Gautrain cars in Nigel

Image: Gautrain

A modern white carriage with gold and blue stripes fitted with windows, side panels, floors and doors is what the first locally manufactured rail car for the Guatrain looks like.

Gauteng MEC for Public Transport, Ignatius Jacobs on Tuesday took a tour of the assembly plant in Nigel where the Gautrain's rail cars are being assembled.

The Gautrain will consist of 96 rail cars of which 15 are being manufactured at Bombardier Transportation's world-class facility in Derby.

The remaining 81 rail cars are being assembled at the Union Carriage and Wagon (UCW) Partnership Workshop in terms of the Gautrain's socio-economic goals to develop local skills, create jobs and stimulate economic growth.

UCW Managing Director, Palello Lebaka said the assembly process involved the preparation of the floor and under frame, followed by the build up of the car until four cars were completed. He said when linked together, the four cars form a single train, adding that upon completion each individual car will undergo extensive static testing to prove all systems are operating satisfactorily.

"The cars will then be joined into four-car units and again statically tested. Once all sytems are proven, the four-car trains then will begin dynamic quality and safety testing at the Gautrain depot near Midrand," he said.

Mr Lebaka said these include 3 000km completed on the test track at the depot to accumulate significant fault-free miles running before eventually being accepted for service.

It is expected that the first cars will begin testing at the Gautrain depot in Midrand in the first quarter of next year.

The local Nigel assembly runs concurrently with the assembly process in Derby. Custom branded in Gautrain's distinctive golden colour, the four first-car train set was proudly handed over to former Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa at Bombardier's Derby assembly plant in the United Kingdom on 8 July 2008.

Mr Jacobs said he wants to bear witness to the changing of the face of public transport in Gauteng if not the country as well as the imparting of world class skills in the transport sector, involving world renowned rail manufacturers and the people of our country who previously had no access to such advanced skills.

Gautrain's Chief Executive Officer, Jack van der Merwe said the first flat pack arrived at the UCW Partnership workshop on 2 September.

"The remainder of the 81 flat packs will be shipped to South Africa in the next few months," he said. - BuaNews

More on the Gautrain:

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Financial statistics of HE in SA

copyright: yirsh

StatsSA has just released P9103.1 - Financial statistics of higher education institutions, 2007

This statistical release provides information on the sources and uses of cash of higher education institutions for the financial years 2006 and 2007, classified economically and functionally. Here are some of the highlight:

Net change in the stock of cash from higher education institutions amounted to R1 480 million for the 2007 financial year.

The net change in the stock of cash from higher education institutions amounted to R1 480 million for the 2007 fiscal year. The amount has increased from R900 million in 2006.

Major Influences

• The major contributors to the amount of R1 480 million of the net change in the stock of cash of higher education institutions for the financial year 2007 are the cash receipts from operating activities, R30 217 million (2006: R26 925 million)
• cash payments for operating activities, R24 012 million, (2006: R21 316 million)
• purchases of non-financial assets, R2 325 million, (2006: R1 557 million); sales of non-financial assets, R88 million (2006: R37 million)
• net acquisition of financial assets other than cash, R2 640 million (2006: R3 091 million)
• net incurrence of liabilities, R152 million (2006: -R98 million), (see Table A, p.5).

All the better to see you with

A new experimental web site, Many Eyes gives users a place to share technical data: maps, graphs, charts, word clouds etc. You can upload your data and create interactive displays.

The heart of the site is a collection of data visualizations. You may want to begin by browsing through these collections—if you'd rather explore than read directions, take a look!

On Many Eyes you can:

1. View and discuss visualizations
2. View and discuss data sets

3. Create visualizations from existing data sets

University news from the West

Culture and Decisions in Higher Ed
Scholar explains themes of his new book on why colleges and universities function as they do.

HR at a Global University
As colleges set up branch campuses abroad, how do these outposts change the institutional role as employers? Experts say many institutions have yet to grapple with the legal and equity issues involved.

Fight or flight
Universities tried to stop further education colleges gaining the power to award foundation degrees. Hannah Fearn reports on the tension between the two sectors and asks whether their formerly close relationship will be ruined by a fight...

UWN is a year old and carries some reflective articles in the new issues, one of which asks the question: What effect would a higher education story in one part of the world have on someone in another country's university system?

It also carries a special report on: Trends in higher education a report back on the international conference: Enhancement of Knowledge on Higher Education and its Dissemination hosted by Babes-Bolyai Univ in Romenia.

