Measuring entrepreneurship: a digest of indicators

Over the past ten years, the OECD has addressed entrepreneurship issues in various analyses and reports. While these studies compiled relevant data to support specific research or policy tasks, no effort was made to establish an ongoing database of entrepreneurship across OECD countries. In 2004, the 2nd OECD Ministerial Conference on SMEs in Istanbul, “Promoting Entrepreneurship and Innovative SMEs in a Global Economy”, concluded that the statistical base for entrepreneurship research was weak and urged the OECD to develop “a robust and comparable statistical base on which SME policy can be developed”.

In 2005, the Kauffman Foundation provided the OECD the financial support for a feasibility study to explore what could be done to improve entrepreneurship data.

Encouraged by the feasibility study, the OECD launched the Entrepreneurship Indicators Programme (EIP) in 2006 in order to build internationally comparable statistics on entrepreneurship and its determinants. In 2007, Eurostat joined forces with the OECD to create a joint OECD-Eurostat EIP, and work began with the development of standard definitions and concepts as a basis for the collection of empirical data.

This report presents the results of the first round of empirical data collected under the EIP.

Regulations up for comment

There are two regulations up for comments during early December:

1. the National Road Traffic Regulations

The Department of Transport has published the National Road Traffic Regulations for comments. This is in accordance with section 75 (6) of the National Road Traffic Act, 1996· (Act No. 93 of 1996)

Comments can be emailed to John Motsatsing at motsatsj@dot.gov.za or Phillip Magagane at magaganp@dot.gov.za by 1 December 2008. The document is also available here: www.pmg.org.za/gazettes

2. the Civil Aviations Regulations

Under regulation 11.03.2(1 )(a) of the Civil Aviation Regulations, the Chairperson of the Civil Aviation Regulations Committee (CARCOM) hereby publishes for comment the proposed amendments to the Civil Aviation Regulations, 1997.

Comments can be emailed to Mr Jabulane Mashinini at mashininij@caa.co.za or Mr Herman Wildenboer at wildenboerh@caa.co.za by 8 December 2008.

The document is also available here: http://www.pmg.org.za/gazettes

University news from Africa

WEST AFRICA: Universities agree on regional strategy
The University of Bamako, Ouagadougou University and University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar, together with the French Conference of University Presidents, have agreed on a coordinated strategy for higher education and research, to promote a regional partnership between African and French universities and contribute to development of West African scientific communities.

MEDITERRANEAN: Unimed elects Tunisia to presidency
The Mediterranean Universities Union (Unimed) has elected Abderraouf Mahbouli, head of the University of Tunis, as its President, reports La Presse of Tunis. It is the first time a country south of the Mediterranean has headed the union, which has 84 member establishments in 20 countries mostly in the Mediterranean basin.

GLOBAL: Nigerian students scoop award in 'world cup'
Clemence Manyukwe
Nigeria's Obafemi Awolowo University clinched second place in an international higher education competition aimed, among other things, at sharpening student skills by testing their understanding of market economics. More than 1,500 students, academics and business people from 41 countries converged in Singapore last month for the Students in Free Enterprise 'world Cup'.

ZIMBABWE: Student 'bonding' to stem brain drain
Clemence Manyukwe
The Zimbabwean government has introduced a student 'bonding' system in a desperate attempt to stem the brain drain as people flee the ruinous policies of President Robert Mugabe. Under the cadetship scheme, students will not receive a qualification on graduating but only after working for the state for a stipulated period.



EGYPT: Disqualifications, apathy mar student elections
Ashraf Khaled
Hassan Abbas, an arts student at Cairo University, did not know there were student union elections until he saw Islamist students staging a protest against their disqualification from candidate lists. In recent weeks the country's 18 public universities have held student polls marked by widespread apathy as well as fiery protests by ineligible students, particularly from the Muslim Brotherhood - said to be the largest opposition group on Egypt's campuses. Political or religious student groups have been banned from student leadership.

NIGERIA: UK seeks partnerships with local universities
Tunde Fatunde
The National Universities Commission recently ordered the immediate closure of the offshore campuses of foreign universities on Nigerian soil, as they are prohibited under law. The move left hundreds of students stranded, and unable to move to 'legal' institutions that are full - and indeed only able to accommodate 30% of qualified school-leavers. Now the British Council is seeking partnerships between UK and Nigerian universities, with a view to creating wider opportunities for youngsters desperately seeking higher education.

CAMEROON: Crowded start for new year
Jane Marshall
The academic year has started with record numbers of new students in Cameroon but several universities have experienced problems including overcrowding, lack of teachers and even cancellation of a new faculty of medicine just before it was due to open. Newspapers reported that some universities were coping better than others.

To all the lecturers who took the time to write an email to Dr Anette van Vuren with comments (good or bad) regarding the Library's service:

Thank you very much!

It was extremely humbling to read the kind words and I highly appreciate it. All the comments from the various librarians will be compiled into an evidence report and submitted to Prof Habib on Monday.

University news from the West

As Economy Wavers, Online Enrollments Climb

Annual study finds double-digit gains in online education, in part due to fuel costs, surprising some who predicted the rate would eventually flatten.

