Tagged: Technology Developments & Issues
Will developments in technology make lawyers more efficient or will they become extinct? A March 2011 article in The New York Times, entitled “Armies of Expensive Lawyers, Replaced by Cheaper Software,” discussed the significant efficiency and accuracy of e-discovery software in document review over that of human review. Although technology has enabled computers to imitate humans’ ability to reason at even higher levels, rest assured that Armageddon is not looming on the legal profession’s horizon.
In October 2010, Facebook announced a new Download Your Information (“DYI”) feature, billed as “an easy way to quickly download to your computer everything you’ve ever posted on Facebook and all your correspondences with friends: your messages, wall posts, photos, status updates and profile information.” The Facebook announcement included a short video detailing how to use the feature. Cnet TV has a more in-depth video. Craig Ball also wrote an article about this feature in the February 23, 2011 issue of Law Technology News.
In early 2011, the Federal Communications Commission will launch a new, updated website and become the first major federal agency to utilize cloud computing technology to completely support its principal web presence. By moving to cloud technology, the FCC hopes to give a boost to this increasingly popular technology and to improve the FCC’s technology platform. In announcing its move to cloud computing, the FCC’s Managing Director stated, “given that we oversee an industry that should lead this country in innovation, we want to lead the government in the things we do every day as well.” Terremark will manage the FCC’s transition to cloud computing.
Cloud computing is revolutionizing the IT marketplace. With the economy still suffering aftershocks from the Great Recession, companies of all sizes are being pressured to consider cost-cutting strategies. One such strategy is migration to cloud computing services. The “cloud” provides a reasonable solution to reduce cost while at the same time, increasing efficiency and innovation in IT operations. On Thursday, October 28, 2010, Gibbons P.C. held its Fourth Annual E-Discovery Conference, assembling a panel of experts for a roundtable discussion concerning (i) what constitutes “cloud computing,” (ii) how cloud migration can be achieved, and (iii) what risks are posed by “cloud computing” and how to mitigate those risks.
