The Health of US Healthcare

With Healthcare reform driving national attention to record levels of uninsured patients, the role of the CFO is becoming more difficult and crucial to the success of a hospital or healthcare service center. Due to the public eye scrutinizing this level of a corporation, CFOs across the healthcare industry are meeting in Miami for the CFO Healthcare Summit 2010 this October. The driving focus from attendees is to understand the right revenue cycle implementation and what is the most cost effective Supply Chain Management (SCM) procedures that can give their respective organizations a competitive edge.

Raising issues of this caliber needs to be relevant for a private insurance environment as well as an increasingly socialized medical environment. For this reason representation from private institutions like Catholic Health East or the Baylor Health Care System, as well as leadership from uniquely positioned public systems like Cleveland Clinic or the NYU Langone Medical Center will be present at the Fairmont Turnberry.

One of the unifying topics, Revenue Cycle Solutions, stands as a key talking point due to the need for financial departments to lower the number of days a payment stays in the receivables account. What was seen as the back end for dropping a bill has the ability of becoming a more comprehensive service between the patients calling in to determining eligibility.

PNC Bank is taking the time to explain that revenue cycle management is a great solution for developing this area but they also take a relationship component and add it to the model. What PNC are looking to propose is unity across both the insurance side as well as the healthcare provider side. This could allow healthcare institutions to receive quicker confirmations on eligibility from the insurance side as well as having sufficient processing systems internally.

Looking at revenue cycle management solutions is great, but what interested executives like Janice Ridling,VP of Revenue Cycle at Baptist Health System, is developing questions of efficiently training staff about the increased capabilities these solutions can provide and how internal policies regarding patient financial responsibility can streamline the process.

Financial departments in healthcare institutions need to juggle more than one system on a daily basis and another focus area that looks at saving money through Supply Chain Management. Steve Huckabee the Corporate Vice President of Supply Chain Management at Kettering Health Network has deployed targeted tactics as a way to enhance the network's position for increasing revenue and growing market share.

Those tactics include creating a sourcing environment allowing physicians product choices while achieving cost savings; creating a research environment for physician-scientists to engage in the science side of healthcare to complement their expertise; and creating a full continuum-of-care model that is an alternative source of revenue which engenders a strong referral relationship.

Healthcare in the US is constantly in a state of movement, but there are certain undeniable constants in the market place that hold true whether or not new policies are adopted. For this reason revenue cycle management and supply chain management solutions are at the forefront of the topics being discussed in Miami. Standing as a testament to the health of the healthcare industry is the ability for competitors and colleagues alike to openly discuss the mutual obstacles that occur on a yearly basis, so the market itself can maintain stability whether change takes place or not.

Acer tablet takes chunk out of Apple’s iPad

There is a war waiting to happen, reputations to be trumped, brands to be tarnished and consumers to be rewarded....with some choice!

After a six month monopoly, there looks like there’s going to be some proper competition for the supposedly all conquering iPad; the tablet PC which has completely monopolised the hand held tablet market. Like most people, we love Apple, we love the iPad; the way it looks; the way it feels. However, we haven’t had the chance to fall in love with anything else... until now. The majority of the red-blooded public like change, and with competition growing there’s no harm in a bit of window shopping.

So after the heralded release of Apple’s iPad in April, Acer and several other manufacturers are circling the tablet PC landscape like rapid predators, ready to unleash their own bespoke interpretations.

Even before iPad’s launch, head of Acer’s IT products division Jim Wong confirmed that the company would be expanding its portfolio to include a tablet PC, in line with similar launches from HP, Toshiba and Sony. The iPad may stand alone on the market now, but it needs to be wary; it has a bullseye on its 10 inch touchscreen (speaking figuratively of course, although don’t count out a bullseye app).

Acer may seem combative, but that attitude comes with the territory. Acer is among the top three biggest PC manufacturers in the world, and stepping up is an important move to maintain a dominant market position.

Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci has been vocal in promoting the new Acer tablet, unveiling various
models throughout Q2 and Q3, including a five inch, seven inch and nine inch prototype. Originally
Acer announced a seven inch model, which would be a direct competitor to the iPad (although
slightly smaller), running Google Android OS. “We are not convinced that 10 inches is the right size
for this type of device: it becomes too close to a netbook in size, and why should it not be a
netbook with full PC capability?" Lanci told APC in relation to the size of the iPad screen.

