Today’s Tech Sightings:
Coding for Kids Makes Sense, Needs More Than Just Classrooms
Coding is becoming increasingly popular to create a new generation of young programmers, with some countries already requiring coding classes in public schools. But the effort faces some challenges, including teacher availability and new approaches to teaching.
Google Tips ‘Nanodegree’ Program for Budding Developers in India
Android Developer Nanodegree is a new program from Google and online computer programming school Udacity that aims to help India’s developers acquire new skills and advance their careers.
Coursera Survey Finds Its Courses Are a Boon to Emerging Economy Workers
A survey from online course pioneer Coursera found that 87 percent of the people polled who took online courses said the classes gave them better job skills or made them more eligible for a new position. Up to 88 percent said online courses helped build knowledge for their current jobs and improved their prospects to go to college.
India Scraps Requirement to Make Deleting Instant Messages Illegal
A policy draft put together by India’s Department of Electronics and Information Technology to find a happy medium between mobile encryption and national security interests has run into stiff opposition. The draft, which has been pulled, required mobile users to store encrypted messages for 90 days and ruled that non-compliance would be punished.
US Legislation Requiring Tech Industry to Report Terrorist Activity Dropped
A controversial provision in the 2016 Intelligence Authorization Act that would have required Internet firms to report vaguely-defined terrorist activity on their websites has been dropped. The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee dropped the requirement after Senator Ron Wyden put it on hold, saying social media companies shouldn’t be forced to create a “Facebook Bureau of Investigations to police their users’ speech.”
Netflix CEO: All TV Will Be Internet in 10-20 Years
Reed Hastings, the Chairman and CEO of video streaming service Netflix, told CNBC that the Internet TV sector has grown significantly in the past 15 years and that in the next 10-20 years, television will have moved to the Internet.
