The Light Is Green

Most networked countries = most developed countries

Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland are the most networked economies in the world, according to the World Economic Forum's Global Information Technology Report.

The report takes care to highlight the impact of networked readiness in spurring innovation, and the impact of information technology on a nation's development process and competitiveness.

Co-author Soumitra Dutta notes the key factors uniting the top performers, all of which must be spearheaded by government:

• Heavy investment in education
• Stable and open economy
• Great ease for companies to do business
• Focus on pushing technology as a key enabler of the country’s growth and development.

So, comparing this ranking with the quality of education rankings, ease of doing business rankings, and e-government readiness rankings, it's clear to see which regions and countries are on the right track (the Scandinavians, for example) and which are trailing.

Here are the rankings:

1. Denmark

2. Sweden

3. Switzerland

4. United States

5. Singapore

6. Finland

7. Netherlands

8. Iceland

9. Korea

10. Norway

11. Hong Kong

12. UK

13. Canada

14. Australia

15. Austria

16. Germany

17. Taiwan

18. Israel

19. Japan

20. Estonia

21. France

22. New Zealand

23. Ireland

24. Luxembourg

25. Belgium

26. Malaysia

27. Malta

28. Portugal

29. UAE

30. Slovenia

31. Spain

32. Qatar

33. Lithuania

34. Chile

35. Tunisia

36. Czech Republic

37. Hungary

38. Barbados

39. Puerto Rico

40. Thailand

41. Cyprus

42. Italy

43. Slovak Republic

44. Latvia

45. Bahrain

46. Jamaica

47. Jordan

48. Saudi Arabia

49. Croatia

50. India

51. South Africa

52. Kuwait

53. Oman

54. Mauritius

55. Turkey

56. Greece

57. China

58. Mexico

59. Brazil

60. Costa Rica

61. Romania

62. Poland

63. Egypt

64. Panama

65. Uruguay

66. El Salvador

67. Azerbaijan

68. Bulgaria

69. Colombia

70. Ukraine

71. Kazakhstan

72. Russian Federation

73. Vietnam

74. Morocco

75. Dominican Republic

76. Indonesia

77. Argentina

78. Botswana

79. Sri Lanka

80. Guatemala

81. Philippines

82. Trinidad & Tobago

83. Macedonia, FYR

84. Peru

85. Senegal

86. Venezuela

87. Mongolia

88. Algeria

89. Pakistan

90. Honduras

91. Georgia

92. Kenya

93. Namibia

94. Nigeria

95. Bosnia and Herzegovina

96. Moldova

97. Mauritania

98. Tajikistan

99. Mali

100. Tanzania

101. Gambia

102. Guyana

103. Burkina

104. Madagascar

105. Libya

106. Armenia

107. Ecuador

108. Albania

109. Uganda

110. Syria

111. Bolivia

112. Zambia

113. Benin

114. Kyrgyz Republic

115. Cambodia

116. Nicaragua

117. Suriname

118. Cameroon

119. Nepal

120. Paraguay

121. Mozambique

122. Lesotho

123. Ethiopia

124. Bangladesh

125. Zimbabwe

126. Burundi

127. Chad

Tags: World Economic Forum, Global Information Technology Report, Global IT Report, Soumitra Dutta, progress, competitiveness, innovation

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U.S. economy outlook from auto dealer perspective

Here's a recap of what Paul Taylor, chief economist of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), had to say about the outlook of the U.S. economy. This is reprinted from website Special Finance.

NADA Economist Provides 2008 Automotive Sales Update and Economic Outlook

Feb 12, 2008

San Francisco - Sales of new cars and light trucks will drop below 16 million units in 2008, says Paul Taylor, chief economist of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA).

"The economy will improve in the second half of 2008 to help reach sales of 15.7 million units of light vehicles," Taylor said.

