Cisco supported the passage of the American Clean Energy & Security Act.  We firmly believe that innovation and technological advancement will transform how the world manages its energy and environmental challenges. This bill will help ensure enhanced investment in clean tech and energy innovation, helping solidify American leadership in this expanding market, and fast-tracking important technologies that will secure our energy and environmental future. 

This is vital for U.S. companies and U.S. investment.

While the exact make-up isn’t yet clear, from the provisional results the biggest themes seem to be a dramatic loss for the centre left and a growth in fringe parties.  The EPP held its own despite the loss of their UK and Czech chapters. 

In many countries, the ruling parties were punished in the polls in what is seen as a reaction struggling economies across Europe.  That being said, centre-left governments seem to have suffered more.  The UK and Portuguese governments were heavily defeated while the opposition Popular Party beat the ruling Socialists in Spain.  In contrast, the EPP-affiliated governments in France, Germany, Italy and Poland more than held their own.  The far right and anti-immigration parties made significant ground, returning MEPs in the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Slovakia, Hungary and the UK.

I was flicking through the site this morning when I came across this piece about broadband ‘not-spots’ in the UK and it set me thinking.  There seems to be a growing recognition that everyone needs to have a broadband connection, or even in some quarters that broadband should be considered a ‘right’ for our citizens.  But what is it all about?  While it may be taken as a given in our tech community, why do we think about it in these terms?

He said we must prove it is good economics to change the way we produce and save energy. This made me think more about the role technology can play in doing so..

And certainly, they did. The small group now transformed into a network of more than 30 world class institutions that seek to advance knowledge on the social, economic and political impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the Americas.

The network, called ACORN-REDECOM will have the III regional conference in Mexico City next month (May 22-23). The program and speakers are outstanding and I am sure it will be a total success.

The value ACORN-REDECOM brings to the region ...

Clip 1
Clip 2

Particularly relevant to our work is the last set of statistics that he showed on Internet penetration in Clip 1 (about 18 minutes into the 20-min clip). His graph showed a correlation between Internet penetration and GDP, and the steady growth of Internet penetration trending towards the flattening of differences between the developed and developing countries. He presented it quite briefly, but you get the idea of how this can be used to draw other conclusions from data presented this way.

Why do I raise this?

A lot has been said and written this month about the need for speedy adoption of interoperability standards for smart grid, but the simple fact is: Agreeing on interoperability standards doesn’t need to be this hard. Incumbent manufacturers of some niche smart grid technologies based on proprietary protocols and those companies that have built siloed systems using them have every incentive to drag out the process of identifying and agreeing on interoperability standards for smart grid. But, the answer is so obvious; it seems hard for some people to grasp: Use Internet Protocol (IP).

At the center of the Internet boom in the 1990s were not only the price declines in computing and telephony, but also the transition from the use of proprietary protocols and standards to the adoption of open protocols and standards – namely IP – that allowed communications devices and systems to interoperate, spurring innovation and promoting competition. IP was an important factor in enabling the market disruption that drove Internet use – all to the benefit of consumers. Without IP, we wouldn’t have YouTube, or Facebook, or Internet banking.

Who wants to wait in line at the bank anymore?...

Numerous market indicators already signal that the global economic crisis is now impacting Latin America.  Unless the U.S. economic stimulus package (or officially, the American Reinvestment & Recovery Act) works and each country in the region puts in place comprehensive counter-cyclic policies, the crisis’ impact could be even longer and more devastating.

Countries across the region are experiencing a reduction in the demand on their exports in varying degree.  This reduction has generated rapid increases in trade deficits and difficulties in accessing international financing, a situation that has been exacerbated by the repatriation of funds from foreign investors. These elements have combined to create major pressure to domestic currencies; in just the last six months the Brazilian real has lost 32% of its value. The immediate impact in consumption, investment and employment has been more than evident.

To attack the different symptoms, countries in the region have adopted different measures. So far macroeconomic policy has been the medicine of choice. However, the crisis is so deep that for many economists and Governments, it is now clear that monetary policy will not be enough, and that the case for a major fiscal counter-cyclical policy is now essential.

The Internet is a sharp tool. The advent of the browser and worldwide web made vast amounts of information within the reach of any literate person who has access to a networked computer. Since then, listening and creating music and video, telephony and videoconferencing, search engines and social networking have made Internet easier and easier to use. We have continuously been sharpening our tool. Browsers and world wide web have become so automated that today’s children at a very young age become adept at handling it. In fact we speak of them as “Internet natives” as opposed to the “Internet migrants” of the previous generation. This automation of the Internet carries the dangers that my friend was referring to.

Recently I have run in China into a phenomenon that I have never observed before. It is called the human flesh search engine.

Most of India is toasting to the success of Slumdog Millionaire at the Oscars today. A staggering eight Oscars, including two for India’s most loved and my favorite music composer - A.R.Rahman. Slum dog’s story is that of a young man’s trials, tribulations and eventual triumph set in the background of Asia’s biggest slum – Dharavi in Mumbai, India. However not all of India is celebrating the success.

A section of India is dismayed that the film has put a spot light on India’s underbelly – slums of urban India. The film captures in gory detail the poor living condition of urban India and many of its dark shades. Pictures that do not reconcile with the “India shining story,” pictures which renew the old “western” stereo type of India, pictures that makes you uncomfortable as an Indian.  I too was initially sad when I saw the millions of dollars spent on promoting “Incredible India” by India’s Ministry of Tourism evaporate into the thin air.  However I gave it some more thought and reconciled.

As some one said ‘For everything said about India, the opposite is also true”.