TIA is the respected trade association for the ICT industry and has developed more than 3,000 ANSI-accredited standards including Ethernet, CDMA technology, cell towers, public safety radios, healthcare ICT, vehicular telematics, intelligent transport systems and more. TIA is a prominent advocate on behalf of its members for universal broadband connectivity, innovation, accessibility and free trade. TIA’s five strategic pillars include Government Affairs, Standards, Environment, Networking and Intelligence. Find out more about TIA membership by contacting lmagruder@tiaonline.org.

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It’s 6:15pm EST on Wednesday May 13th, 2009 and I have just gotten up from my chair to get a cup of coffee before joining the next session. This is Day 2 of Cisco’s annual Strategic Leadership Offsite (SLO) where directors and above from all around the world and from all functions of the company congregate to align on the key priorities for the coming year. The difference this year is that we are doing it virtually.

I do admit that when I heard the plans for a virtual meeting for SLO, I felt a rush of excitement that we were trying something radically different. I also was questioning whether I would like the experience and if it would be as effective as being physically there.

Our current financial climate is forcing all companies to look carefully at expenses, and Cisco is no exception. The SLO event has historically averaged a cost of $2,800 per person and since we have close to 3,000 attendees, the expense is significant. Cancelling SLO is not an option and we needed to find an alternative that wasn’t as expensive. “Necessity is the mother of invention” and our need to reduce expenses led to this idea of a virtual SLO. The cost for attending virtually is turning out to be around $680 per person vs $2,800 which is a quarter of what we used to spend. Ok… so it makes financial sense and it also saves a lot of time traveling to and from the event. But is it effective?

The Pros:

1) The interface is captivating and it allows you to navigate easily from one area to the other. (See pictures)

2) There is a lot of great content on the site and every attendee’s schedule for the various sessions is unique to their interest and job function. Think about that… custom agenda and content for over 3,200 people. This isn’t your father’s meeting!

3) The event is also very interactive with attendees encouraged to participate via video, questions to managers, user submitted videos, polling, a leader’s lounge, chat and much more. Darn! They have even managed to keep my attention …and that’s no easy task.

4) Real time feedback and statistics - there is a control room at corproate that is monitoring the ‘pulse’ of the meeting at all times. We’re keeping a close eye on what is happening and getting results instantly.

5) No travel—horray!

6) I don’t have to share a hotel room. Yes, we share rooms to reduce expensees.

The Cons:

1) I miss the glass of wine I traditionally have at night during SLO with longtime friends.

2) And I miss some of the informal meetings that take place as you pass each other at the event.

In summary, I think we have gotten a glimpse of the future over the last few days. Virtual reality is an extremely effective medium that will change how large meetings are done. If they add a virtual bar on the next version then I think it will be almost perfect.

Republished, © Cisco / The Platform, All Rights Reserved

Lo and behold, a CIO speaker at an event I attended was asked about the different content types he leveraged to get his job done. He mentioned that he takes a 30 minute ferry boat ride to and from work each day. While most boat passengers are reading the daily newspaper, this CIO would listen to IT-specific podcasts on each ride – and, he insisted that each downloaded podcast be 30 minutes long (or less), so that he could listen its entirety on the ride.

With virtul events, I’ve heard from event organizers and event sponsors who wonder whether the CIO (and her companions in the C-Suite) will adopt virtual events and virtual tradeshows. I think the answer is “yes”. First, let’s characterize some of the C-Suite occupants:

1. CEO - may be too busy to attend virtual events – but, will occasionally make the keynote appearance to kick off a virtual event. Many CEO’s do not use a computer, but most carry PDAs. This means that the path to CEO participation in virtual events may be via the PDA.
2. CMO - they see the value of virtual events as a marketing and lead generation vehicle, so one of their key roles today is in funding and approving budget. As for attendance, my feeling is that they’re interested in doing so.
3. CIO - like with podcasts, virtual events enable and empower an executive. The CIO can attend a virtual event to peer network with like-minded CIO’s and not miss a day in the office to do so.
4. CTO - intimate with technology, the CTO is virtually a slam dunk to participate (pun intended).
5. CFO - not so sure about CFO’s, but I will note that IBM Cognos produced a virtual event called Virtual Finance Forum 2009 that targeted finance executives. Cognos produced the same event in 2008 as well.