For functionality and aesthetics the new Acer tablet will sport a QWERTY keypad and embedded
3G, which will likely get it mentioned under the same breath as the Kindle. Either way, Lanci
believes the release of the Acer tablet will take a huge bite out of Apple’s market share, from their
current 100 percent position to something closer to 25 percent. Like the iPad, the as yet unnamed
Acer device will make primary use of “books, music and videos, browsing the Internet, email and
chatting.”

“I think people [are] start[ing] to recognize Acer as one of the first companies to come up with new
innovation or new implementation in terms of technology,” Lanci told MeetTheBoss.TV last week.
“The tablet [is] a big opportunity [for Acer].”

So ring the bell, let the slugfest commence, let the noses be bloodied and may the best tablet win.
To watch the full interview click here at MeetTheBoss.tv

A Unified Approach for Telecoms

The average telephone handset has evolved, and as a result thousands of start-up companies are profiting out of the Telecom sector’s advances, supplying the various add-ons which inevitably accompany any new wave of technology.

Such innovations were used by the operators to supplement the pricey voice packages. However, the operators are now finding themselves in the hands of the ever-creative software/hardware companies and a changing consumer culture. iPhone appstore was the first to take fiscal advantage from operators’ customers, creating a financial redistribution within the Telecom industry.

With the telecom giants left to maintain the costly infrastructure that supports this ever growing new-media industry, the outlook for today’s communication service providers is set to get worse in a new 4G world where broadband is everywhere; LTE, WiMax, FTTX and cloud services to name a few.. The NGT APAC Summit committee is only too aware of this and believes that they must act now to prepare for the future. How can telecom giants sustain increasing costs and avoid being relegated to the sidelines as bit-pipe providers?

To answer this question visionaries from companies such as Skype - Dan Neary, VP and GM Asia Pacific, Telenor - Sanjay Vaghasia, CTO, Vodafone - Durgadas Misha, Head of IT Outsourcing, Deutsche Telekom - Neil Millner, Head of Network & IT Procurement, and Virgin Mobile - Carl Ambrose, CIO, have joined a closed door meeting at the NGT APAC summit in Singapore to provide a unified investment strategy and Long Term Evolution (LTE) across the existing 3G networks. Such increased download speeds will allow the telecom industry to capitalize on the change in consumer habits and provide wider service offerings.

‘Such a meeting has been a long time coming, large operators have been losing revenue as the communication market has diversified, network optimization should lend to them finding new revenue streams as the level of service can expand’ – NGT Summit Director Asia Pacific.

A lack of focus has brought about inefficiencies related to roaming issues for users, and limited development efforts for each technology, the world is soon to be "unified" under LTE and at that point the industry can expect much greater economies of scale for both hardware makers and services providers, the NGT APAC committee are sure to take advantage of this.

CIO’s Goal Not Green

This week leading CIOs from the US have met in Miami to tackle the day-to-day issues they face in the constantly volatile, evolving world of big business.

Recently CIOs have been dealing with an array of challenges. It seems that the ‘green issue’ has been dropping down the CIOs list of priorities with spending caps hampering any green ambitions, due in part to the evolving nature of the CIO role. At last it seems that the CEO is becoming aware of the cost savings that can be involved in turning to the CIO. At the CIO US summit (hosted by GDS International) business leaders from companies such as Dr Pepper Snapple Group INC, Adecco Group NA, JP Morgan Chase and DHL Express US agreed that by aligning the correct goals with broader cost cutting initiatives money could be saved.

The attendees wanted to discuss sustaining transformation within their company. They believe that to succeed in today’s fast-evolving and increasingly complex global environment technology strategy must be driven by business innovation and new service solutions.

“Today’s CIO needs to manage complex IT transformations or major shifts in strategy and explain how those directly benefit the business.” Christine Kincaid – SVP Security Global Strategy, Citigroup

Christine went on to discuss how keeping strategic business compliance, privacy and security on a roadmap can further complicate a company’s plan, resulting in higher costs in delivery complexity as you layer the requirements from inside your IT organization and outside sources such as legal, regulatory oversight groups and shareholders. Executives are having to take a hard look at their IT spends as the economy continues to squeeze business and consumers alike.

It is evident that the job of a CIO is to navigate their way through opinion experts, industry hype and an avalanche of white paper reports without falling victim to unnecessary risks, all the while having to explain and justify spending their budget, as well as the direct results of that spend.

It is now the job of the CIO to speak out they must understand the language of business and step out of the shadow of the back office in order to change business direction. This ‘new’ CIO understands that if a company refuses to transform they will lose out to competition in an economy where technological advancement is a given. Business now depends on technology and in many cases the CIO is now in the position to take a leadership role ensuring they internalize the processes for success.

