UJ Management Librarian APK

The Nielsen Consumer Insight Magazine February 2009

2009-02-04T11:42:00.001+02:00

In this Issue :

New Product Innovation in a Recession.

While current economic conditions may be causing consumers to trim back, marketers need to resist that impulse on new product development. The key learning is that innovation can succeed during recessionary times if the fundamentals are right... Read More

Channel Shifting in a Tough Economy.

Battered by the economy, U.S. consumers are shopping less frequently, demanding value, trading down, buying less, moving to private label and shifting department purchases across channels... Read More

Global Economies Adjust.

Like a house of cards, one slight move and it all comes tumbling down. Around the world, the operative word in today’s economic climate is value. How are manufacturers and retailers coping? What are the biggest opportunities…and surprises for 2009?... Read More

Transforming China’s Growth Engine.

No longer able to rely on buyers in the rest of the world to drive its economic growth, China is relying on its own consumers to help stimulate its economy. But what will it take to get them to spend?... Read More

Awards Shows Take Centerstage.

And the winner is…. the retailer. Turns out there’s a very practical reason for performers wishing to win a Grammy or Academy Award—music sales skyrocket!... Read More

Gautrain News

2009-02-04T11:40:00.001+02:00

Here is the latest on the Gautrain:

GAUTRAIN CELEBRATES HOMECOMING OF GAUTRAIN
"Our golden train is now finally where she belongs. And although Gautrain's physical home is in Gauteng, her real home is in the hearts and minds of all South Africans," said Gauteng Premier Paul Mashatile.
Read more

VIEW GAUTRAIN'S JOURNEY HOME
Having spent several months in an icy workshop in the United Kingdom, there could be no better homecoming for Gautrain than the hot African sun warming her golden body.
View her journey here

GAUTRAIN DEPOT AND WORKSHOP
The Gautrain Depot in Midrand is in a central location in relation to the operation of the system and is the operational hub of the system. All train movements will be controlled from the Operations Control Centre housed at the depot and the entire train fleet will also be stabled and maintained there. The bus operations control centre as well as stabling and maintenance facilities for the buses will also be housed there.
Read more

TESTING AND COMMISSIONING
Before entering into commercial service, each Gautrain train-set will be subjected to a long and rigorous testing and commissioning process. This process entails progressively more onerous tests on all systems and sub-systems from brakes and power, to air-conditioning and communications. In total, each train-set will complete approximately 3000km on the test-track before being certified for operations.
Read more

SIGNALLING SYSTEMS
Gautain's signalling solution comprises Bombardier's CITYFLO 250 system which is a fixed block signalling system based on ‘distance to go' principles with vital information being transmitted to the onboard automatic train protection (ATP) system from balises in the track. The ATP supervises the driver and train movements.
Read more

ELECTROSTAR NOISE
Gautrain will comply with international best practice in respect of noise and vibration emissions. Design noise levels both inside and outside the train (assuming good quality track) will be compliant with the relevant European standards regulating noise and vibration emissions by rail vehicles.
Read more

Bus funding crisis SATAWU briefing

2009-02-04T11:33:00.002+02:00

The Parliamentary Monitoring Group for Transport recently heard SATAWU briefing on the Bus industry funding crisis. The briefing consisted of a five page document presented by Jane Barrett, SATAWU Policy Research Officer and outlined SATAWU's view on the issue.

Here is the Summary:

The Committee was addressed on the NCOP amendments to the National Land Transport Bill [B 51D-2008].

The original amendments in the B-version of the Bill reflected a failure by the State Law Advisor to present all the consequential amendments.

The NCOP had dealt with this matter in the C-version. The amendments dealt mainly with cross-referencing, grammatical changes and the addition of four clauses.

The Chairperson emphasised that no further amendments could be entertained as there was no time to refer the Bill back to the NCOP. The Committee committed itself to ensuring that an Amendment Bill was drafted by the new Parliament to deal with all further amendments.

The Committee was briefed on the bus subsidy crisis by the South Transport and Allied Workers Union. Corrective budgeting by the Department was questioned, and it was explained that there was some guesswork involved, as the oil price was an uncertain variable and elasticity in subsidy contracts was required. The Committee questioned the non-involvement of the taxi industry in this crisis.

The Committee resolved to host a meeting with National Treasury, the Department and all other available key players on 3 February 2009 to appeal to Treasury and the Department to make urgent contingency arrangements regarding the bus subsidy crisis.

SA Marketing News

2009-02-04T11:25:00.003+02:00

Advertising News
D&AD Student Annual goes online
Not only will D&AD student and professional awards judging coincide for the first time this year, 2009 also marks the launch of the Student Annual Online, which will allow featured students to link to their portfolios. Read full story... Send to a friend

DBB SA out of Jupiter's orbit
A consequence of the 49% acquisition of The Jupiter Drawing Room (South Africa) & Partners by WPP, announced late last week, is that Jupiter shareholders will be releasing their shareholding equity in DDB SA. "DDB SA has enjoyed its short association with The Jupiter Drawing Room,” DDB SA CEO Glen Lomas told Bizcommunity.com on Friday, 30 January 2009. “We mutually benefited from the working relationship on a number of levels.” Read full story... Send to a friend

Dubai Lynx 2009 juries announced
The members of the four juries of the Dubai Lynx Awards have been announced. Judging will take place in Dubai, where 29 creatives and media experts from 14 countries will convene to discuss and award the best creative advertising from the MENA region. Read full story... Send to a friend

Cannes Lions open for entries
LONDON: Entries are now open in 56th Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival for all categories - Film, Press, Outdoor, Direct, Media, Cyber, Radio, Promo, Design, Titanium, Integrated and the new PR Lions category. There are also changes to Integrated, Media, Direct and Promo Lions, and more ways to enter Digital work in various categories. Read full story... Send to a friend

MMA releases mobile banking, updated mobile advertising overviews
NEW YORK, LONDON, SINGAPORE & SAO PAULO: The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) released its Mobile Banking Overview yesterday, Thursday, 29 January 2009. This educational resource is designed to provide analysis of the marketing opportunities and attributes that the mobile channel represents for the financial sector. Also updated this week was its Mobile Advertising Overview. Read full story... Send to a friend

The US president Barack Obama has undoubtedly inspired art, street art and fashion
The Getty Images Creative Research team finds how a politician is influencing marketing and advertising and how his look is becoming a visual reference. Read full story... Send to a friend

Loeries weekend date change
The 31st anniversary of The Loerie Awards will depart from its traditional Saturday and Sunday timetable; this year's festival weekend runs 25 - 27 September 2009 in Cape Town. With Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, starting on the evening of Sunday 27 September, the awards ceremonies will take place on Friday and Saturday nights. Read full story... Send to a friend

Branding News

Meltdown creates new global champions
We have now arrived right in the middle of that second half of the hyper-accelerated phase, where western brands start to fall like dominos. As pointed out in my column first printed in 2006, Global image repositioning race heats up, in the US alone hundreds of its world-class brands are being erased. From monster banking to mega manufacturing, some 73 000 stores alone being closed in the first half of 2009, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. Read full story... Send to a friend

One crucial factor
Every brand relies on one crucial factor: what happens inside the company behind it, or what is known as the ‘inside out' factor. This is the specialist focus of Interbrand Sampson Inside, the new brand engagement consultancy in the Interbrand Sampson Group. Read full story... Send to a friend

Exhibition News

What happens offline drives online
When the IEC recently announced a second voters' registration weekend, where did you first go to find more information on where to register? What about when Thabo Mbeki resigned? Where did you find the lineup of the Coke Zero music fest or the photos of Barack Obama's inauguration? Most likely, your first point of call was an online search for information. Read full story... Send to a friend

Thebe goes greener in 2009
Thebe Exhibitions and Projects will ensure that all steps are in place towards a greener events industry in future. Managing Director Carol Weaving says the company's greening policy will be further refined and presented to exhibitors as part of its marketing strategy. Read full story... Send to a friend

Even more to talk about at Design Indaba
Despite the tough economic climate, Design Indaba Expo 2009 has reported that it has grown with more than 60 new exhibitors and has secured more than 20% extra floor space since 2008. With a month to go until the event, already more than 100 buyers have pre-registered, including 70 international buyers. Read full story... Send to a friend

Youth Marketing News

Campaign on the alert for smarties
Sasol regularly awards university bursaries to over 250 up-and-coming Grade 12 learners and BEng, BSc and BCom students every year. “To promote Sasol's bursaries programme among the smarties out there, we've launched a campaign that uses an awesome cast of seven characters,” explains Bronwyn Watt, Sasol group brand and marketing manager. Read full story... Send to a friend

Africa's first family and children's industry network
Being leaders in connecting families and children with brands, and building on the success of their monthly newsletter, Chirp, Egg Marketing & Communications will be launching Chirp Network, Africa's first family and children's industry network platform, in February this year. Read full story... Send to a friend

The State of Green Business in the USA

2009-02-04T11:05:00.003+02:00

Greenbiz.com releases an annual State of Green Business report and recently released the newest one.

The report assesses how, and how well, companies are doing from an environmental perspective. The free 62-page report offers 10 trends of the past year as well as their GreenBiz Index, a set of 20 indicators that, in aggregate, provide a picture of U.S. companies' environmental achievements.

Here is the table of contents

Top Stories of 2008............................................................................ 4
The Green Economy Gains Currency.............................................................. 4
Water Becomes the New Carbon.................................................................... 5
Building Efficiency Rises Again........................................................................ 7
Universities Take Class Actions........................................................................ 9
Green Moves Up, and Down, the Chain of Command................................. 10
Product Stewardship Creates a Material Change.......................................... 11
Green Marketing Suffers a Failure to Communicate..................................... 13
Carbon Becomes a Business Imperative....................................................... 14
Information Technology Plugs Into Green..................................................... 16
Greener Design Comes Out of the Lab........................................................ 17

The GreenBiz Index
Introduction ................................................................................................... 19
Summary Chart .............................................................................................. 20
Building Energy Efficiency ............................................................................ 22
Carbon Intensity............................................................................................ 24
Carbon Transparency .................................................................................... 26
Cleantech Investments ................................................................................. 28
Clean-Energy Patents.................................................................................... 30
Corporate Reporting..................................................................................... 32
Employee Commuting.................................................................................. 34
Employee Telecommuting ............................................................................ 36
Energy Efficiency........................................................................................... 38
E-Waste......................................................................................................... 40
Financial Impacts............................................................................................ 42
Fleet Impacts.................................................................................................. 44
Green Jobs..................................................................................................... 46
Green Office Space ...................................................................................... 48
Green Power Use .......................................................................................... 50
Packaging Intensity ....................................................................................... 52
Paper Use and Recycling............................................................................... 54
Toxic Emissions ............................................................................................. 56
Toxics in Manufacturing.................................................................................. 58
Water Intensity................................................................................................ 60
Credits / About Greener World Media........................................................... 62

Take Overs- December 2008 to 4 February 2009

2009-02-04T09:38:00.002+02:00

Please see a summary of this month’s TakeOver Talk activity below. Additional information and search / sort facilities are available on our website (click on TakeOver Talk):

click on image to enlarge

Access to South African Institute of Race Relations

2009-02-04T09:21:00.003+02:00

The library recently acquired access to the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR).

This website is home to the largest and most comprehensive database tracking trends on South Africa. It provides a wide variety of statistical and other data on South Africa, ranging from education, health, social development and welfare to business, employment, the economy, and politics.

It really is a terrific website and well worth bookmarking it or subscribing to its RSS feed.

