Growth in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector has exploded over the past 20 years. Continuous dynamic market and technology developments in this sector have led to a phenomenon known as convergence, which is defined in this volume as the erosion of boundaries between previously separate ICT services, networks, and business practices. Some examples include cable television networks that offer phone service, Internet television, and mergers between media and telecommunications firms. The results are exciting and hold significant promise for developing countries, which can benefit from expanded access, greater competition, and increased investments. However, convergence in ICT is challenging traditional policy and regulatory frameworks. With convergence occurring in countries across the spectrum of economic development, it is critical that policy makers and regulators understand and respond in ways that maximize the benefits while mitigating the risks. This volume analyzes the strategic and regulatory dimensions of convergence. It offers policy makers and regulators examples from countries around the world as they address this phenomenon. The authors suggest that countries that enable convergence are likely to reap the greater rewards, but the precise nature of the response will vary by country. Hence, this book offers global principles that should be tailored to local circumstances as regulatory frameworks evolve to address convergence.

This book explores broadband Internet use and rural America. For many Americans, a world without broadband is unimaginable. However, large parts of rural America have languished on the sidelines of the digital revolution. As many of their fellow citizens in more densely populated parts of the country go online for work, education, entertainment, healthcare, civic participation, and much more, too many rural Americans are being left behind. Rural governments and businesses are missing opportunities to function more efficiently and effectively. At a time when access to affordable, robust broadband services is a fundamental part of efforts to restore America's economic well-being in both rural and urban areas, we must ensure that this capability is available to open the doors of opportunity for everyone.

"This book is a great resource for Microsoft partners - it provides smart questions and even smarter answers in a simple and clear way. If you're looking to build, enhance or develop your partnership with Microsoft, I would highly recommend reading this book." Clare Barclay, Director of Partner Strategy & Programmes, Microsoft Ltd

Playing footsie with the FTSE? The financial crash of 2008 and the crisis in journalism is a special book issue of Ethical Space to mark a special event. In the autumn of 2008, the world economy nearly went into meltdown after the collapse of Lehman Brothers on 15 September. The banks were on the brink; the cash machines worldwide were about to be shut off. In the end, the global economy was saved - but at a huge long-term cost. Why did so few politicians, economists and academics see the Great Crash coming and why did so few journalists report it in advance? Here the movers and shakers of financial journalism try to give some explanation: Robert Peston, of the BBC, then a maverick now proved to be totally right Peter Wilby, of the Guardian, who advises us not to trust financial journalists Jane Fuller, top financial analyst, ponders the implications for all journalists Anne Gregory, Professor of PR, examines the role of public relations in the credit crunch Award-winning Martin Lewis critiques the "TV property porn merchants" Other distinguished contributors include Hugh Pym, of the BBC, Pulitzer Prize-winner David Cay Johnston, INSEAD scholar Matthew Fraser, Francesco Guerrera, of the Financial Times, PR guru Trevor Morris, Alex Brummer, of the Daily Mail, Brian Caplen, editor of the Banker, Howard Davies, LSE Director, Nicholas Jones, for 30 years a BBC correspondent, top media blogger Kristine Lowe and Professors John Tulloch and Damian Tambini. Edited by John Mair, of Coventry University, and Richard Lance Keeble, of the University of Lincoln, this is a seminal collection of essays on the Great Crash from those at the epicentre of the financial storm. "Very timely and topical, this is an extremely valuable collection of reflections from leading commentators on how the media covered the Great Crash of 2008" Professor Daya Thussu, University of Westminster, London

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Communications - Journalism, Journalism Professions, grade: A-, Central European University Budapest, course: "News Media and Political Power: Lessons from American Perspective," language: English, abstract: The future of news media characterized by uncertainty, over- and underestimation is a fascinating area of study. Nowadays everything is glocal, everyone can be journalist and a political player - news consumers become news producers. Unfortunately, there is a lack of theoretical and empirical researches about the future of journalism. Therefore my research questions are: 1) How will the journalism develop? (global and U.S. vision)? 2) How will the journalism develop in Latvia? 3) What are the development scenarios? The final paper consists of three parts and I have also proposed some recommendations in the end.

This is a ride on the Google wave, and the fullest account of how it formed and crashed into traditional media businesses. With unprecedented access to Google's founders and executives, as well as to those in media who are struggling to keep their heads above water, Ken Auletta reveals how the industry is being disrupted and redefined.

