g. Kofi annan

Remember those facial recognition, augmented reality contact lenses in Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol (good movie by the way)? Well Microsoft and the university of Kansas are making some headway to making them a reality. Check the video beloww on the overview of the Augmented Reality lens project. Sidebar: I’m really liking Microsoft’s strategies these days. Seems they’re FINALLY realizing that the whole “We make Windows software and all other projects are only pet projects” thing is going away.

In a move that makes eye color correction seem boring, Microsoft and the University of Washington have made major advances in bringing augmented reality to contact lenses. The augmented reality lens receives radio signals and transmits them via optical nerves directly to the brain. The process was successfully tested on a rabbit, and the research team has the go-ahead to begin human trials.

While augmented reality has thus far been treated as something of a fad by corporations not involved with video games or marketing, Microsoft insists that incorporating the technology into a lens will make it practical for multiple applications. Possible uses include using facial recognition technology to assist security and police forces, or a virtual desktop that retrieves and displays information in the blink of an eye.

(via Microsoft Eyes Augmented Reality)

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I just finished reading Nick Bilton's recent "I Live in the Future & Here's How It Works", a thoughtful book on the emergence of digital media and how it's impacting our society. One of the concepts that has stuck with me is Bilton's thoughts on how we naturally adapt to new media forms and learn to displace old ones in our daily life. As an example, he illustrates how the emergence of television caused people to change their media focus in homes, moving radio consumption to being experienced mostly in the car. Bilton makes a good point about how organizations demonize new media forms and their effect on learning and growth, especially in youth. Comic books were supposed to encourage juvenile delinquency, and now mobile and texting is supposed to limit children's use and understanding of the English language. There are many studies to support both viewpoints, but one perspective I find lacking in the discourse is the youth's perspective. Yes, media creation and consumption is in overdrive these days, but is it really a problem for 'society' or just the older of us? My 12-year old niece doesn't seem to have a problem texting, watching tv, and listening to music all at the same time — in fact, she sees it as a natural habit. In discussing the impact of the media deluge and what it means society's development, how much of the discussion is tainted by our individual ties to old habits and our hope that we won't get left behind? In the short video below, 12-14 year-olds talk about their everyday media use and how they feel about it. For many of us over 35, the only habits we might find similar to the younger generation is that texting and studying is not a good combination.

What do you think? Are our feelings about today's media diet tainted by our age and old habits? Can you teach an older dog new tricks? Comment here or wherever you interact with me.

 

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Since the early 1990's Austin, Texas has been home to the South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festival, one of the biggest and - in my opinion - best conferences on new digital media, music, and film ideas. I've attended a few times both as a speaker and attendee and can honestly say that the content and community never ceases to disappoint. Voting is currently open for the SXSW PanelPicker, the conference system which allows the community to have a significant voice in programming Interactive, Film, and Music conference activities for SXSWeek 2012 (March 9-18). Here is a list of panel/talk proposals which have piqued my interest and I hope you will Vote for them as well. I'm involved in organizing the first two so please vote if you think the topics are interesting. Don't worry if you can't be in Austin, Texas next March. The SXSW organizers are pretty good about recording and releasing audio and video from the talks so you'll still get to experience your favorite talks afterwards. Will you be attending? VOTE and ping me with any questions/comments.

Panel: Beg, Borrow, Bribe. Startups in Emerging Markets - VOTE

Organizer: G. Kofi Annan – Afrimonitor

Description: Startup culture is blossoming in emerging markets like, China, India and Africa. Entrepreneurs are even leaving Silicon Valley to launch startups in their native countries, and giving American businesses a run for their money. But what and who do have to know to be successful? And how easy is it? Find out.

 

Panel: iVision Africa:New Medias Role In Reframing Africa - VOTE

Organizer: Ngozi Odita – Society HAE

Speakers:

Jepchumba Thomas – African Digital Art Network

Ngozi Odita – Society HAE

Joshua Wanyama – Pamoja Media East Africa Limited

G. Kofi Annan – Afrimonitor.com

Bob Reid – The Africa Channel

Description: Africa is more than AIDS, poverty, civil strife and safaris. With the ever-increasing access to digital tools Africans on the continent and all over the world are using the web to farm a new vision of Africa in the 21st Century. Social media platforms amplify and help spread this “new take” on the continent, both enabling Africans to tell their own stories and offering an alternative to mainstream media’s coverage of Africa. Ultimately, using new media Africans can and are becoming the architects of what very well may be a new “African Renaissance.” This panel will look at how Africans are using the mobile and social web, what sort of content is being produced and what are the messages being communicated. The panel will also examine new media’s social and economic impact as it relates to Africa.

