However, many signs of recovery are abound in the M&A world. In 2010, Google made six acquisitions, many in the mobile app arena. Meanwhile, Yamli has been steadily growing its profile. Nearly all the items on my wish list for Yamli (noted in the previous blog post) have been developed over the past three years by Yamli’s founder, Habib Haddad, and his team. Consequently, Yamli reported last week that approximately 2.5 million Arabic words are typed daily using its service.

Given the pace of recovery, and assuming Yamli continues to do all the right things, I believe Yamli will be looking at options by summer 2012.

Your World Today has been following the development of Masdar City since the project’s announcement in 2007 (See Post 1 and Post 2 for background). Below is an animated video that explains the vision. Many are likening the Masdar initiative to The Venus Project.

Next week, I will be joining meetings between Masdar officials and Nova Scotia’s Department of Environment. Mirroring the aspirations of Abu Dhabi, Nova Scotia is already a North American leader in sustainable waste management, with composting rates at 200% the Canadian average, and near 100% of residents having access to curbside collection of paper, food, and recyclable waste. Nova Scotia’s Waste management experts, together with stakeholders from academia, government, and industry, are working to create an international Waste Resource Management Institute right here in Nova Scotia. The institute’s mandate will be to share the province’s expertise with the world to promote sustainable, community-driven environmental initiatives.

Similarly, Phase 1 of Masdar City included plans for a world-class institute of science and technology with a focus on graduate-level research in clean energy and green technologies. So where are those plans now? I’m happy to report that the institute was the first building to be completed in Masdar City, and the first cohort of 88 students (selected from a pool of 1200 applicants from 22 Countries) commenced their studies in the Fall of 2009 as the first residents of Masdar City! The Masdar Institute is operated in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Masdar Institute

Another plan for Phase 1 of Masdar City was to power the construction phase using renewable energy sources. In June of 2009, a $50M Solar power plant came online to power the construction of Masdar City. The 10 Megawatt plant occupies 55 acres and is the largest photovoltaic system in the MENA region. The plant was designed and built by Enviromena: a young UAE-based company whose four founding members are all Canadian!

And before I conclude this update, I will leave you with a video demonstration of the driver-less, track-less electric cars that will be the main mode of transportation in Masdar City’s ULTra – PRT system (Urban Light Transit – Personal Rapid Transit). The system is developed and implemented by 2getthere, a company based in the Netherlands.

Artist Rendering of proposed new convention centre in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia.

I recently organized a symposium at the current convention center, where I had to cram 100 people in a room made for 80 due to lack of space. I work for a local organization and I expect to be able to conduct business and host local regional or national meetings for my industry in appropriate facilities in the city where we are located.

The scarcity of space is an issue that plagues the convention centre all through the convention season in Halifax. If even small businesses in the local community are struggling to find appropriate space in the current convention centre, I hate to imagine how much business they’re loosing from larger meetings and larger industries.

This new convention centre (ConventionCentreInfo.com) needs to be treated like any other community facility investment. It’s a place that can host events by any community group, not just businesses. We invest in libraries, hockey rinks, community centres, and other projects in the city all the time. They all have similar cost/benefit arguments to the convention centre, where the costs are clear but the benefits are largely understood (and accepted) to be social, not financial. Most people accept this, even if that rink/library/multiplex facility is not in their geographical area or doesn’t cater to their specific interests.

It’s just not fair to turn around and look at the convention centre, which is obviously not in the geographical or interest area of most opponents, and apply a different measuring stick when it comes to the benefits side of the analysis. Just because it will benefit a different slice of the community doesn’t render this an abomination.

If people are going to oppose the convention centre and argue that it doesn’t turn a profit, then why not apply the same argument to the new central library? it can be easily argued that libraries are a relic of the pre-Internet era, when information was concentrated in a few select locations that everyone had to go to if they wanted to sip from the well of knowledge.

The Library is a cost center that provides a service that the majority of people don’t use and can easily obtain through a variety of alternatives. Renting old DVDs, reading books, and flipping through magazines can be done online or through a ton of other mediums and providers. Using subsidized space for community groups to meet can be done by subsidizing existing meeting spaces (that are actually equipped for meetings, like convention centres) rather than building a library and using some of its rooms as makeshift meeting spaces.

