Cambridge Judge Business School Discussions on Information Systems & Technology: Recent Episodes
Cambridge University
Cutting-edge expert commentary, analysis and business insights on the IS and technological issues of the day from Cambridge Judge Business School's global faculty, associates and guest speakers.
Professor Michael Barrett feels cultural differences may have hampered success of a Cambridge-designed mobile money transfer technology. Today 12 million Kenyans employ the system but neighbouring Tanzania, predicted as a natural follower, has been slow to react.
Professor Barrett says the flexibilty and sensitivity to cultural values and traits are crucial in working out a design solution that might be successful within a particular city or culture.
The public sector could save billions of pounds a year by adopting 'open software' systems, take a lead in creating organisations for the future and play a huge role in improving UK plc's position in a competitive global economy says Dr Mark Thompson, who uses the word 'deverticalisation' to support his argument that eliminating vertically integrated organisations when standardising many processes would lead to both improvements and economies.
In little more than a year, the tiny, credit card-sized computer that costs about 20 pounds has smashed all expectations, rolling off UK production lines at the rate of one every five seconds and turning up in the most unlikely places including the edge of space.
Cambridge Judge Business School alumnus Dr Eben Upton of the Raspberry Pi Foundation feels it is on the way to achieving the aim of rekindling interest in computer science and programming.
Brand development, partnership working and raising capital were key learning areas for Dr Eben Upton as he completed his Executive MBA at Cambridge Judge Business School and with his Cambridge colleagues launched into producing the Raspberry Pi, a tiny (the size of a credit card) low-cost computer to rekindle domestic and wider interests in computer science.
Dr Mark Thompson co-author of the paper Why Government IT Should Never Be The Same Again explains why the approach to public services is shifting as a result of major changes in technology that are potentially driving major savings through new Google-like or Amazon-like open-business models across non-traditional businesses.
'IT' or information technology will be replaced by the concept of technology as business and business as technology ...
The EU's decision to look into the allegations about Google presents a good opportunity to revisit the regulatory system of 10 years ago. There's a need for clearer guidelines around what's illicit 'black-hat' optimisation against 'white-hat' which is permitted. Dr Michael Barrett, Reader in Information Technology & Innovation, hopes the UN's 2011 Internet Governance Forum will take the initiative.
Society is moving towards a 'horizontal' not 'vertical' model of 'e-government'. A digital government will change how services are delivered and what our demands are of governments too, says Marietje Schaake, MEP for the Dutch Liberal Party.
Change is on the cards as government moves towards a more open society and hands power digitally to the people, says Lord Wilson of Dinton.
Dr Michael Barrett has been finding out how one mobile phone service called "MPESA", which is linking people in Kenya to financial services, has become a "phenomenally successful" business unit within Vodafone. It all began as a CSR project.
Security or censorship? Jim Krane discusses whether the proposed ban on the BlackBerry in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will go ahead.
Dr Mark Thompson explains why the UK Government would benefit from the introduction of an open IT procurement process, supported by open standards and open source models. This model would create a modern and efficient procurement system, delivering to time and to quality, IT services for today's generation of "Internet native" IT literate citizens.