Tag Archives: trends

The Power of Us

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Summer in India brings not only juicy mangoes but also the prospect of frequent planned and unplanned power cuts. The euphemism “load shedding” tries to hide the fact that the grid is unable to shoulder the demand for electricity. This demand is rising with India’s rapid economic growth. This economic growth also means that fewer and fewer Indian citizens have the time to take their utility companies to task for failing to deliver a reliable power supply. However they do now have the means to have spent a reported US$ 22 Billion on power back-up equipment such as inverters that store power in a battery while there is supply, or generators.

This is my third summer on Twitter. Come summer time, my Twitter stream floods with persons complaining about power cuts in the middle of a workday stymieing productivity, or in the middle of the night interrupting resting hours. On May the 4th, after seeing a few tweets, I suggested: “May be you guys SHOULD tweet #powercut with location. The infographic will highlight the need for investment. To many people.” Within a few minutes, an enthusiastic techie, Ajay Kumar had created a site with an Ushahidi backend to track such reported powercuts. Within seconds we had our first report – from Gurgaon, a new, modish town which is in the national capital region but whose powercuts are legendary. It has not stopped since. These reports mainly came from Twitter users reporting power cuts with their locations  and a hashtag #powercutIndia. In the first 24 hours, the hashtag reached an audience of over 98000 people with over 157000 impressions. In the next couple of days, Ajay and I took the decision to move to a proper own domain – www.powercuts.in. On the website persons can also report anonymously; this allays privacy concerns and security risks that were highlighted to us early on by some Twitter users. Soon a design firm provided us with a logo and is now developing the website further. We set up a Facebook page and one of India’s leading dailies, Times Of India, wrote a piece on the project.

From idea to execution, to the actual build-up and success Power Cuts In India is a crowd-sourced, open data project. This means everything we do is out in the public domain. The Wiki details in one place all the work and credits. An open document collates ideas on how to improve the data collection and what possible uses it can be put to. At the time of writing, we are testing SMS based reporting and smart apps for smart phones are in development. Purely on voluntary basis from enthusiastic donors of their expertise and time, who believe in the project.

Naturally there has been curiosity as to why so many of us, including Ajay and I, would give so much of our time to collate this information. Typically I have been asked why such monitoring is needed, since everyone knows how bad the power situation is. The short answer is that situational awareness allows specific responses. Whether from government, from utility companies, from investors or from citizens themselves. One of the most recent examples in another – admittedly acute, not chronic like the power cut situation – setting was seen in Libya.

For me, the project is a beautiful example of how the power of social media can be harnessed to take a simple idea into execution and how web and social technologies can build a resilient backbone for a project. The rapid prototyping and release of the website by Ajay deserves a special mention too. And with rapid prototyping come iterations and incremental changes.

These are being made based on ideas suggested through our open document. Collective wisdom continues to shape and define the project. We are all aware that this should not become yet another urban India project but also rolled out to villages where issues related to linguistic diversity as well as lack of literacy may be a problem. This awareness is feeding into design and reporting protocol related to SMS reporting and smart apps in development. With mainstream media carving a narrative out of something happening on the web, more citizens in India are getting to hear about the project as evidenced by reports now coming in from more regions than just the metros or individual towns where some of the Twitter users are located. SMS reporting will enable even more persons.

What can a corporate firm learn from our experience so far?

First, social technologies can be unpredictable in their scope, reach and success. When the Power Cuts In India project was rolled out, a Twitter user pointed out she had suggested the idea three years ago. But it did not take off then. However when I mentioned it on May the 4th, it did take off and is now growing by leaps and bounds. This unpredictability of uptake can be unnerving for those, who like to predict both the trajectory and the time line of their “social” undertakings.

Second, when an idea gains traction, crowd-sourcing can be benevolent or damaging. In case of Power Cuts In India, it has been benevolent so far. HSBC’s experience from a few years ago was bracing and different.

Third, “social” is not concrete, fully formed. It is amorphous, iterative. Or in the words of Field Marshal Helmuth Graf von Moltke: “Planning is everything. Plans are nothing.” Before launching into “social” an organisation needs cultural readiness. And comfort with amorphousness, iteration and tweaking in response to feedback.

Regardless of where you are, you can contribute to the project by sharing your views here. Or on this post.

Further reading:

An old post on the use of Twitter in emergencies/ acute situations.

