A UN Committee has approved the transfer of spectrum from land based television to mobile devices. That means more spectrum will become available in most parts of the world, and will enable the spread of high speed internet to most of the world. The implications of this will be profound, in both economic and social terms. UN approves opening TV spectrum to wireless devices

Technology Review: US control over Internet dominates discussion at UN conference in Brazil

At a major UN conference currently taking place in Rio de Janiero, there is once again considerable debate about the control that the United States exercises over Internet addresses. The issue exists because the US developed and funded the internet in its early stages, and has been reluctant to give up its influence since then. Technology Review: US control over Internet dominates discussion at UN conference in Brazil

Electronic Commerce in Canada - e-News

Last week, StatsCan released a report assessing the use of Government Online (GOL) with a thorough analysis of demographics of users, motivations, areas used, etc. It provides an interesting insight into this important government initiative. Electronic Commerce in Canada - e-News

The Benefits of the XBRL Voluntary Filing Program
Contributed by Bob Schneider, who is the editor of Data Interactive, the Hitachi XBRL blog.

The SEC began its XBRL Voluntary Filing Program (VFP) in April 2005; currently, about 40 or so companies are enrolled. Although the Commission has tried to put the best face on the participant numbers – in September, it released a press release stating that the companies' combined market cap exceeds $2 trillion – there’s reason to believe that SEC Chairman Christopher Cox himself is disappointed in the enrollment rate. The Orange County Business Journal conducted an interview with the Chairman in late October and reported:

Cox expressed frustration with the slow pace of voluntary implementation and the reluctance of businesses to embrace superior technology that he said is demonstrably inexpensive to adopt. “Whatever the SEC says doesn’t go into the part of the business brain that says, ‘Here’s how we earn a profit.’”

With CFOs having so much else on their plates, it's not surprising that many have chosen not to get involved with XBRL before they have to. Nevertheless, I think they are missing out on an excellent opportunity to position their companies for XBRL adoption. Here's how Neal Hannon -- currently Director, Financial Reporting Technologies, Financial Accounting Foundation – describes the advantages of enrolling in the VFP:

...The benefits from filing in the voluntary program will be many. First, the companies that participate will be looked upon as supporting a more transparent financial disclosure system. Studies have shown that if more information is available to capital markets, the risk associated with the company securities will be reduced. Second, the process of preparing a marked-up filing using XBRL tags requires a deep level of understanding about how the company puts financial information together. The benefit to the filing company will come from additional discovery that will happen during the filing process. This in turn will increase the quality of both the official and the voluntary filing to the SEC. Third, the creation of financial data in an XML-based language will prepare the filing companies for the reuse of this data for internal reporting activities. These activities might help a company improve its internal controls, which would benefit compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley requirements.

Neal made his comments shortly before the VFP was introduced, and it’s now apparent several more plusses can be added to his list:
VFP participants can enjoy expedited reviews of registration statements and annual reports;
In a recent article in the Journal of Accountancy, John Stantial -- Director of Financial Reporting for United Technologies -- notes that once the initial learning curve for XBRL filings is eliminated, the company's XBRL filings proceeded smoothly. If UT’s experience is representative, the earlier companies get their initial XBRL expenditures behind them, the greater will be the return on their XBRL investment.
Early XBRL adopters enhance their reputation not only as corporate role models for transparency, but also as technology leaders receptive to innovation. A reputation as a leader in both areas may be particularly useful to smaller firms eager to receive analyst coverage in a time of contracting equity research departments.
It seems more and more probable that XBRL will be mandated for filers within the next few years. With adoption increasingly likely, early adopters can ease the transition to XBRL statements over time and be prepared when XBRL filings are required.

Canada introduced its own VFP in May; most of the benefits enumerated above should also accrue to participants in that program. As the adoption of XBRL for financial reporting comes into clearer view, North American companies will be wise to consider (or reconsider) their participation in the voluntary filing programs available to them.

