Today is Sunday, and, as it is becoming my tradition, I enjoy watching at specific issues (e.g. political polls) from a different perspective.
In this case, biology.
Actually, the inspiration is the constant flurry of partisan bile that I read on my wall on one of my Facebook profiles (the one where, for historical reasons, I have mainly Italian connections).
The title of this article is both a provocation and a simple statement of facts.
It is funny to observe as something that was often the most critical issue with startups and growing SMEs is now visible in sensibly larger organizations.
The issue? The temptation of reducing risk by spreading too thin across multiple line of activities.
In theory, this could mean having multiple “fall-back” opportunities, should one or more of the alternatives fail to deliver the expected results.
In reality, this implies that you have multiple initiatives to coordinate- a tough call, made even more difficult to manage if you are within a competitive environment, where external issues could require a constant refocus.
In this article, taking the lead from the first public speech of the European President, a “what if” story on the application of the streamlining approach to the external relations of the EU 27.
In the private sector, e-procurement has been on the table well before the Internet became accessible.
I will focus only on ICT procurement: from computers to consulting, to any associated services and infrastructure.
Few weeks ago, when I published the article “The Future of IT”, I was planning to write something about technology.
But, as most bookworms turned practitioners, I know that a white page is tempting.
Most writings about the future are actually the typical side-effect of an attempt to find order within chaos- notably when it is an unknown chaos that you are trying to describe.
This article is published in four parts (no more than 1000 words each).
Of course, I tried to keep it readable- no more than 150 to 250 words per section.
This is the fourth article: itinerary.
You have read about my target future and the present. How do we move from the present to the future? It depends from where you are now. Therefore, I will outline an example, i.e. monitoring online positioning, that could inspire other applications.
Few weeks ago, when I published the article “The Future of IT”, I was planning to write something about technology.
But, as most bookworms turned practitioners, I know that a white page is tempting.
Most writings about the future are actually the typical side-effect of an attempt to find order within chaos- notably when it is an unknown chaos that you are trying to describe.
This article is published in four parts (no more than 1000 words each).
Of course, I tried to keep it readable- no more than 150 to 250 words per section.
This is the third article: starting.
IT systems are obviously not a one-size-fits-all. The current trend is toward standardization, and this chapter will summarize some current trends and issues. The common thread? Tailoring the response to the needs (and budgets), while allowing future expansion.
Few weeks ago, when I published the article “The Future of IT”, I was planning to write something about technology.
But, as most bookworms turned practitioners, I know that a white page is tempting.
Most writings about the future are actually the typical side-effect of an attempt to find order within chaos- notably when it is an unknown chaos that you are trying to describe.
This article is published in four parts (no more than 1000 words each).
Of course, I tried to keep it readable- no more than 150 to 250 words per section.
This is the second article: destination.
My approach to change is: ask what the customers aim to achieve, understand where they are, assess the resources available, propose an itinerary, and, if needed (e.g. due to lack of resources), identify a realistic alternative target.
Few weeks ago, when I published the article “The Future of IT”, I was planning to write something about technology.
But, as most bookworms turned practitioners, I know that a white page is tempting.
Most writings about the future are actually the typical side-effect of an attempt to find order within chaos- moreover, when it is an unknown chaos that you are trying to describe.
This article is published in four parts (no more than 1000 words each).
Of course, I tried to keep it readable- no more than 150 to 250 words per section.
This is the first, introductory article.
I will start with the concept of forecasting, then the logic of building forecasting models, to finally land on the key issues: the experience I used to develop the forecasting framework, and the conceptual model.
This part of the AGB2009 series (see the presentation)
AGB2009: THE FUTURE OF IT
BACKGROUND
It has been a long time since IBM supposedly said that few computers would be enough to forever satisfy all the computing needs of humanity.
Do not worry: this is not a technical article.
ABSTRACT
My suggestion? Well, I still hold an Italian passport.
Therefore, I suggested an idea inspired by another industry: segmenting the market by building standardized elements, and then offering different levels of “tailoring”, but with an option to then re-insert, after sometime, the custom-designed services into the basic portfolio.
But, in my view, the issue is becoming even more nuanced. And more complex. And still actual.
This short article (1000 words) tries to see some potential side-effects of the digital economy
Certainly, I am neither the first nor the last.
But it is a little bit disheartening to see how the discussions proceed as if reality had been frozen when the discussions began.
Probably SecondLife was the first case where a real-world entity had to sustain a virtual world currency to avoid a crisis of confidence.
And who should regulate these neo-financial virtual entities?
A short article.
As usual, with more questions than answers.
Beyond microfinancing: the vision
Monday, October 26th, 2009If you pick up any newspaper or magazine covering economic issues, every month you will find articles about microfinancing.
The idea of microfinancing expand globalization benefits available to developing countries, by changing the way funding is accessible.
Figures do not lie. And the picture that is projected, despite the 2006 Nobel peace prize to the Grameen Bank founder, is closer to the old way of managing financial relationships with developing countries, creating what was described already in 1990 in a Museum in Germany as the “spiral of debt”.
The idea? Merging microfinancing and charity to deliver self-sustaining development.
This article is the sequel of the “Beyond Microfinancing” article, published on 2009-10-12.
Focus: an action plan for ethical micro-financing.
(1000 words)
Tags: bank, co-operative, community, cooperative, dev2009, development, finance, innovation, keiretsu, market, microfinancing, startup
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