The Research and publications section covers the following:

South Africa Survey
The South Africa Survey has been published annually by the Institute since 1947. It is a 500-page statistical reference work on every area of the country’s socio-economic development. Made up of statistical tables and charts, the Survey tracks trends over time and offers forecasts where available. It also contains international comparisons and limited analysis.
Fast Facts Online
Fast Facts is a monthly bulletin providing analysis of key development and policy indicators. It is designed to be read quickly by busy people. Fast Facts also tracks 170 socio-economic indicators in each issue.
Resource Centre
The Institute's Resource Centre tracks and updates files on over 1200 political, social, and economic subject headings on a daily basis. It is the best and biggest current affairs library in South Africa. It also contains significant holdings of books, journals, historical documents, and biographical files. It provides an Information Service for Business and Corporate subscribers to send electronic requests for any available data on South Africa. Queries are answered within 24 hours.
South African Mirror
The South African Mirror is a state-of-the-nation style briefing presented annually by the Institute at venues around South Africa. Briefings are also available in-house for Corporate subscribers
Special research projects
The Institute operates a number of Special Research Projects which range from information services for public representatives to in-depth research on race relations, affirmative action, and other topical issues.
Outreach projects
The Institute is regularly consulted by the local and international media on all aspects of South African development. Literally hundreds of Articles and News Reports cite the Institute annually. This section contains selected references to the Institute from the media.
Annual Report
The Annual Report contains the activities and accounts of the Institute for any given year
Historical publications
The Institute has published widely on South Africa since 1929. A selection of these historical documents, reports, and papers will be uploaded to this section of the website from time to time.
Hoernlé Lectures
The Hoernlé memorial lecture honours Professor R F Alfred Hoernlé, and his wife, Agnes Winifred Hoernlé, both of whom, as presidents, shaped Institute thinking during the organisation's early existence.

Logo's after the financial crisis (a bit of fun)

2009-02-03T15:29:00.006+02:00

I recieved this in an email and am unable to trace the orginal source. Some can be found here, however, if you know who the legal copyright author is please let me know.

Intelligence 2.0 Webinar

2009-02-03T15:24:00.002+02:00

Case Studies in Healthcare and Life Science Software Systems for Understanding and Anticipating Industry Change

Hosted by the Center for Business Intelligence - Presented by Aurora WDC, Digimind, Comintell & Traction Software - February 12

Web Seminar Overview:
The first generation of competitive, business and market intelligence systems were designed to produce asymmetries of information between a company and the forces of risk arrayed against it. But ubiquitous, real-time open source information access has given desktop access to even the most granular of industry market information. The result is that competitive advantage based on an information gap is fleeting at best and, if relied upon too much, can even lead to errors in judgment when deciding which direction to take the company.

The age of asymmetric interpretation is upon us. Decision makers everywhere must now look at the same massive data stream as everyone else, but see things differently to create competitive advantage based on these differences. We call this inflection point "Intelligence 2.0" as it is also characterized by a new, deeper level of engagement and collaboration by and between the employees of the firm in order to help the system function properly.

There are a variety of tools that can help automate the routine information processing activities of a company's intelligence team so they can see indicators of change more clearly, think ahead about what and how to manage their businesses, and make decisions that create breakthrough value for customers and performance for the company.

Join us for detailed case studies by three of the top vendors in the software business today about how they have helped healthcare and life science companies to use their systems to understand risk, create value, and drive performance and success.

Register Today!
Enroll online. Use Promo Code WDC212 and receive a $50 Discount
Call toll free (800) 817-8601. Use your American Express, Visa or MasterCard.

Can't Attend?

Choose between the MP4 or listening in on the Encore presentation:
MP4 File / Event Recording:

$295
You'll receive an electronic file for you to save and play as many times as you wish. This file includes the entire web seminar, including the Q&A period and all presentation materials, within two weeks of the live date.

24/7 Instant Access Web Seminar Presentation:

$145
You'll have access to one dial-in for an archived recording of the entire web seminar, including the Q&A period. You can log into the URL in any time of day or night for three months from the live air date

OECD: Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development news

2009-02-03T14:54:00.002+02:00

5th Annual Meeting of the OECD LEED Forum on Partnerships and Local Governance
The meeting will focus on Building Strong Partnerships with the Private Sector for Better Jobs and Inclusion. Public sector institutions increasingly understand that working with business at the local level is crucial for promoting quality jobs and social inclusion. Localities are gearing education and training to business needs. Some regions are upgrading local skills demand, working with business to improve productivity thus increasing the availability of good quality jobs. A collective response is required from industry, government, educational institutions, trade unions and community.

Increasing the Attractiveness of Places through Cultural Resources: Publication and Follow-up Seminars
The Tourism Committee has recently completed a study on “Increasing the Attractiveness of Places through Cultural Resources”. The main documents and case studies are summarised in "The Impact of Culture on Tourism " (published January 2009). Two follow-up seminars will be organised to disseminate the outcomes: “Culture and Tourism: A Strategic Partnership ” on 23-24 January 2009 in Mexico; and “A new Design for Tourism: culture, tourism and creative industries; driving forces for local development” on 26-27 February 2009 (visit www.vorarlberg.travel).

University news from Africa

2009-01-26T11:07:00.002+02:00

NIGERIA: Government in court over ruling councils
Tunde Fatunde
The Academic Staff Union of Universities, the ASUU, has dragged the N igerian government before the Federal High Court, challenging as illegal President Shehu Musa Yar'Adua's failure to reconstitute the governing councils of federal universities. All councils were dissolved in 2007 and the lack of the decision-making bodies has hampered university operations. The court action has jolted the presidency which claims to champion the rule of law.

ZIMBABWE: Universities demand US dollars
Clemence Manyukwe
Universities and their lecturers are demanding payment in foreign currency, with the institutions charging dollar tuition fees of US$700 and $1,500 per semester, as inflation in the crisis-torn southern African country plays havoc with the local currency and the education and health sectors collapse. Students are not sure whether they will get their results after lecturers declined to mark examination scripts, citing poor salaries and working conditions.

EGYPT: Corpse shortage affects medical students
Ashraf Khaled
When he applied to attend the medical school of Cairo University, Egypt's biggest public institution, Ahmed Masoud never dreamed he and fellow students with limited economic resources would face the problem of a shortage of corpses for autopsy training. "This badly affects our medical skills," says Masoud. "And, with examinations nearing, we are left with two options: either to buy corpses ourselves or attend private tuition classes in anatomy. Most of us cannot afford either."

UGANDA: Students protest 'discriminatory' fees
Kayiira Kizito
Late last year, Kenyan students enrolled at Makerere University, Uganda's most famous institution, protested against 'discriminatory' foreign student fees and other charges. As with many other universities around the world, Makerere charges differential rates for domestic and international students with those from East Africa pay around 1.5 times the local rate.

TUNISIA: Conference discusses Averroès project
Mobility of university students and teachers, and joint studies and diplomas, were on the agenda at the University of Sousse during a three-day conference to discuss the Euro-Mediterranean Averroès programme, reported La Presse of Tunisia

SENEGAL: Alumni demand dismissal of UCAD rector
The alumni association of the Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD) of Dakar, Senegal's biggest university, last week demanded the immediate departure of rector Abdou Salam Sall, claiming he was the "principal obstacle to a calm academic year". If he did not leave, they said, they would "paralyse the university".

CAMEROON: Forgers of Slovakia university papers bust
A network of forgers who extorted large sums of money from parents hoping to enrol their children as students in Slovakia has been uncovered in Yaoundé and Douala, say newspaper reports.

MALAWI: Plans for a Muslim university
Malawi's former President, Bakili Muluzi, is planning to open a Muslim university. The institution will join other church-run universities - the Catholic University and Livingstone University (which is run by the Presbyterian Church) - to outnumber Malawi's two public institutions, the University of Malawi and Mzuzu University.

ZAMBIA: University to charge 'economic' fees
The University of Zambia will begin charging 'economic' fees this year after submitting proposals to the government. Vice-chancellor Professor Steven Simukanga said that although the government wanted affordable student fees, this was not possible because government grants were inadequate said.

University news from the West

2009-01-26T11:03:00.001+02:00

GLOBAL: Ban sex between lecturers and students? Paul Rigg
When Professor Istvan Pogany, 57, began a consensual relationship with one of his students at Britain's University of Warwick, he did what many would consider 'good practice' and informed his line manager. But the student, who is in her 30s, then fell pregnant and her subsequent anguished decision to have an abortion led to lurid headlines that raised the question again whether intimate relationships between academics and students should be more strongly discouraged, or even prohibited.

US-INDIA: Boosting private-public partnerships Geoff Maslen
A high-powered taskforce set up by the US Asia Society to expand interactions between India and the new Obama administration has called for the creation of education partnerships between the two nations to cope with India's burgeoning higher education and secondary school populations. In a new report*, the taskforce says the training requirements for India's large population exceed current capacity, "a challenge uniquely suited for linkages with US institutions".

INDONESIA: Students swindled and stranded David Jardine
A scandal involving 49 Indonesian students who sought places in Egypt's prestigious Al-Azhar University has been revealed. Instead of enrolling in the Cairo university, the students ended up in Malaysia where 15 were discovered doing odd jobs to support themselves.

BANGLADESH: Private universities meet demand Mahdin Mahboob
The system of private universities is a relatively new concept in Bangladesh. Because of the ever-growing demand for education at the university level, and the fact that existing public universities could not meet the need, the government passed a Private Universities Act in 1992. Starting with a handful, the number of private universities has grown rapidly and stands at 54 to date, compared with 21 public universities.

UK: Reskilling and upskilling Diane Spencer
The higher education sector should play a greater part in the government's agenda of improving skills of the workforce, says a new report* by a parliamentary select committee. MPs looked at the review of leading businessman Lord Leitch, published in 2006, which was based on depressing statistics revealing the level of skills among the UK working population.

GLOBAL: New African research resource
A new online search portal called the HERANA Gateway provides access to the latest research on African higher education. Using Google technology, the Gateway returns focused search results from more than 15 sites worldwide - including University World News and the Centre for Higher Education Transformation in South Africa - making it one of the most specialised resources of its kind.

PHILIPPINES: Trikes spread telecommunications
Five young Filipino graduates are building the country's first self-contained and wireless-enabled mobile telecentres using the national mode of transport - the three-wheeled motorcycle called a Trike.

FRANCE: Inter-university information service Jane Marshall
Nearly 150 librarians from 14 Parisian university libraries have banded together to open Rue des facs, an online documentary information service for students and academics. They can send in questions - in French - and should receive a reply by email within three days.

The language of competition
Continental business schools are spearheading the attempt to access the lucrative market for higher education in English. Matthew Reisz reports

Get wise to the product'
Knowledge for its own sake' is as narrowly utilitarian a remit for universities as the business-facing alternative, argues Gary Day

When it comes to the crunch...
The economic downturn is affecting most sectors in the UK, including higher education. But, writes Hannah Fearn, it is not necessarily all bad news

The support troops are getting flak
Social scientists deployed in war zones to engage with civilians and advise US military commanders are under fire from their peers, writes Jon Marcus

The queue's the thing
National Theatre-going regular Rivka Isaacson finds compelling drama in the early morning cast of characters waiting to buy day tickets

Happy to be here
Times Higher Education's annual Student Experience Survey highlights a host of institutions bent on making the university experience first rate in every way. Rebecca Attwood reports

Here Comes the Flood
How to handle the constant pileup of scholarly publications? Scott McLemee takes a look at two alternatives.

Half Empty or Half Full
New report attempts to gather key data on women in higher education -- students, faculty, administrators -- and to analyze key issues. In just about every category, study finds progress and disappointments.
Assessing Assessment
New center with backing from key education groups will compile data and case studies on evaluation of student learning. And new coalition plans to speak on higher ed's response to demands for accountability.

'I Am Less Patient and Dress Better'
Research project outlines the changes -- positive and negative -- experienced by faculty members who become administrators.

Latest Key Findings

2009-01-23T10:42:00.001+02:00

P6343.2 - Motor trade sales, November 2008
Motor trade sales for the three months ended November 2008 decreased by 0,2% compared with the three months ended November 2007, while the corresponding growth for the same period in 2007 was 6,0%. This decrease was mainly the result of the general decrease in new vehicle sales (contributing -6,2 percentage points). However, the negative growth was counteracted by the positive growth experienced in the form of sales of fuel and sales of accessories (contributing 3,8 and 3,1 percentage points respectively).