Many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa see broadband ICT as an essential part of their long-term economic development strategy. Backbone networks are the high-capacity networks that lie at the heart of communications systems and allow the delivery of the high volumes of data needed for broadband. What high-capacity backbone networks that do exist in the region are typically limited to major urban areas and some inter-city routes. Competition between backbone networks is underdeveloped so the price of services remains high and quality is often poor. This pattern of network development is the result of high costs and regulatory restrictions on network development. Where countries have fully liberalized their telecommunications markets and promoted infrastructure competition, prices have fallen and quality improved. Backbone network policy should focus on promoting competition, reducing the cost of network construction and encouraging network development into currently underserved areas. Competition can be promoted by removing regulatory restrictions such as limits on the number of licenses and constraints on type of infrastructure and services that licensees can offer. The cost of backbone network development can be reduced by utilizing energy and transport infrastructure and reducing legal costs such as obtaining planning permission. Stimulating backbone network development beyond major urban areas can be achieved through establishing public-private partnerships to encourage operators to build networks into currently underserved areas.

From hashtag activism to the flood of political memes on social media, the landscape of political communication is being transformed by the grassroots circulation of opinion on digital platforms and beyond. By exploring how everyday people assist in the promotion of political media messages to persuade their peers and shape the public mind, Joel Penney offers a new framework for understanding the phenomenon of viral political communication: the citizen marketer. Like the citizen consumer, the citizen marketer is guided by the logics of marketing practice, but, rather than being passive, actively circulates persuasive media to advance political interests. Such practices include using protest symbols in social media profile pictures, strategically tweeting links to news articles to raise awareness about select issues, sharing politically-charged internet memes and viral videos, and displaying mass-produced T-shirts, buttons, and bumper stickers that promote a favored electoral candidate or cause. Citizens view their participation in such activities not only in terms of how it may shape or influence outcomes, but as a statement of their own identity. As the book argues, these practices signal an important shift in how political participation is conceptualized and performed in advanced capitalist democratic societies, as they casually inject political ideas into the everyday spaces and places of popular culture. While marketing is considered a dirty word in certain critical circles - particularly among segments of the left that have identified neoliberal market logics and consumer capitalist structures as a major focus of political struggle - some of these very critics have determined that the most effective way to push back against the forces of neoliberal capitalism is to co-opt its own marketing and advertising techniques to spread counter-hegemonic ideas to the public. Accordingly, this book argues that the citizen marketer approach to political action is much broader than any one ideological constituency or bloc. Rather, it is a means of promoting a wide range of political ideas, including those that are broadly critical of elite uses of marketing in consumer capitalist societies. The book includes an extensive historical treatment of citizen-level political promotion in modern democratic societies, connecting contemporary digital practices to both the 19th century tradition of mass political spectacle as well as more informal, culturally-situated forms of political expression that emerge from postwar countercultures. By investigating the logics and motivations behind the citizen marketer approach, as well as how it has developed in response to key social, cultural, and technological changes, Penney charts the evolution of activism in an age of mediatized politics, promotional culture, and viral circulation.

Rapid advances in information technology (IT) and the resulting global connectivity are fueling dynamic growth in the services sector. Demand for IT and IT-enabled services (ITES) is estimated to represent a $500 billion annual market, of which only about 20 percent has been realised. Thus, this sector is creating new opportunities for economic growth, social empowerment, and grassroots innovation in developing countries. The potential for employment for youth and women is a particular benefit. This book is a practical guide for policy makers aiming to grow their IT services and ITES industries. It defines the development impact of the two industries and then analyses factors crucial to the competitiveness of a country or location-including skills, cost advantages, infrastructure, and a hospitable business environment. It examines the potential competitiveness of small countries and of least developed countries specifically. This volume presents the Location Readiness Index, a modeling tool developed by McKinsey & Company for the World Bank and the Information Development Program. The index helps countries to identify their areas of relative strengths and weaknesses and to focus their efforts on interventions with the greatest likelihood for success. The book concludes by discussing specific policy options for enabling growth in the IT services and ITES industries.