UNIVERSITIES: The information revolution
Universities are generally stable institutions but they are buffeted by new developments, such as rankings exercises and the 'world class university' concept that have grabbed the attention of academics, politicians and the media. Other new realities are a massive growth in research output and a digital revolution that is changing higher education's relationship to information and knowledge, says Dr Jan Sadlak, Director of Unesco's Bucharest-based European Centre for Higher Education.

PUBLISHING: World's 200+ higher education journals
A study by Unesco's European Centre for Higher Education has identified 210 journals on higher education worldwide, though the number fluctuates and could be an under-count. Half of the journals were published in North America while Europe produced 23% and Asia-Pacific 19%, according to Melanie Seto, editor and programme specialist for Unesco-CEPES. Among them were 17 'international' higher education publications.

GLOBAL: Trends in higher education studies
The field of higher education studies is growing, driven by the practical needs of a post-school system that is expanding worldwide. Professor Philip Altbach, director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College in the US, predicts that the field will spread into more countries, and will increasingly focus on the process of teaching, learning and assessment and on training of university administrators. It will remain interdisciplinary but, unfortunately, large-scale research will be limited by lack of funds.

INTERNATIONALISATION: A research agenda
The position of higher education and its international dimension in the global arena are more dominant than ever before, says Dr Hans de Wit, editor of Journal of Studies in International Education. In a 2006 International Association of Universities survey, 73% of institutions gave internationalisation high priority, 23% medium priority and only 2% low priority. But despite an increase in studies on internationalisation, research on the topic is struggling to find a disciplinary, conceptual or methodological 'home'.

MEDIA: Higher education in the news
Karen MacGregor
In most countries mass media reporting on higher education is primarily the preserve of newspapers, not of television or radio. Newspapers - print and electronic - report on news and developments in higher education, provide a platform for debate, and reflect current issues concerning the public, students, academics, tertiary organisations and governments - and, through this coverage, themselves influence the higher education agenda.

In other news:

GLOBAL: Revealed: best producers of top universities
John Gerritsen*
New Zealand, Finland, Ireland and Australia are the most efficient producers of top universities, according to a University World News analysis of the latest THE-QS ranking of the world's top 500 universities.

CHINA: Record numbers studying abroad
Jane Marshall
The number of students from China enrolling for the first time at universities in other countries is estimated to reach a record 200,000 this year compared with 144,500 who went abroad in 2007. That latter number represented a 170-fold increase on the 860 students who opted to go offshore 30 years ago. Since then, more than 1.2 million students have left China to study abroad although only 320,000 returned home after completing their studies.

US: New clearing house for ranking systems
The Institute for Higher Education Policy in the United States has launched an online global resource centre pulling together information on university rankings systems worldwide. The IHEP Ranking Systems Clearinghouse, it says, "provides a road map of the complex ranking landscape for more than 30 countries", and includes links to national and international rankings systems and a collection of thousands of rankings-related publications.

GERMANY: Chinese Minister awarded doctorate
Mike Gardner
China's Minister of Science and technology, Professor Wan Gang, has been awarded the title of an Honorary Doctor by Berlin's Technical University. Wan Gang, who was President of Shanghai's Tongji University from 2004-07, has played a leading role in the development of environmentally friendly cars in China.

UK: Commonwealth scholarships restored
Commonwealth scholarships will be available to students in all Commonwealth countries to study in Britain next year. This follows a new partnership between British universities and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills after a cut in funding by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in March meant that students in more developed Commonwealth countries would have been no longer be eligible to apply for the scholarships.

Why No Academic Freedom For Adjuncts steven bell
Although the use of adjuncts has increased, one thing remains the same: Adjuncts are still treated like stepchildren and orphans on their campuses. But the one insult that an increasing number of adjuncts across the nation cannot abide is the continued lack of academic freedom. Based on my personal experiences and based on reports of recent trends, adjuncts increasingly are being fired and not being rehired because administrators do not like catching flak for what their part-timers say in the classroom.

SABS Expo

The inaugural SABS Expo, will be held at Sandton Convention Centre, 29 – 31 October 2008, and the unique feature of this event is that never before has there been a South African trade exhibition, at which every exhibiting company holds system or product certification from the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS). The SABS Expo will run side-by-side with the SABS Annual Convention.

