Tag: Globalization

Categories
Design Education Globalization Network OpenSource Reading Rich media Technology

Latest read: Everything is Miscellaneous

David Weinberger’s book Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder is really amazing. It follows on the footsteps of Tom Friedman’s The World Is Flat and Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail.

Everything is MiscellaneousThis book presents an interesting look at the digital data we have access to via the internet and how the distribution of data will forever change business, education and society.

What is the biggest change outlined by David Weinberger? The world’s data will be tagged and freely shared, all on the internet.

From the Dewey Decimal System to Flickr and everything in between … is now miscellaneous.

Categories
Design Education Globalization Internet2 Network Reading Technology

Latest read: How We Compete

Suzanne Berger and MIT’s Industrial Performance Center wrote a book after concluding a five year study of the new global economy How We Compete: What Companies Around the World Are Doing to Make it in Today’s Global Economy.

how we compete

If you want to learn more about globalization, this is a necessary addition to your bookshelf. Today companies must compete.

The study moves beyond the often discussed Dell approach to manufacturing. Lessons from auto and textile industries are included and should not be missed. How America can compete against the global marketplace?

Students entering the real world after school makes this book mandatory reading before graduating … from high school. By the time your set to graduate from college — it may be too late.

Companies that need to compete are shifting production … sometimes to very interesting locations for very interesting business reasons. Understanding this process and the major impacts of globalization will help us all prepare for tomorrow’s shifting economic climate.  There are powerful lessons from many industries that have shifted into a highly competitive marketplace with a global reach.  In doing so, these companies now compete with global brands.

Globalization can be very complicated. This book suggests very intriguing lessons from companies who need to compete are outsourcing their products, production lines or selected low end solution simply to survive against the competition.

We have a lot to learn from the Japanese and the Italians!

Categories
Education Globalization Network Reading Technology

Latest read: Three billion new capitalists

Three Billion New Capitalists: The Great Shift of Wealth and Power to the East by Clyde Prestowitz is a good companion to Tom Friedman’s The World Is Flat regarding globalization. At times I felt the chapters could have been written by both authors. Ultimately they complement the globalization story.

Prestowitz was counselor to the Secretary of Commerce during the Reagan Administration and is Founder and President of the Economic Strategy Institute, a thinktank in Washington DC.

Globalization is certainly not new and some issues addressed by Prestowitz may be hard to wrap around completely, but he provides an overview of what has been accelerating … offshoring. To no surprise the destination is China and India. Released in 2005 Prestowitz could not have considered the Mattel lead paint product recalls fiasco just two months old as consequences of globalization. Or was that just bad management on Mattel’s part?

The shift in wealth and power also focuses on banking and oil. Two chapters focus on this impact for China and India … and America along with the EU. What is an example of the impact on America: 100,000+ new cars are registered every month in Bejing? I would like to see the numbers for Bangalore. Think of a billion new drivers wanting to see their country, visit family and travel to see friends.

Continue reading “Latest read: Three billion new capitalists”
Categories
Education Globalization Network Reading Technology

Latest read: An Army of Davids

Matt Spaamen recommended Glenn Reynolds’ An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths. Glenn, professor of law at the University of Tennessee is the former MSNBC blogger known by his very popular blog instapundit.

I was looking forward to this book as soon as Matt commented on my blog and suggested this reading. I was expecting a lot from Glenn and feel let down by only finding a few chapters worthwhile. The beginning of Glen’s book is almost a rewrite of Tom Friedman’s The World Is Flat. Another view of the technological advances throughout history that changed the way society and business operate bringing the world closer together for trade, education, culture and art.

He did provide good opportunities on chapters regarding nanotechnology and space research, yet those are pretty narrowly defined markets that require advanced degrees to fully exploit…while the marketing arm of an organization can indeed leverage An Army of Davids to change access to space and nanotechnology from a few to the masses.

Continue reading “Latest read: An Army of Davids”
Categories
Education Globalization Network OpenSource Reading Technology

Latest read: Wikinomics

Want to learn where a faster, wireless internet and robust web technology is moving all of us? Read Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything to get a real-world understanding of the impact of YouTube, Wikipedia, Flickr, MySpace, Linux, SecondLife and InnoCentive.
wikinomicsThis is a true paradigm shift. Changes have occurred in business and society regarding mass collaboration and the internet. I know many people do not like change but we live in exciting new times.

How has technology transformed our world? Consider ABC Television has been around for almost 60 years. The first television broadcast was in 1948. If you total all the video (24/7) shown on ABC since 1948 — just over 500,000 hours. YouTube has produced more hours of content in just the past 6 months.

The colonial era approach to education will never should not be continued. When will our educational systems catch up with the world? The longer we stand on the sidelines and watch countries including India and China establish educational models around the internet-enabled world, the longer our students will not be able to compete when they enter the global marketplace.

Some states are making that change. Michigan’s virtual schools permit students to study the Chinese language via the internet. Their instructor lives in China. It started when choices for foreign language were no longer acceptable. What economic impact does French or German have in contrast to Chinese and Hindi for a student’s future? Its safe to say French economic power has been on the decline since World War I. Lets give our students the best opportunities to succeed in our country’s future.

In higher education there are examples of how ideas fall short. Teacher are often unaware of how to get their students to connect their idea/project with a engineer, on-demand book publisher or patent attorney in today’s global marketplace. Yes patent attorney. But it may be due to the colonial era approach to educational reform. Too often educators look inward (or to peer groups) and believe if they change internal measurements, students will benefit. Wikinomics proves this to be another colonial era step in the wrong direction.

Continue reading “Latest read: Wikinomics”