The city’s emergency communications system is being flooded with nearly 4 million calls a year from people who inadvertently dial 911 on cell phones.

An astounding 38% of some 10.4 million calls to 911 during 2010 involved such accidental or false alarm “short calls” of 19 seconds or less — that’s an average of 10,700 false calls a day.

Most of the calls — commonly referred to as butt calls — came from cell phone users who mistakenly dial 911 when making contact with phones in their back pockets, purses or elsewhere. Each time one occurred, NYPD operators lost valuable time trying to determine if someone was even on the line.

Harris, Galveston, Fort Bend and Brazoria counties in southeast Texas announced this week they will participate in the Gulf Coast Emergency Communications Network — a system that, in part, will help the Texas counties display alerts on digital billboards.  Eleven billboards throughout the four counties are currently incorporated into the network with four more slated for deployment within the next month.

According to the state IT department’s policy note, which was placed by state IT minister N Subramanian, currently there are nearly 350,000 professional employed in about 1,750 IT and IT-enabled (ITeS) companies in the state.

Software exports from the state, which stood at Rs.42,100 crore in 2010-2011, are expected to touch Rs 48,000 crore in 2011-2012. All efforts are being made to attract more IT/ITeS investments in the state.

However, thanks to a collaboration between the Colorado Regional Health Information Organization (CORHIO) -- the state's official HIE -- and the Colorado Telehealth Network (CTN), rural providers are not on the outside looking in for electronic health record (EHR) adoption and, eventually, telemedicine services via broadband Internet.

The e-toolkits are online collections which contain useful and reliable health information to promote health.

The Chief of Party Health communication Partnership, Cheryl Lettenmaier says the eight e-toolkits contain information and communication resources to support public health education in areas of Pediatric HIV, Family Planning, and HIV care and treatment couple counseling among others.

The State of Alabama recently unveiled its new and improved official website, Alabama.gov, introducing the most user-friendly design yet. With the award-winning website’s sleek and sophisticated silhouette, visitors can easily discover useful local, state, and federal government information.

Alabama.gov visitors expressed their opinions about changes for the site; in return, the state listened and took action. Utilizing visitor feedback and analytical data, the site’s homepage now provides information on popular topics users want most. In addition, visitors will be able to navigate through the site more efficiently than ever before with enhanced menu options. Also, if using a tablet or a mobile device, the Alabama.gov site will now conform to the size of the user’s screen, creating the best user experience possible for visitors on the go or at home.

West African countries still have a long way to go in bridging digital divide, despite efforts being made by some countries to close the digital gap. In West Africa, Nigeria inclusive, low infrastructure rollout and the over concentration of operating companies in urban areas, including policy regulation, have been identified as some of the factors impeding fast broadband penetration.

More than 40 people gathered at the Pacific Institute in Seattle to meet the Bulgarian president. The Bulgarians, who attended the meeting, asked many questions on issues that concern them most, such as the issuance of documents, the lack of experts in the field of high technologies, and education.

The Bulgarians commented that in the USA one may register a company and start doing business in around half an hour. President Plevneliev, on the other hand, remarked that the electronic government was his top priority.

“We have new design plans for Makkah, Jeddah and Taif,” Makkah governor Prince Khaled Al-Faisal told a meeting on smart city applications earlier this week.

“It’s our opportunity to take the initiative now. All we need is good management and a strong will to start the project.”

Those who intend to leave the country will be able to also obtain a passport with biometric data as a travel document.

The identification card contains an electronic database, individual cryptographic keys, electronic digital signature and certificates for identity.