P6141.2 - Wholesale trade sales, November 2008
Wholesale trade sales, at constant (2000) prices, for the three months ended November 2008 increased by 2,7% compared with the three months ended November 2007. The annual growth rate for the corresponding period in 2007 was 6,0%. Seasonally adjusted wholesale trade sales, at constant (2000) prices, for the three months ended November 2008 increased by 0,3% compared with the three months ended August 2008.

Your clasroom in the future

2009-01-23T09:41:00.002+02:00

The 2009 Horizon Report describes the continuing work of the NMC’s Horizon Project, a long-running qualitative research project that seeks to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, research, or creative expression within Higher Education.

You can also view the reports for 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2004 if you'd like to check how accurate their predictions were.

So expect more of the following in your classrooms in the next:

One year or less:

Mobiles
Mobiles are already in use as tools for education on many campuses. New interfaces, the ability to connect to wifi and GPS in addition to a variety of cellular networks, and the availability of third-party applications have created a device with nearly infinite possibilities for education, networking, and personal productivity on the go; almost every student carries a mobile device, making it a natural choice for content delivery and even field work and data capture.

Cloud Computing
The emergence of cloud-based applications is causing a shift in the way we think about how we use software and store our files. Educational institutions are beginning to take advantage of ready-made applications hosted on a dynamic, ever-expanding cloud that enable end users to perform tasks that have traditionally required site licensing, installation, and maintenance of individual software packages. Email, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, collaboration, media editing, and more can all be done inside a web browser, while the software and files are housed in the cloud.

Already, cloud-based applications are being used in the K-12 sector to provide virtual computers to students and staff without requiring each person to own the latest laptop or desktop machine; a handful of basic machines, provided they can access the Internet and support a web browser, are all that is needed for access to virtually unlimited data storage and programs of all kinds.

Two to Three years:

Geo-Everything
Everything on the Earth’s surface has a location that can be expressed with just two coordinates. Using the new classes of geolocation tools, it is very easy to determine and capture the exact location of physical objects — as well as capturing the location where digital media such as photographs and video are taken. The other side of this coin is that it is also becoming easier to work with the geolocative data thus captured: it can be plotted on maps; combined with data about other events, objects, or people; graphed; charted; or manipulated in myriad ways.

A sampling of location-aware applications across disciplines includes the following:

Literature
Geotagging and virtual geocaching can be used to create annotated maps and real-world locations related to works of literature, enhancing the experience of reading the story. For instance, out of personal interest, one reader created a map of the course described in The Travels of Marco Polo, including passages from the text, photographs of the places mentioned (historical and contemporary), annotations and links, and other information
Medicine.
The University of Florida has used a 2-dimensional web-based Transparent Reality Simulation Engine to teach students how to operate medical machinery for several years. Recently, the addition of a GPS-enabled tablet device has allowed learners who are spatially challenged to experience the transparent reality visualization overlaid directly onto the real machine, enabling them to use the machine’s controls rather than a mouse as input to the simulation. Geolocation is used to track the tablet and align the physical machine with the visualization on the tablet.
Games-based Learning
The Local Games Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is developing "local games," learning experiences set in real-life neighborhoods and ecological habitats. Combining geolocation and alternate reality games, local games immerse the learner in a physical space as they explore the unique characteristics of the location and its inhabitants.

The Personal Web
Armed with tools for tagging, aggregating, updating, and keeping track of content, today’s learners create and navigate a web that is increasingly tailored to their own needs and interests: this is the personal web.

The tools that enable the personal web are also ideal toolsets for research and learning. The ability to tag, categorize, and publish work online, instantly, without the need to understand or even touch the underlying technologies provides a host of opportunities for faculty and students. By organizing online information with tags and web feeds, it is a simple matter to create richly personal resource collections that are easily searchable, annotated, and that support any interest.

Four to Five Years:

Semantic-Aware Applications
The idea behind the semantic web is that although online data is available for searching, its meaning is not: computers are very good at returning keywords, but very bad at understanding the context in which keywords are used.

The capability of semantic-aware applications to aid in searching and finding has implications for research, especially in light of the rate at which web content is being created. As semantic search tools continue to develop, it will be more common to see highly relevant results that display desired information in the hit list summary itself, saving time that is now spent clicking through to each page in turn. Semantic search also promises to reduce the number of unrelated or irrelevant results for a given search and to facilitate natural-language queries, both potentially useful features for researchers.

Smart Objects
Smart objects are the link between the virtual world and the real. A smart object "knows" about itself — where and how it was made, what it is for, who owns it and how they use it, what other objects in the world are like it — and about its environment. Smart objects can report on their exact location and current state (full or empty, new or depleted, recently used or not).

There are very few examples of smart objects in use in academia, although significant research is being done into how to create and track smart objects and how they might eventually be used. A sampling of applications for smart objects across disciplines includes the following:

Archaeology.
The way that a single smart object connects to a network of information is useful for many disciplines. Consider a student or researcher examining a group of objects from an archaeological dig. A tag attached to the label of each object, when scanned with a mobile device like a camera-enabled phone, would instantly bring up photographs of other objects from the dig, video of the dig site, maps, and any other media or information associated with the area.
Health Care.
Researchers and students at the University of Arkansas have created a simulated hospital environment in the virtual world of Second Life to test the practical and social implications of tagging and tracking patients, hospital staff, supplies, and locations.
Oncology
At Purdue University, researchers have developed a tiny smart object designed to be injected into a tumor. Once placed there, the device can report on the doses of radiation received at the site where it is implanted and indicate the exact location of the tumor during treatment.

New releases from StatsSA

2009-01-22T11:00:00.000+02:00

StatsSA released their newest statistics:
P6242.1 - Retail trade sales, November 2008
Retail trade sales decrease in real terms Retail trade sales, at constant (2000) prices, for the three months ended November 2008 decreased by 4,0% compared with the three months ended November 2007. Retail trade sales, at constant (2000) prices, for the same period in 2007 increased by 1,1%.

Retail trade sales at constant (2000) prices for November 2008 also decreased by 4,0% compared with November 2007. Retail trade sales at constant (2000) prices for the first eleven months of 2008 reflected a decrease of 2,4% compared with the first eleven months of 2007, while growth for the same period in 2007 was 5,8%.

Retail trade sales at current prices, for the three months ended November 2008, increased by 11,4% compared with the three months ended November 2007. The major contributors to this increase were general dealers (+5,7 percentage points), retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods (+2,1 percentage points), retail trade in specialised food, beverages and tobacco stores (+1,8 percentage points), and all other retailers (+1,2 percentage points).

Retailers in household furniture, appliances and equipment contributed negatively (-0,6 of a percentage point) to the change in retail trade sales.

Retail trade sales at current prices for November 2008 increased by 10,7% compared with November 2007, while sales for the corresponding period in 2007 increased by 8,7%.

P0041 - Civil cases for debt, November 2008

The total number of civil summonses issued for debt for the three months ended November 2008 increased by 5,2% compared with the three months ended November 2007. However, there was a decrease of 4,2% between November 2007 and November 2008.

The total number of civil judgements recorded for debt for the three months ended November 2008 decreased by 12,9% compared with the three months ended November 2007.

There was also a decrease of 16,4% between November 2007 and November 2008. The total value of civil judgements recorded for the three months ended November 2008 decreased by 3,4% compared with the three months ended November 2007. However, there was a 13,3% y/y increase in the value of civil judgements recorded for debt in November 2008.

P5041.1 - Selected building statistics of the private sector as reported by local government institutions, November 2008

The value of recorded building plans passed by larger municipalities (at current prices) during January to November 2008 decreased by 4,8% (-R3 649,1 million) compared with January to November 2007. This was due to a decrease of 15,1% (-R6 290,7 million) reported for residential buildings.

However, the decrease in residential buildings was partially counteracted by increases reported for non-residential buildings (17,0% or R2 475,7 million) and additions and alterations (0,8% or R165,8 million).

The preliminary estimates indicate that the value of buildings reported as completed to larger municipalities (at current prices) during the above-mentioned period increased by 9,3% (R4 000,9 million). Increases were reported for additions and alterations (25,2% or R1 912,9 million and non-residential buildings (24,4% or R2 100,0 million). Residential buildings decreased marginally by R12,0 million.

Business/Economics E-Reference Ratings

2009-01-21T13:45:00.004+02:00

The Library Journal recently published an article comparing the various Business/Economic E-resources available.

Each database is rated based on the seven criteria librarians consider the most when making purchasing decisions:

Scope - range and breadth of content
Writing -quality of the writing; consideration of the audience
Design - visual appeal; strengths and weakness of the interface
Bells & Whistles - inclusion of multimedia files, interactive maps, blogs, and other features
Ease of Use - logic behind the organization; efficiency of the search mechanisms
Linking - cross-searchability with other files; ability to integrate with and link to other products
Value for money - Value is a relative term, taking into consideration not only cost but myriad related factors. If a product is expensive, does its comprehensiveness and quality warrant the high cost? Are too much time and energy required to find material, given the price?

Below is the results in table format. (Click on image to enlarge)

Of the 14 databases used in the comparison UJ used to subscribe to 3:

ABI/Inform - which we've cancelled. In the LJ comparison ABI/Inform did not receive a high rating for value for money, scope or writing. It did slightly better for ease of use.
Business Source Complete - the Library subscribes to the Business Source package from Ebsco (the Complete package includes a few more journals). This database was rated as excellent in terms of scope and value for money; it also scored high in the other categories
Emerald EMX - Emerald scored quite high for the linking they provide and also managed a good/plentiful rating for the other six criteria

Here is the comments from LJ regarding the two databases we still have (Business Source and Emerald):

Visually attractive and easily searchable, this business resource offers everything a user would expect from a native EBSCO product. Searches can be limited to academic journals, trade publications, magazines, newspapers, books/monographs, company profiles, SWOT analysis, country reports, industry profiles, market research reports, and product reviews. With over 4000 titles (3000 full text), the product is well worth the price. If your library can afford only one business resource this year, give this one a try.
Emerald has brilliantly combined its web site and online database into a single platform to provide 85,000 full-text articles from 175 peer-reviewed journals as well as web site content. Search results can be limited by clicking on articles, abstracts & reviews, Emerald site, or other content tabs. Current journal issues are easily located from the journal list, which are displayed with cover images, and links to RSS, latest issue, editorial team, and submission guidelines.

Web 2.0 comes to the White House

2009-01-21T08:42:00.002+02:00

Hot of the press is the newly launched whitehouse.gov, the official White House website.

The new website includes interactive features such as a blog written by Macon Phillips, the Director of New Media for the White House, email alerts and a feedback form. The briefing room includes space for a weekly video address, slide shows, proclamations, executive orders and information on appointments and nominees.

Pocket Guide to USA Transportation 2009

2009-01-19T09:32:00.003+02:00

The USA Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a part of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), has published the Pocket Guide to Transportation 2009 – a 50-page quick reference guide to informative transportation data.

The 12th annual Pocket Guide covers data on the transportation system, transportation safety and security, mobility, transportation and the economy, and transportation and the environment.

This would a wonderful idea for our own Transport department to copy.

Marketing and Advertising trends for SA

2009-01-19T09:28:00.004+02:00

The South African online marketing website bizcommunity.com released their Biz'09 Trend Report recently covering upcoming trends in SA.

Here are some of the predictions:

Special events to spur outdoor advertising in 2009
Changing shopper habits in 2009
How the digital landscape will shape marketing in 2009
Communication trends to be mindful of in 2009
The mobile media landscape in 2009 - a forecast
Sea change for SA Internet in 2009
eMarketing in 2009: exciting times, surprises predicted
A 2009 wishlist for African business objectives
Online consumer trends for 2009

Which would you choose - a hamburger or your friend?