Cloud or Not to Cloud – that is the question

The IT world is locked in an ongoing debate over the usefulness of Cloud Computing; those who believe it directly affects ROI, and those who waver in its importance and believe there is no sure way to keep data safe within the Cloud. To help fuel and resolve the debate, the European Financial industry is assembling in the Netherlands for the FST Summit Europe between the 21 – 24 September.

This committee of CIO’s, CISO’s, Heads of Architecture and Compliance have highlighted cloud computing as a major talking point and are specifically interested in the pitfalls as well as the benefits to determine if this is a viable solution for cost saving initiatives. With representation from major financial institutions like Credit Suisse, Rabobank International, UBS Allianz and Deutsche Bank the need to look at solutions that save on a tight IT budget can be used when providing effective security, data storage and infrastructures.

Markus Shulz, the Global Compliance Officer at Zurich Financial Services explained on Thursday that in a post-financial crises, regulation is expected to increase, specifically in a short term environment, but will likely have long-term effects. While there are many facets to the implications of an increasingly regulated financial environment, this concept does set the stage as to whether cloud computing would survive the obstacles of a strongly regulated industry.

Another consequence of Markus Shulz’s regulated environment is that Senior Management are scrutinized more than other levels of leadership, and these are the budget holders and implementers of cost effective technologies solutions and infrastructures. These are the IT professionals that will be able to determine whether the cloud computing market has matured enough to handle the needs they face when providing kpi’s to the C-level directors.

From a security standpoint the cloud computing technologies need to prove that all aspects of its environment are safe from hackers and prying eyes. The major decisions facing successful implementation of cloud technologies is whether to use a solution providers cloud or bring the cloud inside and oversee the process internally. Vmware and McAfee were locking horns on this issue.

Vmware has taken the standpoint that a hybrid cloud that enables enterprises to hand the transfer of flow between internal data and private clouds and is the most viable option. On the other hand, McAfee is boasting of its ability to provide stronger imbedded security options for private cloud development based on its recent acquisition of Intel. The argument relies on IT departments running the cloud exclusively internally whilst understanding that most public clouds cannot provide the security and infrastructure required of a versatile enterprise.

While the end of this gathering will provide clarity as to the arguments associated with the numerous potential outcomes for implementation of cloud computing, the undeniable consensus is that cloud computing is going to be with us for a number of years. One thing that stands as a testament to the financial industry is that it is able to work in every industry and translate problems and obstacles into bridges toward success.

What Makes Multi-Channel Development Successful

The ability to decrease a consumers’ time between entering an establishment and purchasing an item has become increasingly difficult as consumers become more intelligent. For retailers to contend with this savvy consumer, they must provide every need a consumer might have interest in, but which technologies will achieve this at the lowest cost, are areas that any serious retail companies needs to consider to maintain market share.

Due to these questions being relevant across all companies in the market place, competitors and colleagues assembled in Bremen at the end of last week to attend the NG Retail Europe Summit to understand the idiosyncrasies that create successful implementation, and why the long-term relationships are most beneficial.

With top level executives from companies like Adidas, ASOS, Bilka and eBay gathering for two days, only the most relevant and industry trending concepts were discussed. Included in the most important issues were how retailers could achieve profitable multi-channel retailing, effective integration of supply chain and inventory integration, cross-channel loyalty management, social media integration, promotion, pricing, assortment and organizational strategies.

SAP has been able to provide strong statistics as to why integration is the kingpin when growth of cross-channel shopping is expected to grow from 20 percent to 38 percent of total sales by 2012. This has everything to do with consumers utilizing every possible venue for searching and purchasing products that fill their retail needs.

SAP was able to argue that the cost effectiveness and ease of use solutions can provide the upper hand to retailers interested in mastering the diversity of multi-channel control. Adidas’s Marc van der Heijden, VP Global IT had already aligned multi-channel integration as its key focus area to capitalize in this growing field.

While technologies to provide consumers with their every need is crucial to multi-channeling, niche retailers and fashion houses like Guess are finding ways to capitalize in a smarter consumer. Intel was specifically interested in providing consumer trend projection solutions to the likes of Jorgen Kluwer, COO of Bilka.

The growing consensus throughout the two days in Bremen’s Park Hotel was the need to maintain effective communication lines between departments and cost effective implementation of technologies. To weather a trailing economic storm the ability to deal with mistakes or problems quickly can be achieved with open communication between branches of an institution; this concept has generated industry wide acknowledgment through the implementation multi-channel growth, which leads to revenue increases when integration is introduced properly and integration is effective with open communication.