Speaking at the 2008 NADA Convention & Exposition in San Francisco, Taylor reported that slow growth for the U.S. economy will continue in the first half of 2008, yielding weak light vehicle sales through the first six months of 2008.

"Energy costs of gasoline, home heating and cooling will continue to drain money from consumer budgets and slowdown consumer spending," Taylor said. "A sagging residential real estate market and credit crunch will be helped by recent interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. But real estate difficulties will persist into 2009 for about half of the U.S. population."

Taylor, who has earned a reputation as one of the most insightful U.S. economists, provided the NADA Dealer Optimism Index, a leading indicator of new vehicle sales, as evidence that franchised dealers remain reasonably confident in the economy.

"Short-term interest rates are falling, but credit problems and unemployment will persist in 2008," Taylor added. "So the economy is a mixed picture. Dropping gasoline prices would assist light vehicle sales but are not assured in a volatile energy market."

Taylor expects peak unemployment of about 5.3 percent during 2008.

Light trucks outsell passenger cars. Reporting on 2007 automotive sales data, Taylor reported that light trucks, which include SUVs, CUVs, pickups, minivan and vans, outsold passenger cars. Light truck sales made up 53 percent of the sales mix in 2007.

CUV segment remains strong. Crossover utility vehicles (CUVs) sales were the only segment with strong growth in 2007. In fact, CUV sales experienced a double-digit sales increase in 2007, rising more than 17.8 percent. New vehicle sales in the small car segment increased 0.8 percent in 2007.

Hybrid sales continue to increase. New hybrid vehicle sales reached more than 350,000 units in 2007. Toyota dominated the hybrid sales mix followed by Honda, Ford, Nissan and General Motors.

Used-vehicle sales drop in 2007. Used vehicles sold by franchised new-car and truck dealerships dropped in 2007 to 11.4 million units from 11.5 million units sold in 2006.

"Used vehicle sales, parts and service revenue will be even more crucial revenue streams for dealers in 2008," Taylor said.

Tags: auto industry, Paul Taylor

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Failed IT Projects (Part 3): Boeing and U.S. Homeland Security

I recently came across ZDNet's outlook on what they feel are the biggest three IT project failures in history.

Whether they are or not, the point is that even the largest, best organized companies and institutions can find insurmountable hurdles in a software project.

So, moving along, here's the biggest IT disaster project in this ongoing series from ZDNet...

Failed IT Project #1:

Boeing and U.S. Homeland Security

Or... the $30 billion dollar high-tech fence

The widely publicized "virtual fence" project being built by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing the Mexican border via a high-tech network of cameras, lighting, sensors, and other technology, has hit some snags.

According to the Wall Street Journal:

Boeing Co. has changed the management of an electronic-surveillance project along the U.S.-Mexican border after falling more than two months behind schedule, marking the complications involved in setting up a new generation of border security.

The project, part of a larger Department of Homeland Security program called SBInet, is a critical link in the plan to use technology to monitor the borders for illegal immigrants, drug smugglers and possible terrorists. Towers set up along a stretch of the border near Nogales, Ariz., are supposed to use motion sensors, cameras and radar to keep track of wide areas. According to the government, Boeing has had trouble getting the different components to work together without glitches.

The government’s plans for monitoring as much as 6,000 miles of the Canadian and Mexican borders hinge on towers such as these working properly. If they prove ineffective, officials could be forced to spend billions of dollars for more traditional security measures, such as fences and more officers. The Homeland Security Department currently estimates that the virtual fence will cost about $8 billion through 2013, although the agency’s inspector general wrote last November that the cost could balloon to $30 billion.

Also see this article by Joseph Richey, of the Nation Institute, which funds investigative journalism:

In Washington, U.S. Congressional representatives are already bristling at the skyrocketing costs of SBInet. Since Boeing won the contract last year, the estimated cost of securing the southwest border has gone from $2.5 billion to an estimated $8 billion just a few months later. When Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter asked SBInet Director Giddens for the real costs at a February 2007 hearing of the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, Giddens replied: “I wish I could answer that with greater clarity.”