'Condescending Negativism' and Other Transgressions Against Students

Professors increasingly bemoan student "incivility" in the classroom. But provosts discuss the steps colleges should take to deal with faculty members who mistreat students.

Encouraging Interdisciplinarity

Consortium of research universities considers steps to support cross-departmental research by making changes at faculty and administrative levels.

Making Higher Ed Research Matter

Association of scholars who study academe contemplate ways to make their work more relevant to those who shape policy.

The world’s top 1,000 business schools: See our exclusive supplement for a report on the top business schools around the globe. Click here for more.

US: Obama and higher education: promises and problems Arlene Cherwin

With a "Yes we can" attitude and a five point platform for higher education, President-elect Obama represents a changing face for higher education and Americans are hopeful. Obama's platform targets loan programmes, access to higher education, community colleges, science and technology, and affirmative action.

CANADA: Benefiting from Bologna Philip Fine

The Bologna process, the initiative that tries to smooth the jagged edges off Europe's differing degree and credit structure, has caught the world's attention in a big way. From the Caribbean to Canada, from China to Australia, the plan designed to solve a European problem and that then brought in bordering countries now has nations far beyond those borders looking at some academic retooling.

IRAQ: Killing academics is a war crime Brendan O'Malley

The international community should explicitly recognise crimes against educators as crimes against humanity or war crimes, a conference of 150 Iraqi ministers, MPs, university presidents and international experts was told last week. Hosted in Paris by Unesco, in collaboration with the Qatari Foundation, the conference heard that more than 250 academics had been killed in a "campaign of terror" since the fall of Saddam Hussein, in targeted attacks.

GLOBAL: Saudi Arabia pays academics best, China worst Karen MacGregor

Academics in Saudi Arabia are the best paid on earth while scholars in China are the worst off, according to a pioneering just-published global study of salaries conducted by the Boston College Center for International Higher Education in the US. The average academic salary across 15 countries surveyed is US$4,050 a month in purchasing power parity dollars - and lecturers can expect to earn triple their country's per capita estimate - International Comparison of Academic Salaries: An exploratory study.

NEW ZEALAND: Final Maori institution claim settled John Gerritsen

The New Zealand government has settled the last of the claims made against it by Maori tertiary institutions for capital funding that will put them on an equal footing with other public tertiary institutions. At $50.6 million (US$29.8 million), the figure agreed with Te Wananga o Raukawa last month adds to nearly $10 million already paid to the institution and brings the total value of settlements for the three public wananga to $169 million.

GLOBAL: IFC opens private education forum

The International Finance Corporation has established an online discussion on what it calls "the evolving regulatory context for private education in emerging economies". Dr Svava Bjarnason, a senior education specialist with the IFC, says the purpose is to provide a forum for stakeholders to discuss key questions relating to the evolving nature of regulation of private education.

GLOBAL: Education under attack Brendan O'Malley

A noticeable rise in targeted attacks on education staff, students and institutions in a number of countries constitutes a highly damaging assault on the provision of and access to education in the places worst affected. The dramatic increase in deliberate attacks in recent years and the subsequent loss of life are the result of an abhorrent tactic of sacrificing the lives of innocent young people and those trying to help them develop their potential for the sake of political or ideological aims.

GREECE: Far-reaching European Court ruling

Makki Marseilles A controversial decision by the European Court of Justice is likely to have far-reaching effects on higher education in Greece. The court's decision, based on the 89/48 EC directive, held that the Greek rules on recognition of diplomas are contrary to community legislation. Moreover, the court ruled that only member states where a diploma was awarded may verify its basis, thereby denying any form of control, academic or administrative, to the host member states.

HE RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY

GLOBAL: Is internationalisation on the right track?

"As we progress into the 21st century, the international dimension of higher education is becoming increasingly important and at the same time, more and more complex. There are new actors, new rationales, new programmes, new regulations, and the new context of globalisation," writes respected internationalisation scholar Professor Jane Knight in the latest edition of the Canadian journal Academic Matters, titled The Global University.

GLOBAL: International graduate student challenges

Globalisation has embraced the university, as it has other sectors. Many academics appreciate the benefits that cross-cultural exchange allows as the ivory tower turns global. Knowledge now belongs to a worldwide arena in which we are all connected, writes Dr Fengying Xu in the latest edition of the Canadian journal Academic Matters. But "there are enormous challenges for teaching, studying and research inside this globally-interdependent context".

From campus to Capitol and back againIn America, it is common for academics to play a prominent political role. Jon Marcus reports

Still no call from No 10?
In the UK, the gulf between the political and the academic worlds seems all but unbreachable while Americans flit easily between lecture halls and halls of power. Matthew Reisz examines why Whitehall seems so inhospitable to scholars, while Jon Marcus looks at why Washington is so accommodating...