It is extremely refreshing to see colleagues and competitors discuss the benefits of an industry in conjunction or over the needs of the company and it will be for this reason European retail market will survive and see growth in the next three to five years.

Harnessing the Power of Online Shopping

The reality is that online sales are becoming too popular for retailers now to treat as a separate entity from other retail channels. The key for retailers, and a major talking point at NG Retail EU Summit currently in process, is trying to achieve truly seamless cross-channel alignment.

This is especially relevant in the week that H&M has launched and made public their online store. The arrival of H&M online comes soon after Zara and GAP opened virtual retail to the UK.

Previously cross-channeling has presented numerous challenges, such as difficulties adapting older systems designed for store-based retailing to online sales as well as issues around managing order information, inventory levels and customer data across multiple channels.

The recession and current economic dip has meant that retailers have moved to lower inventory levels, which has made cross-channeling even more difficult, but has also allowed executives in the industry to rally around topics that can see upward movement industry wide. Executives attending NG Retail EU Summit like IKEA - Paolo Cinelli, CIO, Puma - Markus Birkel, Head of IT, Tesco - Harm Van Weezel, IT Director are all working for developing the increase in the retail sector prior to the Christmas shopping season.

Just because cross-channeling has been more difficult, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. It has meant that new IT solutions have been created that can link order management and inventory systems, and provide enterprise-wide, real-time information to those that need it. In addition, supply chain fulfillment systems are optimizing key processes such as shipping. These increasingly aligned cross-channel supply chains can help retailers improve margins while maximizing their inventory investment and continuing to meet customer service requirements.

If done right, then cross-channeling and can provide a wealth of advantages for businesses. These include:

Increased revenues by using multiple cross-channel capabilities to effectively capture lost sales opportunities.

Cross-sell and up-sell opportunities during customer in-store pickup.

Improved overall customer satisfaction by offering more services in-store and online.
Better customer contact, communications and marketing through improved service options, enhanced personalization and business intelligence.

In short, with lower order and fulfillment costs, companies can improve merchandising and inventory management; streamline fulfillment processes through distributed fulfillment capabilities, implement intelligent order routing and lower costly store-to-store transfers.

Organizing the Chaos in HR

Recent reports show that unemployment within the United States has improved very little over the last quarter. Figures show that unemployment is hovering around 14.9 million, which equates to an unemployment rate of just under 10 percent. The large number is indicative of the current global economic climate which has shrunk working opportunities and left 1 in ten of the working population out of work.

A common fault by many companies is to organize change when implementing a new strategy even though today’s volatile economy leaves little room for error. The NG HR committee feels there are clear reasons for these struggles; for most companies a change in management means altering organizational structures and processes. They rarely ask staff about how willing they are to make changes, which, the majority of the time, they are not.

“[CEOs and managers] must realize that by nature people are wary of change. They must be careful about making difficult decisions and pace the changes. When implementing a new structure there is a need for a gradual process to shape the system.”

John McGuire – Center for Creative Leadership, who is currently in attendance at the NG HR US Summit, spoke on ‘transforming your leadership culture’. He believes that too many changes with management initiatives can prove detrimental to morale.
“Our work with clients around the world has shown that there is a hierarchy of organizational cultures. Each advancing culture is more capable of dealing with the kind of complexity and ambiguity that typify our world today. But if an organization's current leaders have not developed the right beliefs and practices - in other words, the right culture - to work across divisional boundaries, they'll rarely change successfully. When they get it right, however, every dollar invested in leadership development yields results and organizational impact that far exceeds expectations,” He said.

John was also joined by Hard Rock International - Kim Creighton, VP HR, Madison Square Garden - Dwight Tierney, SVP HR and Administration, Time Warner Inc – Maggie Ruby Lynch, SVP Worldwide Recruitment and Virgin Atlantic Airways LTD, Frances Fiorillo, SVP People. Although talks are still in progress at the NG HR US summit it seems that all are in agreement although change is on the horizon it will be managing it that proves who will be successful and who will be creating organized chaos.

Twisting the tradition of Armani

Boateng brings the structure back to London Fashion Week


From Friday 17 September to Wednesday 22 September, Somerset House in England’s capital will host the bi-annual London Fashion Week, an opportunity for top designers from every corner of the globe to display their Autumn/Winter collections on runway shows, and impress buyers with their latest trends.

Amongst notable designers like Paul Smith, House of Holland, Mulberry and Adidas by Stella McCartney is Ozwald Boateng, a London-born designer and brand who will headline menswear on 22 September. Boateng made the decision to go full throttle into fashion at the tender age of 18; by 1995 he had opened his first boutique on Saville Row.