 

Panel: Africa, Tech & Women: The New Faces of Development - VOTE

Organizer: TMS Ruge – Project Diaspora

Speakers: 

Ebele Okobi-Harris – Yahoo!

Liz Ngonzi – New York University Heyman Center for Philanthropy & Fundraising

TMS Ruge – Project Diaspora

Isis Nyong'o – InMobi Africa

Milly Businge – Kikuube Village Council

Description: This panel provides a rare glimpse into the multitude of ways African women are applying technology to advance Africa’s development. The panel aims to dispel the myths about African women as breeders and victims -- incapable of participating in their own continent’s development, by: (1) showcasing contributions they are making in the technology field – through entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and community leadership; and (2) providing insights into how they are using technology to raise awareness about, mobilize campaigns against and address human rights violations. The panel will specifically explore how African women are using technology to make an impact through: - Digital advocacy to protect people’s rights - Social media to help grassroots organizations engage new supporters worldwide - Mobile advertising to enable small businesses to access new markets - Internet connectivity to integrate the often unheard community voices into the global conversation on development Throughout the discussion, panelists will provide anecdotes on how the resulting increased access to information, is altering the role of women in African society.

 

 

Panel: Social Change Film: Strategy+Transmedia+Evaluation - VOTE

Organizer: Debika Shome – harmony Institute

Speakers:

Debika Shome – harmony Institute

Shaady Salehi – active voice

Lina Srivastava – Lina Srivastava Consulting LLC

Description: Your job is not done once the film is complete. In fact, in today's media landscape, early strategic thinking, transmedia collaborations and entertainment evaluations are critical components to increasing the impact of film's for social change. They can help you reach a larger audience, amplify your message, connect with your audience, understand what worked and what didn't work and bring in additional funding. And the sooner you start thinking and working on these components, the more likely you are to create entertainment that connects and engages with your audience.

 

Panel: Bridging the African Diaspora Online - VOTE

Organizer: Sherry Bitting – Parlour Media LLC

Speakers:

Hillary Crosley – Parlour Media LLC

Minna Salami – MsAfropolitan

Nicole Blake – Nicoleisthenewblack.com

Phiona Okumu – AfripopMag

Description: The African Diaspora is vast and wide, and with that comes a variety of cultures separated by national boundaries but connected by the spirit and essence of Africa. For years, these cultures have lived separately with little understanding or connection to the lifestyles of others who share similar ideals, concerns or experiences abroad. The Internet has played a large role in connecting these cultures--through music, art, lifestyle and political interests. Over the past few years, there has been an emerging number of female bloggers of color who have become leading voices in their own communities and representations of their cultures to others all over the world. Parlour Media, owner of ParlourMagazine.com will host an open discussion featuring four leading female bloggers of color from three of the world's leading countries to discuss lifestyle and digital trends from their local communities and the benefits that they have gained by connecting with similar women abroad. In addition, panelists will discuss the tools that they have used to build audiences and the strategies that they have found most effective in developing their sites. For global brands that wish to target this segment, this panel will offer a glimpse into the minds and lifestyles of this powerful group who serve as global voices of their communities. It will also offer an opportunity to better understand digital trends and tools that are driving online growth.

 

Panel: Using Technology to Uncover Our Inner Wellness - VOTE

Organizer: William Martino – Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness

Speakers:

William Martino – Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness

Jacob Braude – Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness

Description: Over the last 20 years, cognitive science has been undergoing a revolution. Scientists now estimate that 85% or more of what our brains do is unconscious - meaning we have no awareness of it. On a daily basis, this unconscious behavior leads consumers to sabotage their own health and wellbeing through the product and lifestyle choices they make. Confronted by this startling fact, we as communications professionals have to ask ourselves if we've really been using the right tools to try and understand our customers. Interviews, surveys and focus groups are based on the idea that you can ask people what they think and get a real answer. Modern brain science, however, tells us this is a fantasy and anecdotally, we know that people lie. We need people to act, not speak, to reveal the things they won't—or can't—tell us. We'll show you how the marriage of new technologies and live field experiments, social gaming, and test marketing can tap into consumers’ unconscious and open new doors in helping us all feel well.