At the same Congressional hearings, Boeing vice president and SBInet program manager, Jerry McElwee, took heat from Congressman William Lacy Clay who demanded information about the ballooning costs and the extension of the contract period. “You bid on these contracts and then you come back and say, ‘Oh we need more time. It costs more than twice as much.’ Are you gaming the taxpayers here? Or gaming DHS?” the Missouri Democrat asked.

Related articles:

• Failed IT Project #3: Airbus and incompatible design software
• Failed IT Project #2: The UK National Health Service national e-health project

Tags: SBInet, illegal immigration, Homeland Security, IT disasters

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Global Compact: a path towards social responsibility in business

Our firm has just adhered to the United Nations Global Compact, a powerful and important initiative through which businesses commit to respecting human rights, labor standards, the environment, and anti-corruption standards.

In the words of Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the UN,

"We need business to give practical meaning and reach to the values and principles that connect cultures and people everywhere."

These are the principles that make up the Global Compact:

Human Rights

• Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and
• Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.  
  

Labour Standards

• Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
• Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;
• Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and
• Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. 
   

Environment

• Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;
• Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and
• Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies

Anti-Corruption

• Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.

Links:

• Global Compact (English)
• Pacto Global (Spanish)

Tags: Global Compact, UN, United Nations, social responsibility

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Top 10 countries for doing business

The Doing Business project is a World Bank initiative that publishes a yearly ranking of the best countries to do business in. They also report what regions and countries have implemented the most business-friendly reforms.

As the Financial Times bluntly points out,

"... poor countries tend to stifle their economies with impossibly burdensome regulations, while most rich countries let entrepreneurs start businesses, buy and sell property, and ship goods through customs. In Brazil, it takes 152 days to satisfy the authorities that you are fit to establish and register a legal business. That process takes just two days in Australia; and yet somehow, despite this indecent haste, the fabric of Australian society has not yet fallen apart.

"... It is a shame that more governments in poor countries cannot find the time to snip a few strands of red tape. Workable regulations will not alone produce wealth, but they certainly help. And unlike building new roads or extending an electricity grid, simplifying regulations is cheap."

The best country in this year's study? Singapore. The worst? The Democratic Republic of Congo.

Here are the top ten countries in which to do business:

1. Singapore

2. New Zealand

3. United States

4. Hong Kong, China

5. Denmark

6. United Kingdom

7. Canada

8. Ireland

9. Australia

10. Iceland

The best overall region for doing business is Eastern Europe & Central Asia.

And here are the top ten reformers, those countries that are making the greatest effort to make it easier to do business:

1. Egypt
2. Croatia
3. Ghana
4. FYR Macedonia
5. Georgia
6. Colombia
7. Saudi Arabia
8. Kenya
9. China
10. Bulgaria

Tags: World Bank, Doing Business

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Most productive nations

The top five nations in worker productivity, according to a recent UN study, are:

1. United States: $63,885 of wealth per worker per year

2. Ireland: $55,986

3. Luxembourg: $55,641

4. Belgium:$55,235

5. France: $54,609

The figures are found by dividing the country's GDP by the number of people employed.

American workers also put in the most hours per year (1,804), but that doesn't fully explain the results, the report says, as the U.S. also ranks very well in amount of wealth created per hour of work ($35.53), right behind the leader, Norway ($37.99).

The U.S.'s productivity growth outpaces that of many other developed economies, and this

"...has to do with the ICT (information and communication technologies) revolution, with the way the U.S. organizes companies, with the high level of competition in the country, with the extension of trade and investment abroad," says Jose Manuel Salazar of the International Labor Organization, a specialized agency of the UN.

The gap between the leaders and poorer nations is widening.

Third-world workers from southeast Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have potential but need more investment in training, equipment and technology.

