Are You Ready For One of the Biggest Changes on the Internet in a Decade? (PERSPECTIVE)

By Judy Shapiro

What's Really At Stake In ICANN's Coming New Top-Level Domain System.   Tic Toc …

ICANN's New Generic Top-Level Domain Program is just about to kick off and I bet most of you are wondering what the heck those are anyway (don't feel bad if you don't know – neither did I until recently). Then, you are also probably wondering why you should care.

First, the basics. A "generic top-level domain" is the part of the domain name to the right of the dot, e.g. in "http://www.ICANN.org" - the "org" is the top-level domain (TLD). There are 22 generic TLDs (gTLDs) such as .COM, .ORG and .NET, and around 250 country-code TLDs (ccTLDs) that are specific to certain countries, like .JP for Japan and .MX for Mexico.

With ICANNs New gTLD Program to commence January 2012, the doors will be thrown wide open and virtually any word can become a gTLD if the company or organization meets certain criteria:

• They can pony up the hefty application fee ($185,000)
• They can prove they can afford to run a gTLD year after year
• They can justify why they should own a particular word as a gTLD – e.g. a travel company is unlikely to be successful at justifying buying ".Apple" as a gTLD but they can justify buying "adventure"

If a company can meet these criteria - then congratulations – they've just become a registry. Amazon can buy ".books" and JetBlue can buy ".fly". And if two companies want the same word and can't reach an agreement on their own, an auction commences with the word going to the highest bidder.

The application process itself also has significant impacts because, by default or design, it seems optimized to drive a gTLD land grab within a very short, four month time frame. All applications are closed and not publically disclosed until after the brief application period is over (on April 12, 2012). With no assurances of another application period, many companies will feel compelled to take advantage of this possible 1x only event.

As to the "so what" of all this - well - there's a long list:

From an industry perspective: The leading marketing trade organizations like the ANA and IAB have been vocal and consistent critics of this initiative. Other critics have questioned the motives of former ICANN members who voted this initiative through and who subsequently left ICANN to start or join companies that sold gTLDs.

From a marketer's perspective (and their agencies): Here's the bad news. If you're at a Fortune 300 company, it is likely your IT/ legal department will advise you to purchase multiple (possibly a dozen) gTLDs.

Now even if you manage to avoid getting hit directly with that cost (for now), you will still have to spend a hefty chuck trying to figure out what to do with these new "marketing assets." Unquestionably, there will be many [expensive] experiments to explore useful applications of gTLDs - from SEO optimization to new types of customization programs, e.g. personalized "judyconsumer.books" URLs for a highly customized experience.

In the end, it's likely you may have to redirect active program dollars into this experimental space. This adds yet another layer of complication to an increasingly complicated marketing environment.

From a consumer's perspective: Just when we thought it was kinda safe to go into Internet waters because we had a basic understanding of what a safe URL should look like … now anything's possible. With hundreds of new gTLDs likely to be introduced starting next year, consumer confusion is virtually guaranteed. There's little doubt fraudsters intend to exploit this new window of vulnerability.

From an emerging country or company perspective: The stakes get even grimmer for an emerging company or country. If you don't/ can't qualify today – chances are you are locked out for a very long time – maybe forever.

Now you can see why there is a lot at stake. Yet, when I spoke to my IT and marketing peers at the largest companies, there was a near universal lack of information on this topic! So somewhat spontaneously (driven by timing urgency) and with the help of CADNA (the not-for-profit Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse), I helped create an industry conference called "What's At Stake" for November 1 in NYC that is open (free) to ANY brand marketer needing to understand this space. The conference was created as an industry service and includes keynote speaker Esther Dyson, founding Chairman of ICANN, HUM News, FairWinds Partners and Friends of the U.N. among others.

The goal for this discovery conference is to drive a productive change to the current process by presenting a balanced view of the new gTLD Program with an emphasis on exploring the impacts, and proposing to ICANN alternate processes we believe are not too late to implement (read full recommendation to ICANN here).

There's a lot at stake for marketers and consumers globally. Find out more about the coming changes to the internet at www.whatsatstake.com.

About the author:  Judy Shapiro is CEO of engageSimply, a digital marketing agency pioneering `Many to Many’ platforms; chief brand strategist at CloudLinux and has held senior marketing positions at Paltalk, Comodo, Computer Associates, Lucent Technologies, AT&T and Bell Labs. Her blog, Trench Wars, provides insights on how to create business value on the internet.

Brazil: Minister says economic crisis will not affect PAC (News Brief)

by Marli Moreira

(São Paulo, August 12, 2011)  – Minister of Planning, Miriam Belchior, says that the international economic crisis that affects the United States and some countries in Europe will not mean alterations in planned investments in the Accelerated Growth Program (“PAC”). Belchior declared that the government does not intend to make changes in decisions already made for PAC spending, “under any circumstances."