2009-01-19T09:17:00.004+02:00

Cherryflava reported on an innovative way Burger King used Facebook for a new burger campaign, the Whopper Sacrifice Campaign.

Burger King reckoned that Facebook friends are cheap, and by deleting 10 of them - you are rewarded with a health-problem causing Whopper...mmmm...meat.

Facebook, however, wasn't happy. It informed BK the application could not go against user expectations because Facebook explicitly says it will not inform users about friend removal.
For the application to continue, Facebook's tech team disabled the broadcasting feature.

After it learned of the restrictions, BK pulled the plug on Whopper Sacrifice. In just a week, the application boasted 82,000 users and more than 230,000 friends removed.

All eyes on Washington

2009-01-19T09:01:00.005+02:00

The presidential inauguration is the official day that the President of the United States is sworn into office. The purpose of this inauguration is to honor the incoming president with formal ceremonies, including: a Presidential Swearing-in Ceremony, an Inaugural Address, and an Inaugural Parade.

The inauguration will take place tomorrow on January 20, 2009 in Washington D.C. on the steps of the United States Capitol and will be covered by all the big news channels on DSTV. The swearing-in ceremony starts at 19:00 (Africa time) with the Inaugural Parade starting at 21:30

President-elect Barack Obama will take the oath of office, which states the following:

"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

The theme for the inauguration is The Birth of a New Freedom and keeping with the Election 2.0 style the Obama Inauguration already has an impressive website running with blogs, videos, bios etc.

New African marketing journal call for editors

2009-01-19T08:48:00.002+02:00

The AFRICAN JOURNAL OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT (AJMM) is a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal published that will be monthly by Academic Journals.
AJMM is dedicated to increasing the depth of the subject across disciplines with the ultimate aim of expanding knowledge of the subject.

Editors and reviewers
AJMM is seeking qualified researchers to join its editorial team as editors, subeditors or reviewers. Kindly send your resume to AJMM@acadjourn.org

Call for Papers
The journal welcomes the submission of manuscripts that meet the general criteria of significance and scientific excellence, and will publish:

· Original articles in basic and applied research
· Case studies
· Critical reviews, surveys, opinions, commentaries and essays

We invite you to submit your manuscript(s) to AJMM@acadjourn.org for publication in the Maiden Issue (April 2009).

Our objective is to inform authors of the decision on their manuscript(s) within four weeks of submission.

Following acceptance, a paper will normally be published in the next issue. Instruction for authors and other details are available on our website; http://www.academicjournals.org/AJMM/Instruction.htm

AJMM is an Open Access Journal

One key request of researchers across the world is unrestricted access to research publications. Open access gives a worldwide audience larger than that of any subscription-based journal and thus increases the visibility and impact of published works. It also enhances indexing, retrieval power and eliminates the need for permissions to reproduce and distribute content. AJMM is fully committed to the Open Access Initiative and will provide free access to all articles as soon as they are published.

For more information, please visit the journal site.

Call for papers on Green Management

2009-01-14T15:11:00.000+02:00

Management Decision is calling for papers for their Special Issue on "Why green management matters" Edited by: Professor David Lamond & Dr Rocky Dwyer

Background
Following the 2007 special issue "Alleviating poverty through trade", and the 2008 "Questions we ask about ethics in a global marketplace", this is the third in an ongoing series of special issues of Management Decision devoted to matters of ethics, sustainability and corporate social responsibility and woven in with the organising theme of the Academy of Management. In 2009, the theme is Green Management Matters.

The special issue will be edited by Rocky Dwyer and David Lamond and will appear under the title of "Why green management matters". It is scheduled for Volume 47, Issue 7 and will appear in August 2009 in CD format, as well as its usual hard copy version, to coincide with the Academy of Management Conference in Chicago.

Whether dealing with waste management or investment management, today's decision makers are confronted with the "green" in those decisions - sustainability, carbon footprints, industrial ecosystems, greenhouse gasses, and energy efficiency are some of the elements which are increasingly the "stuff" of those decisions, the criteria by which decisions are judged to be more or less sound.

This issue seeks to make a contribution to the debate about the "green" consistent with its title "Why green management matters". Papers are welcomed that explore green management and the principles which underpin this approach.

Questions such as "Can I just get by through paying someone else to have a smaller carbon footprint?", "Should business be my brother's (green) keeper?", and "Isn't my responsibility to the shareholders?" needs answers. Conceptual papers, as well as qualitative and quantitative research papers, are welcomed, as they add to the knowledge base about corporate social responsibility and ethics in relation to green management matters.

Papers
Submission of the full paper is required by 1 February 2009 for consideration for the special issue. Papers submitted will be subject to a minimum double-blind peer review process to ensure that this special issue maintains the excellent reputation and record of Management Decision.

For style guidelines please visit the Management Decision web site.

Submissions to Management Decision are made using ScholarOne's Manuscript Central http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/md.

Full instructions are on the author guidelines site. As a guide, articles should be between 3,000 and 6,000 words in length.

A title of not more than 12 words should be provided.

Please e-mail any queries to:
Professor David Lamond PhD E-mail: david.lamond@ntu.ac.uk
Dr Rocky Dwyer PhDE-mail: Dwyer.RJ@forces.gc.ca

ScienceDirect's Hottest articles July - September 2008

2009-01-14T14:59:00.002+02:00

Every 3 months ScienceDirect distributes a list of the Top 25 Hottest articles published with in a specific subject area.

Here is the newest list available for Business, Management & Accounting for the time period: July - September 2008:

1. Market efficiency, long-term returns, and behavioral finance • ArticleJournal of Financial Economics, Volume 49, Issue 3, Pages 283-306Fama, E.F.Cited by Scopus (405)

2. Issues in Supply Chain Management - Don't Automate, Obliterate • ArticleIndustrial Marketing Management, Volume 29, Issue 1, Pages 65-83Lambert, D.M.; Cooper, M.C.Cited by Scopus (210)

3. Innovation behavior in the hotel industry • ArticleOmega, Volume 37, Issue 2, Pages 380-394Orfila-Sintes, F.; Mattsson, J.

4. Investor protection and corporate governance • ArticleJournal of Financial Economics, Volume 58, Issue 1-2, Pages 3-27La Porta, R.; Lopez-de-Silanes, F.; Shleifer, A.; Vishny, R.Cited by Scopus (334)

5. Information asymmetry, corporate disclosure, and the capital markets: A review of the empirical disclosure literature • ArticleJournal of Accounting and Economics, Volume 31, Issue 1-3, Pages 405-440Healy, P.M.; Palepu, K.G.Cited by Scopus (195)

6. Corporate governance and firm performance • ArticleJournal of Corporate Finance, Volume 14, Issue 3, Pages 257-273Bhagat, S.; Bolton, B.Cited by Scopus (1)

7. Information distortion in a supply chain and its mitigation using soft computing approach • ArticleOmega, Volume 37, Issue 2, Pages 282-299Balan, S.; Vrat, P.; Kumar, P.

8. The evolving theory of quality management: The role of Six Sigma • ArticleJournal of Operations Management, Volume 26, Issue 5, Pages 630-650Zu, X.; Fredendall, L.D.; Douglas, T.J.

9. A grounded theory research approach to building and testing TQM theory in operations management • ArticleOmega, Volume 36, Issue 5, Pages 825-837McAdam, R.; Leonard, D.; Henderson, J.; Hazlett, S.A.

10. Terrorism and its impact on economic growth and technological innovation • ArticleTechnological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 74, Issue 2, Pages 129-138Koh, W.T.H.

11. Earnings management and earnings quality • ArticleJournal of Accounting and Economics, Volume 45, Issue 2-3, Pages 350-357Lo, K.

12. Project management: cost, time and quality, two best guesses and a phenomenon, its time to accept other success criteria • ArticleInternational Journal of Project Management, Volume 17, Issue 6, Pages 337-342Atkinson, R.Cited by Scopus (73)

13. The theory and practice of corporate finance: evidence from the field • ArticleJournal of Financial Economics, Volume 60, Issue 2-3, Pages 187-243Graham, J.R.; Harvey, C.R.Cited by Scopus (229)

14. The impact of employee satisfaction on quality and profitability in high-contact service industries • ArticleJournal of Operations Management, Volume 26, Issue 5, Pages 651-668Yee, R.W.Y.; Yeung, A.C.L.; Cheng, T.C.E.

15. Back to the Future: The Broadening Accounting Trajectory • ArticleBritish Accounting Review, The, Volume 33, Issue 4, Pages 421-453Parker, L.D.Cited by Scopus (8)

16. Moving or doing? Knowledge flow, problem solving, and change in industrial networks • ArticleJournal of Business Research, Volume 60, Issue 1, Pages 32-40Andersson, U.; Holm, D.B.; Johanson, M.Cited by Scopus (3)

17. Six Sigma: Definition and underlying theory • ArticleJournal of Operations Management, Volume 26, Issue 4, Pages 536-554Schroeder, R.G.; Linderman, K.; Liedtke, C.; Choo, A.S.Cited by Scopus (2)

18. The application of menu engineering and design in Asian restaurants • ArticleInternational Journal of Hospitality Management, Volume 24, Issue 1, Pages 91-106Kwong, L.Y.L.Cited by Scopus (1)

19. The business case for corporate social responsibility: A company-level measurement approach for CSR • ArticleEuropean Management Journal, Volume 26, Issue 4, Pages 247-261Weber, M.

20. Examining the structural relationships of destination image, tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty: An integrated approach • ArticleTourism Management, Volume 29, Issue 4, Pages 624-636Chi, C.G.-Q.; Qu, H.Cited by Scopus (1)

21. Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the Internet-The state of eTourism research • ArticleTourism Management, Volume 29, Issue 4, Pages 609-623Buhalis, D.; Law, R.

22. Who makes acquisitions? CEO overconfidence and the market's reaction • ArticleJournal of Financial Economics, Volume 89, Issue 1, Pages 20-43Malmendier, U.; Tate, G.Cited by Scopus (2)

23. Partners in coffeeshops, canals and commerce: Marketing the city of Amsterdam • ArticleCities, Volume 24, Issue 1, Pages 16-25Kavaratzis, M.; Ashworth, G.J.Cited by Scopus (2)
24. Creating brand identity: a study of evaluation of new brand names • ArticleJournal of Business Research, Volume 58, Issue 11, Pages 1506-1515Kohli, C.S.; Harich, K.R.; Leuthesser, L.Cited by Scopus (3)

25. Executive information systems development in an emerging economy • ArticleDecision Support Systems, Volume 42, Issue 4, Pages 2078-2084Arnott, D.; Jirachiefpattana, W.; O\'Donnell, P.Cited by Scopus (1)

University news from Africa

2009-01-14T14:22:00.003+02:00

SOUTH AFRICA: The politics of higher education
Karen MacGregor
Power changed hands within South Africa's ruling African National Congress a year ago, and national elections are looming. What the new ruling elite will mean for higher education is unsure, but the hot political issues this year look set to include teacher education and student fees, says Dr Cheryl de la Rey, chief executive officer of the statutory advisory Council on Higher Education.

ZIMBABWE: Brain drain project suffers brain drain
Clemence Manyukwe
A Unesco-sponsored initiative to stem the academic brain drain in five African countries faces collapse in Zimbabwe - as a result of the flight of lecturers. An end of year report by the vice-chancellor's office at Chinhoyi University of Technology said academic staff trained in grid computing as part of the initiative had left the institution for safer - pastures.

ZAMBIA: Government audits two universities
Clemence Manyukwe
Audits are underway at two of Zambia's largest higher education institutions, on the orders of the government, Higher Education Minister Professor Geoffrey Lungangwa told parliament late last year. This followed an attack on the government from parliamentarians over examination paper leakages and political interference at institutions of higher learning.

