Why Email Must Die

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Talk about the death of email may still be a little premature. But the fact that some very high profile web entrepreneurs are even having this discussion is portentious.

When we think about the loss of productivity and the damage that has been wrought by bogus email and embedded nasties over the first fifteen or so years of existence of the Internet, it is surprising that nobody has entirely solved the problem of wayward emails. Even more surprising is that desktop software providers have retained email client applications within their offerings, because the writing is on the wall – email must die.

As long as email remains free of any cost, and networks are largely unfettered, there will always be some idiot quite happy to steal your address and use it as a proxy to send out a million ads for pharmaceuticals. The Internet has always been a double-edged sword in this respect. It offers huge potential to scale a business for both good and bad purposes.

So what are the alternatives to email and are they safe? When I set up my consulting business in 2002 I found an ISP that could both host my website and offer me a webmail service – great. I’ve never used Outlook since. What was not so great was that during 2007 my ISP had a major server meltdown and somehow managed to lose 5 years worth of my email. Had they not heard of system back-ups? Fortunately I have heard of backing up and had long sent all my active mail and a list of email addresses to a separate account. So the loss was minimal, but the nuisance factor was considerable.

That episode got me thinking about how trustworthy all sorts of hosted applications and automated services really are. Banking, sharemarket, any e-commerce or eftpos transaction, even this blogsite…we trust that the provider has sufficient resource in place to deal with our precious data. But how can we really be sure? When we consider where email is likely to go in the future, there is still some cause for concern.

Some young people don’t even use regular email any more. Why would you do so when you can create your own social network online and be specific about who you choose to invite aboard? It is surely only a matter of time before someone builds a really useful networking site targetted at enterprise. Gmail is great and I have to admit I have yet to see a single piece of spam through my Gmail account. So why can’t I have a secure, low cost Gmail style hosted email system that only lets in only those who I invite but which can be personalised to fit my business brand?

 Bookhabit Authors Competition – Last Orders Please

Speaking of leveraging the Internet for good purposes, we are entering the last weeks of the Bookhabit.com authors competition. Know any budding authors out there? Have them upload their unpublished work onto the site in time for a crack at $5,000 in prize money. Popular selections from each week go forward to the final panel. For readers there are now over two hundred e-books to choose from, selling for as little as $2.50. Bookhabit is further evidence of how the Internet is continuing to change the way we live our lives and that a sensible idea well executed is worth a great deal indeed. Enjoy!

Pie in the Sky Venture for High Flyers

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Just a short (but mildly humourous) post this week as I have happily found myself with a couple of interesting projects on my plate plus with school holidays underway my son and I are escaping for a few days to the (rainy, damnit!) north. So time is at somewhat of a premium.

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When I first stumbled across Dinner in the Sky I thought it must surely be an April Fool’s prank. But as far as I can tell it really is a legitimate business. For an obscene amount of money it seems you can treat your friends to a dinner party suspended by a crane 50m above the ground. Not for those of nervous disposition, but what a buzz!

Up to 22 guests can be seated on a giant platform which is then raised by a crane. A small group of waiters and cooks stand in the middle of the platform and serve the aerial diners as the crane slowly rotates. Two Belgian entrepreneurs dreamed up the concept and have run events in Brussels, Paris, London and Dubai. They even have video clips on their website to prove it. What they don’t explain is what happens if somebody needs to heed the call of nature during the dinner party. Presumably, heavy drinking is discouraged.

Rumour has it that a franchisee from New Zealand has approached the company for rights to operate the business. That got me thinking about all the possibilities. Perhaps we could set up the operation in front of the NZX building on the Wellington waterfront and allow listed companies to hold airborne board meetings? Shareholders could be charged a small fee to sit and manipulate the crane controls, reflecting their approval or otherwise of board decisions. Better yet, government Cabinet meetings could be held aloft. That would certainly focus Ministers’ attention.

It all sounds rather like a Bransonian promotional gimmick, but it shows there is no end to entrepreneurial creativity. Dinner in the Sky contains elements of performance and reminds us once again that the arts and business are not as separate as we sometimes might think.

