Chapter 2 - Technology Infrastructure: The Internet and the World Wide Web

"In 40 years, the Internet has grown to become one of the most amazing technological and social accomplishments of the last millennium." Schneider Gary, Chapter 2

Despite being a recent phenomenon the Internet and IT infrastructure has become a central piece in modern society and a huge tool to accelerate progress in developing countries. New emerging opportunities could help small and poor economies in the identification of new development strategies to overcome chronic problems such as lack of natural resources, geographical isolation, population dispersion and other structural conditions.

Presently this is the Cape Verde situation. The country was recently promoted by the UN from the least developing countries group to the medium income group which rewards the efforts made in the last decade and improvements in the Human Development Index. On the other hand Cape Verde is still vulnerable with a highly dependable economy.

In this scenario ICT reveals to be strategic for the Capeverdean development. In that direction, authorities are implementing cutting edge initiatives to overcome the country's current issues. The e-government program is impacting lives and promoting the rise of the information society connecting capeverdeans across the world (diaspora) with their fellow citizens in the islands. The online service "House of the Citizen" (Casa do Cidadão) is a one-stop shop where various services of the administration are available allowing effective access to the public information, delivering efficient services with increasing levels of accountability.

Meanwhile, Cape Verde has to develop the ICT sector to sustain the present achievement. In regards to the ICT development, I.T.U. - International Telecommunication Union reports that in 2010 the country was ranked in the 102 position which reflects the higher telecommunications cost. In 2009 the Internet Broadband cost was representing 19,65% of the medium income.

In my point of view, despite the government's performance the country is not yet prepared to compete in the global market. My experience as a player in the market allows me to point out three major constrains that should be evaluated and measured through research:

1. IT enterprises have a limited market due to major role that government corporation plays in the value chain
2. The National IT infrastructure was privatized for 50 years in the late 1990s  to a foreign company. The present government could only minimize the impact by reducing the award to 25 years. But the company has made investments in the IT infrastructure covering all the islands with a communication network (fixed lines, broadband and wi-fi). Still the company operates with focus on financial rewards and maintains a higher access cost for consumers and companies.
3. A lack of an innovational environment delays the evolution of critical brain mass. IT entrepreneurs don't have access to seed capital, copyright laws are not effective and national policy is focused on the public sector.

However, countries compete with each other and those who are in a better shape to foster their own wealth and take advantage of their own set of infrastructure, with broadband connection and readiness to innovate, will be better positioned in the future.

In defiance of all major questions, ICT represents a window of opportunity for Cape Verde which should be able to consolidate present achievements and effectively lead innovation in Africa.

Source:
Schneider Gary, 2011. Electronic Commerce 9th Edition. Course Technology, Cengage Learning
International Telecomunication Union
International Human Indicators

Google's Trojan Horse come out in beta version

After my last post I became very excited with the possibilities that could emerge when Chrome OS enters the market. In my point of view Google's focus on the end user experience is absolutely correct. Like me, regular users don't understand what is behind technology and for most of them, computer are stressful, time consuming and a complex tool to handle. Viruses problems, system maintenance and backup data are only a few problems that users have to deal with in daily basis. It's also true that users spend most of their time online. Vast majority still depends on the desktop application which we are all familiar with but using only simple resources such as browsing, processing text, calculating, analyzing data or preparing presentations. Furthermore, the personal computer is also a multimedia device with multiple applications for video, music or photo viewer.

Last year, when project was presented, Mr. Sundar Pichar defended the idea of a web-centric OS computer device which was conceived to facilitate and largely improve user experience. This idea captivate me and I realized that in true computers are not made for end users. Systems based on Windows, Macintosh or Linux are all made for specialist. End users need to be guided or controlled when using those systems so they don't cause damages. We must all face that until now computers are only made for geeks!

That's why I couldn't wait to see this product on the market but I confess that I'm a little disappointed. I was waiting for a "grow-up" computer and yet seems CR-48 is still a baby.

Strategically Chrome OS device launched by Google is a pilot version that shall be improved by end user's experience. The test notebook has 12.1 inch screens, full-sized keyboards and touch pads, integrated 3G from Verizon, eight hours of battery life and eight days of standby time. For now is only available for a select crowd of web heavy users.

Surprisingly, Google launched, in the same day, Chrome Apps Store which is definitely a pool of complementary goods that will enable everything the company is doing through Chrome. In fact, I now understand why Chrome is really Chrome OS.

Suddenly the "all strategy" became evident. Google needs, not only a modern browser capable to surf the web and efficiently use web applications, but also a device who cares about user's experience. Furthermore, Google is setting up a stage and creating conditions for a total migration from desktop to the cloud environment where Chrome OS have a fundamental role as the enabler of the "all ecosystem" that is growing around web application and Google Solutions.

The Apps Store points to that future. Displaying a wide range of applications that users could buy or freely install on the Chrome browser, Google is preparing to fulfil every kind of user's needs and this is changing the game in the industry.

Anyway CR-48 is still a baby and the industry players have all the time to react. The question is if they are agile enough or will they play like past giants in the past that paid no attention until the Trojan Horse became completely deployed.

Sources:
Chrome Blog
Chrome Web Store

Chrome is Chrome OS

Last year Google was presenting Chrome OS when someone from the press asked about the possibility of using other browsers inside the Chrome OS system!? Seems the questions did not make sense for Google Vice-President of Product Management and he answered that the system will be open for anyone who wants to develop his own browser. Later the project’s Engineer made a joke saying that "Chrome is Chrome OS".

In fact it is a bit confusing since Google owns a browser with that same name and now they are developing Chrome Operational System which will be running primarily in a Netbook designed by Google. According to Google the project should be launched after the thanksgiving holiday, but now analysts are saying that the device will be presented in the next few weeks.

During the project presentation, Mr. Sergei Brin and his top Project Management team points out that computer devices are now very cheap but difficult to manage for most users. Chrome OS will be very familiar and intuitive for most users because the interface will be the browser. Every application will be a web-based, users will not have to install or update software, there will be nothing to maintain and all the data will be on the cloud. Using Chrome OS the user will not have to deal with common problems such as virus, system configuration, software install, updating and backup data.

Still, analysts question about what will be the relation between Google Chrome OS and Android OS, which is another breakthrough project developed by a different team inside Google. Different heavyweight teams’ structures with concurrent goals inside the company could be harmful for coexistence. But for now it seems they coexist pacifically and in the words of Google’s CEO: “So far the model seems to be the Android solution, which is particularly optimized for things that involve touch in some form, and Chrome OS appears to be for keyboard-based solutions.”

Chrome OS seems an evolution rather than a revolution, but since it's based on the cloud computing concept it could be highly disruptive to many business models. This subtle movement could lead more people from the desktop territory, where Microsoft is the Emperor to the cloud computing environment where Google is the most efficient and innovative player.

Let us meet the beta demo presented last year:

Sources:
NYTimes - For Google, the Browser Does it All. November 24, 2010
DaylyFinance - Google Chrome OS Comming to Netbooks Soon - November 27, 2010