EQYPT: Law tightens government control
Ashraf Khaled
A new civil universities law approved late last year by the Shura Council, the Egyptian parliament's upper house, is set to tighten the government's grip on higher education. The law provides for the creation of 17 new non-profit universities and makes the Ministry of Higher Education responsible for appointing half the institutions' boards of directors. The other half will be left up to the universities' founders and investors to select.

NIGERIA: Renovations suspended at teaching hospitals
Tunde Fatunde
Crucial renovations at 12 academic hospitals in Nigeria by two Austrian medical engineering firms, under contracts worth US$291 million, have ground to a halt following an alleged plan by "over-zealous" officials in the Ministry of Health to re-award the contracts to other firms. The companies have gone to court claiming breach of contract. Lecturers and students at medical colleges affiliated with the hospitals are concerned and President Musa Yar 'Adua has been called on to intervene.

TUNISIA: Arab world adult education conference
A three-day conference on adult education and building a knowledge society in the Arab world opened on Monday in Gammarth, Tunisia. Titled "Investing in adult learning: Building knowledge and learning societies in the Arab region", it is one of five preparatory regional conferences for Unesco's Sixth International Conference on Adult Education, Confintea VI, which will take place in May in Belém, Brazil.

University News from the West

2009-01-14T07:40:00.004+02:00

ISRAEL-PALESTINE: Operation 'Cast Lead' shuts universities

Helena Flusfeder

Universities in Israel and Gaza have been caught up in the savage conflict now raging in the Palestinian territory. All five universities in Gaza have been shut down while two were closed in southern Israel. "The academic situation in Gaza is collapsing. People's main preoccupation is to get food and stay alive. They feel that everywhere in Gaza is not safe," said one Palestinian professor.

FRANCE: Universities begin move to autonomy

Jane Marshall

Nearly a quarter of France's 80-plus universities assumed new powers of autonomy on 1 January under the government's Universities' Freedoms and Responsibilities law. The legislation gives the universities control over their budgets, staff recruitment and salaries, and other areas that were previously the responsibility of the state. All universities must adopt the reform by 2012, though academics and students continue to express their opposition.

RUSSIA: Rector calls for sweeping reforms

Nick Holdsworth

The rector of Moscow's Higher School of Economics - one of Russia's top universities - has called for a massive shake up in the country's system of higher education. Yaroslav Kuzminov, (shown here at a conference on the right of Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin), says unrestricted growth of university-level institutions in recent years has left Russia's higher education system a mess with wide disparities in standards of teaching and qualifications.

AUSTRALIA: Upheaval across university sector

Geoff Maslen

A plan to reshape Australia's higher education system, deregulate universities, vastly increase their enrolments, provide students with vouchers to study at the university of their choice and extend government funding to a bigger group of providers are among 46 wide-ranging recommendations being considered by the federal government.

UK: Research activity "world leading"

Diane Spencer

Cambridge University came top of the league again in the latest research assessment exercise carried out by England's higher education funding council, Hefce. The 2008 results, published just before Christmas, will be the last of their kind as the next process will be undertaken with a different method. After reviewing research conducted by 52,400 staff submitted by 159 universities and colleges, Hefce concluded that 54 % of UK research activity came into the top two grades of "world leading" or "internationally excellent".

INDIA-AUSTRALIA: Joint venture research academy

The first joint institution for research and research training in areas of mutual importance to India and Australia has been established between the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, or IITB, and Monash University in Melbourne. The new institution was officially opened at the end of November and is a centre of research excellence in clean energy, water, biotechnology, mineral exploration and computer simulation.

Practise what you preach

A lack of quantitative analysis and a tendency to avoid policy-based research has left the study of higher education in the UK in the doldrums

The wizards of Oz

The 'Melbourne model' has prompted universities worldwide to consider broadening undergraduate degrees. But the template does not win over everyone

Academics fear PhD quality is slipping

Staff say that pressures to get more students through quickly are harming standards

'Doing Diversity in Higher Education

'Editor of new collection of essays discusses the role of professors in welcoming and educating students of all types.

The Impact of a Ban on Affirmative Action

New study projects a 35 percent drop in minority enrollments at the most competitive four-year colleges and universities -- but little gain for white students

For-Profit University Begins A Large Media Campaign steven bellAn online educator is presenting itself to potential students as “a different kind of university.” The school is Kaplan University. A campaign for Kaplan University, which began last week, carries the theme “A different school of thought” and suggests that learning online is a way to develop talent that could otherwise go to waste. The campaign is the first national, multimedia effort for Kaplan University. The campaign arrives as the popularity of distance learning for adults, through online universities and colleges, continues to grow. Read more

Webinar: Thinking About the Future

2009-01-13T11:30:00.004+02:00

Thinking About the Future: Planning for Uncertain Times
Brought to you by SCIP, Hosted by The Iowa Chapter

Wednesday, March 4, 2009 1:00PM (EDT) - 12:00 PM (CST)
Program Description
We're living in a time of immense disruptive change -- rapidly sinking housing markets, credit crises, massive layoffs, bankruptcies and dramatic changes in business models. How can your organization have the strategic foresight to weather uncertain times? What forecasting techniques and futures thinking capabilities will help get you through the tough times? What is your organization's preferred future? Do you have the tools to get there?

Dr. Peter Bishop, professor in futures studies at the University of Houston and founding member of the Association of Professional Futurists, will provide an overview of strategic foresight in organizations and describe the tools that professional futurists use to prepare for the future. Learn the difference between traditional forecasting and studies of the future.

"Learning faster than your competitors is the only sustainable competitive advantage in an environment of rapid innovation and change,” said Arie de Geus, former Director of Corporate Planning for Royal Dutch Shell Group. Peter Bishop will introduce you to future thinking techniques that will help you prepare for this environment of rapid change.

Register now!

Registration Fees
SCIP Iowa Region Member: $50.00
SCIP Member: $95.00
Non-Member: $195.00
Student: $25.00 (Non-SCIP Students please contact Dionedra Dorsey (ddorsey@scip.org) for details.

You, or members of your organization, can attend from anywhere in the world. All you need is a personal computer (PC) with a standard internet connection and a telephone. Each registration is for one PC link only and is not transferable to other individuals.

Time zone confusion? Access the world clock for your time zone here to the webinar descriptions that do not include it.

*A site is one computer used to view the Webinar Registration payments for the webinar must be received no later than 12 PM EDT or 11:00 AM CST the day of the event in order to receive log-in information.

Webinar login instructions will be emailed to you prior to the event.

Please note: Registration cutoff will be at 12PM Eastern, 11:00AM CST Wednesday, March 4, 2009.

Contact Information
Belinda Nelson, Iowa Chapter Chair, email: BelindaSNelson@mchsi.com, or (515) 266-3919 or
Robyn Reals, SCIP Education Manager, email, rreals@scip.org 703.739.0696 x107

Major exporters pledge ongoing credit support for developing country imports

2009-01-13T10:10:00.003+02:00

Image: woodsy

Thirty-six exporting countries, including 29 OECD countries plus Brazil, Estonia, India, Israel, Romania, Russia and Slovenia, issued a statement pledging continued export-credit support for international trade deals in line with a call by G20 leaders for emerging and developing economies to retain access to financing for imports in the present financial crisis.

The countries are:

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, European Community, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Russian Federation, Slovenia, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States.

Impact of the economic crisis on employment in the OECD countries

2009-01-13T10:00:00.004+02:00

The OECD area economy has entered recession and labour market conditions are rapidly deteriorating in many countries, according to the latest issue of the OECD Economic Outlook (No. 84, November 2008).

OECD projections indicate that the average unemployment rate in the OECD area may reach 6.3% in the last quarter of 2008, from 5.5% a year earlier. The unemployment rate is projected to increase further in the next 18 months and peak at 7.3% in the second quarter of 2010.

Overall, these projections suggest an increase in the number of unemployed persons in the OECD area from 34 million in 2008 to 42.1 million in 2010 – the most rapid rise in OECD unemployment since the early 1990s.

Employment and Labour Force growth in OECD countries

(click on the images to enlarge)

Unemployment in OECD countries

Consumer Trends to watch out for in 2009

2009-01-13T09:25:00.004+02:00

With the new year, comes all the analysts' predictions as well - TrendWatching.com (an independent and opinionated consumer trends firm) recently released their list of Consumer Trends to keep an eye on:

The report is divided into 6 sections:

Nichetributes - are attributes / features / additions to existing products, making them more practical for specific user groups, while at the same time signaling to those users that the brand 'gets it’, that it cares, and in some cases even pays tribute to their lifestyle
Luxyoury - In 2009 YOU define what is luxury. So in the next 12 months, instead of worrying about missing out on the next big thing in luxury, focus on defining it. Declare that the end is nigh for anything that’s getting a little too affordable, too accessible, or just too well-known. Then introduce something very different (if not the opposite), appealing to the in-crowds ready to jump ship anyway.
Feedback 3.0 - FEEDBACK 3.0 (which is building as we speak) will be all about companies joining the conversation, if only to get their side of the story in front of the mass audience that now scans reviews. Expect smart companies to be increasingly able (and to increasingly demand) to post their apologies and solutions, preferably directly alongside reviews from unhappy customers. Expect the same for candid rebuttals by companies who feel (and can prove) that a particular review is unfair or inaccurate, and want to share their side of the story.
Econcierges - are firms and services dedicated to helping households go green in any possible way. And while any advice that reduces a household's (harmful) consumption is beneficial enough, the fact that such advice leads to savings makes this a very 2009 development. In the coming 12 months, count on cash-strapped consumers to embrace sustainability with a vengeance, but first and foremost for monetary reasons. Next? How about helping consumers to make money by being green, by for example letting them generate and sell excess power to the 'grid'?
MapMania - As the Googles, Nokias (who expect half of their handsets to be GPS enabled by 2010-2012), MapQuests, Navteqs, Openstreetmap.orgs, Apples and TomToms of this world continue to build the necessary infrastructure, devices and apps, any consumer-focused brand would be stupid not to be partnering or experimenting with map-based services. Why? Geography is about everything that is (literally) close to consumers, and it's a universally familiar method of organizing, finding and tracking relevant information on objects, events and people. And now that superior geographical information is accessible on-the-go, from in-car navigation to iPhones, the sky is the limit.
Happy Ending - 2009 is an excellent year for those businesses keen on showing consumers that they really care. At the same time, this is a great moment to innovate: shrinking budgets and diminishing revenues from existing offerings normally bring out the best and most creative in business professionals.
But the most important side effect of more austere times is probably that consumers start questioning what truly makes them happy, which more often than not steers them towards the realization that happiness ain’t (just) about traditional consumption.

Download the report here.

Back to Basics

2009-01-13T08:17:00.001+02:00

I’d like to say welcome back, but since most of you started before me, I’ll just say that I hope you had a wonderful rest during the festive season and that 2009 will bring less stress!

Image: danzo08

With the classes almost upon us, I’d like to give you some information on the training sessions I provide as well as a refresher on the Library services on offer:

Training

I provide training to all postgraduate students, both on individually and in groups.

· Individual training is done by appointment only – please give my details to all your postgraduate students

· Training is usually for an hour and a half and please send your new student assistants for training – it will improve their service to you tremendously

A few pointers to keep in mind when scheduling a group/class library session:

· I am more than happy to give a presentation/demo or hands-on training during class time. The library has a training venue with 14 computers that can accommodate about 28 students. If your class is bigger, I am happy to do training in the Labs as well.

If the class is an evening class the follow will come into play:

o I do only one evening training session per week

o Please let me know a week in advance so that I can book our training room and prepare the manuals

o The library training/session must be in the first hour (i.e. starting at 17:30 or 18:00 at the latest) and will be for an hour

Keep in mind that I am responsible for the training of 8 departments’ postgraduate students as well as 1st year training during January - March – so please let me know well in advance if you want me to train your class.