The PAC is the Brazilian government’s showcase development program that began during the Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva administration. The second stage, which continues under Dilma Rousseff, and runs to 2014, has a budget of R$ 955 billion, explained Belchior.

“These are fundamental investments. Among other things, they will help us ward off problems from the international economic crisis,” said Belchior, as she assured an audience at a construction conference in São Paulo that planned 2011 outlays for the low-income housing  program (“Minha Casa, Minha Vida”) of R$30 billion would occur.

Belchior declared that even though the PAC would move ahead unchanged the government was well aware of what was going on in the rest of the world. “We are concerned, but well prepared to deal with the situation, just as we did in 2008,” the minister said, referring to the US mortgage bubble of 2008. “We are closely following events on the international scene in order to determine whether or not other measures will be necessary.”

-  Agência Brasil August 12, 2011 under Creative Commons Licensing  

Eurogeddon? (Report/Blog)

By Alan Fisher 

Euros PHOTO CREDIT: Fernando D. Ramirez/flickrFor the last 18 months, the euro has been in trouble. There have been a series of emergency meetings, crisis summits and rescue attempts but still the stench of death hangs around the currency. Its future should become clearer in the next month or so.

Just two weeks ago, eurozone leaders were patting themselves on the back for creating the European Financial Stability Facility, a mechanism to help countries who found borrowing on the open markets much too expensive. The problem is that Italy is now in trouble and the EFSF simply is not big enough to bail out the world’s eighth largest economy.

Italy has been in trouble for a while – but things started to get substantially worse in June when its credit rating was put on watch by global credit agencies. Slowly the cost of borrowing ticked up. Italy refused to do much about it. Panic spread. The cost of bonds hit a 14-year high of 6.189 per cent, which essentially means Italy was shut out of the international financial markets.

At that point Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi finally took action.  He announced a round of austerity measures – spending cuts and tax rises – and brought forward the date when Italy’s budget would be balanced to 2013.  

That was enough to secure support from the European Central Bank. It announced it would step into the market on Monday and buy up some of the debts of countries that were struggling, steadying the markets in the short term at least. It did, however, leave the impression that the ECB was dictating policy in exchange for financial support.

Four of the 23 ECB governing council members – including the key vote of the German Central Bank chief – are against bond purchases.  

And it’s divisions like that which have been exploited by the markets.  

The options for the euro are now becoming clearer.

First the countries backing the EFSF can pour more money into it.  It is expected to have a fund of around $630bn but it needs around $2.8 trillion if it’s to cover the debts of Italy and Spain, which is also considered at risk.  That is thought to be unpopular and unlikely.

Or there can be full fiscal integration across the eurozone. The euro was always a political project rather than a financial one. Full integration would mean a centralised financial policy implemented across the continent, a loss of sovereignty over financial matters for many capitals and in the current climate, severe austerity measures which would be deeply unpopular.

This would create a new European finance ministry and as the strongest economy, Germany would have to pour huge financial resources into it and give it enough clout to guarantee the debts of eurozone countries. Getting all 17 members of the eurozone to sign up to that seems highly problematical.

Another alternative is scrapping the Euro altogether.  That would be extremely expensive and have huge implications for the banking sector which has massive exposure to eurozone debts. A huge injection of funds would be needed to stop a run on the banks. Some analysts believe the Germans regard this as the less expensive long-term option.

For 18 months, every decision taken to safeguard the euro has been largely a political one as leaders and finance ministers try to decide how far they can go without losing massive support at home. And that had led to fears about Europe’s ability to get ahead of the crisis and deal with it rather than react to events. It’s become known as "kicking the can down the road".

The austerity cuts, so beloved by central bankers and financial institutions, almost always mean higher taxes, a more expensive cost of living, poorer public services and job losses; millions of job losses. That hits the prospect of growth in economies, which in turn generates fears of recession or depression. Macro economics is about large numbers and large concepts – and it’s easy to forget it affects real people and real lives.

Originally published by Al Jazeera on August 8, 2011 under Creative Commons Licensing 

East Timor: Why The Economy is Key (Report/Blog)

By Andrew Thomas

Photo by Andrew Thomas

I never thought I would stand in a battery-chicken farm and think, what impressive progress!. 

But however unpleasant for the birds - cooped up, two to a shoe-box sized wire cage - its owners show off the Railaco farm with pride.

Its eggs are replacing ones that would otherwise have been brought in from abroad; it employs people and operates for profit. It is an East Timorese business success story.