B-to-B publishers have caught on to the notion that CIO’s will attend virtual events, as past virtual events have specifically targeted the CIO. Two upcoming events are taking a similar approach:

1. CIO Virtual Forum: Navigating Through Dynamic Times (May 19, 2009 – CIO.com and Cisco)
2. CIO Summit: Driving Business Value and Customer Value in the Global Economy (June 10, 2009 – InformationWeek)

In my experience with technology focused virtual events, I found that of all registrants, 7-9% had senior IT titles (CIO, CTO, VP of Technology, etc.). So an event with 1,000 registrants would have 70-90 of them be CIO’s or CTO’s. Why would the C-Suite attend a virtual event? I think there are a few primary benefits:

1. Conveniently network with like-minded peers – one of the draws of attending an event is the ability to network with other attendees. With a virtual event, a busy executive can do so without losing a day outside the office.
2. Efficiently connect with partners and customers – an online experience can’t re-create the dyamics of an in-person interaction, but it does allow a busy executive to connect with many more partners and customers than could have occurred in-person.
3. Extend your social graph and social presence – some C-Suite execs have enthusiastically adopted Twitter, Facebook and other social networks. Industry-specific virtual events allow the executive to further expand the social graph. And of course, they’ll be tweeting about the event as soon as they login.

What has your experience been – has the C-Suite at your own company attended a virtual event?

Republished, © It’s All Virtual, All Rights Reserved

Judy Layzer isn’t, by any common definition, a futurist. But after a conversation with her you might feel you’ve just spoken with one.

A political scientist by training, Layzer now teaches and writes in MIT’s urban studies department, where she has become increasingly focused on sustainability and the built environment - especially the ways that that environment is going to change. The way she tells it, change sounds like possibility (however hard it may be to achieve). As she says after enumerating some of the “healthy changes and opportunities” that will result from higher energy prices, “all of this is in some ways an urban planner’s dream. It’s the way we thought people should be living anyway.”

For the MIT Sustainability Interview series, Layzer spoke with MIT Sloan Management Review editor-in-chief Michael S. Hopkins.

Read the full interview Here

For complete white paper, click here.

For complete white paper, click here.

For complete white paper, click here.

For complete article, click here.

Facilities like the one SolarWorld is pioneering will reduce the costs of solar power and increase the number of green jobs, accelerating commercial and residential installations of solar panels and overall economic growth.

“The need for affordable and efficient energy alternatives represents a global issue and is more critical than ever,” said Frank A. Asbeck, CEO of SolarWorld.

The solar industry is expected to grow to $74 billion in 2017 from $20 billion in 2007, according to a projection by Clean Edge Inc., a market research firm focused on clean technology.

SolarWorld Hillsboro is a 480,000 square foot facility, measuring one-quarter mile end-to-end. Raw silicon is transformed through the manufacturing process into solar cells that are shipped to the SolarWorld Camarillo plant where they are processed into solar panels.

Headquartered in Germany and founded n 1977, SolarWorld is a veteran of the clean tech industry in a sea of startups. The company conducted its IPO in Germany in 1999 when most technology companies were emerged in dotcom. Today, SolarWorld is one of the most successful clean tech companies on the planet.

SolarWorld has production facilities in Germany and the United States, including in California, Oregon and Washington, and is establishing a joint venture for module production in South Korea. The company delivers its products to market from sales offices in Germany, Singapore, South Africa, Spain and the United States.

Up until now Ethiopia has relied upon hydroelectric dams as an important energy source, although recently this strategy has been crippled by severe droughts that strain the country’s energy grid to the point of collapse. EEPC chairman Meheret Debebe has stated that the new wind power project “will help us to fill the gap of hydrological risks we are facing in Ethiopia with the droughts”.

The cost for the project will be 220 million euros, and it is expected to hit a peak production of over 120 megawatts when it is finished in about two and a half years. Africa’s investment in the green revolution will ensure that the continent stands well poised to tackle future challenges, and this is a great first step.

+ Vergnet
+ Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation