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Global IT Articles, Opinions, Analysis
IDG Connect’s blog includes topical features from third party experts, our opinions on the global business and IT market, plus your diverse experiences from around the world.
Email our editor if you would like to submit an article or if there are any topics you would particularly like to see covered in future. The editorial calendar (on your right) highlights the areas we will be addressing over the next couple of weeks.
Blog comments
Srini Addepalli (South Africa) - To South Africa and Beyond - Barriers and Opportunities for Investment in Emerging Markets
Posted byRaluca Pauna 05-07-2012
Dear Sir, It is refreshing to notice your optimism in forecasting SA future economic growth but looking form the perspective of technical education and innovation achievements it is nothing that we can be optimistic about. Technical innovation is the accelerator for economic growth and effective innovation will happen at the technological frontiers of knowledge where SA researchers do not have access. There are many causes of the lack of absorption abilities and firstly there are no polices in place to support SA technological absorption at present. The problem starts form the way SA people are respecting hard work and patience in achieving goals by studying hard. It is the way we respect foreigners coming to share their skills and how we treat their achievments and successes. It is alos the wrong way we treat our few own achievers that are taking their innovations IP overseas because of the red tape and corruption our own Government is manifesting. We need a radical chage in attitude and rapid implementation of innovation at all levels. Regards, Technical consultant for innovation
Si Kellow (Global) - Encryption: Is it Useful?
Posted byFirozali A.Mulla DBA 05-04-2012
The reappearance of long-forgotten habitats and the resurgence of species unseen for years may not be among the expected effects of a natural disaster. Yet that's exactly what researchers have found on the sandy beaches of south central Chile, after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake and devastating tsunami in 2010. Their study also revealed a preview of the problems wrought by sea level rise -- a major symptom of climate change. In a scientific first, researchers from Universidad Austral de Chile and UC Santa Barbara's Marine Science Institute (MSI) were able to document the before-and-after ecological impacts of such cataclysmic occurrences. A new paper appearing in the journal PLoS ONE elucidates the surprising results of their collaborative study, pointing to the potential effects of natural disasters on sandy beaches worldwide. "So often you think of earthquakes as causing total devastation, and adding a tsunami on top of that is a major catastrophe for coastal ecosystems. As expected, we saw high mortality of intertidal life on beaches and rocky shores, but the ecological recovery at some of our sandy beach sites was remarkable," said Jenifer Dugan, an associate research biologist at MSI. " Dune plants are coming back in places there haven't been plants, as far as we know, for a very long time. The earthquake created sandy beach habitat where it had been lost. This is not the initial ecological response you might expect from a major earthquake and tsunami." Their findings owe a debt to serendipity. With joint support from Chile's Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico and the U.S. National Science Foundation's Long Term Ecological Research program, the scientists were already knee-deep in a collaborative study of how sandy beaches in Santa Barbara and south central Chile respond, ecologically, to human-made armoring such as seawalls and rocky revetments. As part of that project, the Chilean team surveyed nine sandy beaches along the coasts of Maule and Bíobío in late January 2010. The earthquake hit in February. Realising their unique opportunity, the scientists quickly changed gears and within days were back on the beaches to reassess their study sites in the catastrophe's aftermath. They have returned many times since, diligently documenting the ecological recovery and long-term effects of the earthquake and tsunami on these coastlines, in both natural and human-altered settings. This is scientific fact. I thank you Firozali A.Mulla DBA
Gene Zaino (US) - Challenges and Opportunities for the Independent Worker (Part 1)
Posted byHon Chau Low 04-25-2012
In Singapore, there is a group of medical doctors, General Practitioners (non-specialists), who operate their own medical clinics. But, there are some General Practitioners (GPs) who do not - they are "Locums" - they do not own any clinic(s) of their own - but will work for another Doctor (Clinic) on a part-time basis; when their stint at a particular clinic is completed, they will go to the next assignment, at another clinic. So, this concept of "Independent Worker" is not new - it has been around for a few decades.
Brandon Faber (South Africa) - Fixing Govt. IT Failure: The Path to Improved Service Delivery
Posted byShaamil Allie 04-23-2012
I concur with your findings in your article. But I must add to this. From our extensive experience in turning around service delivery in Government, we have found that it’s no use in just having good IT system. You must also implement effective and efficient business processes together with good governance, accountability, change management strategies and training to implement these Processes and Systems. dna2.co.za
Brandon Faber (South Africa) - Fixing Govt. IT Failure: The Path to Improved Service Delivery
Posted byAdrian Schofield 04-23-2012
I have no argument with the headline. The real challenge is not to identify the problems in Government IT but to suggest workable, affordable solutions. It starts with being held personally accountable...
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What you're Saying
Srini Addepalli (South Africa) - To South Africa and Beyond - Barriers and Opportunities for Investment in Emerging Markets
Dear Sir, It is refreshing to notice your optimism in forecasting SA future economic growth but looking form the perspective of technical education...
Raluca Pauna 05-07-2012
Si Kellow (Global) - Encryption: Is it Useful?
The reappearance of long-forgotten habitats and the resurgence of species unseen for years may not be among the expected effects of a natural disaster....
Firozali A.Mulla DBA05-04-2012
IDG Connect Soundbite
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