They are becoming more common. Tony Jape - East Timorese but of Chinese descent and fresh from a fortune made as an émigré in Australia - is building the country’s first ever shopping centre.

Though still not quite finished, it is, he says, already 60 per cent let. And Timor Corp - one of the country’s two big coffee producers - is proud it exports beans right around the world.

These are little examples of a country whose economy is flying: a poor place, recently ravaged by conflict, it now has one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

But the pace of growth is controversial. Examples of private enterprise are the exceptions, not the rule.

The boom is mainly publicly funded, and is only possible because of big oil and gas reserves. A government that had a budget of just $68m in 2002 has $1.3bn to lavish this year.

Having spent a decade being frugal - building up $9bn in the national bank account - they’re now beginning to spend, spend, spend.

There are two motivations.

First, the still-pressing needs of the country. Half the children in East Timor are undersize because they are malnourished; diarrhea remains a big killer.

And in most rural provinces, running water and power are rare.

So, tapping into the fund, Xanana Gusmao, the prime minster, has started the biggest single development project in East Timor’s history: bringing electricity to all.

The second motivation is that the money sitting in the bank or invested in questionable assets is no longer growing at rates it once was.

As President Ramos-Horta told me, “It would be silly - silly - to keep the money in US treasury bonds. The dollar is depreciating fast. We are losing money. And President Obama, members of the US congress, they do not even know that we are contributing to pay for the US debt.

“So it is absolutely ridiculous that we would keep the money in US treasury bonds, paying us 2-3 per cent; once you deduct inflation, depreciation of the dollar, we are losing!”

I have just spent 10 days in East Timor, in advance of elections next year and the tenth anniversary of independence.

I was making four reports for Al Jazeera which, together paint a picture of the state of the tiny nation.

Ostensibly, each report stands alone:

1- One about whether there should be justice or an amnesty for those indicted by the UN for their part in 1999’s violence;

2- Another about the wisdom of spending down the oil fund;

3- A third about the threat to the marine environment as the country matures and;

4- A fourth looking about the extent to which foreign aid has been well-spent.

All the reports, though, have the theme of rapid development at their heart. Should a friendly economic relationship with Indonesia be prioritised above justice?

What will happen when the oil and gas and their revenues run out? Are damaged coral reefs a price worth paying for power? Can a country that has relied on foreign aid for a decade, now truly stand on its own two feet?

Peace has been a struggle for East Timor. There was a relapse of violence in 2006 and the president was shot in 2008.

Today, the country is entirely peaceful, and a very relaxed place to visit. That, though, could change. Keeping the economy on the straight and narrow is key to ensuring it does not.

Originally published by Al Jazeera on July 27, 2011 under Creative Commons Licensing 

HUMMONEY - Corporate Volunteerism in a Globalized World (Perspective)

- By Deirdre White

How do multinational corporations today develop their leadership and team-building skills in a globalized world?  How can they ensure that their employees have a global view and a deep understanding of new markets? And how, in the face of cost-cutting measures, do you maintain your company’s commitments to creating sustainable value as the market now requires?

One innovation that has gained real momentum over the past couple of years is International Corporate Volunteerism (ICV).  Companies as diverse in size and scope as IBM, Pfizer, Pepsi, Dow Corning, FedEx and Deloitte are tapping into the skills, the spirit of volunteerism and the desire of their employees to learn more about emerging markets and global engagement.  These corporate giants work with nonprofit partners such as CDC Development Solutions to place top-performing professionals in ICV programs that develop leadership skills, increase cultural intelligence and offer a broader view of business practices, while at the same time providing assistance to local social enterprises and nonprofits so that they might better serve their communities and contribute to economic growth.

In a recent article in Employee Benefit News, the IBM Corporate Service Corps (CSC) experience was described as “life-changing” by a program alum:

"It's a leadership development exercise besides being a corporate social responsibility program. It was like a 30-day intensive MBA course in the real world outside our comfort zone in the U.S.," explains Tim Willeford, global communications lead for IBM, and a past participant of the program facilitated by CDC Development Solutions. "It was a life-changing experience. I think we come back with the bigger view and also the hunger to do more and become a global citizen."

Stanley Litow, President of IBM International Foundation, described the multifaceted benefits of the IBM program in a June 3 Huffington Post article:

Aside from helping local governments and citizens looking to improve societal, civic and free market institutions, employees that render service to these places come back with renewed cultural sensitivity, leadership skills, professional acumen and improved collaboration savvy. They tend to feel more fulfilled and develop deeper loyalty to their employer. And, of course, these folks can give valuable insight to the company about new commercial opportunities.