FE colleges plan low-cost degrees at bachelor level

Vocational university envisaged as a way to meet expansion targets

Teaching ‘unsuited’ to the third millennium Personal relationships are lost in modern university ‘maelstrom’, v-c warns

‘Come out of the woodwork now’: MP’s challenge to standards critics

Commons committee chair calls for evidence on ‘dumbing down’ as inquiry starts work

To get ahead, watch brows and britches

Etiquette guide for staff covers personal grooming, dress and fine dining

Pick ’n’ mix not so sweet

Many years ago, Frank Burnet fought for modularisation and credit transfer. The war was won, but the victory was pyrrhic

Property magnet

Moving house is the perfect way to begin a new chapter of your life, says Mary Warnock, even if those around you think you’re mad

Devil’s advocate Milton expert Stanley Fish refuses to demonise the administrator and warns against influencing the moral character of students

A closed book to outsiders

Japan and South Korea want their universities to attract overseas academic talent, but doubts persist about their readiness for the global market. Michael Fitzpatrick reports

No change in ranking for Poppleton

For three decades, Laurie Taylor's fictitious university and its characters have mocked the absurdities of campus life, writes Matthew Reisz

You can lead cattle to water but you can't make them think

A lesson in animal behaviour helped Bob Blaisdell improve classroom comforts and student learning


Online Courses Offer Physical And Financial Access To Higher Education steven bell

A convenient way for busy students to squeeze education into their packed schedules, online courses are offering the added benefit of spending less on transportation, making education a little more affordable in a time of record high gas prices. This fall, area colleges are reporting rapid growth in enrollment of online courses, and administrators say whether the institutes are offering computer-based lessons or setting up new learning sites in communities away from Springfield, it's all about making education more accessible -- physically and financially -- to students.

DPRU conference: papers now available

The Development Research Policy Unit hosted a very successful conference during October of this year with the theme:

The Regulatory Environment and its Impact on the Nature and Level of Economic Growth and Development in South Africa

The regulatory environment is often identified as one of the key challenges to economic growth and development in the developing world. South Africa is no different in this regard, with regulation and the regulatory environment often cited as a constraint to achieving the country’s macroeconomic and poverty reduction objectives.

We hope that, through the papers presented at this conference, we have developed a more nuanced and considered view of this area of economic policy. We invited papers, predominantly, but not exclusively, in the area of economic regulation with the aim of stimulating debate and contributing to our understanding of the growth process in South Africa.

The conference brought together researchers, policy makers, civil society and other social partners to critically analyse the work of peers and to dialogue on the findings and value from a policy perspective.

The key sub-themes, within which discussion took place, included the following:

• Financial regulation

• Local Government and Municipal Regulation

• Sectoral Regulation

• Tax and Tax-related Regulation

• Competition and Industrial Policy

• Labour Markets and Welfare

• Schooling, Higher Education and Industry Training

• Energy, Water and other Utilities

• Telecommunications

• Transport

Research papers focused on the relevant legislation and the key institutions responsible for implementing the regulations in each area.

In addition, the impact of these on economic growth and development was evaluated. A focus was on SMMEs and how the regulations specifically impact on their development as well as the creation of employment. A number of papers were not focused on the economics of regulation, but was more relevant to South Africa’s poverty and labour market challenges.

Here is the list of papers presented.

The McKinsey Quarterly newsletter available

The McKinsey Quarterly newsletter is now available.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Google’s view on the future of business: An interview with CEO Eric Schmidt

In a compelling video interview, Google CEO Eric Schmidt reflects on the coming transformation of strategy, competition, business models, and management. This piece is just one example of the wide range of new content we are now posting on the reengineered mckinseyquarterly.com, including video, audio, and interactive exhibits, as well as more contributions from outside McKinsey, including letters from readers. Our redesigned site also makes it easier than ever to find content, particularly on specific regions and big ideas.

Also new this month STRATEGY
Helping ‘green’ products grow
When customers reach the cash register, they often forget their eco-friendly attitudes. Businesses can do a lot more to help would-be green consumers walk their walk.

CORPORATE FINANCE
How climate change could affect corporate valuations
Efforts to reduce carbon emissions could profoundly affect the valuations of many companies, but executives don’t seem to be paying attention.

MARKETING
What’s new with the Chinese consumer
Ten million new ones enter the market eachyear, and the hundreds of millions already there are evolving rapidly. Ongoing McKinsey research examines these trends.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
How IT can cut carbon emissions
Information and communications technologies are becomingmajor emitters of greenhouse gases. But technology canalso help reduce emissions across many industries.

FINANCIAL SERVICES
The missed opportunity for US health insurers
Most health care payers now convert less than 10 percentof the customers who move to a new product class—for example, when they become eligible for Medicare. That’s not good enough.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
A fresh wind for offshoring infrastructure management
While other offshoring services have grown rapidly, the management and maintenance of core infrastructure from afar has been slow to gain traction. It may be about to take off.

Civil Aviation Bill

The Department of Transport briefed the Committee on the proposed amendments that were made for the Civil Aviation Bill, following requests by the Committee in the previous week.

Documents handed out:
Department of Transport Proposed Amendments to Draft Bill
Department of Transport Proposed Section 15: Procedure & Requirements in appointing members of Aviation Safety Investigation Board
Discussion Document on Chapter 6
Civil Aviation Bill [B73 - 2008]

International Journal of Emerging Markets- Call for papers

The International Journal of Emerging Markets has a Special Issue on Changing Patterns of Global Growth .

