Here’s one concern highlighting the value of broad defenses. A targeted software-based attack may trigger supply chain disruptions with significant (even if only short-term) impacts. If combined / coordinated, multi-billion dollar disruption is within reach.
Can you please share a source? This isn’t laziness. I know I can search — and I will —- but I cannot know what sources _you_ are intending, which provides context.
> No it's just that the NSA used to work to make American companies more secure
1. I'm interested in that history; e.g. how it came about and how it worked.
2. Evidence that this is no longer (or less of) a goal: policy, internal priorities, spending? Congressional testimony, legislation, or guidance? Leaks?
I could see that being the case, drumming up the situation so they get more funding to fix the problem. At least I hope that is the case, over the alternative.
Technology can shift the costs and mentality around record keeping. This is exciting and certainly part of the story.
A specific concern about distributed / decentralized storage and network technology —- it shifts. When it does, it is not as simple as one centralized org doing an upgrade or migration or transition. So WRT decentralized tech, what will it take to keep it accessible and maintained under realistic futures?
For long-term archival, technology choices are insufficient. They matter, like I said above, in the sense they shape the usage patterns and benefits and costs. But for permanence (or something approaching it), decades-long sustained support and resources are needed.
Some options include: a government program, a governmental funding stream, or some kind endowment. All can ensure a stream of resources into the future, with various tradeoffs. Are there better alternatives? (What exists now at the US federal level? / What combination of organizations might make an endowment happen?)
Volunteers are nice supplements to institutional support, but cannot be expected to be the backbone.
What is the Library of Congress doing in this area? The National Archives? Presidential libraries? Those old ’boring’ agencies and institutions tend to have a good number of folks that work towards better ways. It may be slow, but when the shift happens, it isn’t subject to the whims of capital markets or herd-following investors.
> Can we ditch the <deity-referencing-expletive> pdf format. It's such a stupid limit to put on papers. I hope the future of journals and articles will become interactive much like Jupyter Notebooks. Jupyter Journal/Article pls.
How do you want this change to come about?
Are you promoting a mandate? Incentives? A change in expectations? Better technologies or formats? Something else?
Nationalization would be a rather drastic step, and may be counterproductive. It would require considerable political capital. There are myriad other options.
We should begin with a broad understanding about the symptoms with the current dynamic as they impact various audiences. From there, we can work towards causes. After that, potential solutions can be weighed in terms of effectiveness, cost, and feasibility.
What do you think are the top 10 or 20 symptoms? From there, what are the 5 to 10 underlying causes? From that, what solutions are worth promoting?