In a CDC Development Solutions’ survey of employees at three corporations who piloted their international corporate volunteerism programs in the Fall of 2010, 97% responded that they were more motivated to perform their day-job, 94% said their experience positively changed their perception of their company as a corporate citizen and 75% said they brought back new ideas for products and services.  According to a recent benchmarking study we conducted, major corporations plan to send nearly 2,000 employee volunteers to 58 nations this year, up from just 280 to a handful of countries in 2006.

It is clear that more and more companies are seeing great benefit in engaging in these types of programs.  But what is the real development impact and leave behind in the communities where these corporate volunteers serve?  Certainly I have heard people question the value that can be delivered to the host community over periods that may be as short as one month; my experience having been on the ground with a dozen or so of these teams personally, and having heard from the skilled development professionals that are on the ground with each and every team, is that these programs are invaluable to the host organizations and communities.

In Ghana, for example, IBM partners with small businesses and trade associations to ensure readiness to supply goods and services to the burgeoning new oil and gas industry. This is a critical time period to ensure that Ghanaians can directly benefit from the opportunities presented by the nascent industry, and IBM teams have helped small businesses understand and work to meet the requirements to participate.  IBM also has sent several CSC teams to Cross River State, where several volunteers worked with local government and NGOs to help a local health clinic to computerize records and create databases, improving its efficiency.  Today, pregnant women and young children in Cross River State have better access to health care and the clinic is able to do more effective outreach to people that are eligible for its services.

Last fall, Dow Corning sent a team to Bangalore, India. When that team of 10 communicated the challenges they were facing to their fellow employees on a company blog, scientists, engineers and welders from Midland, Michigan sent back potential solutions for their colleagues, bringing the expertise of not just 10, but 10,000 employees to their Bangalore partners.  In fact, it was a welding solution that solved a critical design problem that had been plaguing the host social enterprise since it began to produce clean cook stoves.

Examples like these are beginning to show that ICV programs can be highly impactful, not just for the companies and volunteers, but even more so for the communities that need are in dire need of this type assistance.  The host NGOs, social enterprises, small businesses and local governments would be unlikely to have access to such skilled resources through any other means.  Recognizing the potential for significant development impact, just two weeks ago, the U.S. Agency for International Development unveiled a program to make it easier for more companies of all sizes to send professionals abroad to help local governments, small businesses and civic groups in developing nations. The new Center of Excellence for International Corporate Volunteerism was developed with IBM and CDC Development Solutions and is designed to allow other companies to leverage the expertise of IBM and others to set up or expand international volunteer programs.

In a MSNBC article about the partnership, Samuel A. Worthington, president and CEO of InterAction, an alliance of 190 U.S.-based international nongovernmental organizations (NGO) commented on the partnership:

The reality is that to be able to achieve Millennium Development Goals — to improve the well-being in the poorest places on Earth — requires a partnership of government, corporations and non-profits...With individuals going into long-term projects, you are in essence getting a private Peace Corps, and the technical expertise that comes with it, and increased mutual understanding between two countries.

The USAID partnership will offer structure and training needed to make sure volunteers also seen as citizen-diplomats are aware of cultural sensitivities while delivering help, Worthington said.

Also commenting on this new opportunity to attract more businesses to offer their most talented employees to take on development challenges, John Campbell shared these thoughts in a Council of Foreign Relations blog:

In an era of very tight federal budgets and slow American economic recovery, this public-private partnership deserves to be better known. It has the potential for mobilizing millions of dollars worth of expertise for development assistance from the American private sector and at virtually no additional cost to the taxpayer. Such corporate initiatives may also have the added advantage of being exceptionally nimble, so they can respond easily to specific circumstances in the countries where they are working.

And while we have both empirical and anecdotal evidence that demonstrates the immediate value to companies, individuals and host communities, one thing we have not yet been able to capture because this type of programming is so relatively new, is the influence the experience has on the way these future leaders of the corporate world will engage with the society.  According to Edward Colbert, director of talent management at Dow Corning: 

“These employees return as different people, deeper thinking people, people that have stretched their brains and hearts, opened their eyes and figured out solutions to problems that they likely had never thought of before.”

I am an idealist, yes.  But given what we already know about the effects of the ICV experience on those who have participated, even my highly practical side is prepared to predict that as these individuals take over the leadership of their corporations in the coming years, they will lead with a passion to reinvent business engagement and focus on building sustainable value: creating a better world while creating a better company.  What could possibly be more impactful?

Deirdre White is president and chief executive of CDC Development Solutions (CDS), a nonprofit providing market-driven solutions that empower individuals, businesses, and governments in emerging markets to lead economies towards self-sustained growth and opportunity.