Trends and Opportunities in convergence

Convergence creates possibilities. Two minds are better than one. Working together always provides faster and better results than individuals working alone. The term technological convergence is often defined in a very generalized and simplified terms as a process by which telecommunications, information technology and the media, sectors that originally operated largely independent of one another, are growing together. Technological convergence has both a technical and a functional side. The technical side refers to the ability of any infrastructure to transport any type of data, while functional side means the consumers may be able to integrate in a seamless way the functions of computation, entertainment, and voice in a unique device able to execute a multiplicity of tasks. Convergence can refer to previously separate technologies such as voice (and telephony features), data (and productivity applications), and video that now share resources and interact with each other, synergistically creating new efficiencies. Today, we are surrounded by a multi-level convergent media world where all modes of communication and information are continually reforming to adapt to the enduring demands of technologies, "changing the way we create, consume, learn and interact with each other". Convergence in this instance is defined as the interlinking of computing and other information technologies, media content, and communication networks that have arisen as the result of the evolution and popularisation of the Internet as well as the activities, products and services that have emerged in the digital media space.

Telecommunications Convergence

Telecommunications convergence is the converging of previously distinct media such as voice telephony and internet into common interfaces on single devices. It is a concept dating to AT&T in 1928, but has evolved in the 21st century to dominate the market positioning of telecoms operators. It is reflected in the product portfolio operators offer (vertical integration), and in the channels through which their products are sold and serviced (horizontal integration). Telecommunication convergence is a disruptive technology. Communication media including electronic media, telecommunications media and broadcast media originally developed as business operations providing distinct services. Broadcasting, voice telephony and on-line computer services evolved on different platforms: TV and radio sets, telephones and computer and were managed by different Business Support Systems. Different broadcasting media were each regulated differently by different regulators.

*Voice over Internet Protocol (Voice over IP, VoIP)

Internet telephony refers to communications services — voice, fax, SMS, and/or voice-messaging applications — that are transported via the Internet, rather than the public switched telephone network (PSTN). The steps involved in originating a VoIP telephone call are signaling and media channel setup, digitization of the analog voice signal, optionally compression, packetization, and transmission as Internet Protocol (IP) packets over a packet-switched network. On the receiving side similar steps reproduce the original voice stream

*DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld)

DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld) is one of three prevalent mobile TV formats. It is a technical specification for bringing broadcast services to mobile handsets. DVB-H was formally adopted as ETSI standard EN 302 304 in November 2004. The DVB-H specification (EN 302 304) can be downloaded from the official DVB-H website. DVB-H technology is a superset of the successful DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting - Terrestrial) system for digital terrestrial television, with additional features to meet the specific requirements of handheld, battery-powered receivers. In 2002 four main requirements of the DVB-H system were agreed: broadcast services for portable and mobile usage with 'acceptable quality'; a typical user environment, and so geographical coverage, as mobile radio; access to service while moving in a vehicle at high speed (as well as imperceptible handover when moving from one cell to another); and as much compatibility with existing digital terrestrial television (DVB-T), to allow sharing of network and transmission equipment.

Digital Convergence

Digital convergence refers to the convergence of four industries into one conglomerate, ITTCE (Information Technologies, Telecommunication, Consumer Electronics, and Entertainment. Examples of this shifting trend are: Microsoft's Xbox (From IT to Entertainment), Apple's iPhone (From IT to Telecomm), and Sony's Vaio (From Consumer Electronics to IT). This provides new, innovative solutions to consumers and business users. Based on digital technologies and digitized content it encompasses converged devices (such as smartphones, laptops, internet enabled entertainment devices and set top boxes), converged applications (e.g. music download on PC and handheld) and converged networks (IP networks). According to Harry Strasser, former CTO of Siemens "[digital convergence will substantially impact people's lifestyle and work style]". The next hot trend in digital convergence is converged content, mixing personal (user generated) content with professional (copyright protected) content. An example are personal music videos that combine user generated photos with chart music. The German startup Trivid GmbH has developed an award winning solution, Clipgenerator, that enables users to create personal music videos with popular chart music and to share them in social communities such as facebook, myspace and beo.