But, we support that library investment (nearly $60 Million split between the Province and HRM). We support it because we acknowledge that there are intangible benefits to having a public library. There were some questions about how this library would contribute to the economy, but the majority accepts that the contribution can’t be directly measured in dollars and cents on a balance sheet.

So, let’s not get lost in the minutia of the numbers and demand profitability when it comes to the convention centre. Instead, let’s look at the overall impact. Is it positive or negative?

Will there be more jobs created? Yes. Does it matter if it’s 1000 jobs or 2000 jobs? Not really. Will the new center meet the needs of the community better than the old centre? Just ask the community that uses it or plans to use it. Is being able to bring more out-of-towners to Halifax a good or a bad thing for the economy? It’s a good thing.

The current facility is 25 years old and has reached capacity. Obviously, getting to capacity didn’t happen overnight. We should be happy that Halifax was able to grow it’s convention business over time until they filled the building. Let there be no expectation that a new convention centre will open it’s doors to full capacity either. However, it is crucial to invest in a larger facility to accommodate the current business as well as the inevitable growth over the next 20 years.

Nova Scotia has the highest sales tax in Canada, and the second highest income tax rates after Quebec. We are already getting charged up the nose to live in Halifax and have very little to show for it. For the high cost of living here, you’d think we have some urban public structures that we can point to and say “at least we have this world-class stadium here” or “look at that Guggenheim Museum by the waterfront. It costs money to take care of that!”

My opinion is that if it comes down to it, I don’t really mind paying a few extra dollars on top of my already sky-high tax bill to invest in something other than miles of asphalt throughout the Province or subsidizing commercial tax rates for suburban big box stores. And if that investment can create a few extra jobs and make a little money, that will be nice too.

… … …

(To support the new Convention Centre, please join the online letter writing campaign at WriteSomeone.org – Support HRM’s New Convention Centre)

Daniel McCann (Photo Credit: Saskatchewan Business Journal)

Daniel McCann wants to revolutionize the current online payment process used by millions of online shoppers when conducting online credit card transactions. During a telephone interview from his office in Regina, Saskatchewan, the 29 years-old inventor and entrepreneur told Your World Today that his new device has the potential of making the role of third-party security verification (Payment Gateways) obsolete.

And he should know what he is talking about. He was 26 when he first came up with the idea of a personal credit card reader; a fresh graduate of the University of Regina with a Bachelor degree in Computer Science. He entered his idea in a business plan competition sponsored by the Regina municipal government (called Progress2Capital) and placed in the top 10. He tried again the following year and won the first place prize of $10,000 in cash plus $5,000 in legal services. This was all the start-up capital he had to convert his idea from dream to reality.

A short three years later, and at age 29, Daniel is the President of a new technology company that employs 15 full-time employees. His invention is a patented reality, and is being sold online and through retail stores in Regina. He plans to offer the device in stores across Canada by mid to late summer of 2009.

I ask Daniel about his ‘big idea’, hoping that he would share his long-term vision of re-inventing the processing of online credit card transactions, and how the new process will cut the middleman out of the equation (Payment Gateways). He obliges.

‘Payment Gateways’ are companies that are used by online shops to process online purchases made by credit cards. The extra encryption and transaction verification (that Payment Gateways provide) is required by banks and credit card companies to accept transactions from online shops because the credit card information is entered by consumers on a website by hand, which makes the transaction less secure than if the credit card was ‘swiped’ at a point of sale (POS) terminal (e.g. : a retail store or restaurant transaction). When you pay for your bill with a credit card at a restaurant, the conventional store’s credit card reader retrieves the card’s information directly from the magnetic strip on the card and transmits it electronically to the merchant’s bank.

If Payment Gateways can be avoided, merchants and customers can save on transaction costs for shopping online by eliminating the percentage that the middlemen (gateways) charge on each sale to allow the use of credit cards on a website. This can translate into lower product prices for consumers, or higher margins for online merchants.

That vision will have to wait until enough people adopt the new portable device that he has invented in order to justify to merchants why they should go through the trouble of offering it as a payment option. If the technology becomes main stream, that will also convince banks and credit card processors to accept transaction info coming directly from a SmartSwipe device.

