Mud-wrestling, an Italian feast and hacking the Presidential election: Sphere Consulting’s TenCount for October 17, 2016

  • The third and final presidential debate takes place on Wednesday in Las Vegas. While there are no current plans to have an actual mud pit onstage, stranger things have already happened in this election season. Over the weekend, Donald Trump said the candidates should have to take drug tests at the debate. For those trying to make sense of it all, the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Wednesday hosts a pre-debate discussion on “Election 2016: How Did We Get To This?”
  • Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his wife, Agnese Landini, will be the guests of President and Michelle Obama during an official state visit and dinner, cooked by Mario Batali, on Tuesday. Italy will conduct a referendum on constitutional reform on December 4, which would streamline parliament in hopes of stabilizing the electoral system, which has produced 63 government since 1945 – nearly 50 percent more than the number of U.S. presidents since 1776. Given the outcomes of recent popular referendums in Britain and Colombia, a positive vote is anything but certain.
  • The next American presidential administration will have plenty on its plate, and there is no shortage of seminars and workshops to examine the subject matter. On Monday, the Center for a New American Security hosts a discussion on “Energy and the Next U.S. Presidential Administration,” and on Tuesday the Heritage Foundation tackles “The Cybersecurity Challenge Facing the Next Administration.” On Wednesday, the Brookings Institution discusses “Economic Mobility and Racial Inequalities: How the Next President Can Revive the American Dream,” and the New American Foundation confers on “The Next President’s Fight Against Terror.”
  • One presidential candidate has already raised questions about whether balloting is safe and stoked fears about outside influence and a rigged election. On Wednesday, the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public affairs hosts a discussion on “Can U.S. Elections Be Rigged?,” and the Atlantic Council will discuss “Hacking the Vote.” And on Thursday, the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology asserts “Hacking Elections Is Easy.”
  • For the US government, how big too big? The Hoover Institution’s Regulation and Rule of Law Initiative on Thursday will host a discussion focused on the growth of the administrative state and House Speaker Paul Ryan’s “A Better Way” plan to address the issue.
  • It’s the economy, stupid: Just in time for the final stretch into the election, the Council on Foreign Relations on Monday hosts its regular a “World Economic Update” discussion, and the Brookings Institution convenes a talk on “Economic Disruption, Political Upheaval and Social Strife in the 21st Century.”
  • Word of the week is kleptocracy, at least at the Hudson Institute, which hosts a couple of events on the topic. On Wednesday, the discussion centers on “The Threat of Kleptocracy: States Bordering the Russian Federation,” featuring the Lithuanian Ambassador to the U.S., while on Thursday the topic is “The Kleptocracy Curse: Rethinking Containment.”
  • Been hacked lately? If not, you’re one of the few. Taking a look at the vulnerabilities present when each of us is online is the topic of a two events this week: The American Enterprise Institute on Tuesday hosts a discussion on “Defending Cyberspace: A Report From the Front,” with the deputy national manager for national security systems at the National Security Agency. Then on Wednesday the National Telecommunications and Information Administration convenes a meeting on the security of the Internet of Things.
  • Education Day is Wednesday: In the morning, the Progressive Policy Institute hosts a discussion on “Creating Measurement and Accountability Systems for 21st Century Schools” while Brookings conducts a book discussion on “Why Knowledge Matters: Rescuing Our Children From Failed Educational Theories.” In the afternoon, Education Secretary John King is the guest at a National Press Club luncheon, and the American Enterprise Institute hosts a discussion on “Education Reform in Newark.”
  • One word (or is it two?) on the lips of everyone in the financial sector is Blockchain. Few can describe what it is, however. The GWU School of Business and the MIT Enterprise Forum take a crack on Tuesday with “The Next Big Thing: Blockchain,” a look at the emerging technology that “has the potential to disrupt every segment of banking and financial services.” For information on Sphere Consulting’s Blockchain practice, email [email protected].

SHARE