Boateng adds a contemporary, colourful twist to traditional tailoring, and has seen his threads fit snugly on the powerful shoulders of politicians and celebrities like Barack Obama, Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins and Jamie Foxx.

In an exclusive interview with MeetTheBoss.TV, Boateng outlines his approach, and how admiring and totally spinning traditional direction from household brands like Georgio Armani accelerated his brand to where it is today. Boateng conceived colour, skinny ties and slim cut jackets long before they become fashionable. “It’s funny because what is now the trend in menswear is what it always was for me in the beginning.”

“I looked at all the top designers at that time and said what was very clear is that I had to bring something very unique to the business. So I thought, ‘Well, if [Georgio] Armani’s taken the structure out, I’ll put the structure back in.’”
Now Boateng has spent a quarter of a decade in the business, “which makes me sound like I'm 102.” Despite the time-frame, the brand has seen its peaks and troughs - Boateng has been registered bankrupt – but, as he tells MeetTheBoss.TV, building a top, luxury brand in five years just isn’t realistic. “For a luxury brand, its 25 years, and I think I’ve done it really quickly. I now know exactly what works for the brand.”

Boateng is also appearing in a biopic feature-length documentary called A Man’s Story, which premiere’s at the Toronto Film Festival this month.
Back at HQ, he has relocated his flagship store to a prominent location at 30 Savile Row. Boateng is restless: “I now really want to open stores globally,” he says. The world had better be ready.

To watch the interview in full visit www.meettheboss.tv:

A Method wholly prescribed to

Why episodic marketing and means big business for big brands

In the world of marketing, executives are facing greater challenges than ever before. Increased competition, media fragmentation and changes in consumer behavior and attitudes are all impacting the way marketers approach advertising.

Marketers are now combining traditional advertising with new marketing methods so they can reach consumers and create a new level of consumer awareness.

Episodic marketing therefore allows executives to use new exciting ways to get consumers involved with a brand. Analysts say that episodic marketing gives marketers a more focused and tighter connection to consumers and can therefore be executed in a more cohesive way.

Over at Method – the environmentally friendly, non-toxic cleaning products company – the idea of creating an episodic brand is something the organization has been privy to for some time.

In fact, according to a recent study of global brands that have driven the most brand ROI in the last seven years, Method was ranked eleventh out of 25,000. Method’s Co-Founder and current Chief-Brand Architect Eric Ryan, says that Method is a “Belief Brand” – one that sells a philosophy and a culture – and admits that he stays ahead by being episodic.

“It’s like a great television show,” explains Ryan in an exclusive interview with executive business channel MeetTheBoss.tv. “You always have new episodes. And if a show is really great, you have a narrative that just allows you to keep come up with fantastic shows,” he says, before jokingly noting The Love Boat as a (probably bad) example.

Ryan goes on to explain that great brands work in the same way. He believes that successful brands have the ability to constantly develop new stories and new narratives, which essentially act as episodes to keep consumers constantly engaged. “We [The consumer] always over-reference Apple,” Ryan offers by way of example. “We always look with anticipation to what Apple will do next, and those are just nothing more than episodes. “

In order for a brand to be episodic, however, and in order to be able to constantly develop new stories, Ryan believes you to have a very rich philosophy and an idea. “If you’re a brand that is built off of one single attribute, it can become difficult to continually come up with these new stories,” he warns.


To find out more about how Method are continuing to build on their creating a belief brand and staying ahead of the curve to create and dynamic episodes, head to MeetTheBoss.tv

iStrategy 2010 Sold Out in Chicago: Paradigm shift in Social Media significance

We all know that time is money and understand that Social Media Marketing is a real-time, targeted way of communicating with an engaged and active demographic, one that gives as much feedback to the company in question as it provides to the demographic; hence its usefulness and transcendent ability.

Most companies, both on the business and consumer sides know and try to practice this, however success has not been equally quick for all enterprises. One of the reasons may be the lack of training within today's companies. The iStrategy Chicago conference, taking place at the the Hotel Allegro this week, packages this expertise in a way that all marketing and managerial professionals can utilize, no matter the company size, budget, or experience.

For a company, a single tweet, blog post or YouTube video can spread in a matter of hours, naturally finding its way into the attention of potential customers and clients. Even the most traditional CEOs are accepting the power of the tweet.
The event is sold out, adding a further confirmation stamp to the popularity and importance of social media to all businesses. Amongst the brands confirmed are representatives from Disney, Sony, Ebay, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Pfizer, Cisco, Universal, Linkedin and Novartis eager to see the B2B and B2C capabilities of the right social media marketing package. They will be working with the leading social media experts from companies such as Adidas, Cisco, MTV, HSBC, Roche and Vodafone, amongst many others.