If that vision becomes reality, the impact on personal online shopping will be monumental. With the savings on transaction fees that online merchants can achieve by skipping the Payment Gateways, SmartSwipe can position itself as the next PayPal of the world.

For now, however, using the device allows online shoppers to automatically and securely fill the credit card fields in any existing online shopping transaction page. It is marketed as a safer alternative to entering credit card information manually on websites while shopping online.

The SmartSwipe website  gives a good list of potential risks to watch for when shopping online. This personal/portable credit card reader allows the online shopper to avoid entering credit card information manually by swiping the card using the USB-connected SmartSwipe device. The information is then encrypted using the same encryption technology required by banks, and transferred directly into the appropriate credit card fields on the website where the shopper is conducting the transaction.

Daniel was kind enough to send Your World Today a demo unit. I tested the SmartSwipe with a couple of online credit card purchases and  everything worked as advertised. The software didn’t activate automatically when testing a credit card transaction on Firefox (version 3.0.8), but worked without glitches in Internet Explorer (version 7.0.6).

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this article, where Daniel McCann shares with YWT readers the journey of his invention from idea to reality, and provides valuable advice to similar entrepreneurs about patenting, raising capital, product design, and how online social networking played a crucial part in the invention process.

Reader discretion is advised.

The purpose of this post is to expose the wretched and rancid state of a specific Metro Transit bus shelter in Halifax. This is no ordinary transit shelter; This is the main bus stop at one of the most important intersections in the city.

The corner of Spring Garden Road and Barrington Street is the core of downtown Halifax. As the nearest bus stop to two 5-Star downtown hotels (the Sheraton Four Points and the Marriott Courtyard), it is located where tourists walk up from the Waterfront to take pictures of the Saint Mary’s Basilica on their route to shopping, food, and entertainment.

It is located where workers and business people conduct their affairs in and around one of the largest business towers in Halifax (the Maritime/Aliant Building). It is located where residents from all corners of the city permeate back and forth between retail shopping and restaurants located on both streets. There is one enclosed bus shelter that services this bus stop, with 21 different bus routes aptly servicing it throughout the day.

So behold! Here is Metro Transit’s bus shelter servicing this premium intersection of the only two main streets in downtown Halifax.

(Click to enlarge. If you dare.)

I take the bus daily in this corner of the city. Five days a week at approximately 8:30 AM, I am faced with the same dilemma. Do I stand outside and battle the infamous 50km mini-hurricanes of what is known as the ‘windiest spot in Halifax’? Or do I suppress my gagging and take refuge in this urine-infested, garbage-ridden cesspool of municipal neglect?

When it is raining or snowing, it is common for transit passengers on this corner to compete for the ‘sweet spot‘ in this shelter.  That spot near the door that allows you to hide half your body inside from the harshness of the weather, while giving you the access to quickly stick your head out for precious gasps of fresh air.  We all give each other half-knowing looks to acknowledge the mutual discomfort from the stench of urine and organic decay of garbage that has been left there since last summer.

An older gentleman has secured the sweet spot today, but tomorrow I am going to wake up five minutes early and beat him to it.

Given the importance of this intersection, you would think that the city would pay extra attention to it and make sure that it reflects the best face Halifax can offer. After all, if tourists, shoppers, and business people are not really the ‘crowd’ the city should care about in the downtown district, then who exactly should we bother giving a good experience to in the heart of the business, shopping, and entertainment district?

Yet, it would seem that the universe of municipal priorities rotates differently in Halifax, specifically when it comes to Transit services.

So, this is a call out to:

• Metro Transit
• City Council (in particular our incumbent downtown councilor)
• Downtown Halifax Business Commission (DHBC)

Can you come up with a permanent solution to this embarrassment already? What is it going to take to put up and maintain a proper bus shelter in this sensitive intersection?

I realize that this is the city’s job, but the DHBC has a lot at stake here, so I’m not sure why they’re holding themselves hostage to the general mediocrity of our municipal services, Metro Transit, and city council. A small donation collected from downtown businesses can fund a fantastic structure worthy of this location and its significance. It can be a shelter that’s a joy to use and look at.

