Archive for August 2008
Disruption tolerant networks
“BBN Technologies (…) has been awarded $8.9M in funding by the Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under the third phase of its Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN) program (…) to develop and field network services that deliver critical information reliably even when no end-to-end path exists through the network.”
Depending on the source, DTN stands for either “delay tolerant networks” or “disruption tolerant networks.” The U.S. military favors the term “disruption tolerant” to better convey what they are trying to achieve. Today’s IP networks rely on stable end to end connectivity. BBN’s DTN is engineered as a self-organized network accounting for changing environments. This means that a continuous end to end connection cannot be assumed.
BBN deals with broken links by implementing a new routing protocol and persistent storage, keeping track of cached content. Eventually, when conducting either a search or an information request, the query will move through the network to meet information advertisements, thus linking “who wants to know what” with “who knows what.”
The following video clip discusses Microsoft’s take on wireless ad-hoc networks. While the context of Microsoft’s research is focusing on taking down the digital divide by enabling affordable Internet connectivity in the emerging economies, this clip illustrates some of the underlying assumptions behind the notion of self-organizing networks.
Microsoft – video powered by Metacafe
Links of interest:
Relevant consultaglobal posts:
- MaNet: mobile ad-hoc networks
- Beyond web 2.0, ready to cut the cord?
- Beyond web 2.0, ready to cut the cord? (2)
- Beyond web 2.0, WiFi 2.0?
Innovation and the role of government (6)
“A short-term outlook and a reliance on quick fixes and fast profits have diluted the curiosity and patience that sustain true innovation and create the potential for future economic growth (…) all sorts of forces, from Wall Street’s quarterly profit pressures to worsening government deficits, have undermined support for the forward-looking research on which future products will depend.”
Read Tom Abate’s article, “U.S. said to lack healthy climate for innovation,” on Seattle Post Intelligencer.
“If we, as leaders of business, do not hold our government officials accountable for the promises they made to increase STEM graduates by the year 2015, we will have failed not only our businesses but our country.”
Read “Business Leaders Call for Progress in Advancing U.S. Innovation,” on the Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch.
Tom’s article focuses on comments from Judy Estrin, an entrepreneur in the data networking industry who also served as Cisco’s Chief Technology Officer in the late nineties. Her take is that innovation relies on an ecosystem where curiosity, risk taking and patience should be promoted instead of favoring quick trading and venture flipping. Judy’s book, “Closing The Innovation Gap,” will be released next month.
The second quote relates to TAP, which stands for Tapping America’s Potential. This is a campaign supported by a coalition determined to double the number of students graduating with a bachelor’s degree in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by 2015.
I started writing this series of posts on the role of government prompted by a clash between articles published by BusinessWeek and The Economist on the degree to which policy makers and government officials should do anything at all to foster a country’s innovativeness. Far from having made up my mind on the subject, the more I read about this the more interested I am in getting more info on both sides of the matter. So, I will continue to welcome comments and emails.
Links of interest:
Previous consultaglobal posts on the same subject:
- NESTA’s innovation metrics due in 2010
- Innovation and the role of government (1)
- Innovation and the role of government (2)
- Innovation and the role of government (3)
- Innovation and the role of government (4)
- Innovation and the role of government (5)
Consumer robotics (2): Meccano’s Spykee
“By the end of the decade, the study said, robots will “not only clean our floors, mow our lawns and guard our homes but also assist old and handicapped people with sophisticated interactive equipment.”
Read Jonathan Fowler’s article, “U.N.: Domestic Robot Use to Surge Sevenfold by 2007,” posted in 2004 on LiveScience.
Admittedly, I’m not certain whether the U.N.’s forecast for 2007 was met or not but, interestingly enough, the toy industry might be the one giving consumer robotics a mass market status. As an example, Meccano’s Spykee was first disclosed at CES, Consumer Electronics Show, early in the year and the first units will start to ship in mid October. This robot will retail for approximately $300. Note that Meccano’s products are marketed in the United States under the Erector brand. The flagship version of this robot features:
- WiFi and remote PC control over the Internet connection.
- Motion sensors.
- Voice over IP with Skype’s voice and video call software.
- MP3 player and loud speakers, can play music streamed from a PC.
- Power station, Spykee docks itself to recharge.
There are different Spykee models with different features. For instance, Spykee Cell can be controlled using a mobile phone, this being a communication and computing device which has become ubiquitous in just a few years.
Links of interest:
- http://www.erectorusa.com/category_pages/spykee.html
- http://www.spykee.org/
- http://www.robotsrule.com/html/spykee.php
Previous consultaglobal posts on this subject:
- Consumer robotics (1)
- iRobot’s ConnectR
- MaNet: mobile ad-hoc networks
- 5G: mobile transformer phones :-)
Obscura Digital’s VisionAire: gestural holographic interface.