The success of these companies is obvious; their brands are synonymous within their relevant sectors; yet to be successful in an ever changing environment like social media, flagship companies understand the need to be flexible, adaptable and sympathetic to differing trends and movements, which is where iStrategy Chicago comes in.

Despite the simplicity of a social idea, the impact is incomparable; creating brand awareness money can't buy. Their relationship with iStrategy Chicago 2010 means that the power of social media marketing is now available to all, from the minds of some of the sectors best innovators and architects.

Although iStrategy Chicago 2010 is Sold Out, you can still get a piece of the action by registering todat at Fora.tv to watch the debates through a live online stream.

Apple Join the Battle for Social Domination

Social media is about people accessing information anywhere and anytime and it’s a fast evolving market. Apple have now announced they are jumping on the social media wagon, no surprise when we measure the success it has had for those companies who are utilizing the benefits of a well formed social marketing campaign.

The announcement at yesterdays Apple event saw the CEO Steve Jobs unveil ‘Ping’ a social media application which would allow users to follow their favourite artists and friends, something which Spotify have been offering since is revolutionary rise as a music provider and sites such as LastFM and Myspace already allow its users to access. iTunes already has over 160 million users and as the new ping will be an add on it will already find itself playing with the big boys.

The problem faced by many is how they make themselves noticed when marketing via the social Platform, how well is your company navigating the multi-layered sectors of this engaging form of marketing and is it responding fast enough to this dynamic, changing environment?

If you think you’ve achieved your social media marketing goals by having a Facebook and Twitter account then think again, the sold out iStrategy Chicago 2010 will be bringing together leading speakers in social media marketing, from representatives such as Mike Murphy, VP Global Sales, Facebook, and B. Bonin Bough, Global Director of Social Media, PepsiCo on creating value through digital assets and how to lead the market online.

Connectivity has become crucial to big business. The global recession impacted the advertising budgets of many global businesses. Companies need to look for new and innovative ways to survive and promote their products. Social media provides a whole new way of collaboration and communication allowing businesses to reach millions of people, anytime and anywhere.

Social media allows a two way conversation between a company and its clients, creating stronger customer engagement and increasing brand awareness. Products can be adapted as needs change and this typically translates to higher customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. Secondly, brands benefit because they are gaining real-time information about their customers, whether mining conversations and looking to gain customer insight, or actively soliciting direct input through polls, surveys or one-to-one questions.

Conferences such iStrategy Chicago 2010 and its attendees such as Facebook and Pepsico are the first to truly take advantage of the new online buzz, with millions now logging on how can we compete with these social giants to success.

The iStrategy Chicago event is sold out, but you can still have exclusive access through Fora.tv click here for more information

LTE – The Middle Eastern Choice

The telecoms industry has been fiercely competitive over the last couple of years with WiMax and LTE slugging it out; both vying for popularity, business and bragging rights. And after trading heavy blows it seems the debate is won.

As far as regional implementation, the Middle East and North Africa are favoring LTE’s mobile network technology. Not too long ago WiMAX was leading the market towards becoming the 4G wireless technology of choice for mobile broadband. Billions of Dollars were invested into producing mobile WiMAX but as telecoms’ biggest names switched their allegiances to LTE its popularity fell.

Etisalat, who have announced attendance at the NGT MENA Summit, completed LTE trials at the end of 2009. They hope to launch by the end of the year, growing the 4G capabilities within the Middle East. LTE is designed to increase the speed and capacity of mobile networks, with the committee - formed for NGT MENA - agreeing that LTE provides a more natural upgrade for network subscribers.

LTE is set to be the dawn of a new generation in mobile communications; it will be able to facilitate a device to device communication across mobile networks. If LTE truly lives up to the hype, consumers will be able to use their mobile phone in the same way they use their desktop computer, creating a truly interactive experience. But what will the result of fully evolved LTE have on business within the Middle East?

Already it seems that the Middle East is set to surpass Europe in the implementation of LTE. Although the Middle East is seen as a smaller business market it closes the gap on Europe with its potential for growth. Due to a lack of strong fixed broadband infrastructure and sufficient fixed competition a mobile internet service really is the future. This has also been agreed by Etisalat - Paramjit Singh Sandhu, SVP Mobile Networks Quality & Performance , Batelco - Ebrahim Zainal, CTO , Vodafone Egypt - Jan Wuppermann, Director Strategy & Business Development and Zain Group - Cem Yolcu, Group Strategy Director who make up the some of the members of the NGT MENA committee.

