National Cyber League (NCL) Registration Opens Saturday, August 15th

Get psyched to become 

Cyber Superheros...

NCL registration opens this Saturday, August 15th
Bigger, bolder and better then EVER...
the new NCL gaming system is now powered by Cyber Skyline!

Learn more about NCL
CLICK HERE

info@nationalcyberleague.org

CyberWatch West Invitation

CyberWatch West would like to invite all MPICT member institutions to join our center. 

CyberWatch West is a regional center for Cybersecurity education covering 14 states in the western US. We are heavily involved in many of the same initiatives as MPICT, including advocating for an ICT transfer model curriculum and continuing support for the ICT winter conference in CA.

Member benefits include travel sponsorships and training and there is no cost to join. For more information, please go to http://cyberwatchwest.org.

To see our member map and to apply for membership, go here: http://cyberwatchwest.org/index.php/about-us/member-map.

For additional information, please contact Corrinne Sande (PI for CyberWatch West) at csande@whatcom.ctc.edu.

California Workforce Investment Board Name Change

Governor Brown recently signed AB1270 changing the name of the California Workforce Investment Board to the California Workforce Development Board.

On Monday August 3, 2015, the board website address name will change to www.cwdb.ca.gov. Please refresh or clear your browser if the page does not automatically show up. Be sure to update your favorites or bookmarks.

BBC: WTO strikes 'landmark' IT trade deal

24 July 2015 BBC

Chipmakers like Japan's Renesas will benefit from the deal
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has struck a "landmark" deal to cut tariffs on $1.3 trn (£838bn) worth of technology products.
The deal will update the 18-year-old IT Agreement and add 200 products to the zero tariff list.

It is expected to give a boost to producers of goods ranging from video games to medical equipment.

The WTO says the sum is equal to global trade in iron, steel, textiles and clothing combined.

"Today's agreement is a landmark," said WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo.

"Eliminating tariffs on trade of this magnitude will have a huge impact," he continued.

"It will support lower prices - including in many other sectors that use IT products as inputs - it will create jobs and it will help to boost GDP growth around the world."

The final technical details will be worked out until December.

The existing 1996 IT agreement was seen by industry and policy makers as woefully out of date as it did not cover devices and products invented since then.

Products added range from advanced computer chips to GPS devices, medical equipment, printer cartridges and video-game consoles

Technology manufacturers such as General Electric, Intel, Texas Instruments, Microsoft and Nintendo are among the many companies expected to benefit from the deal.

Negotiations on updating the technology agreement began in 2012.

Analysis: Andrew Walker, BBC World Service economics correspondent
Finally, the WTO has brought its Information Technology Agreement (ITA) into the 21st century.

This was the first tariff cutting agreement the WTO has managed since ITA 1.0, as it is not officially known, was agreed.

The key political deal was done in 1996 at a WTO ministerial conference in Singapore. Sadly, you might think, I was there and am still covering the same story, though I have had very little reason to think about this one since.

Still this is an important step, and it is the second one the WTO has taken in two years - a very short period in the geological timescales of trade negotiations.

The other was an agreement on simplifying trade procedures, the one concrete achievement of the negotiations called the Doha Round launched in 2001.

So a significant step towards more liberalised trade has been taken. But the WTO has the rest of the wide ranging and complex Doha Round still to do.

NSF Alliance for Innovation Grant Opportunities

Dear colleagues,

We are pleased to introduce the Alliance for Innovation—a program funded by the National Science Foundation designed to help California Community College STEM students engage in hands-on research that increases economic competitiveness and prepares students for the workforce.

Sub-grants of up to $30,000 are available to teams of community college faculty and students interested in partnering with NSF-funded small business. Projects will assist NSF-funded small business in the commercialization of innovative research. Visit our website, nsf.foundationcccc.org, to see a list of sample projects.

NSF supplemental funding is designed to foster deeper partnerships between community colleges and the small business community while increasing participation of underrepresented groups in both academic and small business research through encouraging careers in STEM fields. The grant is the result of a collaboration between the NSF's Division of Industrial Innovation, the Alliance’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBTT) programs, and the Division of Undergraduate Education.

Advancing STEM Research and Student Opportunities
The Alliance for Innovation program, which is administered by the Foundation for California Community Colleges (Foundation), is assisting faculty and student research teams in connecting with businesses in their community that are engaged in innovative research and want to support undergraduate STEM studies. California Community College research teams have the opportunity to engage in hands-on research with small businesses working on NSF-funded projects.

Get Involved
The Foundation for California Community College’s experienced team assists with the matchmaking process between colleges and businesses and can assist with the development of compelling and competitive grants.

Currently, eligible businesses are mostly concentrated in Los Angeles, San Diego, and the Bay Area. Contact a regional expert to learn more about the program, or complete a faculty interest form to connect with an eligible research project.

Warm regards,

Iris Aguilar
Foundation for California Community Colleges
Special Projects Manager
iaguilar@foundationccc.org
916.325.1858

Iraj B. Nejad, Ph.D.
Mt. San Antonio College
Professor, Chemistry Department
inejad@mtsac.edu
909.594.5611 x4535

Zhanjing (John) Yu, PhD, PE
Solano Community College
Dean, School of Math and Science
Zhanjing.Yu@solano.edu
707.864.7110