Educational standards are still quite inadequate for an advanced country that has to compete in the modern world and the kindest thing that can be said about health is that there have been modest improvements in care since 1997 - but at immoderate cost.

BBC: Ruth Lea on the welfare state

To encrypt its data, the pen uses an algorithm called Rijndael, which the National Institute for Standards and Technology is planning to use as the Advanced Encryption Standard, which will replace the existing Data Encryption Standard (DES), which is currently being phased out of use.

FORBES: Ten O'Clock Tech: The Smartpen

European cities score high not only because of increased stability and rising living standards, but also based on advanced city infrastructures, which Mercer ranked separately this year for the first time.

FORBES: The Best Countries For City Living

But to meet admissions standards for Ivy League schools, Luke had to take such a heavy load of courses, advanced-placement exams and extracurricular activities that he worked seven days a week for almost two years.

WSJ: High School, in Three Years

Realizing this potential will require partnerships between industry and government to develop a framework and best practices for cyber-physical-systems platform technologies that include integrated architectures, standards and protocols, advanced analytics, evaluation testbeds, and reference implementations to ensure such systems perform reliably, correctly, safely and securely.

WHITEHOUSE: Presidential Innovation Fellows