Power Cuts In India in media:

Times Of India

PC World

CIO Magazine

Yahoo News

LiveNewsIndia

One India (online in Tamil)

Trak.in

The Daily Dot notes that for all its resilience, the web still needs electricity.

WiredCPU

TechGoss

Paant.com

Geo-spatial World

Social Media Guru

BBC – on Social Media for Social Good in India – features PowerCutsIndia (video)

 

A Passage To India (2010 ed) and the other R-word

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When EM Forster wrote A Passage To India, the Indo-British relationship was one of the ruler and the ruled, of imbalances in power. Things are different now in 2010. Britain lags behind and grapples with an economic crisis of monstrous proportions, while India’s economic growth gallops along at 8.5%.

Naturally, all eyes are on David Cameron and his 90-strong high-powered ministerial and CEO delegation to India, billed as a “jobs tour” to which Cameron is bringing a “spirit of humility“.  The delegation led by Mr Cameron confirms how India remains, despite all its frustrations, a potentially strategic customer, partner, supplier and sometimes a competitor to British businesses. As such India’s growth has direct implications for British business, as we in Britain seek growth markets and profits to deal with the continued chill in our home economy.

Earlier this week, the Financial Times, in its editorial, argues that India needs to go for stronger growth (registration required). Among other points, the FT argues for improved infrastructure and productivity, liberalisation in retail sector, furthering liberalisation in the banking sector, and investment in basic health and education.

All valid points indeed.

A fundamental requirement to enable such business is that businesspersons from both countries are able to travel to meet with each other, and not just on high profile trade delegations. Not least because both the UK and India  are nations thriving on the back of the SME sector and their chief executives rarely get to join ministerial trade delegations.

Travel between India and the UK is hamstrung: by the increasingly onerous requirements for an Indian to obtain a British visa in India, and by the sheer volume of visa applications being made by British persons in the UK for travel to India. One area ripe for quick and major reform in both countries is enablement of business travel.

In doing so, the other R-word – reciprocity – is as important as any reform. It would not be remiss of Mr Cameron’s and Dr Singh’s governments to take bold steps to make it easier for British and Indian businesses to travel, and then to trade and collaborate.

Starting with a mutually cooperative visa regime. One that makes it easier for British businesses to find their passage to India in the modern times.

Other links:

Nitin Pai writes: Cameron comes with a different mindset

BBC’s Economics editor Stephanie Flanders: Osborne in India

Dean Nelson on the whys and the what-fors of Indo-British links

Whose data are they anyway?

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What a difference two days make!

First, T-Mobile in the UK informed the Information Commissioner’s Office that some of its own rogue employees had sold on the firm’s contract customer data to third parties. These third parties then ring the contract customers just before their contract expiry to offer deals that may or may not be kosher, or the best deals on the market.

So exactly what data might a mobile network operator hold on a contract customer? These data include the customer’s name, address, date of birth, and bank account details or credit card details for collecting bills. A credit check is also run before contracts can be agreed. While the identity of the said “third party” is unclear, there is of course no compensation for any mishaps. So much for our famed data protection code that prevents more things from happening than it enables!

A day later, Iceland’s deCODE Genetics filed for asset protection under Chapter 11. The firm’s customer testimonials include one from Dorrit Mousaieff, Iceland’s first lady. The firm offered personalized DNA testing through its deCODEme website too.

Under Chapter 11, deCODE is now looking to sell its assets. These “assets” include the genetic data of 140,000 Icelanders. And DNA samples of an undisclosed number of customers, their identification details, possibly the reports of the analyses conducted on the DNA samples. All held under contracts which prevent the sharing of the data or the information with third parties such as insurers etc. But will that hold when one contracting party goes bust? Who is the custodian of that contract? Who will uphold it and what recourse exists for customers whose DNA and data are hanging in the balance?

Meanwhile, it was reported that a credit card processor in Spain was being investigated for enabling a major credit card scam. The scam has affected over 100,000 cards in Germany. While their credit card contracts protect them against fraud, someone will end up paying for it. Depending on where the PCI-DSS compromise is found and how the liability is established, any or more of the players in the payment value chain – the issuer, the acquirer, the processor, the retailer or the customer – may end up suffering the real monetary loss.

Note the commonalities? All three industries are highly regulated but so different from one another that one may be tempted to ignore any possibilities of transposed learnings. Two major themes emerge:

  • These incidents point to some of the many complex challenges that unite otherwise disparate, highly regulated businesses: customer data ownership, data security, privacy breaches, liability, recourse and compensation.
  • They also illustrate while human beings – employees, third parties, contractors, service providers – remain the weakest link in data protection, the more fundamental questions are often missed. These could be related to the business’s survival and how regulatory complexity may mean that resolving data breaches is not really straightforward.