Library Services

In a nutshell I offer:

Training – for yourself, your student assistants and your postgraduate students

Alerting – be the first to know if a specific journal or article on your research topic has been published, or keep up to date with the publications of a specific author

Access to other universities – gain free access to all resources of other South African universities

Publishing – I can assist you in finding an accredited publication for your article, or a co-author or conference you can present at

Money - Want to know how much money you have left to buy books or databases with? Need help in weeding out old material? Just ask

Referencing – The university subscribes to RefWorks, a software package that automates the referencing and citation functions, please ask if you’d like me to show you how it works

Current Awareness – remember to check this blog regularly for updates on library services as well as relevant information for your subject area

My office is located on the 1st floor of the Library (by the Reference section) and you are more than welcome to come by for help or assistance.

2008-11-20T08:08:00.002+02:00

Measuring entrepreneurship: a digest of indicators

2008-11-17T08:36:00.002+02:00

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

2008-11-17T07:55:00.003+02:00

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

2008-11-17T07:46:00.002+02:00

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.

2008-11-13T15:24:00.003+02:00

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

2008-11-13T14:49:00.002+02:00

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

2008-11-13T14:37:00.003+02:00

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

2008-11-10T09:09:00.000+02:00

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

2008-11-10T09:01:00.001+02:00

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

2008-11-10T08:59:00.000+02:00

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

2008-11-10T07:53:00.002+02:00

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:

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.
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

2008-11-10T07:43:00.002+02:00

Image: salssa

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

New books

2008-11-06T16:28:00.009+02:00

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

2008-11-05T12:17:00.001+02:00

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.

SoccerEx 2008

2008-11-05T12:14:00.001+02:00

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

2008-11-05T12:03:00.002+02:00

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

2008-11-05T10:52:00.000+02:00

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

2008-11-03T13:53:00.006+02:00

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

2008-11-03T13:39:00.001+02:00

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

2008-11-03T12:59:00.002+02:00

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.

Nielsen Consumer Insight November newsletter

2008-11-03T12:34:00.003+02:00

Nielsen has released their November newsletter:

Media infuses life into modern-day politics. New strategies optimize spending in hard economic times. Texting flourishes as a mainstream medium. A brand transcends the test of time. Creative thinking tackles obesity.

Politics Unusual: Media & the Making of a President.

Keyboard politics and the Internet have replaced the backroom dealings of Presidential elections with a more immediate, personal and opinionated forum for evaluating candidates and platforms. read more

Economic Blues Color Holiday Outlook

Scrooge will be in good company this holiday season, as American consumers tighten their belts and hang on to their wallets, with 85% planning to spend less or the same as last year. read more

Gourmet Shoppers Cook Up Retail Opportunities.

With rising inflation and gas prices taking a bite out of household budgets, now is a good time to cater to high-earning, big-spending home-grown gourmet cooks who account for one in five U.S. households. read more

Flying Fingers

Text-messaging has become so popular that U.S. mobile subscribers now send and receive more text messages in a month than they do phone calls. Increasing 351% since last year, it has become a ubiquitous method of communication. read more

One Nation Under Madden.

How does a brand stay true to its core, and continually reinvent itself for 20 years and manage to thrive in the challenging new media? The Madden video game scored with a commitment to authenticity and a three-screen approach. read more

A Widening Market: The Obese Consumer

Obesity is on the rise around the world, but is especially predominant in the U.S. How should marketers navigate this sensitive, but opportunity-laden environment? read more

"Below the Topline" - Asian Persuasion.

Asians in the U.S. are often overlooked by marketers due to the tremendous growth of the Hispanic population. However, marketers will need to dig deep in order to reach this rapidly growing segment. read more

Top Tens and Trends

Our latest intelligence on Movies, TV, Books, Music, CPG Trends and more. read more

Good luck to all the Grade 12 parents!

2008-11-03T12:03:00.002+02:00

Good luck to all the parents of Grade 12 pupils as the NCS starts today!

This is the first time that all Grade 12 learners in public schools write the same examinations, which are set on the new curriculum known as the National Curriculum Statement.

With the NSC, there is no longer Higher and Standard Grades, only one grade of examination paper is set and all learners must choose either mathematics or mathematical literacy. All learners must also take Life Orientation which is assessed internally.

Vote for the 2008 World Athlete of the Year

2008-11-03T11:59:00.000+02:00

The IAAF is giving you the unique chance to help select the 2008 World Athlete of the Year.

With the vote now open, it takes just a few clicks to pick your THREE finalists for the Athlete of the Year (Man and Woman) from the candidates list selected by a panel of IAAF Experts.

With the help of your votes, which will be added to a poll of IAAF Athletics Family members, a shortlist of 3 finalists will be presented to a Special Jury of the International Athletic Foundation, who will then make a final selection of the World Athlete of the Year and announce the winners, live on stage, at the 2008 IAAF World Athletics Gala in Monaco on 23 November.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

Candidates for the World Athlete of the Year Awards

You have to pick your THREE FINALISTS!

Athletes listed in alphabetical order:

Men

Kenenisa Bekele (ETH)

Usain Bolt (JAM)

Bryan Clay (USA)

LaShawn Merritt (USA)

Haile Gebrselassie (ETH)

Dayron Robles (CUB)

Irving Saladino (PAN)

Andrey Silnov (RUS)

Andreas Thorkildsen (NOR)

Samuel Wanjiru (KEN)

Women

Veronica Campbell-Brown (JAM)

Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH)

Gulnara Galkina-Samitova (RUS)

Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS)

Pamela Jelimo (KEN)

Françoise Mbango (CMR)

Barbora Spotakova (CZE)

Valerie Vili (NZL)

Blanka Vlasic (CRO)

Melaine Walker (JAM)

The vote for the 2008 World Athletes of the Year will close on Sunday 9 November 2008, midnight Monaco time.

Green Innovation Awards - Call for entries

2008-11-03T11:55:00.001+02:00

In this, the second year of the Real Simple Green Innovation Awards, we, in association with Fleur du Cap wines, aim to applaud home-grown green products, services and solutions as well as those entrepreneurs who are turning the eco-problems of today into green solutions for the future.

Entries close 25 November 2008. Winners will be announced in the May 2009 issue of Real Simple. Click here to download an entry form.

Here are the categories:

Green Beauty
Going green gives new meaning to the phrase ‘natural beauty’. Nominate a beauty house or product that does all the right things without harming the environment: products that are certified, biodegradable, natural, sustainable, come in ecofriendly packaging and are widely available. Whether it’s skin care, cosmetics, hair care or pamper products – for you or for him – what we’re looking for is beauty and green ethics that go hand in hand throughout the entire production cycle.
Click here to download the Green Beauty entry form.

Green Design
While we love clean lines and clever curves, we value function as much as form, particularly if it also speaks of a commitment to sustainable living. From tea bags to cars, outdoor furniture to indoor lighting, we want to know who’s creating genius decor without bumping off that really great one-off design: the earth. Our judges will be looking at the sustainability of the product, production processes, distribution as well as plans for expanding the product range.
Click here to download the Green Design entry form.

Green Fashion
We’re looking for fashion that’s good enough for the catwalk but also treads the ethical fine line between desirable and downright good for the earth. The materials and production process, as well as the brand vision, need to be ecofriendly – not to mention result in an end product that’s highly wearable too. From ball gowns, day wear and casual wear, to children’s clothing, shoes, jewellery and accessories, we take fashion very seriously when the label is green.
Click here to download the Green Fashion entry form.

Green Food
What we’re looking for is organically grown products that are ecofriendly in every way, from the soil, to the seed, to the final distribution. Green food is all about putting your money where your mouth is and our judges will be looking at the production processes, packaging, supply and distribution chain, food miles and carbon footprint. And, yes, they’ll be doing a taste test too.
Click here to download the Green Food entry form.

Green Habitat
While good design has always taken the landscape into consideration, the call for environmentally friendly architecture and decor has made this imperative. We’re looking for those architects or homeowners who are paving the way in terms of ecofriendly materials, construction methods, energy efficiency and environmental impact. Whether it’s an urban haven or a country home, our judges are looking for the blueprint future generations can build on.
Click here to download the Green Habitat entry form.

Green Household
For most, the first step towards going green is to switch to the green version of the domestic and gardening products you have to have anyway. In addition to products that really get the job done – be they freezer bags or dishwashing liquid, laundry products or pesticides, nappies or fertiliser – our judges will consider the source of the ingredients, packaging and distribution, as well as availability and affordability. Good looks (to tempt new converts) will be an added bonus.
Click here to download the Green Household entry form.

Green Service
It’s all very well buying ecofriendly, but what about the NGOs, community projects, recycling teams, retail stores and banks? We’re looking for that one organisation that helps us to keep our waste, logistics or just plain everyday living moving in the right direction. From recycling services to paperless banking, from community gardens to supermarkets that care, to make a real difference, we need the support of those who think big.
Click here to download the Green Service entry form.

Green Media And Education
Information and education are really useful tools for planting the seed in young minds and growing the collective green conscience. Whether a website, TV programme, magazine, newspaper, book or blog, even exhibitions and expos, and education and training, we need voices that champion environmental issues while being 100-percent green themselves. The judges will evaluate the impact of the message as well as the medium, the choice of materials, production and distribution processes.
Click here to download the Green Media and Education entry form.

Green Inspiration
Some people are so passionately and glowingly green that we naturally look to them for the personal motivation we need to improve our lives. We’re looking for our green hero, the environmental campaigner who puts eco-integrity before almost all else. In an ideal world, this person’s life should be exemplary, from home to transport choices. But in the real world, we are looking for someone who is committed to the environment and putting that commitment into practice.
Click here to download the Green Inspiration entry form.

Overall Green Innovation Award
From all the individual categories above, the overall winner will be the green innovation who really stands out – the person or company with the biggest positive impact on the country, that reaches the most people, that’s relevant to tomorrow’s green issues, is committed to excellence and inspires us to green our lives. Put simply, we’re looking for the one person, organisation or company that is leading the way – and getting others to follow.

If you’re not sure which category your product, service or store falls into, call Lizanda Lucas on 021 412 2947 for more information or email lizanda@realsimple.co.za

Shikota embraces YouTube

2008-11-03T11:45:00.004+02:00

Mbhazima Sam Shilowa has embraced the Net and YouTube to invite South Africans to join his National Convention.

With 20.28% of South Africa's population between 18 and 30, it seems like a smart move to target younger voters in this way - we'll have to wait and see if the other parties will follow.

The JSE - to let?

2008-11-03T11:39:00.001+02:00

Images: Cherryflava

It seems the Johannesburg Stock Exchange is "to let". But on a closer look, it is an ad for Investment Management. (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

Here is the copy: To Let. It's hard not to worry. Emotions move people - and the markets. We know that understanding them is the key to building wealth.

And here the press release:

JSE Building to Let

The JSE building is up for grabs. A large ‘To let’ banner hangs on the outside of the home of the SA stock exchange. Recently, the media has been dominated by images of traders, heads in their hands in utter dismay at the demise of the market and some of the industry’s biggest players. In these tough economic times, we are quickly getting used to the idea of expecting the unexpected.

At a closer look, the banner is in fact an advert for Sanlam Investment Management. The headline that follows the ‘To Let’ sign reads, “It’s hard not to worry”. In the face of turbulent times. Sanlam Investment Management is standing strong and certain with a bold message to investors and the public. The campaign was conceptualized by The Jupiter Drawing Room Cape Town, who recently won 3 eagle Awards for work done for Sanlam.

This creative statement dramatises the fear and uncertainty that investors worldwide are experiencing. The ad's resolve indicates that Sanlam Investment Management understands that human emotions move people and the financial markets. They indicate that understanding these emotions and the shifts they cause is the key to building wealth.

“The strength of the idea is two-fold. One is the idea to use the JSE building as a platform for the message. The second is to be tactical on the current situation of the SA stock exchange and the world economy,” comments Jupiter Executive Creative Director, Ross Chowles. “Combined together, these two ideas make it a powerful and compelling piece of communication.”