 

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THE July/August issue of The Atlantic Magazine features a fascinating list of the The 14 Biggest Ideas of the Year: "A guide to the intellectual trends that, for better or worse, are shaping America right now." The magazine totes the rise of the middle class in emerging ecinomies as the #1 idea which will affect Americans in the coming years. Those of us who've been watching the space are not surprised, but the effects are still being felt.

The 14 Biggest Ideas of the Year

1. The Rise of the Middle Class—Just Not Ours: "The emerging markets thus no longer represent just a “supply shock”; they are creating a “demand shock” too"
2. Nothing Stays Secret : "...death of secrecy"
3. The Rich Are Different From You and Me: "...vaulting ahead of everyone else"
4. Elections Work: "...and Matter"
5. The Arab Spring Is a Jobs Crisis
6. Wall Street: Same as It Ever Was: problems persist and are worse
7. Public Employee, Public Enemy: "...public employees are fat cats
8. Grandma’s in the Basement (and Junior’s in the Attic)
9. The Next War Will Be Digitized
10. Bonds Are Dead (Long Live Bonds)
11. Gay Is the New Normal
12. The Players Own the Game: athletes control the sports business
13. The Maniac Will Be Televised: "...agitation pays when it comes to maintaining a high profile"
14. The Green Revolution Is Neither

The New York Times responds that these "ideas" are really more observations, going on to say:

It may strike you that none of these ideas seem particularly breathtaking. In fact, none of them are ideas. They are more on the order of observations. But one can’t really fault The Atlantic for mistaking commonplaces for intellectual vision. Ideas just aren’t what they used to be. Once upon a time, they could ignite fires of debate, stimulate other thoughts, incite revolutions and fundamentally change the ways we look at and think about the world

They could penetrate the general culture and make celebrities out of thinkers — notably Albert Einstein, but also Reinhold Niebuhr, Daniel Bell, Betty Friedan, Carl Sagan and Stephen Jay Gould, to name a few. The ideas themselves could even be made famous: for instance, for “the end of ideology,” “the medium is the message,” “the feminine mystique,” “the Big Bang theory,” “the end of history.” A big idea could capture the cover of Time — “Is God Dead?” — and intellectuals like Norman Mailer, William F. Buckley Jr. and Gore Vidal would even occasionally be invited to the couches of late-night talk shows. How long ago that was.

What do you think?

 

 

 

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Synopsis: It’s a cold, harsh winter day in the Flatiron District of New York City. A homeless man (Elliot Bishop) seems oblivious to the weather and the people passing by his “Homeless please help” sign.  He’s given up all he has except for distant memories of happier times. From the coffeeshop, to the sidewalk, to the cemetery, the City is Elliot’s stomping ground. There is no navigation system to guide him through hunger and self doubt all he can do is continue to sharpen his skills and  strengthen his resolve as he prepares for the challenge of his lifetime. Egress is a story of a man forced to evolve from his past to transcend the painful sacrifice of the present so he can bravely grasp the opportunity to create his future.

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A few weeks ago, HSM, the company behind the upcoming 2011 World Innovation Forum in New York City hosted a conversation with Sanjay Khosla, President of Kraft Foods' Developing Markets division. Mr. Khosla leads Kraft's $13.6 billion businesses in developing markets, specifically the Asia Pacific; Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa; and Latin America regions. In the last three years, the size of Kraft Foods' developing markets business has more than doubled with $13.6 billion in annual revenues. If Kraft Foods' developing markets business was a standalone company, it would be one of the top 10 food companies on the planet. The company's developing markets business realized nearly 13% revenue growth on average annually and reported operating income growth of more than 34% on average annually (2006 – 2010). During the hou long conversation, Mr. Khosla gave the attendees a rare look inside the company's strategies in evaluating, and developing new and old products to suit emerging markets. 