"China and other East Asian countries are catching up quickest with Western countries. Productivity in the region has doubled in the past decade and is accelerating faster than anywhere else."

Workers in East Asia are still only about one-fifth as productive as laborers in industrialized countries. Note the difference in output between the U.S. and China:

• Industry: $104,606 (U.S.) vs. $12,642 (China)

• Farming: $52,585 (U.S.) vs. $910 (China).

More info here.

Key indicators here.

Tags: productivity

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Brand yourself as repulsive

Listerine made a great marketing move with its mouthwash many years ago. The tagline went something like this: It's so foul tasting that you can be sure it's killing all those germs.

But this is much different, and I guess falls into what we could call "anti-branding"?

Starting next year, British law mandates that all cigarette packs and other tobacco products must feature graphic photographs showing the detrimental effects of smoking.

The idea is to shock more people into quitting.

What photos will be used?

In another canny move to increase awareness, the British Department of Health is letting the public decide through an online campaign. Visitors to the DH's website voted for the 15 most disturbing photos out of a possible 42.

(You can see them here, I stopped after the first one, shown above.)

British Health Secretary Alan Johnson says the pictures are necessary because smokers have grown numb to current written warnings on packages.

   

"We've had the messages on cigarette packets since 2003, warning that smoking kills, for instance, but the evidence is that's very effective, but it's diminishing in its effect.

   

"Using graphic images to get the same message across -- that smoking kills, that people who smoke will die younger".

To give credit where credit is due, the precursors in this are Belgium, Canada, India, Australia and Singapore.

Tags: smoking, health, cigarettes, tobacco

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China power from dry air

Chinese scientists say they've discovered a new clean energy source: dry air.

The premise?

Dry air absorbs moisture, and as it does it causes the air's temperature to drop.

Says Jiang Yi, the research project leader at Tsinghua University:

"The breakthrough makes it possible to use dry air, instead of electricity, to cool down the water and the indoor air, and be applied at least to power large-scale air-conditioning equipment in office buildings."

The researchers are working with a company in Xinjiang to produce air-powered air-conditioning equipment that today can keep room temperature between 25 and 28 degrees centigrade. The scientists are working to expand that range.

The process does not produce electricity, but provides a means to allow less reliance on electricity.

Read more here.

Tags: dry air, China, alternative energy, sustainable energy, Tsinghua, Tsinghua University, Jiang Yi

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Cows eating junk food

The price of corn has doubled in the past few years. And that trend will continue as more and more of this crop is needed for increasing ethanol production.

So that means that the price of animal feed, which is corn-based, is also going up.

Some farmers are taking desperate measures by offering junk food to their livestock.

An article published by the Wall Street Journal and reproduced worldwide says pigs in North Carolina are eating licorice, cookies, cheese rind, peanut butter and nuts (except for Brazilian walnuts, which they do not like).

Cows in Idaho receive unfried french fries (that state produces a third of U.S. potatoes).

Cattle in Pennsylvania are more finicky. Their diet is based on the same ingredients used by Hershey to manufacture their chocolate bars.

Cows in California eat grape peel from the Napa Valley, and lemon pulp, from farms throughout the state.

Thanks to E-campo for the info. More info at Worldwatch.

Tags: cattle farming, livestock, cows, junk food

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Kitty shame

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Police officers in Thailand who commit misdemeanors such as littering, parking in a prohibited area, or arriving late, will have to wear pink "Hello Kitty"armbands featuring as a mark of shame.

(But not in public.)

Yahoo reports the reason for such severity:

"Simple warnings no longer work. This new twist is expected to make them feel guilt and shame and prevent them from repeating the offense, no matter how minor," said Pongpat Chayaphan, acting chief of the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok.

"(Hello) Kitty is a cute icon for young girls. It's not something macho police officers want covering their biceps," Pongpat said.

In addition, normal citizen fines and penalties will be applied.

Tags: Thailand, Hello Kitty

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