The credit crunch, increases in food prices and the oil crisis have all led to great uncertainty in the global economy. However, some countries have achieved higher growth whereas standards of living have been predicted to plummet in other economies.

A special issue of International Journal of Emerging Markets sets out to analyse the following themes:

• The role of India, China and other emerging markets in insulating world economic growth from US financial crisis
• How the US financial crisis is affecting emerging markets
• Strategies for companies from emerging markets on how to cope with the current crisis
• Is there a role for China and India and other emerging economies in insulating the global economy?
• Should policies be domestic or global?
• How should emerging markets cope with the global financial crisis?

Types of paper

Both empirical as well as theory building papers will be considered. As the topic lies at the intersection of several scholarly domains, papers can draw from several different fields such as organisation theory, strategy, international business, technology and invasion management and business law. Aspects can also encompass other areas including entrepreneurship, operations research and organisational behaviour.

Submission guidelines and timeline

All manuscripts should be prepared according to the author guidelines located at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/ijoem.htm. All papers will be double blind reviewed following the journal’s normal review procedure. (This journal is not accredited)

Submissions to International Journal of Emerging Markets must be made using the ScholarOne Manuscript Central system: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ijoem

Deadline for submissions: 31 January 2009

The guest editors for the special issue are John McManus and David Floyd. Please direct any enquiries to Dr McManus at jmcmanus@lincoln.ac.uk

SAMRA announces rates for 2009 Conference

SAMRA, the Southern African Marketing Research Association, has announced the rates for delegates for the 2009 30th SAMRA Conference, which will be held on the 28th and 29th May 2009 at the Spier Wine Estate Stellenbosch in the heart of South Africa's Cape Winelands.

The 2009 Conference aims to bring together researchers, research users and marketers from all over Africa with the goal of growing and improving marketing research in the region.As an added bonus at the 2009 SAMRA conference, the rates have stayed the same as the 2008 rates. The rates for the 2009 conference can be found on their website.

Bookings for the 2009 30th SAMRA Conference open on 10 November 2008 and early-bird rates apply until the 31st January 2009. For more information or to make a booking for the 2009 SAMRA Conference contact Lebo Maphosa on (011) 704 7770 or e-mail lebo@thelime.co.za or visit www.samra.co.za.

Please note that this is a draft programme for the 2009 30th SAMRA Conference and therefore is subject to change and will be updated:

The 23 paper synopses selected are:

• Making sense of nonsense, a re-examination of brand attribute association matrices - Amien Ahmed - TNS Research Surveys
• Death of the analyst - the case for data calibration and advanced weighting - Joe Boniaszczuk - Research International
• A World Without Surveys? - Joanne Campbell, Nicky Liddle, and Taryn Smart - TNS Research Surveys
• What Consumers Really Talk About: Understanding the true power of word-of-mouth - Gillian Drewett - Synovate Brand Lab
• The Fundamentals of Market Structure - Kyle Findlay - TNS Customer Equity Company
• The sanitation of real human beings - Jean Green - Jean Green and Associates
• A quasi experimental investigation into the effect of interviewing methodology on the findings and applications of socio-political studies - Mari Harris and Wayne Viljoen - Ipsos-Markinor
• The Only Universal Law in Marketing? - Jan Hofmeyr and Martin Bongers - Synovate and Synovate Brand Lab
• The Research Club of Kenya - Research Demystified! - Maggie Ireri and Nanzala Mwaura - The Steadman Group
• Beyond the 'What' in Social Polling - Measuring the strength of the Zuma brand in South Africa - Nomsa Khanyile - The Nielsen Company
• Global Speak? Or is Local Lekker? - Monique Leech - Millward Brown
• Using Online Qualitative Methodologies To Catch The Big Fish - Justin Levitt - Synovate
• The development of a Tastetometer for bridging the gap between scientific evaluation and consumer experience in the beer category - A heuristic approach to understanding the experience of taste in Sub Saharan Africa - Andrea Marais - Consumer Lab
• Why innovate? Is change genuinely necessary within the field of market research based on the changing attitudes of consumers, clients and market researchers? - Stephanie Matterson, Matthew Glogauer, Tanja Naidoo, Claire Speirs and Adam Rosenberg - Kauffman Levin and Associates
• Get Back to Modelling Basics - Caution from an End User - Walter Moldenhauer - Telkom SA Ltd.
• Research 2.5: Ceding control to consumers as co-researchers - Henk Pretorius - Columinate (Pty) Ltd
• Tangled Webs and Other Grey Areas - Where are we headed, and can we come back from the brink? South Africans' shifting attitudes to crime, ethics and morality - Kathryn Ann Robinson - TNS Research Surveys
• The difference between online and non-online consumers: How much bias is there really? - Adam Rosenberg, Candice Watt, Matthew Glogauer, and Sally Timcke - Kauffman Levin and Associates
• Marketed Research: Personal promotion and network effects within our industry - Enrico Tronchin - TNS Customer Equity Company
• Come join the joy ride... 30 thrilling years of wild and wonderful research - Carel van Aardt and Mari Harris - Bureau of Market Research (UNISA) and Ipsos-Markinor
• Consumers are much richer than we think: Reweighing AMPS income data using analytical hierarchical process modelling techniques - Carel van Aardt and Sean Louw - Bureau of Market Research (UNISA) and Synovate
• The influence of online social networks on long-term consumer behaviour - Lesley van der Walt and Lorcan McHarry - TNS Customer Equity Company
• Optimising the Retail Landscape: Utilising shopper research to enhance the in-store experience and optimise the retail space - Peter Wilson - TNS Research Surveys

