But by focusing only on hackers’ efforts to extort money or mess with our political process, we may have been missing what is potentially an even scarier possibility: data manipulation. Imagine that a major Big Food company gets hacked.
The Dangerous Data Hack That You Won’t Even Notice
A recent wave of cyberattacks—from WannaCry and Equifax to the alleged Russian influence on the US election—has demonstrated how hackers can wreak havoc on our largest institutions. But by focusing only on hackers’ efforts to extort money or mess with our political process, we may have been missing what is potentially an even scarier possibility: data manipulation. Imagine that a major Big Food company gets hacked.
Equifax hack and Russian interference in the US election? There's a dangerous data hack you won't even notice
A recent wave of cyberattacks—from WannaCry and Equifax to the alleged Russian influence on the US election—has demonstrated how hackers can wreak havoc on our largest institutions. But by focusing only on hackers’ efforts to extort money or mess with our political process, we may have been missing what is potentially an even scarier possibility: data manipulation. Imagine that a major Big Food company gets hacked.
Will Your Next Password Be a Brainwave? - Techonomy
It is increasingly difficult to authenticate users on the internet. As phishing scams proliferate to capture and use passwords, new solutions are needed. The most typical response today is to turn to two-factor authentication, using both a password and a second method of identifying the user, like a text message or a fingerprint. But there are only a limited number of devices available to consumers to use for that second factor.
Digital Insecurity Is the New Normal
The second reason is that increasingly inventive criminals have become today’s most ambitious internet entrepreneurs. Their work has been made easier by the theft of powerful hacking tools created by and for state security agencies but now available for sale. Third is the commercial innovation imperative.
Americans’ Double Standard on Religious Violence | PRRI
Fighting “radical Islamic terrorism” was high on President Donald Trump’s lengthy list of campaign promises. Consistent with Trump’s campaign rhetoric, the current administration continues to claim that violence perpetrated by Muslim extremists is unique and a uniquely dangerous threat.
Cyber executive order a reasonable step forward, yet more remains to be done
The speed with which the Trump administration has been issuing Executive Orders comes as no surprise. President Trump’s campaign promises of addressing immigration and financial regulation have become the focus of his first 100 days and the defense of these actions has dominated the news cycle from day one. The same focus, however, hasn’t been given to an important policy area that was exposed during the 2016 election: cybersecurity. Since the first draft of the cyber EO was leaked on Jan.
Video: A new proposal for President Trump to strengthen national cybersecurity
Video: A new proposal for President Trump to strengthen national cybersecurity Betsy Cooper, Executive Director, UC Berkeley Center for Long-term Cybersecurity | January 30, 2017 If there is one universal truth about cybersecurity, it’s that people are the weakest link. Here’s our cybersecurity proposal for the Trump administration:
The real election hack fear | Bloomberg Government
Bloomberg Government regularly publishes insights, opinion and best practices from our community of senior leaders and decision-makers. This column is written by Steve Weber and Betsy Cooper. Dr. Steve Weber is the Faculty Director and Dr. Betsy Cooper is the Executive Director of the University of California, Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity. If you are expecting to feel relief from a long and tortuous election season on the morning of November 9, don’t.
The real election hack fear
If you are expecting to feel relief from a long and tortuous election season on the morning of November 9, don’t. Expect instead to hear about a possible cyberattack on American democracy. We might be watching a slow trickle of election results poisoned by suggestions that they may not be real. Imagine what it would feel like to hear different results on different media platforms, and not have any idea whom to trust. The security of voting data means everything to American democracy.
The Divide Over America's Future: 1950 or 2050?
Executive Summary Direction of Country Pessimism about the direction of the country is considerably higher today (74%) than it was at this time during the 2012 presidential race, when 57% of the public said the country was off on the wrong track. Americans are more likely to say that things veered off track some time ago than to believe it occurred in the last few years (44% vs. 30%).
Exodus: Why Americans are Leaving Religion—and Why They’re Unlikely to Come Back | PRRI
The Rise of the Unaffiliated America’s Largest “Religious” Group The American religious landscape has undergone substantial changes in recent years. However, one of the most consequential shifts in American religion has been the rise of religiously unaffiliated Americans. This trend emerged in the early 1990s. In 1991, only six percent of Americans identified their religious affiliation as “none,” and that number had not moved much since the early 1970s.