He also shared how he put his obsession of "Winning through Focus" into practice to turn Kraft Foods' underperforming developing markets business into a top tier performer. Mr. Khosla's "Seven step model to drive growth and win through focus in emerging markets" are:

1. Discovery: Find out what works
2. Strategy: Focus through lenses
3. Vision: Find a simple hook
4. People: Unleash the Potential
5. Execution: Clarify and delegate
6. Organization: Build collaborative networks
7. Metrics: Manage numbers and tell stories

Here are my notes from the conversation with Kraft Food's Sanjay Khosla:

• choose what NOT to do
• focus on few and do well
• choose space where company has competitive market
• choose lenses
• Kraft chose to focus on 5 categories, 10 brands, and 10 markets in emerging economies
• 4 yrs ago they looked at acquiring Cadbury and Danone biscuits
• both brands were doing well in emerging markets
• Focus to unleash the potential of peop
• Match company people with priorities
• 2/3 of leaders in Kraft emerging markets businesses are new in roles
• create talent & skills aligned with priorities
• encourage risk-taking
• Oreo tagline, 'Twist, link, dunk', resonates in America but not emerging markets
• Oreo was flat in emerging markets in early 2000's
• Chinese consumers thought Oreo was too big and sweet
• Kraft stuck with tagline, but made product less sweet, and smaller
• developed more compact Oreo wafers to meet size demands in China
• be clear on who is doing what
• use past lessons and be future focused
• look externally instead of internally for solutions
• When Khosla joined Kraft 4 years back most decisions were still made in Chicago HQ
• Now he focuses on finding leaders locally
• make sure people can work virtually
• Tang was American icon but not in emerging markets
• Khosla set up global virtual small team to solve Tang low sales
• Team came up with concept of "Tang makes water exciting"
• Don't become an innovation junkie
• Focus on few important areas
• Measure how business is doing
• Focus on P&L, see how story is being told, celebrate local successes
• Brazilian manager was awarded for new Tang packaging
• Make sure you are steady before you push growth
• Stay positive and learn from mistakes
• Kraft initially wanted to have a billion dollar business in China because there were that many people in the country
• don't have growth for growth sake
• Kraft scaled back and got business right before re-scaling up
• focus model worked
• create a buzz w/in business that ppl have freedom to dream and act
• Oreo is #1 biscuit in China
• Discovery stage is important to communicate goals to key stakeholders
• You can't sit in office somewhere and determine strategy
• In discovery meetings sometimes senior managers encourage dissent
• Co-development of strategy between senior and other managers is important
• Oreo team started in social media a few years ago
• Peer pressure of getting the whole company involved in social media is strong
• Focus is to uniformly roll out social media efforts
• In China, Kraft was spreading too thin and expanding too fast
• Acquiring Danone helped move re-structuring up faster 6-12 months instead of longer
• Dannone had a better foothold in China
• To avoid resistance everyone has to own the solution to counter resistance
• Keep metrics simple so it's understandable
• Allow people autonomy
• In India Kraft wanted Cadbury team to focus on where they can win
• Khosla gave Indian managers "blank chack" autonomy to make decisions provided they didn't dilute brand
• Brand grew 27% in 1 year for Cadbury Dairy Milk
• "Blank check" method makes managers more commercially responsible
• Kraft will invest $200m in Brazil
• too many participants in a discovery phase is not good
• get an external moderator for discovery phase
• a little bit of tension and irreverence is good for phase
• try not to have too many senior managers
• in discovery phase, if anyone thinks things are fine, there's a problem
• In connected world, employees share sentiment easily
• Focus on the few things you can win at and do them well
• Unleash your people

 

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In about 2 and half weeks I will be attending the 2011 World Innovation Forum taking place in New York City June 7-8. The two day event will feature a lineup of top business and intellectual pioneers in the field of innovation. The speaker list includes: 

• Clayton Christensen (Harvard Business School)
• M.S. Krishnan (Co-author, The New Age of Innovation)
• Roger Martin ( Dean, Rotman School of Management)
• Jeanne Meister (co-author, The 2020 Workplace: How Innovative Companies Attract, Develop, and Keep Tomorrow's Employees Today)
• Paola Antonelli (Senior Curator, The Museum of Modern Art)
• Larry Huston (former Innovation Officer at P&G)
• Daniel Pink (Author of the business bestsellers A Whole New Mind and Drive) 
• Tony Hsieh (former CEO, Zappos)
• Greg Hall (CEO and Owner of Drillers Supply S.A) 
• Paddy Miller (Professor of Managing People in Organizations at IESE)
• Johan de Nysschen (President, Audi of America, Inc

With a mix of presentations and interactive panels, the World Innovation Forum promises to get all of us some great, applicable business and innovation insights.