In addition to the above papers, we are delighted to include in the programme two Q&A sessions with experts:

1. Carol Affleck, who runs her own consultancy and qualitative research agency, Youth Focus, will introduce and answers questions about Effective methods for Researching the Youth Market through an Understanding of Developmental Levels.
2. Gary Nelson, Chief Executive Officer of Primedia Face 2 Face, will introduce and answers questions about Targeting the Bottom of the Pyramid Market.

Keynote addresses include the following:

• Discovery Health (Johan van Rooyen, COO; Francois Theron, Head of Service; Andrew Webb, Head of the Service Laboratory) will present The Discovery Health Science of Service approach, which includes service metrics throughout the client journey, the Discovery Health quality, people management, independent measurement, client segmentation, and infrastructure systems, the result of this science and becoming the best service organisation in the world.
• Graham Page, Executive Vice President of global solutions at Millward Brown, leads a team that develops new solutions and approaches to help marketers drive their brands and services forward. Graham's research areas include neuroscience and neuromarketing, the role of emotion in advertising and how to measure it, and brand elasticity.
• Dawie de Villiers, CEO of Sanlam Structured Solutions, oversees the Derivative Structuring business in the Investment Cluster and the Smooth Bonus and Annuities businesses for Sanlam Employee Benefits (SEB). Dawie will illustrate how successful research leads organisational strategy and can be used to achieve a thought leadership status by means of the Sanlam's Annual Retirement Fund Survey example. He has been instrumental in the design, analysis and presentation of the latest Sanlam Retirement Fund Survey.
• Ged Parton, CEO Global Brand Practice and Qualitative at Synovate Global, London, is responsible for Brand and Communications Practice, Qualitative Practice and The Synovate Marketing Sciences group. Ged will share his view on Confronting Industry Challenges.

Library closing early on Friday 12th December

Image: salssa

Please note: All UJ Libraries will close at 13h00 on Friday 12 December 2008

New books

The new titles in the library this week are:

(as usual if you want me to keep any of the titles for you, please let me know)

For Business Management

1) Institutions and development / Mary M. Shirley. c2008.
KINGSWAY BOOKS LEVEL 1 EEB SHIR

2) Global innovation management : a strategic approach / J. Christopher Westland. 2008
KINGSWAY BOOKS LEVEL 1 EBM WEST (2 copies)

3. Rediscovering Schumpeter : creative destruction evolving into "Mode 3" / edited by Elias G. Carayannis and Christopher Ziemnowicz. 2007
KINGSWAY BOOKS LEVEL 1 EEK SCHU CARA (2 copies)

4. Sustained innovation management : assimilating radical and incremental innovation management / Gaston Trauffler and Hugo P. Tschirky. 2007.
KINGSWAY BOOKS LEVEL 1 EBM TRAU (2 copies)

5. Leveraging knowledge-based assets : the new value equation to create competitive advantage / Marius Ungerer, Johan Herholdt, Koos Uys. 2006.
KINGSWAY BOOKS LEVEL 1 EBM UNGE

6. Innovation management : strategy and implementation using the pentathlon framework / Keith Goffin and Rick Mitchell. 2005.
KINGSWAY BOOKS LEVEL 1 EBM GOFF (2 copies)

Information & Knowledge Management

1. Interactive information retrieval in digital environments / Iris Xie. c2008.
KINGSWAY BOOKS LEVEL 3 DBF XIE

2. Semantic-based visual information retrieval / Yu-Jin Zhang. c2007.
KINGSWAY BOOKS LEVEL 2 TEN ZHAN

For Sport Management

1. Give and go : basketball as a cultural practice / Thomas Mc Laughlin. c2008.
KINGSWAY BOOKS LEVEL 1 KOG SOKK MCLA

2. Physiology of exercise and healthy aging / Albert W. Taylor, Michel J. Johnson. c2008.
KINGSWAY BOOKS LEVEL 1 KOP TAYL

3. Sport fans : the psychology and social impact of spectators / Daniel L. Wann ... [et al.]. 2001.
KINGSWAY BOOKS LEVEL 1 KOR WANN

For Transport Management

1. The future of automated freight transport : concepts, design, and implementation / edited by Rob Konings, Hugo Priemus, Peter Nijkamp. c2005.
KINGSWAY BOOKS LEVEL 1 EVR KONI

2. Policy analysis of transport networks / edited by Marina van Geenhuizen, Aura Reggiani and Piet Rietveld.c2007.
KINGSWAY BOOKS LEVEL 1 EVC GEEN

3. Transport investment and economic development / David Banister and Joseph Berechman. 2003.
KINGSWAY BOOKS LEVEL 1 EVA BANI

4. Competition in the railway industry : an international comparative analysis / edited by José A. Gómez-Ibáñez, Ginés de Rus. c2006.
KINGSWAY BOOKS LEVEL 1 EVJ GOME

Using technology to reduce rush-hour traffic

Image: drouu

Computer Worls has an article on a MIT project to use technology to cut rush-hour commute times.



