By Gabriel Giordano, IESE Professor
“A virtual world is a computer-based simulated environment intended for its users to inhabit and interact via virtual characters, or avatars. As these worlds have developed, several business opportunities have arisen.”

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Early business initiatives in second life
Virtual world that is designed for collaboration support

Title: Sociedad de la Información en España (The Information Society in Spain)
Source: Telefónica
Date: March 2009
Synopsis: At the end of December 2008, Telefónica presented a report entitled La Sociedad de la Información en España 2008 (The Information Society in Spain 2008). Three months later, the company has begun to present a series of annexes to the initial report. These cover Spain’s various autonomous communities and are included in Part II of the report.

The first presentation, devoted to an analysis of the state of the information society in Catalonia, was held in March with the collaboration of the IESE Business School and the Catalan government. The annex, which was also published in Catalan and in both printed and CD-ROM versions, takes an in-depth look at the state of the information society in Catalonia, identifying improvements with respect to the previous year, highlighting new trends, and setting out the authors’ main recommendations. In the near future the telecom operator will present the annexes for Aragon and Andalusia.

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Title: Beyond the Horizon: 2008 Global Wireless Industry Survey
Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
Date: February 17, 2009
Synopsis: Revenue generated by data traffic on wireless networks—including SMS messages, downloading of ring tones, and Internet activities—increased by an average of over 50% in 2008. The 2008 Global Wireless Industry Survey confirms the growing importance of data in the business of mobile operators worldwide, a trend fueled in part by increasing use of smart phones. The report, prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers based on a survey of leading companies in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and South America, also highlights the growing importance of Wi-Fi networks and wireless broadband access cards. The authors point out that new sources of revenue are linked to an increase in complexity and therefore involve greater risks. The report also notes the effects of the current crisis on the market. Specifically, it cites a decline in investment, staff cuts, and a certain preference on the part of customers for more affordable packages.

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Network neutrality involves “maintaining a clear separation between Internet access and content.” Sustaining this principle has been an ongoing concern in recent years. In 2006 Tim Berners-Lee warned that the world should resist proposals to fragment the Internet (to create a two-tier system), which could lead to a “dark period.” The man credited with inventing the Web was referring to pressure from telecom operators to allow them to earn additional income based on the type of content made available via the Internet. The companies advocating this type of approach argue that it is a way to get content providers to contribute to the cost of deploying broadband networks. Content providers do not like the proposal, and neither do independent organizations of Internet users. Berners-Lee sees the fragmentation of the Internet as a threat that entails “discrimination between different services” and puts the democratization of the Internet in danger. Debate on this issue continues, especially in the United States, where government plans to invest $7.2 billion in broadband have led various organizations to call for this money to be provided only on the condition that network neutrality is guaranteed. According to El Economista, “advocates of neutrality have high hopes for the new administration in this area, given that President Barack Obama has publicly expressed his support for network neutrality.”

Articles in spanish, elEconomista, Expansión, Wikitel, Público and Blog CMT

At the end of June 2009, Microsoft will cease to sell the different language versions of its Encarta digital encyclopedia, though the website will continue to operate until October. While the end of a cultural project on this scale is never good news and will narrow the range of cultural resources available, the death of Encarta has been presented by some observers as “another victory for the open-content movement over proprietary content.” However, given that Wikia Search has also been shut down, recent developments may more reasonably be interpreted as a tie between the two approaches.

The latest premium edition of Encarta, which began life in CD-ROM format, offered 65,000 articles and an impressive array of multimedia resources for €37.95. Nevertheless, Encarta has been unable to compete successfully with Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia based on voluntary collaboration. Wikipedia users have contributed 12 million articles (over 2.8 million in the English-language edition alone), and there are currently 265 active language editions. Despite its ascendancy, Wikipedia has not always been able to successfully apply its formula in other areas. This is something Jimmy Wales, one of the cofounders of Wikipedia, knows all too well, having recently been forced to close the “social search engine” Wikia Search. Launched at the beginning of 2008, Wikia Search emphasized transparency and voluntary collaboration. The project—backed by Amazon and aimed at taking on search leader Google—was ultimately a dismal failure.

But the demise of Encarta does not leave Wikipedia in a monopoly position. Users that prefer an encyclopedia whose content is controlled by a publisher have a number of options to choose from. These include the Encyclopedia Britannica and the Spanish Enciclopedia Universal Micronet, the 21st edition of which has just been published in DVD format. As for Wikia Search, the limited impact of the search engine means few are likely to miss it, despite the limitations many experts identify in other search engines currently available.

Articles in El País (spanish), Página|12 (spanish), 20minutos (spanish), TechCrunch and Linux Magazine 

When asked to predict major technology trends in 2009, most analysts agree that Cloud Computing is closely followed by the rise of social networking and Web 2.0 tools in the enterprise sphere as the most dominant themes.This feedback strongly supports IESE's belief that online collaboration is starting to play a key role in driving business model innovation and, with it, an organization's competitive advantage. To gain a better understanding of this trend, Prof. Sandra Sieber and Prof. Evgeny Káganer are spearheading a global research study that will explore how firms use social media tools to foster collaboration across organizational boundaries. To learn more about the study and to sign up for participation please visit the project’s website.”

The BDigital Global Congress is the benchmark congress on breakthroughs in information and communication technologies (ICT) and their business, technological and social applications. The 2009 edition is organized by Barcelona Digital and it will be held in the CaixaForum of Barcelona from May 18th to 21st. In addition, the Barcelona Digital Technology Centre invites to participate in the call for the VII BDigital Innovation Award and the IV BDigital City of Knowledge Award. The bases for this edition can be downloaded on the BDigital Global Congress website. Nominations can be submitted until the 17th April 2009, 12h o’clock. For presenting an award nomination, please fill in and submit the related form available on the website.