The fourth publication in MSP University's best-selling Managed Services Series, The Best NOC and Service Desk Operations BOOK EVER reveals how to build, staff and maintain a NOC and Service Desk effectively and profitably, along with best practices and techniques to increase efficiencies and net profits for these critical service delivery business units. This comprehensive resource documents and discusses best practices for NOC and Service Desk infrastructure design, tools and technology, deliverables, pre-requisites for service, agreements and addendums, SLAs, processes, clients, management and outsourcing considerations all geared to help your organization or business unit increase efficiencies and net profitability while reducing risk and mitigating pain for you and your clients and end users. Whether you are looking to build out your NOC and Service Desk from scratch, are interested in learning how to effectively outsource and manage specific components of these units, or simply wish to evaluate the processes you currently employ in your own NOC and Service Desk, this reference will teach you how to improve processes, maximize efficiencies and increase client satisfaction - all while improving your bottom line We've included everything you'll need in The Best NOC and Service Desk Operations BOOK EVER , allowing you to: Design the most effective infrastructure for your NOC and Service Desk - Identify and integrate the right tools and technology to support your NOC and Service Desk - Establish service requirements for your end users and clients to qualify them for effective, efficient service delivery - Determine what your NOC and Service Desk deliverables and SLAs should be - Understand and implement effective incident management processes - Learn the 10 critical Service Management processes required for success - Develop a rock-solid client provisioning and on-boarding process to smooth service turn-up and go-live - Gain knowledge of efficient day-to-day NOC and Service Desk staff duties that increase efficiencies and improve customer satisfaction - Create an effective hiring, compensation, training and management process for NOC and Service Desk staff - Discover critical KPIs and learn how to run your NOC and Service Desk by the numbers - Learn how to outsource NOC and Service Desk components effectively. This resource has been highly requested by solution providers, internal IT departments and channel organizations worldwide, and fills the void for a NOC and Service Desk-specific work for the IT industry covering design, tools, deliverables and hiring, compensating, training and managing staff; along with operational processes, client on-boarding and management processes, outsourcing to 3rd party fulfillment partners and service delivery. Includes nearly 30 downloadable forms, tools and educational webcasts.

The Management Of Commercial Computing. ISBN: 0952795604 Year: 1996 The development and management of systems and people in multi-national corporations, systems and software houses, government departments, European Union Commissions and academia.

Coaching for High Performance is intended to inspire IT managers with practical advice and tips on how to create a coaching environment in their department. Applying coaching skills in the IT workplace will help create an environment of high performance. Coaching enables people improve performance and enhance the quality of work. Furthermore, it is a skill that is readily usable by all. It is a set of behaviours which can be used during a five- minute chat with a colleague or a direct report, during a one-to-one meeting, a performance review or as part of an IT project meeting. The author, Sarah Cook is the Managing Director of The Stairway Consultancy Ltd. She has 15 years' consulting experience specialising in executive coaching, leadership and change and a background in industry. Sarah is a Fellow of Chartered Institute of Personnel Development with an MA from Cambridge University and an MBA. She is an accredited user of a wide range of psychometric and personal diagnostic tools.

Claude Hopkins, the father of modern advertising techniques, believed that "Advertising is salesmanship," and as such it should be measurable and justify the results that it produced. In Scientific Advertising, he explains precisely how to do that, and the principles he discovered and documented are as true today as when they were first written. This business classic covers mail-order marketing, headlines, psychology, strategy, budgeting, and more advanced subjects like negative advertising and how to test an advertising campaign. Whatever advertising medium you use, from print to the Internet, the fundamental principles of Scientific Advertising are universal and timeless.

In the early 1980 s, Jiang Zemin, then Minister of Electronics Ministry of China, assessed the IT industry as the strategic high ground in international competition. He "perceived the discrepancy between China s level and the world's advanced level was so great that we had to do our utmost to catch up." Since then through numerous articles and frequent speeches he has drawn up a detailed technological and policy roadmap for doing exactly that. This volume collects over 25 pieces written over more than 20 years. It demonstrates the former president of China s authority and insight into the development of China s IT industry since the introduction of reforms, and the cutting-edge issues experienced throughout the global IT industry. Jiang s ambitious goal is the transformation of China into a leader in the global IT industry by 2020. This volume offers IT industry analysts, China watchers, policy makers and advisors, IT researchers, and investors a singular and authoritative view on how China should get there.
Establishes key measurements for the development of China s IT industry

Sets forth the priorities for government and industry I

Identifies opportunities for interrelating military and civilian R&D and applications

Reveals key obstacles to progress and directives for overcoming them

Sets out an R&D agenda for industry

Names the core industry sectors for government and industry investment

Identifies opportunities and the necessity for international collaboration

Establishes the need to develop China s own IPR and to respect and protect others IPR "

During the economic reforms of the last twenty years, China adopted a wide array of policies designed to raise its technological capability and foster industrial growth. Ideologically, the government would not promote private-ownership firms and instead created a hybrid concept, that of "nongovernmental enterprises" or minying qiye. Adam Segal examines the minying experience, particularly in high technology, in four key regions: Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, and Guangzhou.

Minying enterprises have been neither clear successes nor abject failures, Segal finds. Instead, outcomes varied: though efforts to create a core of innovative high-tech firms succeeded in Beijing, minying enterprises elsewhere have languished. He points to variations in local implementation of government policies on investment, property-rights regulation, and government supervision as a key to the different outcomes. He explains these peculiarities of implementation by putting official decisions within their local contexts. Extending his analysis, he compares the experience of creating technology enterprises in China with those of Korea (the chaebol system) and Taiwan (enterprise groups).