Frustrated commuters armed with giant cups of coffee and at least three books on tape can take heart that researchers at MIT are trying to figure out how to get them home faster.
Dozens of cars in the Boston area have been equipped with technology that's feeding information into a mobile-sensor network designed to analyze traffic and then predict when and where tie-ups will occur.

The program was unveiled about a year after Nissan Motor Co. showed off its own attempt at making drivers' commutes a bit less stressful. The car maker's Robot Agent, which sits in the dashboard of the company's Pivo 2 concept car, uses built-in cameras to read the driver's facial queues and pick up on whether he's getting tired or stressed out. The robot, speaking in English or Japanese, will nod, shake its head and even blink while it talks the driver out of a bad mood or suggests that he pull over and take a break.

As part of the CarTel project, MIT professors have placed an onboard computer about the size of a cell phone in 50 cars -- including 40 taxicabs -- in the Boston area to monitor vehicle speeds during trips. The systems use QuickWiFi connections to speed on-the-road data flow.

More

SoccerEx 2008

SOCCEREX 2008 will take place from 23 - 26 November in Gauteng, South Africa.

The 4 day event will provide the global football community with a unique platform to learn, network and do business, under one roof, in the province that will host the FIFA 2010 World Cup final.

With over 4000 delegates and 300 exhibitors, from over 95 countries expected to attend Soccerex 2008, this year's event is sure to be our biggest and best yet. For more information on Soccerex 2008, including this year's conference programme and exhibitor list, please click here.

In addition to the Soccerex 2008 convention, Soccerex serves the global football community through its networking and conference forums and other supplementary products like Soccerex Business Magazine and our new online networking facility, SoccerExchange.

New brand for Gauteng

Gauteng has a brand new logo!

The new logo is a spiral shape made up of multi-coloured dots of increasing size. The central dot represents the ignition, the beginning, and the promise of all the possibilities that the province offers.

"This province is a leader across a variety of fields - in business, industry, tourism, and arts and culture - Gauteng is at the heart of all activity. We believe that the new brand, and tagline 'It Starts Here' is especially fitting, and a great visual interpretation of the power and vigour of this incredible province," said Premier Mashatile.

The province, which has a population of approximately eight million people, is acknowledged as the nation's economic engine.

It is the heart of industry and commerce in South Africa, and the base of African operation of numerous multi-national companies.

The province generates 33 percent of South Africa's GDP, and 10 percent of Africa's gross domestic product, making it the fourth largest economy in Africa.Gauteng, which is home to more than 70 international banks, stockbrokers and insurance giants, also has an impressive employment rate.

It accounts for 47.7 percent of employee's remuneration in the country

New Releases from StatsSA

P0351 - Tourism and Migration, August 2008

The total number of foreign travellers who visited South Africa from Africa, overseas and unspecified countries, arriving through all ports of entry during August 2008 was 752 942.

The August 2008 figure represents an decline of 4,5% as compared with the August 2007 figure of 788 117. During August 2008, 326 075 arrivals were recorded for South African residents while the total number of those departing was 340 057.

P0043 - Statistics of Liquidations and insolvencies, September 2008

The total number of liquidations recorded for September 2008 decreased by 35,3% (from 507 to 328) when compared with September 2007, mainly due to the public-service strike in June 2007 which created a backlog resulting in more liquidations being processed during September 2007.

The total number of liquidations recorded for the nine months ended September 2008 decreased by 4,1% (from 2 465 to 2 365) when compared with the same period last year.The total number of insolvencies recorded for August 2008 increased by 17,7% (from 198 to 233) when compared with August 2007.

The total number of insolvencies recorded for the eight months ended August 2008 increased by 47,8% (from 1 276 to 1 886) compared with the eight months ended August 2007.

Cancellation of ProQuest

As most of you are aware (and for those who are not, perhaps you'd like to sit down for this), the Library is cancelling its subscription to ProQuest. This means we will lose access in January 2009.

The decision to cancel ProQuest was not taken lightly and involved a lengthy evaluation process of three months where we interrogated the following:

· The number of unique titles in our three aggregator (Gale, EbscoHost, ProQuest) databases
· The % of overlapping titles present in all three aggregators
· The number of core subject specific journal titles present in each aggregator
· The usage of each aggregator in terms of full text downloads
· And finally the subscription price

The results of the evaluation were as follows, ProQuest had:
· the least amount of unique titles - an average of 11% for ABI Inform and Academic Research Library compared to Gale’s 26% and Ebsco’s 18%
· the highest percentage of overlap
· the lowest number of core subject specific journals
· the highest usage
· the second highest renewal price

I realise that the cancellation is not a popular one, and personally I am also quite depressed about it. But with the renewed focus of UJ on research and scholarly publications, it becomes more important to apply our (dwindling) financial resources to information sources that will give us the most for our money.

And one cannot argue with the fact that ProQuest had the least amount of unique titles which meant that we were paying almost R200 000 for only 11% of the database.