Donald Trump Is Scarily Wrong on Immigration-Terror Link
In making his case that the United States is hurtling toward catastrophe, Donald J. Trump has spun more than a few myths. One of his favorites is that our borders are sieves, and terrorists are streaming in. “We have a dysfunctional immigration system,” Trump has proclaimed, and it “does not permit us to know who we let into our country.” After the Nice attack, he declared that “[President] Obama is allowing a lot of people to come in. We have no idea who they are.
Opinion: Cracking the cybersecurity gender code
Attracting more women into the male-dominated cybersecurity field means ditching the bro pipeline of computer science, military, and intelligence recruits and drawing from disciplines such as law and public policy. Is the English language becoming less significant in Europe after Brexit? Why the new health-care bill may keep affordable care out of reach for some It's hardly news that women are poorly represented in tech.
Faith and the Free Market: Evangelicals, the Tea Party, and Economic Attitudes
We argue that concerted efforts by Tea Party leaders, Republican politicians, and leading Christian Right figures to establish and promote a connection between Christian faith and the free-market system has helped shift the economic attitudes of white evangelical Protestants in a more conservative direction.
It's the year 2020...how's your cybersecurity?
What if, in 2020, wearable devices did not care about how many steps you took, and instead were concerned with your real-time emotional state? With networked devices tracking hormone levels, heart rates, facial expressions, voice tone and more, the Internet could become a vast system of “emotion readers,” touching the most intimate aspects of human psychology. What if these technologies allowed people’s underlying mental, emotional and physical states to be tracked – and manipulated?
How politics determines the way Americans perceive discrimination
It’s no secret that Americans are more politically polarized than ever before. Democrats and Republicans may live in the same world, but partisan beliefs drive Americans from opposite sides of the aisle to see that world in very different ways. Past research has shown that partisans will often perceive the same events—from a hostage crisis abroad to objective markers of an improving economy at home—in completely divergent ways based on their preconceived and firmly held political convictions.
How politics determines the way Americans perceive discrimination
It’s no secret that Americans are more politically polarized than ever before. Democrats and Republicans may live in the same world, but partisan beliefs drive Americans from opposite sides of the aisle to see that world in very different ways. Past research has shown that partisans will often perceive the same events—from a hostage crisis abroad to objective markers of an improving economy at home—in completely divergent ways based on their preconceived and firmly held political convictions.
Anxiety, Nostalgia, and Mistrust: Findings from the 2015 American Values Survey | PRRI
Executive Summary Health Care, Terrorism, and Jobs Most Critical Issues When asked what issues are most important to them personally, Americans are more likely to cite health care (63%), terrorism (62%), and jobs and unemployment (60%) than any other issue. A majority (53%) of Americans report that crime is a critical issue to them personally. Slightly fewer say the cost of education (49%), economic inequality (48%), and immigration (46%) are critical issues.
Only One-third of Millennials Say They’re Millennials
Millennials are having an identity crisis. Only one-third (34 percent) of Americans age 18 to 35 say that they’re a “millennial,” according to PRRI’s millennial report, while the remaining 66 percent say that the term doesn’t describe them well. While most millennials avoid adopting the label—whether out of negative connotations it carries or because they are unfamiliar with it—some millennials are more likely to reject it than others.
Map: Legal Status of and Support for Same-sex Marriage in Each State
Next Tuesday, the Supreme Court will begin to hear oral arguments for and against the legality same-sex marriage nationwide. Public opinion on same-sex marriage has changed dramatically since 2003, when Massachusetts became the first state to legalize gay marriage. Nationally, support for same-sex marriage stood at 32 percent twelve years ago; today 54 percent of the public favors allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry legally.
Judges in Jeopardy!: Could IBM’s Watson Beat Courts at Their Own Game?
New textualism is a popular method of interpretation by which judges decipher statutes; perhaps its foremost proponent is U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. New textualist premises and lines of reasoning about statutory interpretation have become widespread. Indeed, there is arguably a growing consensus that we (or at least judges) “are all textualists now.” Many others have outlined the key tenets of this method, so I will not spend much time doing so here.
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