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Exporting to Germany Workshop – Tues May 6th

Speaking of entrepreneurial Europeans – my mate Oliver Heringhaus from Triple-E is running an exporting workshop in Wellington on May 6th, in conjunction with NZ Trade & Enterprise, for those looking at Germany as an export destination. Germany is a market of over 82 million affluent consumers. Oliver’s e-marketing background and native understanding of his homeland market make him an ideal speaker.

Silicon Welly to Host Technology Mentor Glitterati

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In an outstanding acknowledgement of Wellington’s status as the centre of New Zealand’s digital innovation universe the city has secured a global X|Media|Lab event to be held at Te Papa May 30th to June 1st. The theme is “Commercialising Ideas” and comprises a one day conference followed by an intensive weekend workshop involving technology venture mentors and successful entrepreneurs. You heard it here first!

The event is geared to helping technology firms develop their ideas to a point where they can increase the chances of receiving funding and getting to market successfully. Online gaming, mobile content, animation and anything Web 2.0 are focus areas for this event. The mentors include Chris Deering (former president Sony Entertainment), Marcelino Ford-Livene (GM Interactive Content – Intel Digital), Tom Duterme (Google) plus local heroes Sam Morgan and Rod Drury. The conference day alone will bring a wealth of knowledge – but imagine having a team like that on your advisory board!

The first X|Media|Lab event was held in Sydney in 2003. Aimed at spanning digital media and bring digital creatives and entrepreneurs together XML has grown to encompass multiple locations around the globe. The event has some serious backing from global partners and is supported by NZ Trade & Enterprise, so the entry cost is minimal (only $99 for individuals). Our research at GeniusNet showed that the most creative ideas spring from where different communities overlap and we have long felt that Wellington needed such an event.

Everything you need to know is on the X|Media|Lab website. But note that although the conference day is open to the public, the weekend workshop is only by invitation from the selection panel. If you require assistance preparing for the selection process and to be introduced to the organiser directly, please contact GeniusNet as early as possible.

ION e-Letter April/May 2008

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GeniusNet is proud to host the ION e-Letter. ION is New Zealand’s leading virtual community of innovators, entrepreneurs, mentors and investors.

The ION e-Letter is kindly supported by Revera
– High Integrity I.T. Infrastructure –

NZ Angels Reach for the Stars

Angel investing is enjoying somewhat of a renaissance in New Zealand as cashed up entrepreneurs look to the marketplace for their next project. NZAngels.com has emerged as an informal discussion space and deal brokerage site whilst business incubators in both Auckland and Wellington have established their own angel networks.

Angel investors generally bring both cash and expertise to early stage ventures prior to the business trading profitably. The networks themselves are not investment funds or advisors and usually only admit experienced, high net worth individuals. Whilst many angel investors are looking for high technology business opportunities, this is not exclusively the case. The chief problem is finding quality deal flow for the investors. That is partly why we are developing the Tech ConnexION event.

TechConnexION Event for Wellington

New Zealand is rich with talent in the gaming, CGI and online /mobile business applications arena. ION and GeniusNet are currently in discussions with several parties around developing a live event  for Wellington later in the year, aiming to bring investors and entrepreneurs together. The proposed theme is “Connecting Through Virtuality” and the format will be along the lines of a half day of seminars on new venture development followed by a demo session and networking drinks for entrepreneurs and serious investors. Confidential expressions of interest from technology entrepreneurs, investors, speakers and potential sponsors are welcome at this time.

Please email: ion [at] genius [dot] net [dot] nz

Or call: +64 27 47 373 14

PlanHQ Hits Business Planning Sweet Spot

Tim Norton and the team at PlanHQ have developed a unique service offering that allows any business to easily create, action, track and achieve business planning objectives. The secure web-based application gets your entire team focused on execution, completing actions, achieving goals and tracking progress against financial projections. With Tim’s boundless energy driving the project, PlanHQ have moved mountains in a very short space of time. In 2007 they launched the product, began signing up dozens of paying customers, presented at DEMO, hired a US VP Marketing and connected to VC and business coaching client companies globally. They’ve also received $300K in angel funding to date and are currently engaged in a second funding round to assist with moving into the U.S. market. Business coaches and advisors are now being invited to become PlanHQ affiliates. 