Perhaps even a bus shelter with (gasp!) a wall map of the downtown district and nearby attractions? Or (double gasp!) an electronic screen displaying bus departure and arrival information? Slap some sponsor advertising on it and Bob’s your uncle. Anything is better than the current status-quo!

(Click to enlarge photo)

Internet enthusiasts believe that the solution is for traditional print media to simply “get with the times” and “go online”. Some even go as far as suggesting that with the proliferation of social media and citizen journalism (blogs, podcasts, vlogs, twitter, etc.), the market demand for traditional news reporting is diminishing and will soon disappear.

I disagree with this view, and I believe that market demand will always be present for traditional news reporting, specially investigative reporting. Unpaid bloggers simply don’t have the resources or access to chase around a story for an investigative report, so they can never provide a viable substitute.

Saying that “the only way traditional print media can save itself is by going online and embracing the way of social media” oversimplifies (or fails to address) the various elements involved in making such decisions. This view simply suggests that the only saving measure is to change the medium of delivery.

To raise profit, any business must do one (or both) of the following:

A. Increase Revenue (Sell more units | sell to more people | raise unit price)

B. Decrease Costs

With advertisers holding back on spending, and a general demographic migration of audience from paid, subscription-based, print-news consumption, to free, on-demand, online news consumption, it appears that maintaining profitability by increasing revenue from subscriptions or print-ad sales would be difficult.

This leaves the print industry with the option to pursue strategies aimed at decreasing costs to remain profitable, at least in the short term. These cost cutting strategies can be applied to:

A. Content Delivery, and/or

B. Content Creation

Content Delivery:

I.e. increasing profit (or cutting costs) by modifying the methods used to deliver the content. This is the solution suggested by many internet and social media advocates.

Modifying the medium of content delivery can also fall under the “increase revenue” category because it opens opportunities to access online revenue models. However, various current examples have proven that newspaper revenues from online advertising/subscriptions are a fraction of what the traditional paper copy yields.

This solution at its surface does not address the various demographic, geographical, and socioeconomic factors at play.

For example, in Nova Scotia, the demographical makeup of the population makes it difficult for Newspapers to simply decide to ‘go digital’.

According to the latest statistics (2007) of population estimates from the NS Finance department, a significant percentage of the population is in an age category that remains quite attached to paper formats. If we don’t count population aged 0 to 14 years as “news readers”, almost one-third of the remaining population is in the 55+ age category. This is the age category that largely contributes to the subscription revenue stream.

With the decline in advertising revenues, subscription revenues are now a growing contributor to the profit margin, and must be given its due consideration.

The 55+ age category remains attached to paper formats. It can be argued that it is much harder to ‘re-train’ this demographic to change their news consumption habits, or increase their existing adoption of internet media. A quick look at news media research studies and surveys easily confirms the age distribution of paper vs. online news readers.

So, while newspapers in regions with a larger percentage of a ‘younger’ population may conceive a viable switch to an online business model, papers like the Chronicle Herald are bound to cost-cutting options and innovations that are less flexible given the comparatively older demographic of their audience in the paper’s main distribution area (high percentage of people over 55 residing in Nova Scotia).

However, as previously mentioned, there are two aspects to the ‘News business’: Content Delivery, and Content Creation. The above limitations of demographics and technology adoption are shortcomings for cost-cutting strategies that target Content Delivery because they involve changing consumer habits that are outside the locus of control of a newspaper like the Chronicle Herald.

? Locus of Control refers to the extent to which individuals believe that they can control events that affect them. Individuals with a high internal locus of control believe that events result primarily from their own behavior and actions. Those with a high external locus of control believe that powerful others, fate, or chance primarily determine events. (Wikipedia)

Content Creation:

On the Content Creation side, a number of strategic options are available for consideration. Any strategic changes to the business model of “content creation” are internal to the newspaper, and therefore are much easier to control and modify without negatively affecting the audience of the paper or asking them to change their consumption habits.

The increased control over the outcome alone makes cost-cutting strategies targeted towards content creation a better alternative to strategies targeted at changing the content delivery medium. Still, we must remember that content-creation and content-delivery strategies are not mutually exclusive.