Google has a bold business plan. They have been expanding rapidly and have a real knack for selecting fields of endeavour that pay off. This article summarizes their immediate plans and also includes a number of links to related articles, providing an interesting overview of Googles business model. Google's Growing Grasp - Forbes.com

globeandmail.com: Forget your wallet, use the cellphone

Cellphone payments have been in use in Asia for years. But North Americans have been slow to adopt the technology. In fact they have been less than speedy to adopt so-called contactless payments, like Paypass, although it was recently adopted by Tim Hortons. But the time for Cell phone payments may be here. RBC has launched a pilot, which will be carried out in conjunction with Visa. The latter recently conducted a suurvey which showed that over 50% of the respondents favoured some type of cell phone payment system.
globeandmail.com: Forget your wallet, use the cellphone

A 4G Standards War Is Brewing

Here's something to watch - the big wireless companies are moving away from third generation wireless technology CDMA. But they are looking at two possible directions - LTE and WIMAX. Which way a company goes could spell success or big trouble for it down the road. It's one of those major strategic decisions that comes along only once every several years. The last big shift in wireless technology was in the 90's. A 4G Standards War Is Brewing

globeandmail.com: Google plan sees phones by mid-2008: report

Will google trump the iPhone? We'll have to wait until mid 2008. Word is that the new Google Phone will include several Google applications, like Google Maps, Youtube and Gmail. globeandmail.com: Google plan sees phones by mid-2008: report

There has been much talk in recent years about the Semantic Web, but little hard action, although standards have been promulgated by the W3C. The semantic web esentially involves methods of organizing the infomration on the web for individual users. It likely will involve tagging information in some form, so it can be easily retrieved or searched for retrieval. Some semantic web applications have been produced, including one called Twine, which is a new website that people can use to store references to the vast array of information they deal with every day, including email and website visits. Twine was developed following the W3C standards and may be an importaant new application that could move the semantic web forward. It is further explained in this article: Technology Review: The Semantic Web Goes Mainstream

globeandmail.com: There's no single answer to securing online banking

Online banking is one of the most popular eBusiness applications out there. But it has also attracted a lot of scams and criminal activity. Banks continue to try to deal with this, and have been in the process of trying to make their security tighter. A major approach they use is multi-factor authentication. globeandmail.com: There's no single answer to securing online banking

E-Commerce News: E-Marketing: Creating Synergy With Online and Offline Marketing

One of the significant challenges with eBusiness when there is a bricks and mortar business as well is schyronising the online and offline strategies. Keeping the marketing strategies online and offline in tune with each other is a particular challenge. This article explains how to optimize that relationship. E-Commerce News: E-Marketing: Creating Synergy With Online and Offline Marketing

Technology Review: Google Earth

Ever wonder how google Earth creates those images of the Earth's surface? It's a combination of satellites, as explained in this article. Technology Review: Google Earth

globeandmail.com: Making the world a giant Internet hotspot

Transmission of data, voice and video over the internet is a wave that will eventually engulf the world. That means there needs to be the technology in place to make internet access available to all, everywhere. It would need to be wireless, and WIMAX is a strong contender. There is more about WIMAX at www.wimax.com. Cisco just moved into this arena with the acquisition of Navini Networks. I may be an idea whose time has come. globeandmail.com: Making the world a giant Internet hotspot

Systems integration is still one of the major challenges of eBusiness. SOA is a useful tool for that purpose, but one that has not achieved its potential in Canada. This article shows how SOA has been very useful for a Grocery chain. globeandmail.com: Unlocking the potential of SOA

13 future mobile technologies that will change your life

Mobile technology is having an increased impact on business and personal lives. This article outlines 13 important high impact mobile technologies. 13 future mobile technologies that will change your life

Technology Review: Skype Goes Mobile

Cell phone carriers still charge high prices for many of their services, expecially international calls. Skype offers free calls domestically and very low prices for international calls. The problem so far has been that Skype has not gone mobile. That may be changing and it looks like something that could shake up the cell phone industry, Technology Review: Skype Goes Mobile

Making YouTube Pay Off - Forbes.com

Finding ways to make money from online videos by inserting ads is a consuming interest to Google and others who operate online video sites. Software that scans the video and then puts forward contextual ads may provide an answer. There's more in this article. Making YouTube Pay Off - Forbes.com

Technology Review: Google to show YouTube videos, with ads, on other Web sites

In a massive money-making venture, google will start showing videos on various websites, accompanied by non-video ads paid for by participating companies. The ad revenue will be shared with the content providers. Technology Review: Google to show YouTube videos, with ads, on other Web sites

Wal-Mart's Latest Sale: Broadband

Wal-mart is moving into broadband. Look out! Admittedly, it's only the fringe satellite service, but maybe they can make it less than fringe. Wal-Mart's Latest Sale: Broadband

The 8 most dangerous consumer technologies

There are many small devices out there, like memory sticks and pda's. Many of them pose serious security risks and computerworld has published a list of the 8 most dangerous devices for companies - and individuals - to consider. The 8 most dangerous consumer technologies