Webfund Gets You Going

Speaking of innovative web-based businesses – have you ever had a brilliant idea for a web based business of your own, but didn’t know where to begin? Maybe Webfund can help. Established by Stefan Korn, himself an experienced serial e-commerce guru and entrepreneur, Webfund is like a one stop shop for virtual enterprises. The company evaluates and develops your business proposal, helps to find investors and then goes about setting up the technology.

Webfund chairman Dave Moskovitz says he’s thrilled to be working with and backing web-centric innovators in developing new and disruptive online technologies. Webfund has already launched an impressive array of clientele such as Bookhabit, DIYFather.com and Celsias.com.

SimDeck Motors Ahead

Auckland firm SimDeck is finding that its Formula One racing car simulator is a hit whenever it goes out for a spin in public. SimDeck deploys a huge digital daytime screen to project racetrack images to patrons who drive a real scale model, custom built Formula One car. The simulator is being marketed to global franchisees and as a corporate promotional events attraction. SimDeck is close to replicating its F1 success with a highly detailed F16 jet simulator that is sure to set pulses racing when it goes live.

Connecting with Cockatoo

Cockatoo is the mouthpiece for an international group of consultants, think-tanks and business advisors. The indefatigible, Canberra based Rod Brown edits this rich report that deals with global best practice in regional economic development, clusters and investment attraction.

April/May Events

The NZ Wireless and Broadband Forum have a couple of great events coming up later in April.

The Angel Connect Network across the ditch are holding their annual event on 17th of April in Melbourne.

Online games and simulation developers may be interested in this 21st April talk at Auckland University on developing software agents that play games as humans would.

24th April sees the Auckland ICT Cluster’s networking event at which Prof. Sylvie Chetty, will speak about innovation, internationalisation and the role of networks. 

The GCC Small and Medium Business Conference will be held in Dubai on 29-30 April.

Unlimited Potential and 9-20 are hosting the IT Rockstar final on May 21st, 5.30pm @ Top Floor of the Majestic Centre (Wellington Chamber of Commerce).

Singapore’s Wirelesss & Broadband Week and GovTech are both on 27-28 May.

AngelHQ has an investment evening planned for 5th of June. To enquire about registration as an investor contact Marie-claire Andrews.

And if you are interested in global conferences and expos featuring “clean-tech” or green technologies, you might like to check out this listing.

ION Forum Activities

Don’t forget there is a wealth of information and support for innovators and entrepreneurs still available on the ION Forum site. And if you need a place to hold a community forum discussion we’d be happy to make space on the forum available. Password controlled access can be made available if a private and secure area is required.

High Growth Hangs, Digital Forum Sprouts

Click here to read and contribute to an online discussION about the new ICT industry body. Can it implement the refreshed Digital Strategy and successfully build on the work of High Growth, despite industry politics? And now that the Digital Strategy v2.0 has been released, you can read about it and make submissions here.

More About ION

ION is a knowledge sharing community of New Zealand innovators, entrepreneurs, mentors and investors. Membership is FREE. If you want to find out more or to share your projects and events – click HERE.

ION is an Ecosynergy Project

The Great Wall

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It’s hard to separate last week’s contrasting media images of scuffles by pro-Tibet protesters from those of a proud NZ government delegation kowtowing to the beaming Chinese trade mandarins. So does anyone really believe that the freshly inked free trade agreement (FTA) will bring a flood of economic opportunities to the doorstep of the average New Zealander? China’s determination to protect the image of the Olympic flame at the cost of other nations’ sovereignty is instructive. They built the Great Wall for a reason didn’t they?