Based on interviews with entrepreneurs and local government officials, as well as numerous published primary sources, Digital Dragon is the first detailed look at a major Chinese institutional experiment and at high-tech endeavors in China. Can China become a true global economic power? The evolution of the high- technologies sector will determine, Segal says, whether China will become a modern economy or simply a large one.

Over the past three decades, Alan Siegel has become one of the best-known figures in the branding business. He has achieved the stature of both pillar of the establishment and provocative iconoclast, while building a leading brand consultancy, Siegel & Gale, devoted to positioning global companies for competitive success. As consultant, author, and commentator, Alan's influence extends from advising organizations such as Xerox, American Express, the National Basketball Association, Caterpillar, The Girl Scouts, and Carnegie Mellon University, to creating guides for the Wall Street Journal on understanding financial markets, to board-level service at American Institute of Graphic Arts, Design Management Institute, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Girls, Inc., and the Authors Guild Foundation and the American Theater Wing, where he is a TONY voter. During the 1970's, Alan pioneered simplification to such daunting documents as insurance policies, bank loan notes, mutual fund prospectuses, and all types of government communications. He criticized corporate executives, lawyers, doctors, technologists, and politicians for their murky jargon, self-important claims, and frustrating communications. During the 1980's, he popularized the idea of "brand voice." And during the 1990's, his firm championed the Internet as a powerful expression of brand strategy.

Praise for No Static at All:

"Don Tanner provides a compelling inside look at radio. This book is a must-read for anyone who has ever thought about a career in radio and for those who just love listening and have wondered what it's really like behind the scenes."
-Daniel Merkle, Ph.D. ABC News

"Memory lane for sure - it's a time travel machine in paperback."
-Dave Gorab "Tanner has truly captured the excitement and imagination of radio. His story reminds me why I spent so many of my college nights working the overnight shift in front of the microphone. Suburb writing; fantastic anecdotes."
-Scott MacFarlane Cox Broadcasting

" No Static] takes the reader down a scenic road of radio and pop music. I found it hard to put down."
-Art Vuolo Michiguide.com

In No Static at All, Don Tanner, a former radio DJ, reporter (WWJ-AM/Detroit) programmer, researcher (Mediabase) and journalist, takes you behind the scenes and the microphone, to see and hear what it's really like to live on-the-air-from the ground floor up. It also examines why radio remains at a crossroads today and what the future may hold.

This study examines the effective use of computer-mediated environments (CME) for online learning, networking, and teach-ing in the context of Open University course H804, 'The Imple-mentation of Open and Distance Learning'. He contends that an effective approach requires a learner-centred focus, taking into account the practitioners' views of learner support in open and distance learning. He concentrates on a particular 6-week period when the students were discussing 'learner support in open and distance education', partly because of the importance of learner support in a computer-mediated environment, but more importantly because he believes that this study will yield a richer understanding of what learner support means in a computer-mediated environment. Colleges and universities are well placed to respond to these aspirations by embracing e-learning technologies, because most governments want to raise the education level and skills of their population. This book is important for all in education seeking to harnass communication technology to their advantage."

Undeniably, Asian societies are in a period of transition, when people are learning to live with new information and communication technologies (ICTs) - whether in commerce, government or development work. Living the Information Society in Asia describes the interaction of people and new ICTs as the technologies seep into everyday life, such as how mobile phones forge relationships among families separated by migration, how camera phones threaten personal space, how cultural identities are strengthened in call centres, and how religion is incorporated into the new communication technologies people use. Living the Information society in Asia looks at the phenomenon as it unfolds and raises the implications for policy and future research.

Major firms currently control over 80% of global sound carrier and publishing revenue in the popular music industry. The aim is to explain the disorganising effects currently being experienced. The central question guiding this investigation asks: what will be the effect of new technologies on the future organisation of the music industry? Focus is broadly on recent universally accessible digital technologies which have raised questions about the future of the industry's current organisational structure and processes both in terms of input (creation of music products in their commodified form) and output (access and consumption of music products). The industry's processes are complex because they centre around sophisticated management, and aggressive appropriation of intellectual property (namely copyright) for repeated exploitation for decades after its initial acquisition. The purpose of this book, therefore, is to examine not only the tangible aspects of the manner in which the industry organises its products, but also the intangible dimension. Significant recent changes experienced by the industry are identified. The literature is not conclusive in terms of explaining these developments. This book remedies this deficiency by proposing four separate but interconnected factors are affecting the highly concentrated status quo. Empirically grounded, the current work has implications for understanding the industry's methods. The book is written as a text about the political economy of the music industry specifically and popular culture generally. It is intended to appeal to students and other persons interested in the music industry, political economies in late capitalism, popularculture and mass communication, organisational studies, the politico-economic structure of corporations in advanced capitalist societies, and legal issues concerning popular culture in the market place. At a more general level, this book would appeal to any persons interested in a topic concerning the music business. The book takes a multidisciplinary approach to a widely debated topic in various fields including political science, communications, sociology, law and economics.