Obama is Red Bull, McCain is Diet Coke

2008-11-03T11:34:00.002+02:00

Famous personalities are brands, and the current US presidential candidates are no exception. According to new research by Synovate, John McCain and Barack Obama have more in common than you may think with some of the world’s most recognized brands.

When you think of Diet Coke and Apple, John McCain probably doesn't come to mind but he's similar to both brands in a few important ways. Each has a confidence and straightforwardness to shout about who they are and what they believe in. They don't bother talking about their features or benefits; they simply put themselves out there and expect you to figure out for yourself why you should like them. This is a classic 'me me me' strategy. These brands have chosen something to stand for and invite you to join them in their club with other like-minded folks.

Barack Obama, on the other hand, is more about what he'll do for you than what he's all about. More like Red Bull rather than Diet Coke, he's 'you you you' focused. He believes his policies offer a benefit for you and that's what he's going to shout about. This strategy is outer directed and is the basis of how he's been connecting with voters. Brands that focus on you, instead of me, talk more about the specific benefits they have that will make your life better. With the current economic turmoil in the world, perhaps 'you you you' is a better offer for brands than 'me me me'? To read more of the report, click here.

The Australian journal Perception has also released an article on how well Barack Obama would have faired, had he taken his childhood nickname and mother's surname of Barry Dunham.

See into the future ...

2008-11-03T10:37:00.003+02:00

Image: www.docjaksonsplace.com/fortunetellerstent.htm

A few weeks ago I wrote an entry on Perkonomics and how it seems to be one of the trends to keep an eye on according to Trendwatching.

They have now released some Q&A's on trend watching in their November Top 15 Trend Questions and Answers:

Q15: “How do I spot and apply trends?”
Q14: “What are good trend resources?”
Q13: “What will be the next Facebook or Google?”
Q12: “What’s next for ?”
Q11: “So how does PERKONOMICS relate to…?”
Q10: ”What trends are affecting ?”
Q9: “How do I know a trend isn’t just a fad?”
Q8: “When is the right time to act on a trend?”
Q7: “What are the trends in ?”
Q6: “Who sets trends?”
Q5: “How do I become a (better) trend watcher?”
Q4: “How much influence do trend watchers have?”
Q3: “What is a trend’s life cycle?”
Q2: “What’s going to be big in 2009?”
Q1: “How is the financial crisis going to impact my business?” .

It makes for some very interesting reading.

Barriers to Trade

2008-11-03T10:12:00.003+02:00

Image: Baltar

The OECD has released their report on: Technical Barriers to Trade: Evaluating the Trade Effects of Supplier's Declaration of Conformity

This study explains expected trade-facilitating benefits and other characteristics of the use of Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity (SDOC) as a conformity assessment procedure and assesses the trade effect of the EU’s adoption of SDOC in three product sectors: medical devices, telecommunications equipment and machinery sectors.

The paper explains the rationale for using SDOC, expected benefits and design characteristics of SDOC regimes. The quantitative analysis uses a gravity model and finds compelling evidence that the introduction of SDOC in the EU was a factor that influenced the evolution of import flows into EU markets positively. Intra-EU trade flows and imports from extra-EU OECD countries increased for SDOC-eligible radio and telecommunications equipment and low-risk medical devices, whereas the results for machinery are ambiguous.

The most striking increases, visible in all three sectors, are found for exports to EU markets from non-OECD (developing) countries included in the sample. Analysis of the effect of SDOC for selected individual EU members furthermore suggest that the magnitude of effect depends on the nature of the CA regime that SDOC replaced.

Road as Medium, Plays Back Music

2008-10-27T10:18:00.005+02:00

Image: gigdoggy

Imagine driving past the beach and hearing the Coca-Cola jingle playing while you drive, (without your radio being on) - A Japanese engineer, Shizuo Shinoda, has come up with an idea to use the grooves in asphalt to play music.

The system works by cutting thousands of little grooves in the asphalt that produce a sound when a vehicle drives over them. The grooves are a few millimeters deep and 6 to 12 millimeters wide, and the closer you bring them together the higher the pitch will be when driven over. Production cost is about $20 000.

Mr Shinoda got the idea by driving his car over markings a bulldozer had previously scraped off a street and realized he was generating a series a tones.

The Japanese had dabbed at some security measures to keep drivers awake and alert - now with these musical roads they found their new toys. Already three streets in Japan have been “tuned” to play popular regional songs and famous tunes like the theme from “Alvin And The Chipmunks”. The streets are situated in Hokkaido, Wakayama and Gunma. One has been sponsored by Honda in Lancaster, California, one plays “Marry Had a Little Lamb” in Anyang South Korea, and yet another exists apparently somewhere in Holland.

The ones in Japan induce slow driving as the recommended speed to unleash the most accurate melody is 28mph.

University news from Africa

2008-10-27T07:42:00.005+02:00

AFRICA: Tertiary education key to growth: World Bank
Karen MacGregor
Tertiary enrolments in Sub-Saharan Africa more than tripled between 1991 and 2005, expanding at an annual rate of 8.7% - one of the highest regional growth rates in the world - says a new report by the World Bank. But public funding did not keep up and spending per student plummeted over 25 years from an average of US$6,800 a year to just US$981 in 2005 for 33 countries. "Educational quality and relevance both suffered as a result," according to Accelerating Catch-up - Tertiary education for growth in Sub-Saharan Africa.

ZAMBIA: Brain drain stemming plan in tatters
Clemence Manyukwe
A plan tabled in Zambia's parliament in 2007, aimed at curbing the brain drain among science lecturers and researchers, lies in ruins amid ongoing academic disgruntlement. The plan included adjusting salaries regularly, introducing a home-ownership scheme, retention allowances and increased research grants for state institutions. But strikes have dominated Zambia's academic year and they have included science lecturers.

SENEGAL: UCAD to expand biotechnology courses
The University of Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD) in Dakar is planning to offer a masters degree in plant and microbic biotechnologies which will be accessible to students in other countries, thanks to distance learning. Academics and researchers from Senegal and other countries in the region including Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Mauritania, Mali and Niger, as well as France, met at UCAD for a sub-regional workshop organised by the university's Department of Biology.

EGYPT: Anger at revamping of Muslim seminary
Khaled Fouad
Academics at Al Azhar University, the Muslim world's oldest seat of higher learning, have reacted angrily to a decision by the Egyptian government to recategorise the institution's colleges. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, who doubles as Minister of Al Azhar Affairs, ordered separation of the university's religious colleges from ones teaching non-religious subjects to create two institutions.

ZIMBABWE: Universities still closed as students arrested
Clemence Manyukwe
Four student leaders were arrested last week for leading a protest of nearly 500 students against the collapse of higher education in Zimbabwe. No state universities are operating in the new academic year because of serious problems including a lecturer strike, lack of finance and unavailability of learning materials.

NIGERIA: Students protest against exorbitant exam fees
Tunde Fatunde
Candidates seeking admission into the current 2008-09 academic session in Nigeria are unhappy with high entrance examination fees charged separately by universities and the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, or JAMB. One newspaper analysis calculated that the amount spent by students sitting both sets of examinations was a whopping US$119 million.

EU: New site to attract foreign students
The European Commission has launched a new web portal called Study in Europe to promote universities across the EU to students from other parts of the world. The portal is part of a campaign to boost the number of students from outside Europe who study in the EU.

EU: More funding for Erasmus
The European Parliament last week gave the green light to a second funding round for the EU's Erasmus Mundus Programme which aims to promote Europe as a centre of academic excellence. In backing the estimated budget of EUR950 million (US$1,227 million) for the 2009-2013 period, the parliament adopted changes to some of the criteria to simplify visa applications for participants from non-EU countries and to ensure a balance in terms of students' gender and country of origin.

EU: Call for editorial board applications
The European Training Foundation plans to establish a new international board for the next three years and has called for applications from appropriately qualified people. The ETF is a specialised agency of the European Union based in Turin, Italy, and works with transition and developing countries to apply human capital development strategies to socio-economic development.

Good luck for tomorrow!

2008-10-24T08:53:00.001+02:00

Good luck to all the Blue Bull and Shark supporters for tomorrow's Currie Cup Final!

Since my team is not in the final (Cheetahs), I will be cheering with my husband for the Bulls.

Edited on Monday - congrats to the Sharks!

The mom and dad of social media lists

2008-10-24T08:09:00.003+02:00

Adapted from picture of: spekulator

Guy Kawasaki at the FutureLab blog recently posted the "mother of social media lists" and the "father of social media lists."

Click here to see mom and here to see dad.

These are the most comprehensive lists of examples of social media applications, videos, blogs, podcasts, widgets, crowdsourcing, bookmarking, microblogging, photosharing, wikis, mashups, brand monitoring ad nauseum.

Strategic technologies for 2009

2008-10-24T07:33:00.003+02:00

Gartner Inc., a technology research and advisory company, has ranked virtualization as the No. 1 strategic technology for next year, not for its "tremendously obvious" ability to virtualize servers, but for its increasing capability to virtualize just about everything else in a data center.

Here's Gartner's list for 2009:

1. Virtualization. (Ranked No. 5 last year)

In forecasting the impact of the economy on IT spending, Gartner put virtualization near the top of must-have technologies. But to make the strategic technology list, it had to have other characteristics as well, namely a Swiss Army Knife-like capability to be applied beyond servers.

Gartner analyst Carl Claunch said that in storage, for instance, virtualization allows users to "to combine different kinds and generations of storage technology." That gives them the freedom to mix and match storage technologies based on competitive bids, he said.

2. Cloud computing. (New to the list.)

If there was a technology hype list, cloud computing would have been the top choice, said Cearley. He got some audience chuckles with this line: "You can't swing a dead cat without hitting somebody that's talking about cloud computing these days."
But Gartner sees cloud computing as having a massive game-changing role, not only as the platform for software as a service, but as a computing and storage infrastructure provider, as well as a platform for information and business processes.

3. Computing fabrics. (No. 8 last year.)

Server technology is evolving to a point where you buy the physical resource you need, whether that is memory, I/O or processor, and fashion them together to create resource pools.

A computing fabric "combines those [resources] as you need them," said Claunch. IT shops will, potentially, be able to dispense with their separate pools of small, medium and large servers under this model. Blade servers have some of this capability -- the ability to move memory and processor capability -- but it's limited to what's inside the chassis, he said.

4. Web-oriented architecture. (New but similar to "the Web platform" -- No. 7 last year.) Gartner talked last year about how the Web will be the model for services delivery. This year, it discussed in terms of an architectural approach, how Web models will influence service-oriented architectures. The architecture, as the name implies, uses Web standards, identifiers, formats and protocols

5. Enterprise mashups. (No. 6 last year.)

Mashups, a fun word, are becoming a serious enterprise tool, allowing users to use public APIs to combine various services and capabilities quickly. The content aggregation tools give business users the flexibility to combine data inside and outside the enterprise.

6. Specialized systems. (New to the list.) A Cisco router is an obvious example, but there are specialized appliances for Java, data warehousing and other processes. It's an approach that could lead to some cost savings, and "could be wide open" as an emerging trend, said Claunch.

7. Social software and social networking. (No. 10 last year.) The tools offer "the ability to work across the organization in dynamic fashion," said Claunch.

8. Unified communications. (No. 2 last year.) Gartner said that over the next five year, "the number of different communications vendors companies may be reduced by at least 50%," thanks to unified communications.

9. Business intelligence. (New.)

This is hardly new to enterprises, but increases in computing power is giving companies the means to expand business intelligence capabilities, such as applying BI analytics directly into business processes.

10. Green IT. (No. 1 last year.)

Already a strategic technology that will not melt away, Green IT has not diminished in importance. For IT, green is everything, and that includes anything that can help cut the energy bill and reduce fuel use.