The seven industry clusters on exhibition are:

1. Chemicals
2. Electro Technical
3. Food and Health
4. Mechanical and Materials
5. Mining and Minerals
6. Services
7. Transportation

There will be various workshops and activities during the 3 days. The workshops will focus on the following topics:
Energy efficiency: The role of standardisation in energy efficiency, especially in the face of the current electricity crisis.
Conformity assessment solutions: Certification is increasingly being used as third party recognition of compliance to standards. This workshop reviews certification of services and its benefits in other sectors.
Building standards: The output of the construction industry and its impact on our economy and environment. This workshop will shed light on the new regulations and standards.

To register click here.

How IT can reduce your carbon footprint

The McKinsey Quarterly has published an interesting article on How IT can cut carbon emissions detailing how ICT will become a major source of greenhouse gas emissions but can abate far more of them.

Here is the abstract:

Greenhouse gas emissions associated with making and powering the world’s computers
and telecom networks are growing fast. Despite efforts by technology manufacturers and
users to make these tools more energy efficient, rapid growth in demand for computing and
communications—particularly in developing nations—is creating a big carbon footprint.
The good news is that information and communications technologies can reduce far more
emissions than they generate.

Read the whole article here

Related reports:
How the world should invest in energy efficiency

Business strategies for climate change

How companies think about climate change: A McKinsey Global Survey

The Economics of Education

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The World Bank has released their newest report on HE in Sub-Saharan Africa, Accelerating Catch-Up: Tertiary Education for Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa and reports that African governments must invest more in tertiary education--and those investments must be smarter-- if their graduates are to succeed in today’s intensely competitive global environment.

A new Bank study, launched at the roundtable, titled Accelerating Catch-up: tertiary education for growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, highlights some of the options available for countries to develop reform strategies towards more efficient, more relevant and higher quality tertiary education systems.

University news from Africa

US-AFRICA: Donors re-commit to African higher education
Karen MacGregor
The seven big United States donors that comprise the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa have announced that they will continue support for universities across the continent beyond their original 10-year commitment - but the form of their collaboration after 2010 has still to be firmed up. By then the Partnership will have made grants worth $350 million to universities, institutions and programmes in nine African countries.

SOUTH AFRICA: OECD urges university funding changes
Karen MacGregor
A just-published review by the OECD of South African education has praised "impressive forward thinking" and reform post-apartheid, but has also called for improved management of change in higher education and a reappraisal of university funding. It suggests studies into factors affecting student performance in the face of high drop-out rates, a proactive approach to preparing and integrating new students, and pedagogical training for junior academics.

ZIMBABWE: Desperate universities launch income projects
Clemence Manyukwe
The Zimbabwean government last week cancelled the academic year as universities and schools found it impossible to continue operating with the collapse of the country's economy. At the University of Zimbabwe, the country leading tertiary institution, a notice on a faculty building told students lectures would begin "on a date to be advised". But university vice-chancellor Levy Nyagura was quoted as saying the university had no water, no electricity and no funds.

ALGERIA: Start of new academic year
Nearly 1,160,000 students have started the new academic year in Algeria, including 260,000 freshers, according to the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. But despite the assurances of the Minister, Rachid Haraouabia, La Tribune of Algiers questioned whether universities had the capacity to cater for so many students.

NIGERIA: Top medical college rejects PhD directive
Tunde Fatunde
The governing council of Nigeria's National Postgraduate Medical College has rejected moves by the National Universities Commission to undermine its autonomy on the issue of academics needing doctoral qualifications. Many lecturers at the country's only postgraduate medical college possess post-degree fellowship qualifications from the institution rather than PhDs.

CAMEROON: New university part of tertiary reforms
Emmanuel T Nwaimah
The latest of Cameroon's public universities opens this month at a temporary site while construction work continues on its main campus. The University of Maroua was created by a presidential decree on 9 August and is located in the city of Maroua in Far North Province. It represents the continuation of a process of decentralising the country's public university system away from the capital Yaoundé under higher education reforms that began in 1993.