I’m not surprised that details of the agreement were kept under wraps until the day of the signing ceremony, some of the concessions made are real shockers. For starters the dairy products component is phased in over 10 years and China even then has an ejection seat clause should they decide that their own dairy industry is threatened. Estimates of the dollar value benefit for New Zealand vary, but appear to be in the vicinity of $200 million per annum, which frankly seems like peanuts in the face of a massive $3.7 billion trade deficit.

Secondly, since when did an FTA ever proscribe rules on migrant labour? “Working holiday” and general category visas for sought after trades are to be broadened immediately for Chinese entering NZ, but there is no reciprocity. Not that I would want to live and work in the most polluted nation on Earth, but tell me how this is fair. However, I look forward to reports of a flood of highly experienced plumbers, hotel chefs and software developers gushing forth from China eager to plug critical gaps in our labour force. The Qualifications Authority will have a field day navigating the rules on equivalency. Given the number of migrant doctors, lawyers and university professors already prowling Queen Street in taxis, one has to wonder where this new influx will actually end up.

So at first glance the FTA looks a bit like it was cobbled together rather more with a sense of urgency than any overriding economic logic. But wait there’s more! It turns out that, having already signed the agreement, our parliamentarians now finally get the chance to discuss it in Select Committee and debate it in The House. What happens if the bill doesn’ t pass? What if the weight of public submissions is against the Bill? Talk about potential for losing face.

The FTA is certainly a historic document and I agree that it will open other doors in the future and (probably) bring a net gain in export trade value to New Zealand, as advertised. As well, a ratchet clause levels the playing field if any other nation negotiates a better deal, therefore going first is not neccessarily a disadvantage. And if the WTO round falls flat, it is highly likely that APEC will set about developing a regional FTA that will now have to favourably include New Zealand. So perhaps I’m being a little unfair. The FTA seems very much like a strategic neccessity. But in our haste to supplicate Beijing could we have possibly overlooked too much detail?

On the technology front, the Prime Minister has curiously fingered software exports to China as a growth opportunity for New Zealand under the FTA. But industry leaders have indicated that the ICT sector is not thinking that way at all. Unless the FTA somehow enshrines and guarantees the protection of intellectual property, China is about the last place I’d be wanting to export software to right now. So if our much hyped knowledge based goods and services are out of the equation, that just leaves us with flogging dairy commodities to China’s burgeoning middle classes. Great stuff, but how can I personally share in that opportunity? Oh right – Fonterra still hasn’t gotten around to listing – bugger!

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New Zealand Trade and Enterprise has an informational website and seminar events planned on the topic of trade opportunities with China. Key outcomes of the FTA can be found here.

Research Profile: Vietnam – A Nation on the Cusp

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After repelling foreigners and enduring wars for the last 150 years Vietnam is finally at peace and enjoying an economic renaissance that may well surpass that of its neighbour China. Therein lies some opportunities for New Zealand businesses.

When I visited Vietnam in 2005 it was obvious that the country of some 84 million inhabitants was on the cusp of something big. Rapidly industrialising and with a young and highly motivated population, the South-East Asian nation has recorded consecutive GDP growth rates of around 8% for many years since the economic reforms of the mid-1980s. An example of this growth was the recent announcement that Samsung will build a plant for manufacturing mobile handsets with an eventual capacity of up to 100 million units. But manufacturing is not the only economic growth driver.

The mighty Mekong river basin, which fans out from the south of the country, is also the food basket in a region renown for its delicious Eurasian fusion cuisine. With a huge output from intensely farmed field crops and fisheries that are managed under a centrally planned system, the Mekong directly supports about 18 million farmers and fisherman and their families and provides food for at least 60 million.

Vietnam continues to move towards full market economy status and has benefitted from substantial inflows of capital from neighbouring states and the U.S. since the lifting of trade sanctions by President Clinton. total foreign investment was around $US 20 billion in 2007. As well,  Vietnamese dispora who left as refugees are now returning newly educated and with new capital and fresh ideas. There are many challenges remaining however, particularly in the areas of environmental sustainability and infrastructure.