As a large number of consumers sit in limbo in fear of their data falling into the wrong hands, it has to be asked: When the custodians fail, who protects the consumer?

These test cases will all provide fascinating insight and may well set the precedent. Not least set the stage for the essential reform to remove all the unnecessary information that businesses insist on collecting from customers, when they have no way to guarantee the security of the data.

Where did you come from and does it matter?

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This weekend, Clay Shirky wrote on Twitter:

Nokia products say “Made in China” on the back. Chinese-made Nokia-knockoffs say “Made in Finland.”

Interesting point, isn’t it? Let’s ignore for the purpose of this post that my Nokia N97 actually says “Made in Finland” inside it (although given my publicly declared love for it, I have cause to wonder if it really is a Chinese-made-knockoff in which case Vodafone is in real trouble!). I have made interesting discoveries about some of my stuff since this tweet appeared. My kettle doesn’t say where it was manufactured; two pairs of American branded shoes are Made-in-China while two other pairs of Italian shoes are Made-in-Italy; the English brand of lotions says Made-in-England while the French cast iron pots are variously Made-in-France, Made-in-Thailand and Made-in-USA.

What do these “Made-in-X” labels mean anymore? Do they mean anything any more at all?

In some industries, such as automotives, the supply chain is componentised (sic!) and truly globalised (pdf link) to such an extent that only the brand is ever owned by an entity whose national identity can be named. In others, the lax labelling laws mean that products made in China and finished in a European country can sell at huge prices as “Made-in-EuropeanCountry” products. Rights to some otherwise unrelated and disparate brands, for specific product categories, such as eye wear, have been licensed out to specialists who maintain the brand’s identity but the consumer may not quite know (or care) where her sunglasses were manufactured.

What is clear is that it doesn’t matter where the product comes from but it sure matters where the brand comes from. Many strategies are emerging by which brand owners are outdoing or trying to contain competition.

Champagne or sparkling wine: Legal protection

In Europe, several regimes are enshrined in EU Law to protect the names of regional foods. These include Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) labels. Foods that can only be labelled as such if they come from the designated locations include Parmigiano-Reggiano, Melton Mowbray pork pies, and Camembert de Normandie. Of course, sparkling wines can only be called Champagne if they come from the eponymous French region and this privilege is protected by the Treaty of Madrid. Indeed Mumm made and bottled in France is champagne while Mumm from Napa Valley in the USA is sparkling wine!

Bespoke or custom-made: Consumer education

Indeed not all products can fight for such protected status. So they seek to rely upon the key attributes of their brand and to promote them. In the now well-known Sartoriani v. Savile Row row,the Advertising Standards Agency ruled that although Sartoriani did not make its suit entirely by hand and did some cutting abroad, it was allowable to let them use the term “bespoke” in their advertising. Sartoriani’s products do not all match the 21 characteristics of a Savile Row suit but it may be ok for some. Savile Row’s name is synonymous with “bespoke” for many and Savile Row Bespoke Association continues to reiterate its commitment to high standards of craftsmanship.

All examples so far have been about consumer goods. What about technology-led businesses?

Value appropriation: knowing what matters and claiming it

All Apple products – whether a weather-beaten Powerbook, a bright new Macbook Pro or an ordinary iPod – say the following at the bottom:

Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in China.

To the Apple consumer, the whole Apple legend matters and Apple knows how to appropriate it cleverly. Apple is a California company in many respects – innovative and iconoclastic. Apple is also known for its design coups from the iMac to the iPod. For a technology-led business, such as Apple, design and engineering excellence matters, über alles. And Apple knows it. The manufacturing information label on Apple products says it just right. It makes it clear who creates the value and claims it. That the products are assembled in China almost does not matter.

Except that there is a twist in this story. Which is worth pointing out as many of my clients are British technology-led businesses.

The designer of Apple’s recent bestsellers – the Powerbook G4 (on which I write this post), the iMac, the Macbook, the Macbook Pro, the iPod and the iPhone is British, a man named Jonathan Ive.