So how can costs be reduced by tackling  ‘Content Creation’? The answer is in good ole’ fashioned Business Process Re-engineering (BPR).

First, the various elements of content creation should be identified and analysed:

What the content is?

• which content is syndicated, which content is local
• which content is based on press releases from 3^rd parties (companies, government departments, etc.)
• which content is regular reporting, and which is investigative reporting

How the content is created?<

• What are the existing processes of writing, submitting, and printing content
• Are there alternative methods or technologies that can be adopted to better (and more cost-effectively) manage how the content is written, submitted, edited, proofed, and printed

Who creates the content?

• What kind of qualifications must be present in a reporter/writer/journalist to create each type of content identified in the previous analysis of “what the content is”
• Is staff distributed adequately to match the qualifications required to create each content type, or does the paper have $100 reporters writing content that can be equally created by a $50 reporter
• Can existing staff work with new technologies that the organization might introduce to cut costs and/or improve productivity?
• Can existing staff be retrained? Will they adopt the change or will they resist it?
• If existing staff can not be retrained or resist the change, does the paper have access to new staff candidates who possess the qualifications required for the content, AND have the know-how to use the new technology platform, AND are willing to work at an equivalent (or cheaper) rate to the old staff.

Where the content is created?

• Does creating the content require a central physical space to house the creators (an office) or can the creators work off-site (e.g. telecommute)
• Which staff must have a physical presence at an office
• What operations/resources are required to create the content? Are they accessible only at a central physical location? Can they be digitized and provided online? Can they be outsourced?
• What is the cost-benefit analysis of changing the business model from creating content on-site to content creation off-site (savings on office space vs. cost of deploying new technology and processes to support off-site content creation and retraining staff)

The point of the above exercise is to create a new business model that:

A. Keeps providing quality news reporting

B. Removes non-vital expenses through achievable technology adoption (telecommuting, online authoring and collaboration tools, video conferencing, etc.)

C. Realigns human resources to maximize productivity by matching experience to the content that requires it, and trimming staff that is unable or unwilling to adapt to the new business model (deadwood).

By doing the above, traditional print newspapers can emerge as a leaner and more responsive business machine. They can cut costs, remain positioned for online delivery, and continue to cater to their traditional paper market.

Our discussion was about how an ad agency in another part of Canada has been successful in utilizing effective outsourcing to provide its clients with competitive pricing and shorter delivery times by being able to have people continuously work on projects around the clock due to the advantage of various time zones.

That prompted a larger question of whether ‘creative’ work can be outsourced. Can ‘good creative’ be delivered only by creative talent that exists in the location of the client, and who have natural cultural/geographic ties to the environment where the creative will be used?

In my experience, here are some (not all) of the factors that I would look at when evaluating the option to outsource (to India, for example):

1. Proven Expertise & Reliability

A solid portfolio of projects and talent. References from other outsourcers who worked with the Indian company. In short, the quality of the work has to be at least the same (or even better) compared to local quality in the country of the outsourcing company.

The Indian provider must also have (and be able to demonstrate) a stable market presence. The outsourcing company can not take the risk of accepting a client project and making commitments, then turn around and discover that the Indian partner has closed shop without prior notice and is no longer in business.

This is the basic requirement of vetting and pre-screening the potential partner before starting any serious discussions or negotiations. Quality and reliable delivery can not be jeopardized by the potential advantages of outsourcing the work.

2. Communication

This includes factors like language, technology platform, people, professional practice, and cultural contexts (when applicable).

Communicating effectively is perhaps the single most important factor that affects the quality of the end product. Having an open and reliable channel of communication (between the company outsourcing the work and the company providing the service in India) is the backbone of a successful relationship.

Both sides must be intimately familiar with any technology platform that they agree to use for handling communications, manage document exchanges, event logging, feedback, project timelines, etc. Both must be prepared to invest in training their relative teams.

The assigned person(s) who will handle communication between the two companies have to meet ahead of time and determine if they are able to understand each other and build trust. If the project manager from the Indian side is not a good fit to handle communications with the outsourcer, then a new one must be selected.