Work is about to commence on a $US 8 billion project to build a new airport for Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) at Long Thanh for example. Although the existing airport was recently upgraded, it sits amidst the low-roofed shacks within the Ho Chi Minh city limits and is constrained from further growth. The new airport is expected to become a regional hub of some significance.

New Zealand exports to Vietnam grew by a whopping 62% last year. Dairy products and educational services are leading the charge; but there are a multitude of other opportunities for small businesses who can find smart ways to partner locally and secure access to the region.

Vietnam is a nation of huge contrasts. On the one hand a booming economy and beautiful scenery on the other tremendous environmental challenges and horrific human legacies from the war. But with a sound strategy and local partners there are rich pickings for those that can stay the course.

Contact GeniusNet for business research and connections into emerging global markets.

Broadbandwagon – Where To Next?

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I just don’t get Stephen Bell’s criticism of the New Zealand Institute’s (NZI) latest report on broadband. On the one hand he complains that the NZI hasn’t come up with any solutions, but in an article only two days prior he reports how industry leaders have approached ICT Minister Cunliffe for help to fund a full economic analysis of the broadband issue.

The NZI report was only ever intended as a discussion document. Industry players and other interested parties have used it as a starting point to prime the debate. Nobody is suggesting that NZI has a franchise on the broadband solution. Even, Rod Drury, who has been a passionate advocate for broadband and has worked closely with both NZI and Mr Cunliffe, accepts that we do not yet have all the answers. But what most people do agree upon is that the way we fund and build telecommunications infrastructure will have to change if we are to keep up with the rest of the world.

I was at a function last week at which Drury gave a quick overview of his ideas on what needs to happen next. He thinks the market should fund the infrastructure through a bond issue and that there should be an autonomous network operator. A national rollout would be coordinated by central government but not neccessarily funded by it. Local government would be involved at a regional level. All of which seems fair.

Rod also makes the point that we need greater diversity in our choice and access to international broadband, in order to secure our “digital trade routes”. I strongly agree, in fact I believe this is a way more pressing issue. Where we part company slightly is that I don’t believe a complete economic case has yet been made for ubiquitous domestic broadband. That’s why we now need a full economic analysis, properly funded by government and which considers both the positive and negative social and economic effects, based on experience elsewhere.

Perhaps the most compelling reason that I read recently, for delivering better domestic broadband, was a story by a returning visitor to the Rep. of South Korea. The North Asian nation is one of the most wired on the planet. It also tops the tables for I.T. competitiveness, maths and science literacy and ranks highly for GDP. But the most persuasive argument for broadband involves how the Koreans have used the Internet to export their culture abroad and turn it into a win for tourism and technology business investment. Perhaps we could learn by their example.

Scaling Up the Innovation Ecosystem

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Thomas Nastas is an American venture capitalist based in the heart of Moscow. A recent blog post nicely condenses an article of his in which he explains how technology firms need to leverage success in their home markets before moving up the value chain.

Although writing about Russian and Eastern European SMEs, one immediately draws some strong comparisons with the New Zealand situation as he reflects on the role of government in national innovation systems. Like New Zealand, both Russia and Hungary have set aside funds to kick start a public-private partnership to co-invest in technology start-ups. But unlike New Zealand, Eastern Europe and Russia has a huge and largely untapped domestic market for technology products and services. Russia also has the benefit of an extensive programme of university research funded by government and the military.

Nastas prescribes a formula that involves SMEs targetting domestic customers and refining their product offering prior to approaching investors for cash to support tackling global markets. He quotes the example of Israel’s cleantech industry of water purification that grew up, with government support, around addressing a vast domestic need for fresh water. Exports of this technology alone are expected to reach $2 billion by 2010.

He also has some praise for New Zealand as a remote economy grappling with the need to diversify globally. By focussing where there already existed a competitive advantage, he notes how New Zealand’s exports of high end wine and meat products have grown substantially over the last decade or so, based on investment in technical innovation.