The third publication in MSP University s best-selling Managed Services Series, The Best I.T. Service Delivery BOOK EVER covers all aspects of delivering I.T. and technical services to end-customers through 4 types of service delivery models: Hardware Warranty, Break-Fix, Professional and Managed Services. This comprehensive resource details best practices for service delivery, including a description of each service model and strategies for maintaining or maximizing each model, as well as migrating from one service model to another. Covering service pricing and positioning, service delivery, hiring and compensating and training staff and maximizing customer trust, satisfaction and loyalty, this resource is certain to become a key reference manual in your organization. This book will reveal how to successfully deliver I.T. Solutions and Managed Services to become a Trusted Advisor to your clients. These methodologies have helped thousands of Solution Providers tremendously increase their revenues. The Best I.T. Service Delivery BOOK EVER applies the most highly effective I.T. and Managed Services delivery techniques ever developed to increase your efficiencies, client relationships and revenue, and provide a roadmap to migrate from one service delivery model to another We've included everything you'll need in The Best I.T. Service Delivery BOOK EVER , allowing you to: Identify or establish your current service delivery model, understand key characteristics and important considerations for each service delivery model, determine whether you are in Build, Maintain or Maximize mode, and if you are ready to Migrate. Recognize the key staff necessary for each model and mode and create an effective hiring, compensation, and training process for all staff. Improve customer satisfaction, become a Trusted Advisor and sell more solutions and services to your clients. This resource has been highly anticipated by solution providers and channel organizations worldwide, and fills the void for a service-specific work for the I.T. industry, covering hiring, compensating, and training staff; along with project management, quoting and service delivery for 4 service provider groups. Includes nearly 30 downloadable webinars, forms, tools and collateral

In "Right of the Dial," Alec Foege explores how the mammoth media conglomerate Clear Channel Communications evolved from a local radio broadcasting operation, founded in 1972, into one of the biggest, most profitable, and most polarizing corporations in the country. During its heyday, critics accused Clear Channel, the fourth-largest media company in the United States and the nation's largest owner of radio stations, of ruining American pop culture and cited it as a symbol of the evils of media monopolization, while fans hailed it as a business dynamo, a beacon of unfettered capitalism.What's undeniable is that as the owner at one point of more than 1,200 radio stations, 130 major concert venues and promoters, 770,000 billboards, and 41 television stations, Clear Channel dominated the entertainment world in ways that MTV and Disney could only dream of. But in the fall of 2006, after years of public criticism and flattening stock prices, Goliath finally tumbled--Clear Channel Communications, Inc., spun off its entertainment division and plotted to sell off one-third of its radio stations and all of its television concerns, and to transfer ownership of the rest of its holdings to a consortium of private equity firms. The move signaled the end of an era in media consolidation, and in "Right of the Dial," Foege takes stock of the company's successes and abuses, showing the manner in which Clear Channel reshaped America's cultural and corporate landscape along the way.

For more than a century, the American Telephone & Telegraph Co. was a towering fixture in the American business landscape. At the forefront of the global communications revolution, AT&T led the way in the development of the telephone, wireless communication, and the Internet. But at the end of the twentieth century, with one man floundering at the helm, the corporate giant collapsed. It was the end of an era.

Veteran telecom journalist Leslie Cauley pursued the story for over a decade and witnessed the entire debacle. At "The Wall Street Journal" and at "USA Today," she has earned a reputation for aggressive investigation of the numerous industry shake-ups -- none more dramatic than AT&T's headlong plunge as it misguidedly attempted to become a broadband leader. Cauley gained access to current and former AT&T executives, boardmembers, and other insiders. Filled with new and controversial material and peopled by a cast of characters worthy of a Shakespearean drama, this is the first book to chronicle this riveting tale.

Up through the late 1990s, AT&T -- tough, innovative, resourceful -- seemed infallible. For industry insiders and for the general public, it loomed as an emblem of American business prowess and, even more, of the American Dream fulfilled. "End of the Line" is an unprecedented account of the ruin of an icon and one of the shattering corporate events of our time.