“The Indian social media scene represents a fast-emerging and influential domain of information exchange involving nearly 60% of the 83 million Internet users in the country,” according to a recent report (pdf) from the DNI Open Source Center.
Indian public attention to social media was galvanized by the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, “when citizens became instant journalists, tweeting from their mobiles what they saw.” It was reinforced by online political activity surrounding the May 2009 national elections. Social media are also employed by commercial enterprises, political dissidents and separatists and almost everybody else.
A copy of the report was obtained by Secrecy News. See “OSC Media Aid: Overview of Leading Indian Social Media,” Open Source Center, December 21, 2010.
Cities need to rapidly become compact, efficient, electrified, and nature‑rich urban ecosystems where we take better care of each other and avoid locking in more sprawl and fossil‑fuel dependence.
Hurricanes cause around 24 deaths per storm – but the longer-term consequences kill thousands more. With extreme weather events becoming ever-more common, there is a national and moral imperative to rethink not just who responds to disasters, but for how long and to what end.
The program invites teams of researchers and local government collaborators to propose innovative projects addressing real-world transportation, safety, equity, and resilience challenges using mobility data.
The Pentagon’s new report provides additional context and useful perspectives on events in China that took place over the past year.