It’s a salutary lesson probably not lost on the architects of the Fast Forward programme. But we must not forget that agriculture isn’t the only game in town. High tech exporters like Endace, Rakon and Weta Digital sell their wares almost exclusively in offshore markets. The natural competitive advantage these companies enjoy is the ability to attract and retain an intelligent and highly creative labour force. Focussing only on food and beverage innovation within the agricultural sector would be a mistake.

Thomas Nastas first published his article in the Eastern European edition of the Harvard Business Review. A full version can be found here.

Grid Network to Support Trans-Tasman Research Collaboration

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With digital storage needs and computational demands by research institutions growing exponentially, it makes sense to get together on sharing resources. So the New Zealand Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) banged some heads together and offered to fund a $2.5 million project to set up BeSTGRID a grid computing “ecosystem” that includes additional storage resources hosted by a third party.

Three New Zealand universities are already hooked up, with the new arrangements which reduce duplication on software expenditure whilst encouraging collaboration and knowledge sharing through use of online tools such as video-conferencing, blogs and wikis. Other institutions are expected to join in the future. Research projects currently making use of BestGrid include linguistics, bio-informatics and earthquake engineering, but the possibilities are endless. BestGRID is part of KAREN the government owned high speed broadband network. The network provides interconnectivity between research and educational institutions in New Zealand, with the ability to deliver up to 10 gigabytes of data per second.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the venture is that there will be established a shared identity management protocol based on the Australian Access Federation standard. The Federation is not some inter-galactic peace force, but a technical standard that operates across Australian tertiary and research institutions and allows universal access via a single user identification. That opens up the possibility of including Aussie universities and research institutions in the New Zealand grid by linking to Australia’s own high speed research network AARNET at some point in the near future. AARNET already operates connections to the United States, Singapore and Europe. So the implications for New Zealand research institutions are obvious considering the constraints of the existing commercial service.

New Zealand will be hosting the 2008 APAN event 4-8 August, regarded as the leading Asia-Pacific symposium on advanced broadband networking and applications for research and education. The conference is to be hosted in beautiful Queenstown and themes include sustainability, earth science, medical and agricultural applications, high definition TV and seminars on network security. The event will be preceded by the High Performance Research Symposium looking at e-research projects and tool sets, being sponsored by Bluefern, the University of Canterbury supercomputing centre.

Fast Forward Fry-Up

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The government’s announcement of a $700 million “Fast Forward” fund for the food and pastoral industries is a long awaited boost to the research sector, but does it signal a strategic withdrawal from other technological arenas?

Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) are naturally ecstatic at news of the investment because it provides much greater certainty for their businesses going forward. The CRIs have been struggling with recruitment, retention and planning issues in the face of historically low levels of investment in a demoralised agricultural research sector.

But the Prime Minister Helen Clark, speaking on National Radio, emphasised that without recharging the investment in food and pastoral research, New Zealand was at great risk of falling ever further behind on the global stage. With agriculture still comprising almost half our national export income, it was imperative to invest in areas where we had a sustainable competitive advantage.

Clark then poured cold water on Opposition Leader John Key’s comments that the Fast Forward Fund was a grandiose overstatement of the government’s committment. Industry heavy hitters like Fonterra have reportedly already signed up to contribute matching funding and the plan is to draw down on both the interest and capital over a 10 to 15 year period. This would release up to $30 million in the first year, eventually climbing to over $100 million, said agriculture minister Jim Anderton.

Perhaps the only real downside from the deal is that it confirms a mood swing away from stimulating other technology sectors. Prof. Jeff Tallon, who only last week headed up a group of concerned scientists that wrote to the government pleading for more research funding, said that even after this investment, New Zealand still only has about half the RS&T spend of its high tech competitors. Tallon says that although food and pastoral research is important, we need to continue to diversify away from our heavy reliance on agriculture.

I have to admit, Fast Forward does seem more like “Back to the Future” to a time before the government was championing ICT, biotechnology and creative sector as the three planks for high tech based economic growth. However, on the up side it does show that government is listening; and by using a public-private partnership model it also focuses industry to engage fully in the project. One hopes that this will not be the only research funding announcement come Budget time.