“Our vision is to develop our technology into a whole new medium-one that’s not dependent upon a device such as a phone, television set, or computer, but that allows people to tap into the vast cloud of digital information and interact with it in new and meaningful ways from any surface, any place.”
http://www.obscuradigital.com/
Obscura Digital delivers an interactive and fully immersive experience. Multiple users can interact by gesturing around in mid-air while interfacing with a variety of digital content.
Relevant posts:
- Heliodisplay: interactive video projected in free space.
- Multitouch, TouchSmart, Lucid Touch.
- Minority report GUI.
- The trouble with computers.
- Microsoft’s Lucid Touch.
- Siggraph 2007: emerging technologies.
- NxtFest 2007.
Innovator’s dilemmas: the budgeting problem (4)
“These shenanigans have become so common that they’re almost invisible. The budgeting process is so deeply embedded in corporate life (…) creating incentives to game the system.”
Read Michael C. Jesen’s paper, “Corporate Budgeting Is Broken – Let’s Fix It.” on Harvard Business Review. Requires registration.
Related posts:
- Do you really need business modeling?
- The problem with budgeting (1)
- The problem with budgeting (2)
- The problem with budgeting (3)
Jensen’s paper discusses budgeting pitfalls driven by questionable revenue and expense recognition tactics.
This is mostly due to pay for performance incentive systems driving managers to either delay or accelerate “the numbers” when aiming to hit or miss specific targets.
Jensen’s solution approach is based on setting up a linear compensation plan that rewards performance, one that is independent of budget targets.
Peter Horvath, whose paper I quoted in one of my previous posts, recommends a 15 month rolling forecast updated on a quarterly basis. This enables entrepreneurs to better operate in highly dynamic markets where moving targets happen to be the reality of the business.
Rolling forecasts and budgets are meant to free us from the stiff one off annual budgeting process. His recipe relies on reducing detail through the use of aggregate budgets.
I realize the above might read a bit cryptic to some. So another post with additional insights on this subject will follow. In the meantime, I will continue to welcome your comments and emails.
Picture credits: Hemera Technologies Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Jupiter Images Corporation.
ChaCha’s "mobile social search" wins an innovation award.
“Frost & Sullivan recognizes ChaCha Search with the 2008 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Innovation. ChaCha was identified for its successful discovery of the key requirements of mobile search users as well as for its offer of a unique solution that provides the most enhanced user experience within the mobile environment.”
Press Release: “Frost & Sullivan Recognizes ChaCha for Product Innovation.”
I just tested ChaCha to get info on the next innovation event in Chicago. See above six snapshots depict the process. To do a search you can text a question to 242242 and will receive an automated acknowledgment right away. The third SMS screen delivers the search results with a link.
Clicking on the link opens the phone’s mobile browser, ChaCha’s page delivers two more links: “visit the source website” and “view info about your guide.” The source website turned out to be the web page for the Chicago Innovation Awards, which was not optimized for mobile browsers. Nonetheless, this website is obviously relevant to my search request. However, ChaCha’s delivery left out others such as MIT Enterprise Forum of Chicago.
The last screenshot delivers some info about my guide: Timothy E. ChaCha leverages the concept of “social searching.” This means that a human being, Timothy in this case, made a judgement call on what he thought was relevant to my query. ChaCha’s system selects the most knowledgeable person in the “guide community” to address each mobile search. The technology also learns from each answer to improve the accuracy and the speed of future searches.
Links of interest:
- ChaCha’s website.
- ChaCha’s Facebook profile: http://www.facebook.com/pages/ChaChacom/19020889551
| J. de Francisco |  |
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| Chicago, IL 20 August 08 |  |
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Innovator’s dilemmas: the problem with budgeting (3)
“35 percent of software projects started in 2006 can be categorized as successful, meaning they were completed on time, on budget and met user requirements. This is a marked improvement from the first, groundbreaking report in 1994 that labeled only 16.2 percent of projects as successful.”
Read David Rubinstein’s article, “Standish Group Report: There’s Less Development Chaos Today,” on SDTimes.
Related posts:
In previous posts I discussed the views from some VCs who question the need for financial modeling to be able to make investment decisions. I also covered well known problems with traditional budgeting.
The fact is that budget overruns impact the majority of projects, e.g. 60-70% of information technology projects based on a study by the Standish Group in 2004.
Hidden costs are of common occurrence as innovative initiatives can involve unknowns, moving targets and mission creep.
At times, entrepreneurs chose to overlook dependencies on other projects, vendors and technologies to simplify matters… in the spirit of making things more manageable. In some other cases, target costing exercises force innovators to leave key things out so they can meet investors’ performance requirements. In any case, these are practices that elevate a project’s risk.
