3 Disruptive Technologies

An IBM-sponsored discussion identifying key emerging disruptive technologies. e-Strategy at the cutting edge.

The Positive Impacts of Disruptive Technologies December 11, 2006 Paul Gillin speaks with eWeek editorial director Eric Lundquist about how disruptive technologies are being used in innovative ways to positively shape our lives in the business world and at home. Listen to Eric's fascinating take on three technologies that are sure to have an impact on you, and how you may use them to create value in your enterprise.

Nearly Dean Hubbard

Columbia Business School Spring 2006 Follies spoof on The Police's "Every Breath You Take" featuring imitation Dean Glenn Hubbard and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. The interpretation is that Dean Hubbard hasn't taken the appointment of Chairman Bernanke over himself as well as one could hope.

Open sourcerers - At The Whiteboard - ZDNet

The momentum in open source support for Government environments is grtowing, and the hybrid development environment is one reason. This little video from zdnet editor Dan Farber is a quick 3 minute overview.

Open sourcerers - At The Whiteboard - ZDNet: "A new breed of software developers is taking advantage of the open-source community and development process, building hybrid applications and creating differentiation on top of open-source standards.

Host: Dan Farber, editor in chief, ZDNet
Length: 00:03:13"

Linux News: Implementation : Governments Go Online -- Without Windows

More help for e-Government developers through a new portal site.

Linux News: Implementation : Governments Go Online -- Without Windows: "Electronic governance promises to cut corruption and improve transparency, and open source Latest News about open source software offers a way to break South Asia's technological dependence on industrialized countries, experts say.

Open source software such as Linux is non-proprietary, less complex, more efficient and freely available to anyone -- unlike Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Latest News about Microsoft Windows operating system, says Mike Reed, director of the United Nations University International Institute for Software Technology (UNU-IIST), based in Macau, China.
Market Domination

'Linux is now the fastest-growing software and powers eight of the 10 fastest supercomputers in the world,' Reed said.

Open source software like Linux is embedded in many types of electronic devices, like mobile phones and cameras. Open source is also starting to cut into the near complete domination of the personal computer market by the Windows operating system, he said."

To assist these e-governance attempts and to help other countries get started, the UNU has established an interactive information clearinghouse on the Internet Get Linux or Windows Managed Hosting Services with Industry Leading Fanatical Support. that it calls UneGov.net.

In addition to having instructional how-to materials online, the portal will make available software and research papers, as well as contact information for others who have or are setting up e-governance in their own countries.

Australian Liberal (Conservative) Administration ex-staffers

The cheeky and indomitable Crikey.com website has created an interesting list of where many of the staffers from the current administration have gone.
Crikey Website - Where 200 ex Howard staffers are now
There does seem to be an interesting list of lobbyists in the collection.

Making Central Services work

Support functions don't have to be an overhead on Business Divisions. Using ABM to cost and assess the value of central support services: "The new CEO introduced Activity Based Management (ABM) with aim of building a cost model and, from that, a pricing model. But this was not to be an academic exercise in costing, the CEO also expected solid improvements in central services' effectiveness."

Understanding Information Infrastructure

I've just stumbled across a guide for Information Architecture. This issue is becoming a major one across Business and Government sectors. Getting all the separate networks to communicate at even a basic level is a major problem for Government so I've provided links to a couple of useful resources.

Understanding Information Infrastructure
provides a good introduction to the issues using meaningful examples.

Roger Clarke would argue that this is nothing new and that he has been writing about it since 1995. His views are to be found at Roger Clarke's annotated Information Infrastructure Bibliography.

The US National Health Information Infrastructure home page has the most recent date of any event (at the time of writing - March 2006) as September 2004. This reflects the difficulties encountered in Australia with Health networks. The National Health Broadband Aggregation project has provided challenges at the basic II level.

The MIT Intelligent Information Infrastructure Project completed in 1997.

And for those that want information to be free, there is the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure. ffii.org.

Customer-Centered Six Sigma Initiatives

Customer-Centered Six Sigma Initiatives: "Dr. Jiju Antony discusses the benefits of customer focus in a Six Sigma deployment." (PDF Format)

Six Sigma, Quality Management, and ISO Articles

Pros and Cons of Six Sigma Dr. Jiju Antony discusses the limitations of Six Sigma.

Studying Costs and Services. Using BPR to cut the waste from processes and build a University for the future

Studying Costs and Services. Using BPR to cut the waste from processes and build a University for the future: "The university had suffered from reducing student numbers as a result of changes in the market place. Since it was formed it had endeavoured to be at the forefront of progress in academic delivery and customer access, encompassing a modular approach to education provision. However, competition for students has become increasingly fierce and other universities were rapidly catching up as the sector became more commercial in its approach."

The Balanced Scorecard Institute

The Balanced Scorecard Institute
(PDF Format) An introduction to applying balanced scorecard techniques that also addresses Public Sector issues.

Research Paper: Performance management system design in a devolved organisation

PDF Format

This paper is a case study exploring the design of a new performance management system for the UK Environment Agency (11,000 staff, more than 40 discrete management units). The approach adopted was based on best practice 3rd Generation Balanced Scorecard processes and lead to the creation of a total of 44 unique but strategically aligned Balanced Scorecards across the organisation - one of the most complex strategic alignment exercises of this type ever undertaken or reported about in this way. This paper, written jointly by staff from 2GC and the Environment Agency, explores the agency’s rationale for undertaking a redesign of its performance management systems, and how the design approach adopted is compatible with needs of the organisation’s devolved business units. The paper reports that the experience to date has been positive, and concludes with recommendations on future areas of research and ways to approach the issue of measure selection and use within complex devolved organisations.