I am currently busy trying to obtain a title list of the unique titles in ABI Inform and Academic Research Library which will be applicable to your departmental research. This way I can set up alerts on the publisher’s web page for you, so that you can still receive the tables of content (in abstract form) and request relevant articles via Inter Library Loans.

The list is very long (700+) and to speed up the process, PLEASE send me the names of titles that you frequently use in ProQuest so that I can guide you to the other databases that also carry those titles.

Remember that I am also available to show you how the Gale and EbscoHost databases work. This way we’ll (hopefully) lessen the impact of the cancellation on your research output.

(The full evaluation report is available from me on request)

How technology will impact HE

The future of higher education: how technology will shape learning is an Economist Intelligence Unit white paper, sponsored by the New Media Consortium.

Here is the executive summary:

Technological innovation, long a hallmark of academic research, may now be changing the very way that universities teach and students learn. For academic institutions, charged with equipping graduates to compete in today’s knowledge economy, the possibilities are great. Distance education, sophisticated learning-management systems and the opportunity to collaborate with research partners from around the world are just some of the transformational benefits that universities are embracing.

But significant challenges also loom.

For all of its benefits, technology remains a disruptive innovation—and an expensive one. Faculty members used to teaching in one way may be loath to invest the time to learn new methods, and may lack the budget for needed support.

This paper examines the role of technology in shaping the future of higher education. The major findings are as follows:

* Technology has had—and will continue to have—a significant impact on higher education. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of survey respondents from both the public and private sectors say that technological innovation will have a major influence on teaching methodologies over the next five years. In fact, technology will become a core differentiator in attracting students and corporate partners.

* Online learning is gaining a firm foothold in universities around the world. More than two-thirds of respondents from academia say that their institutions offer online courses. Many of them, especially those with a public-service mandate, consider online learning key to advancing their mission, placing advanced education within reach of people who might otherwise not be able to access it.

* Corporate-academic partnerships will form an increasing part of the university experience, at a time when locating funding and controlling costs are key concerns, and when only one-quarter of university chief information officers (CIOs) have a place at the table when it comes to setting strategy. To attract corporate partnerships, institutions will need to demonstrate a commitment to advanced technologies.

* University respondents view technology as having a largely positive impact on their campuses, but acknowledge that operational challenges may hinder the full benefits from being realised (for example, tenure, promotions and other organisational practices may need adjustment to encourage faculty members to adopt new technologies). In addition, technology may be disruptive in ways not intended: respondents note a rise in student plagiarism, cheating and distractability, which they attribute to easy and ready access to mobile technologies.

* Higher education is responding to globalisation. Respondents say that having an overseas presence will be the norm for the majority of universities over the coming years, and 54% of academic respondents say their institutions either already have foreign locations or plan to open them in the next three years. Distance education is also becoming increasingly global, with universities in the US and overseas leveraging advanced technologies to put education within reach of many more individuals around the world.

University news from the West

The Presidential Perspective on Academic Freedom

Academic leaders discuss Middle Eastern branch campuses, restrictions on so-called "sensitive" research, and other topics related to academic freedom -- including confusion about the term.

Clicker U.

Large universities report that once they start using student response technology in class, popularity grows -- as do policy issues.

Academic Freedom Under Many Assaults

Conference explores the state of free inquiry at "universities in dangerous times."

Obama on Higher Ed
President-elect has called for reform of loan programs, a tuition tax credit in exchange for service, new investments in research, and a broader concept of affirmative action.

Canada Tops U.S. in Faculty Salaries, Report Finds
Research center starts new project to compare academic salaries in 15 countries. For senior professors, Saudi Arabia leads by far.

SPECIAL REPORT: The global crisis and universities

The effect of the world financial upheaval on higher education institutions around the globe varies markedly from one nation to another, depending on the extent that their banks and currencies have been affected by what is taking place in America and Europe.

Universities in countries experiencing an economic downturn, with consumer confidence shattered and unemployment on the rise, are already curtailing their spending and some have begun putting off staff.

Even if they face no immediate threat, many institutions that rely for a significant part of their income on student fees – and foreign fees in particular – will be gravely concerned by the problems confronting local students in taking out loans, and the rapid slowing of economies in countries whose students go abroad to study.

For universities that have come to rely on the money paid by Chinese students enrolled offshore, the thought of large numbers staying home is alarming.

Our correspondents report:

US: Waiting for the worst

Geoff Maslen

Reports from the US suggest that American universities have yet to feel the full impact of the monetary cyclone that has shattered the financial sector and left the world's most powerful nation facing a full-scale depression. The air of confidence displayed on many US campuses, however, may be masking fears that no one person and no institution will be spared.

CHINA: Fall in student numbers expected

UWN correspondents

Far fewer students from China will go abroad to study next year as a result of the global crisis which is already having an impact on Chinese industries - especially those relying on the export market. UWN China correspondent Michael Delaney reports that the Chinese economy is slowing and companies across the nation have begun laying off workers with the result that many families do not have the money even for living expenses, much less foreign study. Universities heavily reliant on the fees from these students will be in serious trouble.

UK: Crisis, what crisis?