You can register to attend in person or register for the live webcast.

I'll be joining a group of invited bloggers at the event as part of the Bloggers Hub.  As I often do, I'll be live Tweeting insights during the two day event so follow my updates on Twitter and also the Twitter hashtag #WIF11. Hope to see many of you there.

www.hsmglobal.com

 

 

 

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If you haven't already read through the 2011 list of Fast Company Magazine's "World's Most Innovative Companies" make sure you do. It's a wonderful and inspiring list. Here is a sublist of FastCompany.com's most innovative BRIC companies of  2011:

 

BRAZIL

01) Azul - For converting bus riders into frequent fliers.

03) Petrobras - For becoming the world leader in ultra-deepwater drilling.

05) Embrapa - For pioneering innovations in tropical agriculture.

06) Gerdau - For responding with speed and smarts to shifts in the market for steel.

07) Natura - For growing a green empire with Brazilian flora.

08) Embraer - For challenging the outsourcing model in the aviation industry

09) Metalfrio Solutions - For identifying and exploiting a profitable niche

10) Solar Ear - For making hearing aids affordable.

RUSSIA

01) Yandex - For mastering search.

02) Kaspersky Lab - For turning hackers into an army of virus fighters.

03) ABBYY - For pioneering optical text recognition technology.

04) Rosnano - For establishing a clearinghouse for innovation in nanotechnology.

05) Rosatom - For expanding from nuclear power plants and warheads into medicine.

06) M2M Telematics - For positioning itself to dominate the chip market for Glonass, Russia's answer to the U.S. Global Positioning System.

07) Optogan - For building a full-scale manufacturing facility in St. Petersburg that will be able to produce 360 million of its patented high-brightness light emitting diodes (LEDs) every year.

08) Mikron - For fine-tuning smart cards.

09) NPO Saturn - For advancing military aviation.

10) Lukoil - For investing in R&D.

 

INDIA

01) Shaadi.com - For proving that marriage, Indian-style, works online as well as off.

02) Tata Motors - For leveraging its knowledge of the Indian market.

04) Apollo Telemedicine Networking Foundation - For scaling telemedicine.

05) Gram Vaani (Village Talk) - For making community radio possible in villages and small towns.

06) Invention Labs - For giving a "voice" to speech-impaired children.

07) A Little World - For taking banking to the remotest of villages in India.

08) Digital Green - For crowdsourcing instructional videos.

09) Fabindia - For connecting more than 40,000 traditional craftspeople with the world's growing urban middle class.

10) Godrej Group - For introducing refrigeration to India's rural masses.

 

CHINA

01) Dawning Information Industry - For being China's leading supercomputer-maker.

02) Huawei - For building the future of telecoms.

03) Changchun Dacheng Industrial Group - For being the first company in the world to mass-produce plant-based glycols, which can be used as a building block for cosmetics, plastics, and household cleaning products.

04) ZTE - For its whiz-bang mobile products.

05) CSR - For leading the charge on high-speed rail in the U.S.

06) Tencent - For turning online gaming into a massive profit generator.

07) WuXi PharmaTech - For reporting stellar earnings and growing its reputation as the leader in outsourced contract research.

08) BYD - For developing cutting-edge battery tech, even as it audaciously attempts to grow its plug-in hybrid auto sales.

09) MAD Architects - For being one of the first Chinese design firms to win major projects outside of China.

10) Hermès - For launching a domestic brand focused exclusively on the Chinese market.

10) Tencent - For turning online gaming into a massive profit generator.

Read more on FastCompany.com

 

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India, home to a legion of talented software engineers, has had a surprisingly undeveloped Internet economy: The nation has the lowest Internet penetration rate among major emerging markets and very little online commerce. Now, that's beginning to change. A host of Indian Internet companies are emerging to offer their take on services that proved big hits in the U.S. and elsewhere. There are firms vying to become India's version of Amazon.com, Groupon or Expedia, all with the goal of capitalizing on Indians' growing interest in buying things online.

via WSJ.com

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