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THE idea of satellites delivering slow internet speeds has been turned on its head with ViaSat in the US announcing a satellite terminal for business with lightning fast download speeds. ViaSat says its new Surfbeam 2 Pro satellite modem could deliver downstream rates up to 50 Mbps and upstream rates up to 20 Mbps.

L'agriculture est aujourd'hui engagée dans un processus de changement continu. Ces mutations du secteur agricole se rapprochent du phénomène de la mécanisation massive des années 60 et s'appuient en partie sur les innovations technologiques en matière d'information, de communication et de gestion. Météorologie de précision, scanners de biomasse, capteurs fixes et embarqués, surveillance des parcelles par satellite, logiciels de gestion des troupeaux et des parcelles… l'agriculture développe et s'approprie des technologies qui sont à même, non seulement de bouleverser la productivité des exploitations, mais également les modes d'organisation des entreprises et les activités des agriculteurs

I have always been intrigued by the promise of online education. It is easy to see how geographic and economic boundaries can be overcome through technology. Educational institutions can compete for students well beyond their traditional local boundaries, growing nationally and internationally while bringing down their per-seat costs. Schools no longer need expensive classrooms and dormitories to grow. Small, innovative institutions can grow globally and as rapidly as they dare to dream. High-quality teaching faculty can be recruited from anywhere on the planet -- to teach thousands of students simultaneously. Students can study anytime and attend classes from anywhere. In addition, growth of free, high-quality education sites such as Khan Academy and open-source courses such as Opencourseware at MIT, along with global satellite and broadband communications networks, have removed economic, social, and geographic barriers to high-quality education.

Elle paraît bien loin l'époque où les paysans labouraient leur lopin de terre avec des bœufs ou des chevaux. Au-delà d'un outillage - tracteurs et moissonneuses-batteuses toujours plus modernes -, les agriculteurs jouissent aujourd'hui d'un large panel de technologies dernier cri pour équiper leurs machines et optimiser leurs rendements. Dans les grandes exploitations céréalières, plus question de semer à la volée ou de lessiver les sols à coups d'engrais et de pesticides. Parmi les services high-tech à la disposition des agriculteurs, le programme Farmstar, qui utilise les données des satellites, permet, grâce à un ordinateur préprogrammé, équipé d'un GPS et relié au semoir ou au pulvérisateur, de semer plus ou moins dense ou de répandre plus ou moins d'engrais et de produits phytosanitaires en fonction des caractéristiques du champ.

"It's examples like this that the Mayo Clinic hopes to foster as it rolls out a new strategy -- affiliating with hospitals and health systems across the country -- as a response to the chaotic healthcare environment. Capitalizing on its reputation for superlative medical care, Mayo previously relied primarily on patients traveling to its main campus in Rochester, MN, as well as satellite campuses in Jacksonville, FL, and Phoenix and Scottsdale, AZ, and a regional health system in ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. "Our model has been that the patients come to us," said Dr. John Noseworthy, Mayo's president and chief executive officer, at a February press conference. "Increasingly, going forward... we also wish to extend the reach of the Mayo Clinic, taking our knowledge, taking our experience, and sharing it with others.""

But there's growing evidence that the innovation shortfall of the past decade is not only real but may also have contributed to today's financial crisis. Think back to 1998, the early days of the dot-com bubble. At the time, the news was filled with reports of startling breakthroughs in science and medicine, from new cancer treatments and gene therapies that promised to cure intractable diseases to high-speed satellite Internet, cars powered by fuel cells, micromachines on chips, and even cloning. These technologies seemed to be commercializing at "Internet speed," creating companies and drawing in enormous investments from profit-seeking venture capitalists-and ordinarily cautious corporate giants. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan summed it up in a 2000 speech: "We appear to be in the midst of a period of rapid innovation that is bringing with it substantial and lasting benefits to our economy."