Diane Spencer

So far, British universities are taking a sanguine approach to the financial crisis. John Denham, the Higher Education Secretary, claimed that no institution was in jeopardy despite 12 English universities having £77 million (US$133.3 million) at stake through the failure of Icelandic banks. Oxford has £30 million, 5% of its overall cash deposits, invested in three of Iceland's troubled banks and subsidiaries while Cambridge faces losses of £11 million, 3% of its deposits.

SPAIN: Universities hit by sweeping cuts

Rebecca Warden

Even before the global financial crisis struck, Spain was confronting an economic recession. It was the effects of that downturn that has led to universities in Madrid facing the threat of major cuts that could leave them unable to pay staff wages. Their main funder, the regional government of Madrid, cut its block grant for fixed running costs by 30% late in September without prior notice. Now universities in Valencia are also threatened by similar action.

AUSTRALIA: Crisis has already arrived

Geoff Maslen

Universities Down Under had begun reducing their outlays, and their staffing numbers, even before the full effect of the financial turmoil on the global stock markets had been felt. Falling investments, shrinking government grants and growing concern about the overseas student market are increasing pressure on institutions to slash their costs and, in the past month, more than 500 academics and general staff have been laid off or are facing redundancy.

SOUTH AFRICA: Universities taking financial knocks

Karen MacGregor

The international financial crisis is impacting on universities in South Africa in various ways, including lower returns on investments and a weakened currency that is making imports more expensive. The crisis is exacerbating pre-existing strains on finances while the prospect of cuts to public spending on universities as a result of an economic downturn is of great concern, says the vice-chancellors' body Higher Education South Africa.

GREECE: Truth of the myths and the myths of the truth

Makki Marseilles

If there is something positive from the financial meltdown it is the complete and total collapse of several myths: that there is no money for education (or health, or the environment, or pensions), and that the neo-liberal market can be self-regulating for the benefit of the consumer - to mention just two.

FRANCE: No plans to reduce university spending

Jane Marshall

France has no intention at present of cutting its planned funding for higher education and research as a result of the global financial crisis, the Education Ministry says. The sector is the government's highest priority, and ambitious and costly reforms include renovation and updating of campuses and introducing university autonomy.

GLOBAL: How other countries are faring

The global financial meltdown has not yet hit some countries as much as it has the US where the crisis began. Those nations still faring reasonably well include Russia, Germany, the UK, France, New Zealand, some Asian and African nations, and even America's next-door neighbour, Canada.

Unwelcome complements
Scientists say degree courses in complementary therapies and alternative medicine are 'baloney' and 'mumbo-jumbo'. CAM academics disagree passionately. Zoe Corbyn checks out the fray

Big bang theories

Sex is researched across many disciplines, but there are no certificated courses in sexology in the UK. Matthew Reisz considers some of the scientists who are focusing on sexual functioning and behaviour

Feeding a fine hunger

Whatever their social and cultural backgrounds, students will flourish if we take them seriously and impart a love of our subject, says Frank Furedi



If Yale Is An Indicator The Ivies Are Not Hurting For Donations steven bell

By all accounts, September was not a good month for the American economy. Stock prices plummeted, and 159,000 jobs were lost, the worst such decline in five years. But at Yale, it was a record month for fundraising. Figures obtained by the News show that the University raked in over $28.25 million in donations last month, more than double the $14 million raised in September last year. Most of Yale’s most generous donors are not facing unemployment or foreclosure; some are so wealthy that even the most dramatic downturn has a negligible effect on their ability to give.

Facts Suggest US Higher Education Is Not Recession Proof steven bell

Higher education in the United States has been viewed as recession-proof, but the global financial crisis is already having an impact. Here are some facts about enrollment, endowments, and finances at the nation's colleges universities. For the nation's public universities, which educate three out of four students, state subsidies covered a little over half of their budget costs last year, down from two-thirds in 1998.

Many IHEs Reporting Cuts To Their IT Budgets steven bell

Nearly half of public universities and public four-year colleges in the United States reported central IT budget cuts in fall 2008, according to new research released Wednesday by The Campus Computing Project. That's up significantly over last year. At the same time, open source software is looking more appealing to campuses wiith about a fourth reporting a "high likelihood" that they will migrate to an open source LMS within the next five years. Large percentages of institutions experiencing cuts in fall 2008, including 45.4 percent of public universities (up from 16.3 percent in 2007) and 44.4 percent of public four-year colleges (up from 16.7 percent in 2007)

A Quick Guide To Understanding Author's Rights steven bell

Author's Rights, Tout de Suite, the latest Digital Scholarship publication, is designed to give journal article authors a quick introduction to key aspects of author's rights and to foster further exploration of this topic though liberal use of relevant references to online documents and links to pertinent Web sites.

Open Source Software Allows IHEs To Tinker And Tailor steven bell
At EDUCAUSE Adrian Sannier, university technology officer at Arizona State University, stirred the pot by claiming that license cost savings from open-source software will be eaten up by the consulting fees allegedly required to make it work.Indeed, it's not truly cost savings that should drive university buying decisions between open source and proprietary software, given that universities tend to get excellent discounts from vendors in both camps. Instead, universities should be looking to buy software that maximizes their freedom to tinker and tailor, two things that I've found many of my Higher Education customers have in common.