While the average cost overrun appears to be in excess of 40%, buffering or padding the budget is not well received by decision makers. Most expect detailed budgets where each line item is “properly” identified and well defined. Needless to say that improved project management makes a difference, but Peter Horvarth and Ralf Sauter point to excess detail triggering slow decision processes which weaken a company’s agility and competitiveness.
In my next post on this subject I will discuss the benefits from adopting the rolling budget model.
Picture credits: Hemera Technologies Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Jupiter Images Corporation.
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| Chicago, IL 20 August 08 | |
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Keeping up with my social networks (3)
“A leading forecaster of advertising spending has reduced — again — his prediction for growth this year, joining other analysts who have cut their estimates because of the troubled American economy and difficulties among media like newspapers and radio.”
Read Stuart Eliott’s article, “Ad Spending Forecast Lowered Again,” on The New York Times.
“The Internet has been either dramatically underpriced or offline media is dramatically overpriced. Right now a reader of the Wall Street Journal might be worth a dollar, but for someone reading the online Journal you get a nickel.”
Read Tim O’Reilly’s post, “Online Advertising Undervalued?“
“These [social networking] sites are no different from traditional media properties (…) We are holding these sites to an absurd standard. The advertising allocations will follow the consumer, and right now they’re badly out of whack.”
Read Bryant Urstady’s article, “Social Networking Is Not a Business,” on MIT’s Technology Review. Requires registration.
Related posts:
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What does all of these mean? An uncertain economy is making advertisers become more conservative, having lowered their budgets. Traditional media continues to grab the lion’s share of ad spending, even though people are now more informed and entertained online.
In any case, sponsored search results account for the largest share of online advertising expenditures. Following this waterfall, you might have already guessed that lower ad spending levels puts significant pressure on the so-called ad networks feeding new media and web 2.0 entrepreneurs.
In other words, free online services, most of which happen to be supported by ad revenues, can be negatively impacted by this trend. Last but not least, social networking sites are failing to meet their numbers.
There is room for optimism though. Some think that an economic slowdown might shift advertising spending from traditional media to online advertising, which can deliver better metrics and higher engagement levels.
Interestingly enough, this might also mean implementing best practices. For instance, integrated cross platform and multi-screen marketing campaigns should be more effective than most of today’s disjointed ones. A multi-screen strategy would involve a coordinated effort and brand experience across TV, online and mobile marketing.
Social networking sites command a growing number of eyeballs, being able to deliver analytics on not only individuals but also communities of interest and viral engagements.
More related posts:
- Innovator’s dilemmas: revenue vs. value (1)
- Innovator’s dilemmas: revenue vs. value (2)
- Innovator’s dilemmas: revenue vs. value (3)
- Innovator’s dilemmas: revenue vs. value (4)
Picture credits: Hemera Technologies Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Jupiter Images Corporation.
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| Chicago, IL 16 August 08 | |
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Keeping up with my social networks (2)
“Insiders at Facebook are selling stock in the social-networking giant (…) the prices for Facebook shares in these transactions reflect a total valuation far lower than $15 billion (…) Social networks have struggled to generate revenue through advertising at the rates originally expected. Google, which places ads on News Corp.s MySpace, has said making money off social networks has proven difficult.”
Read Spencer E. Ante’s article, “Has Facebook value taken a hit?” on BusinessWeek.
I have deleted a duplicate profile and updated the one I am keeping on Facebook. The new one shows feeds from this blog and my innovation newsfeed, a mashup I crafted with Yahoo’s Pipes. Chances are you have already read articles and blogs talking about how LinkedIn is a better business tool than Facebook, but I would suggest looking at an interesting comparison analysis posted by Comoputerworld. To be frank, professionally speaking, I really think I need to keep up with both services, unless one ends up integrating the other.
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| Chicago, IL 15 August 08 | |
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Keeping up with my social networks (1)
“The web is returning to its social roots. But is it getting ahead of itself once again? (…) Web 2.0 with its emphasis on collaboration and communication has become overwhelmingly social (…) But although tens of millions around the world use social networks like Facebook and MySpace, the future of the Web is obscure.”
Read “The Future of Web 2.0” on MIT’s Technology Review. Requires registration.
The above collage shows you the social networking services I’m currently using, namely: Facebook, Linkedin (my profile), Flicker, WordPress (this blog), and Ning (consultaglobal’s new innovation network.) Admittedly, keeping up with them all can be a bit of a challenge at times but, it is worth the effort so far. As an example, just recently, this blog registered well beyond 100,000 page views and I have managed to connect with very interesting people from all over the world.
Most social networking start-ups are backed by VCs expecting the new business to attract users yielding a well defined and measurable audience. In theory, this many eyeballs should trigger a growing stream of advertising revenues. The end game is reaching enough critical size for the company to be acquired by a powerhouse. However, Brian Urstadt claims that social networking is not a profitable business, which I will further discuss in my next post.
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| Chicago, IL 13 August 08 | |
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