D&D Awards 2009 - almost time for entries

The D&AD 2009 Awards, familiarly known as the ‘Yellow Pencils’, are the most internationally respected and prestigious creative awards for the design and advertising industries, and has announced the lineup of jury foremen:

Ambient: Mike O'Sullivan, Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand
Art Direction: Grant Parker, DDB London
Book Design: Damon Murray, Murray & Sorrell FUEL©
Branding: Glenn Tuttsel, The Brand Union
Broadcast Innovations: John C Jay, Wieden & Kennedy
Digital Installations: Matt Clark, United Visual Artists
Direct Advertising: Ian Haworth, WWAV Rapp Collins
Environmental Design: David Adjaye, Adjaye Associates
Graphic Design: Alan Dye, NB:Studio
Illustration: Marion Deuchars, M Deuchars
Integrated: Mark Cridge, glue London
Magazine & Newspaper Design: Andy Cowles, IPC Media
Mobile Marketing: Dan Rosen, AKQA
Music Videos: Lizie Gower, Academy
Online Advertising: Dave Bedwood, Lean Mean Fighting Machine
Packaging: Bruce Duckworth, Turner Duckworth
Photography: Tony Chambers, Wallpaper*
Posters: Tay Guan Hin, JWT Singapore
Press: Rosie Arnold, BBH
Product: Sebastian Conran, Conran & Partners
Radio: Ralph van Dijk, Eardrum
TV & Cinema Advertising: Mark Waites, Mother London
TV & Cinema Communications: Grant Gilbert, Double G Studios
Typography: Nick Bell, Nick Bell Design
Viral: Michael Lebowitz, Big Spaceship
Websites: Mauricio Mazzariol, Big Man
Writing for Advertising: Will Awdry, Ogilvy & Mather London
Writing for Design: Adrian Shaughnessy, Shaughnessy Works

The D&AD Awards span 30 different categories encompassing all aspects of creative communications from writing and art direction to architecture, graphic design, music videos and photography.

They annually attract over 23,000 entries from internationally leading agencies and design groups, clients, in-house studios, architectural practices, as well as film and post-production companies of over 58 nations.

Important Dates:
15 October 2008 - Call for Entries launches - enter online starting from this date
19 November 2008 - Discount Deadline - all entries completed by this date will receive a 10% discount
21 January 2009 - Final Deadline

To be eligible into the D&AD Awards 2009, work must have been commercially released for the first time between 1 January and 31 December 2008.

Our awards scheme is international.Full information will be available on the awards site at the beginning of October. Please contact awards@dandad.co.uk if you have any other questions.

Make some noise!

An annual gathering for bloggers from Africa is on the cards. Kelele will be held August next year in Nairobi, Kenya. Kelele is the Kiswahili word for noise.

Kelele’s sister event, The African Bloggers Awards, will aim to recognise the top blogger from each African country.

Organisers include Daudi Were, Erik Hersman and Ndesanjo Macha. Kelele is seeking sponsorship – what a great platform for big business to access the continents top bloggers.

When will Kelele ’09 Nairobi take place?

August 2009. We have tentatively booked the 13th – 16th August 2009.

Here is a summary of the proposed programme:

Day 1 August 13: Arrival in Nairobi and official opening

Day 2 August 14: Conference Day

Day 3 August 15: Skills/Training Day and Outreach Day. Official closing

Day 4 August 16: Sight seeing / departure

For more information please contact:

General - main@kelele.org

Daudi Were – daudi@kelele.org

Erik Hersman - erik@zungu.com

Ndesanjo Macha - ndesanjo@gmail.com

Perkonomics - the new currency?

According to Trendwatching.com Perkonomics (where perks and privileges are the new currency) is the trend to keep an eye on in the coming year.

Consumer infatuation with perks and privileges isn't new. For years, airlines, hotels, credit card companies and private banks have been cleverly rewarding their most valuable customers with surprises, status symbols and convenience.
But as we move towards a consumer society that’s based more on experiences, on status stories, on the ephemeral—and in which, for many, time is now the only true scarcity—expect perks and privileges to become an integral part of every B2C industry and sector.

A new breed of perks and privileges, added to brands’ regular offerings, is satisfying consumers’ ever-growing desire for novel forms of status and/or convenience, across all industries.
The benefits for brands are equally promising: from escaping commoditization, to showing empathy in turbulent times.

Read more about Perkonomics in their October 2008 report.

SCIP Awards Nominating

All SCIP members have the privilege of nominating individuals for the Meritorious, Fellows, Catalyst and Faye Brill awards. Criteria for these awards are interpreted so that outstanding practitioners, vendors, and academics have equal eligibility.

Award nominations for 2009 will be open this Spring. Contact Marty Zurcher mzurcher@scip.org for additional information.