CIO published an article on What Gartner didn't say about virtualisation which goes into more detail about client virtualisation.

University news from the West

2008-10-23T15:15:00.004+02:00

Life and sport: A world apart
Those who say life is like a game are confusing fantasy with reality, says Robert A. Segal

Keep it stupid, simple
Is dumbing down a reality on UK campuses? Most respondents to our online poll highlighted dangers to academic standards, but they were split about whether degrees are worth less than they were before. John Gill weighs up the facts

Hefce moots linking cash to employability

Higher education expert says funding idea is ‘extremely dangerous’

Forum lays down proposals in bid to improve student life

Better information and flexible finance are among report recommendations

Watch out: FoI research shines light on the sector

Should universities be exempt from Freedom of Information Act probes?

‘You would barely know adult stem cells exist’

Newcastle specialist quits UK for France, citing undue focus on embryo research

GLOBAL: Tide turning for STEM subjects
Diane Spencer
Countries around the world are trying to prevent a continuing decline in interest among students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics or STEM - the so-called key vulnerable subjects. Professor John Holman, director of STEM subjects at the UK National Science Learning Centre, said Britain was not alone among advanced economies that had experienced shortages of graduates in these areas. While other EU countries, Japan, the US and Scandinavia were also suffering, the picture was different in developing nations.

GERMANY: Education summit a disappointment
Mike Gardner
Seemingly undaunted by the international financial crisis which has also rocked some German banks, the Federal Government went ahead with its Education Summit last Wednesday. But the meeting ended in a row over the 16 state governments' insistence on getting a greater share of VAT revenue for investment in education.

RUSSIA: Super league of 'federal' universities
Nick Holdsworth
A shake-up of Russia's university system will see the establishment of a network of new, high-status 'federal' institutions under Education Ministry plans being considered by lawmakers. The scheme - part of a wide-ranging set of proposals under a Kremlin plan to improve Russia's socio-economic infrastructure - has passed its first reading and will target resources on specialised research universities and encourage wider lifelong vocational learning.

BANGLADESH: Responding to global challenges
Mahdin Mahboob*
The Asia Regional Higher Education Summit was held in Dhaka earlier this month with a view to expanding innovative approaches to teaching, research, technology transfer and business development in higher education. Attended by senior educationists from across the world, the four-day summit proposed a range of ideas for the development of key sectors and how higher education could play a role in this.

AUSTRALIA: Boost for university infrastructure
Geoff Maslen
The nation's universities have welcomed a decision by the federal government to allocate almost A$700 million (US$469 million) for spending on infrastructure and research facilities. The money has been fast-tracked to next year's funding round and will be drawn from the $1 billion Higher Education Endowment Fund.

HUNGARY: Boost R&D to improve economy
Hungary should invest more in research and development to make its economy more competitive and boost growth, according to a new OECD report. The report, Hungary - OECD Review of Innovation Policy, considers the strengths and weaknesses of Hungary's innovation system and recommends steps the government could take to increase the impact of innovation on the country's future prosperity.

US-INDIA: Collaboration in agricultural education
Subbiah Arunachalam
The US Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES) has awarded four grants totalling about $400,000 to US universities for advancing the US-India Agricultural Knowledge Initiative.

Don't Panic
College fund raisers are making some tactical adjustments amid economic turmoil, but few are publicly expressing outright doom and gloom about their prospects.

The Econ Major's Marginal Utility
A new working paper examines economics majors' views about their chosen field of study, including its level of difficulty and how happy they are with it.

Too Many Students Come to College Unprepared
steven bell
In many parts of the country, community colleges are bursting at the seams as demand for their product soars. A shocking 70 percent of new students at Normandale Community College in Bloomington need to enroll in one or more remedial math courses before proceeding to college-credit work. More than half need remedial work in writing.

Higher Ed Looks Like The Next Bubble To Pop
steven bell
Home builders and banks aren't the only ones facing economic headwinds these days. America's undercapitalized independent colleges are staring at a spiral of major threats to solvency as penny-pinching students and parents consider cheaper options, and funding sources dry up. As a result, they could be the next bubble industry to pop. But while head counts slide, needs rise. Demand for student aid is up, but charitable donations from foundations and individuals will fall during a downturn. Ditto for investment returns. And thanks to tanking tax revenue, federal aid may take a hit, too. Taken together, many independent institutions start to look vulnerable.

Students Work To Create A Digital Game With Social Purpose
steven bell
Creating a fun game may seem an unlikely way to tackle the serious problem of domestic violence. But that’s the task facing a team of college students in quaint Vermont. An added challenge: The digital game has to be appealing and accessible to young people half a world away, in the townships of Cape Town, South Africa. As part of a broader campaign against gender violence, the United Nations wants to reach children, particularly boys, before stereotypes sink in.

Threats to shipping

2008-10-23T15:06:00.003+02:00

The Worldwide Threats to Shipping Report, compiled and published weekly by the Office of Naval Intelligence, contains a summary of recent piracy acts and hostile actions against commercial shipping worldwide, organized by geographic region. The report also includes any recent developments in the efforts to prevent piracy and prosecute the aggressors.

The most recent report is from 17 October 2008 and highlights

Anti-piracy and crime current developments in Somalia, the Gulf of Aden and Japan.
There is reported active violence against shipping,a credible threat to shipping, or the potential to develop into a direct threat to the safety of shipping in the South America and West Africa, the Indian Ocean East Africa, Southeast Asia and North Asia
Environmental and economic non-state activist groups - Greenpeace boarded a carrier (WINDSOR ADVENTURE) 06 Oct 08 off the port of Gijon, Spain.

Brand Xpo coming in 2009

2008-10-22T15:24:00.003+02:00

Affinity Publishing, parents of Encyclopaedia of Brands & Branding in South Africa, organise a new brand exhibition next year: Brand Xpo. It seems the expo will be in September 2009 and a selection of iconic brands will be showcased for all to see.

According to Bizcommunity.com

Brand Xpo is Affinity Publishing's brainchild but its advisors include an impressive line-up of marketing experts: André Beyers (André Beyers Marketing), Andrew Human (The Loerie Awards), Andy Rice (Yellowwood Brand Architects), Derek Carstens (First National Bank), Derick de Jongh (UNISA), Gab Mampone (SABC), Gordon Cook (Vega School of Brand Communication), Heidi Brauer (Ipsos Markinor), Jeremy Sampson (Interbrand Sampson), Mike Perry (Perry & Associates), Nicola Kleyn (GIBS), Roger Sinclair (BrandMetrics), Sean McCoy (HKLM), Sizakele Marutlulle (Moonchild) and Thebe Ikalefeng (Brand Leadership).

The Advisory Board has already suggested Brand Xpo's primary audience be segmented into three groups - marketers of today, marketers of the future, and consumers - and that activities and displays be developed to appeal to, and benefit, all three.

The first two groups, marketers of today and marketers of the future, will achieve maximum benefit from the ‘industry days' that will form the backbone of the exhibition. According to Preston, these are aimed at SMEs, branding agencies, corporates, colleges and universities, all of whom will derive great value through skills transfer sessions and displays, and learning how the various elements of branding are used to build profitable brands.

Brand Xpo will held at Gallagher Estate in September 2009.

For further information, contact Ken Preston or Samantha van Staden on 011 442-2366.

Looking towards the future

2008-10-21T09:12:00.009+02:00

Every year The Futurist makes some forecasts on changes and trends we can expect in the following year. This year they have released an article: OUTLOOK 2009: Recent Forecasts from World Future Society for 2009 and Beyond .

The forecasts is not “predictions” of what the future will be like, but rather glimpses of what may happen or proposals for preferred futures.

So what can you expect?

In a nutshell: more sex, fewer antidepressants; more religious influence in China, less religious influence in the Middle East and the United States; more truth and transparency online, but a totally recorded real life.

The forecasts are divided into sections:

Business and Economics

China will most likely become the world’s largest economy within the next three decades.

Tourism is expected to nearly double worldwide, from 842 million international tourist arrivals in 2006 to 1.6 billion in 2020

Retirees in the United States will increasingly return to the workforce. (The report is large US-based, however, this is a global trend)

Socioeconomic disparities will become more pronounced in aging societies.

Social safety nets will get cut. Governments across the industrialized world will pare down or scrap altogether their pension and health-care programs for retirees.

Computers

Watch out! HAL from 2001 is on the way. Selfaware machine intelligence could be achieved by midcentury.

Search engines will become humanlike by 2050. With the “semantic” Web, AI-based search engines will comprehend users’ questions and queries just like a human assistant.

Rainbow traps may improve computing abilities.

“Serious gaming” will help train tomorrow’s health workers.

Demography

Urbanization will hit 60% by 2030.

Workforces on the move will exacerbate social conflicts. Increased migrations of workers from developing countries to developed countries will help offset worker shortages in host countries.

Energy

Access to electricity will reach 83% of the world by 2030.

Architects will harness energy from the movement of crowds.

Pursuit of alternatives to oil could help stabilize gas prices.

Information Society

Everything you say and do may be recorded. By the late 2010s, ubiquitous unseen nanodevices will provide seamless communication and surveillance among all people everywhere.

Identity theft and other Internet crimes will increase at a faster pace.

You’ll have more friends whom you’ll never meet, and cyberfriends may outnumber real-life friends. (This has already happened in places like Facebook and MySpace, even perhaps Linked-In?)

Technology and Science

The Internet will become more factually reliable and more transparent.

TV in 3-D.

Optical clocks may enable us to measure time much more precisely.

Transportation

The car’s days as king of the road may soon be over.

Mobility is becoming a priority to more people in rising economies: More people will travel farther faster. Personal mobility is increasing in rapidly expanding economies.

Research labs are coming closer to “beaming” us up. Star Trek–type transporters may soon be possible for data transmission, but not for sending people places.

Values and Society

People will have more sex. With women’s growing economic power around the world, arranged marriages are becoming less likely. As a result, women will feel freer to express their sexuality.

U.S. cultural hegemony may be over. The days of U.S. and First World dominance over the world’s culture and economy may soon be over.

New generations, new values. Self reliance and cooperation will become prevalent societal values as Generation X and Generation Y replace the baby-boom generation.

More people will consume ethically.

Work and Careers

Succeeding in future niche careers may mean choosing an unusual major.

Tomorrow’s high-tech cowboys will telecommute.

Professional knowledge will become obsolete more quickly.

World Affairs

The world’s legal systems will be networked. The Global Legal Information Network (GLIN), a database of local and national laws for more than 50 participating countries, will grow to include more than 100 counties by 2010.

Militaries will use neuroscience breakthroughs to win future wars.

Climate change is already spurring armed conflict.

Sport & Technology journal

2008-10-20T14:49:00.003+02:00

The new issue of Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology is available.

Here is the Table of Content:

Aims and Scope of the journal:

The Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology is the publication of choice for authors seeking to disseminate original research findings related to the development or application of technology in sports.

High quality output from engineering focused research activity is presented where the objective of the work undertaken was to enhance user performance (fitness, skill, comfort, etc.), reduce incidence and severity of injury, increase participation rates, promote participation, or enhance the spectator experience.

The scope of the journal includes but is not limited to papers focused on:

Equipment used for competition, training, rehabilitation and coaching
Sports equipment related design and innovation (the ideation process, concept creation,
Embodiment refinement, design for mass manufacture and for sustainability)
The development and validation of instrumentation, processes or software to enhance
Research activities within sports engineering and technology

University news from Africa

2008-10-20T08:35:00.001+02:00

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.

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.

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

ZIMBABWE: Nursing education abandoned
Clemence Manyukwe
Zimbabwean nursing colleges have abandoned specialised training for students because of a lack of medical equipment and poor funding. The latest development is likely to have a catastrophic effect on the country's health delivery system, itself currently in the intensive care unit arising from the 'brain drain' and poor salaries for medical practitioners.

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.