Now LTE has overtaken WiMAX in popularity, the Middle East can seize the opportunity to overtake Europe. Now is the time for telecoms leaders to really drive their initiative and spread the LTE good word. The Middle East has once again set itself as the place to invest for fantastic returns in business.

Battle of the sexes - Most Powerful woman in Television puts the pressure on

New research shows the earning power of women is on the rise – something that, the Most Powerful Woman in Television, Disney’s Anne Sweeney knows all about.

There’s good news for female workers this week with the news that the earning power of young women has now surpassed that of their male counterparts.

News of the shift, driven by the growing number of women attending college and moving into high-earning jobs, comes in the same week that MeetTheBoss.tv broadcasts an exclusive interview with Anne Sweeney, Co-Chair and President, Disney ABC TV Group: the so-called Most Powerful Woman in Entertainment.

According to The Hollywood Reporter (THR), the magazine who gave her that title, Sweeney presides over an “unrivalled magic kingdom of properties and more than 19,000 employees.”

In fact, according to THR’s 2009 Power List, Sweeney “remains an island of calm at the center of the entertainment industry storm.” And Sweeney exclusively told MeetTheBoss.tv the key to her success herself: “Don’t put barriers in front of you.”

While times have certainly changed for female workers in terms of pay equality, the concept of the glass ceiling hasn’t totally been eradicated. Yet, according to an analysis of Census Bureau data by Reach Advisors, a consumer-research firm from Slingerlands, NY, 2008 saw single, childless women between 22 and 30 earning more than their male counterparts in most US cities.

The survey goes on to suggest that women are succeeding for several reasons, including the fact they are more likely to attend college and therefore raise their earning potential.

Sweeney, meanwhile, who earned a BA degree from the College of New Rochelle and an Ed. M. degree from Harvard University, explains that “too many people fail because they think that have to look like they know it all,” before noting how she is always learning, every single day.

“I am so excited about my work,” says Sweeney, “and I tend to disregard all titles, even my formal titles, an just try to figure out what's next. I never bought into, nor do I acknowledge the whole glass-ceiling thing.”

To learn more about how to succeed from one of Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business, head to MeetTheBoss.tv now.

Pharma Make Private Public

Last week, leaders from companies like AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and Roche met in Vienna in a closed meeting to discuss the future of the pharma industry. Fears of layoffs at pharmaceutical companies are once again dominating the news, but could there be a less painful way to save money?

Attendees at the Next Generation Pharmaceutical Drug Discovery Summit (hosted by GDS International) were among those leading the rumours of job cuts within the Drug Discovery Arena, but this was far from being their main focus. Despite the obvious fears and dangers, the consensus was that the only way forward was to continue looking towards the future.

Ted Torphy, Vice President & Lead, External Innovation of Johnson & Johnson made it clear that as a pharmaceutical company they were there to lend a little more rope to solution providers and to have faith in their abilities. He discussed the idea of setting up ‘temporary partnerships’ to combat an innovation deficit recently noticed within pharma. Productivity within the labs has been seen to be plummeting as the focus begins to switch from diseases that are relatively common to those that are more complex or unusual.

“The innovation deficit has enormous implications for the industry as a whole. Many pharmaceutical companies need to look at what they want to be doing and where they should be concentrating. They must identify the core competencies the activity will require. The pharmaceutical companies that regard R&D as a core element of their business will have to make fundamental alterations in the way they work.”

One suggestion made is that the industry should become more innovative and look to reducing its R&D costs. Private companies who conventionally undertake pharmaceutical research will traditionally employ stringent measures to protect their research results as private intellectual property (IP) until they have achieved a marketable compound. A by-product of this is an inability to share their research results with each other, sometimes even within a single company. Pharmaceutical researchers tend to be consumers rather than suppliers. Consequently, commercial competitors are blocked from access to important discoveries as well as an effective research history. So the consensus at the NGP EU summit was of a need to fill the ‘IP Shadow’ and the recently experienced innovation deficit.

Ted Torphy was joined in his views by Les Hughes, VP Drug Discovery for Oncology & Infection, AstraZeneca and Andrew Parsons, VP and Head of Preclinical Development , GlaxoSmithKline Centre of Excellence for External Drug Discovery (ceedd) in calling for a open collaboration that embraces temporary partnerships and sharing intelligent property.

Companies themselves are expected to change shape. In the future the industry will look vastly different from the current model of huge companies carrying out a range of functions – research, development, marketing, sales, and manufacturing – across the globe. While big companies will still exist, they will need to pursue different business models and try new methods to achieve the right balance.

