Article by T. Kuhan and C. Celestine
Blogging to get into the mainstream of society
The use of censor ware by repressive governments is becoming a policy as seen in conferences where proposals are made and press articles written on the issue. How can people make a difference in the fight against world censorship? Every entity like non-governmental organisations, think tanks, academic departments and so on all have their own hierarchies and barriers to entry. While the Internet was much smaller, it was the aim of individuals to be heard in it.
The integration of the Internet into society at large meant individuals reverted to being as marginalized in terms of overall influence as they are in society at large. The standard institutional power structures asserted themselves although the people did have a voice. However, blogs are not a solution as they can be detrimental in terms of building influence. It is in rare cases that a person achieves significant influence via a blog to be touted a success story. The truth is that all who are blogging are never heard beyond a small fraction of society.
As one activist lamented regarding a censorware controversy: "I think the real lesson is despite all the hype, blogs have not solved the ‘gatekeeper’ problem. It’s no longer true that a handful of media giants control what people get to find out about but it’s still true that an issue does not become an issue and has a hard time entering the public consciousness unless it gets noticed by one of the new "gatekeepers of information." People have been complaining about wrong blocks by SmartFilter for 9 years and suddenly BoingBoing gets blocked and its in the New York Times," he said.
Getting ideas into the media and to policy makers can be more difficult than writing web pages and hoping somebody, somewhere reads them. Publicity opportunities such as conferences often
serve as a clearing house between public intellectuals and journalists. But it’s a small number who get to be there as working the conference circuit is a job in itself.
Many groups try to change the world, some in opposition, violent to one another but they can’t all succeed. Likewise many groups are trying to determine the future shape of the Internet but only a few will succeed. While it’s inevitable that an Internet policy is required but the implications of having to quickly go "up or out" are unfortunate for those who want to change this world.
Nascent power
Scores of companies are keen to outsource software work to companies like Beijing-based Beyondsoft Company Ltd. "Chine is becoming a top destination for software outsourcing," says its CEO Ben Wang. His company started in 1995 with only 4 people now has an army of 2000 engineers providing outsourcing services for technology giants such as Microsoft and IBM.
China’s outsourcing companies are expanding rapidly trying to woo multinationals scouting for low-cost information technology (IT) talent. By trying to pry to open the US market they aim to be international players but have to contend with Indian rivals like Satyam and US based EDS. Their aggressive expansion plans include acquiring local players to speed up the process. "It’s a critical time for Chinese outsourcing companies," says Wang. "We will either grow into giants or will be cobbled up by a giant." Chinese outsourcing companies unlike the Indians who turned to Britain and the US cut their teeth in Japan. China’s software outsourcing companies in 2006 raked in US$1.4bil in revenue, more than 40% compared with a year earlier of which 60% revenue derived from Japan.
However, the Japanese market cannot be compared to the US and Europe which accounts for 75% of the world’s US$320bil IT service and outsourcing market according to IT consultancy IDC. The two markets are expected to expand more than 60% annually in the coming years at almost twice the speed of the market in Japan. With the US market firmly in their crosshairs Chinese outsourcing companies kicked off an acquisition spree to get in. In March 2007 Beijing headquartered hiSoft Technology International acquired Envision Solutions, a California based IT consulting firm that boasts clients like Novell and General Electric.
Despite their forays to the rest of the world Chinese outsourcing companies face increasing competition in the neighbourhood. As salaries of software engineers rise India the world’s leading outsourcing giants eye China as the new sources of low-cost software talent. Tata Consultancy Services, one of India’s most powerful IT outfits established a new outsourcing job venture in Beijing with Microsoft and two Chinese partners in February.
The company expects the venture to increase its headcount in China tenfold to 5000 by 2010 and help become one of the biggest players in Chine. In April India’s fourth largest software exporter Satyam established a global delivery camp in Nanjing, capital of East China in Jiangsu Province as part of its efforts to increase its number of engineers to more than 3000 by 2008. "The labour cost in China could be 15% to 20% lower than India’s," Satyam’s chief executive officer said during the opening ceremony of the Nanjing Centre. "Besides organic growth we are studying the possibility of acquiring local companies to speed up our expansion."
All news items extracted from Tech & U, The New Straits Times, Tech Central, The Star, The Edge & The Sun
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