Then another thing happened yesterday just as Clay Shirky’s tweet appeared. For the second year in a row, a British man, Jenson Button, won the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship. A British team, Brawn GP, also won the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship. Yes, there is a touch of globalisation there too – with a French head of aerodynamics, a Brazilian driver, a German engine powering the cars – but the team achieved the near-impossible give its difficult beginnings for the 2009 season. Or as Doug Ellison told Lord Drayson, our Minister For Science and Innovation:

And a British engine even if it says Merc on the badge, designed and built in Northamptonshire. A VERY British championship.

So what’s in it for technology-led businesses?

  • Great engineering and design skill;
  • Recognition of the value of your skill and your brand;
  • Appropriation of that value; and where necessary,
  • Leveraging the value of the technological excellence of another, probably unrelated sector with whom you may share a common, positive characteristic.

If as the leader of a technology-led business, you focus on these strategic building blocks, then it doesn’t matter where the product comes from, just who owns the brand.

And your being a British technology business may just work in your favour too.

Related reading:

The dilemma of Savile Row brands

What to expect in 2009?

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The year MMIX is here. While we are keen and happy to leave 2008 behind as an unpleasant memory, the events of the year will have a profound effect on our lives in 2009. One thing is certain. Everyone - even, or perhaps that should be especially, Bernard Madoff’s investors – begins 2009 a bit poorer and more motivated than we began 2008. Here is what to expect this year.

Technology: innovate-and-monetise or bust

With everyone from car manufacturers to biotechnology industry expecting handouts in their begging bowls, there simply isn’t enough money to go around. Governments of developed nations are leveraged to the hilt, ignoring their own fiscal rules while emerging nations like China are begging off investments in western economies. 

Car manufacturers in America have for years ignored innovation. Their direct and indirect influence on public policy is wide-ranging, their role in catalysing America’s oil dependence second to none. Apart from the huge numbers employed, the industry needs a root and branch overhaul. Some are already taking advantage of the opportunity. Expect that advantage to grow – in their continued favour.

The biotechnology industry’s case for a bailout is even weaker. Private patenting of publicly funded academic research outcomes is seen as a hindrance to innovation. Research suggests that the patent system has failed to deliver actual benefits in the form of better health or reduced hunger. Gary Pisano expresses bafflement at how the biotech industry remains in existence despite its sustained unprofitability. Arthur Levinson, Genentech’s CEO, once described biotechnology as “one of the biggest money-losing industries in the history of mankind”. Governments have however provided continued support to the industry through research funding, subsidies, tax cuts, and helpful regulation, such as the Orphan Drugs Act which some see as being ‘co-opted by the biotech industry’. How long should public money prop up an industry which is all promise but no delivery? 

Then there are the creative players in the Web 2.0 world who are yet to find a profit-making business model.

In MMIX, as money remains in short supply, there will be essential weeding – and possible consolidation but valuations will remain low – in nearly all business sectors. In other words, the choice for businesses is stark: innovate-and-monetise or bust. 

Regulation: I am here from the Government and I am here to help, well, some of you 

Amid the NINJAs, the credit crunch and the Madoff scandal where the SEC has admitted not being too alert, regulation and enforcement in the financial services sector is ripe for an overhaul. However, first, the regulatory agencies need to come to grips with the, um, innovations in the sector they regulate. So expect this overhaul not to be any time soon, even as the proverbial revolving door between industry and regulatory agencies swings into action again. 

Regulation of other sectors will change too, but instead of becoming harsher, it will become friendlier to innovation and business so that new jobs can be created for those seeking refuge from retail and manufacturing, and so that smarter spending can be kick-started.  

I expect both pensions and public health provision systems to start a process of reinvention, creating both investment opportunities and social gains.

Investment: Where’s the party? 

Smart investors and companies will manage market access through maintaining a good understanding of not just regulation but also regulatory trajectories and futures.   

As valuations drop and businesses go bust, there will be opportunities to purchase valuable assets cheaply. Some smart people may be up for grabs too but not for long, as regulatory agencies seek to beef up their commercial nous by upping pay packets to attract good talent. While closing-down-sales can hardly be classified as an innovative offering, new businesses will emerge in their place. They will offer value and quality, over random posturing and stylised nothingness. More Tom’s Kitchen than Tom Aikens if you will.

Consumer conversation will grow in 2009 as they seek information and demand better customer service in return for their spending. We can happily bid good-bye to the nail-filing shop assistant this year!  

For businesses and investors, these changes will mean the need to understand consumer conversations better. They will therefore seek to get actively and visibly engaged in social networks and communities, and the smarter ones will ask for help in bridging the gaps. 

Here’s wishing you a productive, creative and bullish 2009!