In many cases, companies seeking to outsource are concerned with language barriers, and they usually expect that the Indian partner be able to communicate effectively in the language of the outsourcer (e.g. English) and not the other way around (the outsourcing company doesn’t expect to make provisions to communicate in Hindi).

While cultural context does play a factor in communicating creative requirements, this is not necessarily a deterrent. Ensuring that briefs and project requirements are clear and thorough is a shared responsibility between the outsourcing company and the Indian provider.

In fact, some people agree that it is an advantage to have access to creative output that is not bound by local conformity to cultural biases and norms. To some businesses, ‘different’ makes their design/ads stand out, and that is a competitive advantage.

The cultural relevance of a project can be determined on a per-project basis. For example, would/should a local newspaper in Dublin be able to outsource the creation of daily cartoons about local politics? Not likely. Can a Dublin ad agency outsource the creation of ads for a local car dealer? Most certainly.

——-

There are other factors to consider, but if the above two requirements exist and are satisfactory to both partners, then the rest can be negotiated and agreed upon (including pricing that is fair for the quality of work, and that provides the outsourcer with a competitive advantage they wouldn’t otherwise have).

I believe that the concerns faced by companies from any country are very common when it comes to seeking business opportunities in China, or anywhere else where the business, language, and cultural differences are significant.

While the following advice is not an in-depth report of how to do business internationally, I hope that it may highlight some common sense approaches to frequent general questions.

As many experts would advise, it is a good first step for any company (that wants to do business in China for the first time) to think of China as Europe, with vast cultural and language differences between one end of the Country and the other.

In doing business abroad, it is important to approach the new opportunity with good attitude. Of course, certain precautions are expected to be taken by any business when entering a new market. However, do ensure that you approach the new relationship with your Chinese counterparts with an attitude of trust, openness, patience, and mutual cooperation. I have seen/heard of companies that approached a new relationship with an attitude of “I’ll assume my potential partner is a crook unless they can prove otherwise” and became the business case for a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Remember that your potential foreign business partners are as apprehensive of doing business with you as you are with them. So keep an open mind and the chances of your success will automatically improve significantly.

With that in mind, the common challenges, in my experience, would be the following:

1. Language

This includes both interpretation and translation. You will need a decent interpreter to accompany you to meetings and trade shows. Also note that translations of legal contracts from English to Chinese by professionals can be costly, but necessary. Ensure that there is an agreement with the Chinese counterpart about which version (English or Chinese) prevails if a change in the meaning of a clause or document occurs during translation.

2. Communications

Perhaps a related aspect to the language factor is the ‘culture of communication’ that exists in the new market(s). Questions such as “What is a common response time to emails and messages” in China are important to understand beforehand in order to manage expectations. This will help you to avoid a communications gap that might lead you (or them) to misinterpret long response times as an indication of non-interest in the business opportunity instead of it being a simple cultural norm in that particular country.

Here is one hint: Be aware of local holidays in the other country. Chinese New Year is usually accompanied with a month-long hiatus in business activities. Labour day equates to a week of slow-down. Major events like elections can also contribute to a general slowing down of business activities.

3. Legitimacy and Non-Performance

This is the big and common concern with doing business in foreign countries. It is even a bigger concern in countries where regulatory frameworks don’t offer much protection or viable recourse for non-delivery/performance.

I would suggest you follow some of the following methods in vetting your opportunities/partners so as to reduce the risk of seeking legal recourse later:

• Seek help and recommendations from your country’s trade offices in China (e.g. Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, World Trade Centers, Commercial/Cultural Attache office of your Embassy in China, etc.). Often times they can vouch for the reputation of a local company or business person.

• Check your potential partner’s standing/reputation in local professional associations of your industry, accreditation bodies, or 3rd-party assessors (e.g. credit bureaus)

• Seek referrals from business people you can trust, whether in China or in your Country.

For a new market entrant, almost all the above can be easily achieved by working with a local partner/consultant. They can help with your legal, business, financial, and cultural integration. They can also assist with interpretation, HR, and sourcing what you need.

So go forth and frollick in this exciting world of international business and global opportunity. The rewards are certainly worth it, and a little courage can take you and your company a long way!