Industry heads confront political upset

Australia has seen political turmoil over the last week, but the mining industry has stood strong. The Next Generation Mining Committee understand better than most that they need to prepare for whatever the outcomes of the elections may be by continuing to move forward and investing in the places that will ensure continued growth.

The meeting itself took place last week in Perth. John Nicolaou – Chief Economist at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Western Australia spoke of the ‘good times ahead’, he went on to discuss the strong belief that Western Australia will return to the high growth path that was seen as the norm throughout the last decade. Nicolaou believes that this will be backed by the strong links with the rapidly developing economies in Asia. Duncan Calder – President, Australian China Business Council also confirmed this when he discussed the business relationship between Australia and China. Over the last 12 months Australia has seen China become its biggest investor. Asia’s insatiable appetite for resources backing its growth means that they alone have been a major contributor to Australia’s mining boom. Calder believes it is the way that Australia positions itself in the market now that will define its relationship with the continent into the future.

Brendon Pearson – Deputy Chief Executive of the Minerals Council of Australia discussed the more contentious issue of the day, the mining taxes faced by Australia. The Australian PM Julian Gillard has already stated that the mining tax will not be scrapped, but companies such as Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, who were in attendance at the NG Mining summit, would stand to benefit from the scrapping of a mining profits tax and carbon trading plans. Pearson discussed the current press interest in the industry, as government and politicians search for a public consensus. Australia’s Mineral exports are now paying billions of dollars in carbon costs while competitors in Europe, Asia and the United States face no such charges. The failure of emissions legislation means that the Australian parliament now has an opportunity to design a carbon pricing scheme that will work in harmony with global initiatives to reduce emissions and foster new technologies, in turn protecting Australia’s exports for the foreseeable future.

Despite the current political upset Australia’s economy grew at its quickest pace for last three years in the second quarter of 2010. These results were based on a 5.6 percent rise in export volumes generated by the mining boom. The talk among the committee was a definite appreciation for what has been achieved since the start of the year and a belief that the good times can continue. Australia is now one of the strongest developed economies in the world and the executives in attendance at the NGM summit were reluctant to put this down to a one off mining boom.

CIO Committee Calls for Cloud

Last week saw the meeting of the leading CIOs from Latin America’s most successful companies at the CIO LA summit (hosted by GDS International). The meeting was called as a result of the increasingly sensitive approach needed to operate business in our current economic climate.

The CIO Committee believes that there is a growing need to work outside of the box; in essence to create a forward thinking and visionary approach to the IT departments within every company. Latin America has traditionally been seen by the rest of the world to be behind when it comes to information technology. However, a recent announcement from Cisco stated that the company is hoping to form new partnerships within the region, which will boost the level of IT skills. The committee, who met in Mexico last week, believe that the next few months will see an increase in the need for professionals with a greater understanding of technology within their sectors. Increased investment and outsourcing data storage will help the continent to build on the more basic needs of better communication and government support systems for Latin America.

“It is up to each and every CIO to seek out and take responsibility for the most cost-effective and productive IT systems and strategies in order to create opportunity out of an increasingly rocky landscape. Quite frankly, IT is a game changer” David Broffman, Project Director

Key to conversations was the impact of cloud computing on the IT sector. The cloud is not new to business but the potential it holds to transform the internal workings of a company are still being discovered. At the moment, cloud computing is very much in the early years. Chuck Hollis – VP and Global Marketing CTO, EMC Corporation understands that we are still seeing security and networking issues. For bigger companies with large amounts of data there are risks to handing this over to a remote provider. We are seeing a “if you want a job doing, do it yourself” attitude which requires dedicated work from IT service staff. The agility of a business can make or break how it reacts to varying economic changes.

Business depends on quick response times, so it is vital that everyone has access to all relevant information and can keep up with the current economic climate.

“The Journey to the Private Cloud requires a transformational approach that balances an ambitious architecture with a solid operational framework. The result is rationalized business processes, applications and platforms that align with business imperatives – giving you the efficiencies, control and choice you need to thrive in this economy.” Chuck Hollis – VP and Global Marketing CTO, EMC Corporation

The CIO committee last week comprised of Patricio Melo, COO/CTO, Banco de Chile; João Lencioni, CIO Latin America, GE; Marcos Semola, CIO, Shell; and Jose Luis Fernandez Serrano, CIO Mexico, Pepsi Beverages Company. Now more than ever, companies can see the need to migrate towards cloud computing but are wary of the risks.