*Internet

The Internet is a globalized network and was officially launched in 1969. Over the past 40 years, its role has changed rapidly from being used mainly for communication, and easier, faster access to information for Universities and various other educational institutions. In today's world, it is an important tool used to reach various audiences around the world. Its users have been constantly trying to create more ways in which the Internet can be useful in more ways than one. The Television, Radio and Newspapers are the world's main mediums in accessing news and entertainment. Now, all 3 mediums have converged into one and people all over the world now can read news on the Internet. They can also watch videos, Television Shows, listen to music, download and upload pictures, music and videos. One doesn't have to wait until the next day to hear the latest in news, fashion and music. The Internet is so easy to access that should anything happen, it would be displayed to the whole world within minutes. Convergence of media occurs when multiple products come together to form one product with the advantages of all of them, also known as the black box. This idea of one technology, concocted by Jenkins, has become known more as a fallacy because of the inability to actually put all technical pieces into one. For example, while people can have e-mail and Internet on their phone, they still want full computers with Internet and e-mail in addition. Media convergence is not just a technological shift or a technological process, it also includes shifts within the industrial, cultural, and social paradigms that encourage the consumer to seek out new information. Convergence, simply put, is how individual consumers interact with others on a social level and use various media platforms to create new experiences, new forms of media and content that connect us socially, and not just to other consumers, but to the corporate producers of media in ways that have not been as readily accessible in the past. For example, the Wii is not only a games console, but also a web browser and social networking tool. Mobile phones are another good example, in that they increasingly incorporate digital cameras, mp3 players, camcorders, voice recorders, and other devices.
This type of convergence is very popular. For the consumer it means more features in less space, while for the media conglomerates it means remaining competitive in the struggle for market dominance. With the advance in technology comes the ability for technological convergence which Rheingold believes alters the "social-side effects" in that "the virtual, social and physical world are colliding, merging and coordinating". Media convergence requires companies operating within the scope of the media to rethink existing assumptions about media from the consumer's point of view, as these assumptions affect both marketing and programming decisions. Media producers have to respond to these newly empowered consumers in today's society to reinvent existing concepts to keep them up to date with emerging trends. Consumers these days do not just want to be on a one way transmission model where they simply receive information. They want to interact with it. They want to create it. They want to participate within it. Media convergence has allowed that to happen and as the proliferation of new communication technologies continues to occur, this trend is here to stay.

Messaging convergence

Combinational services include those which integrate SMS with voice, such as voice SMS - providers include Bubble Motion, Jott, Kirusa, and SpinVox. Several operators have launched services that combine SMS with mobile instant messaging (MIM) and presence.
Text-to-landline services also exist, where subscribers can send text messages to any landline phone and are charged at standard rates. This service has been popular in America, where fixed and mobile numbers are similar. Inbound SMS has been also converging to enable reception of different formats (SMS, voice, MMS, etc.). UK companies, including consumer goods companies and media giants, should soon be able to let consumers contact them via voice, SMS, MMS, IVR, or video using one five-digit number or long number. In April 2008, O2 UK launched voice-enabled shortcodes, adding voice functionality to the five-digit codes already used for SMS. This type of convergence is particularly helpful for media companies, broadcasters, enterprises, call centres and help desks who need to develop a consistent contact strategy with the consumer. Because SMS is very popular today with any demographic, it became relevant to include text messaging as a contact possibility for consumers. To avoid having multiple numbers (one for voice calls, another one for SMS), a simple way is to merge the reception of both formats under one number. This means that a consumer can text or call one number and be sure that the message will be received.

Opportunities of Convergence

Technological convergence if appropriately managed can play an important role in national economic and social development of every nation. Governments can capitalize on the opportunity to stimulate market development and meet previous unmet society communication needs.

*Increased Market Competition
Convergence has lowered barriers of entry to the market for new operators and service providers. The emergence of new market players intensifies competition, giving consumers an extensive pool of providers and services to choose from and lower communication costs. Additionally in a technological convergent environment industry boundaries become blurred, allowing service providers to offer services in multiple markets. For example, besides access to television, cable operators can also offer voice telephony and internet services.

*Emergence of New Services and Applications

Established companies will find in convergence an opportunity to operate more efficiently, increase returns on technology investments and realize other business benefits through development of new services and rapid market expansion. Convergence opens up new sales markets for companies, a case observed in mobile operators. As the market saturates, they look to non-voice services, such as video streaming, portals,
messaging, information services, and gaming, to drive future revenue growth.

*Convenience and Simplicity

At device level, consumers find in convergence an opportunity to enjoy the convenience of having many devices all in one, saving on both size and ownership costs. For example, a single mobile phone device can receive television programmes and play videos, thus enabling simplicity and convenience in device ownership as one device can be used to access multiple services.

Technological convergence results in greater benefits from increased diversity in products and services in the telecommunication industry. Using IP technology that connects all telecommunication services with a single network, companies can add services to their previous ones, without new investments in infrastructure. it just proves that TWO IS BETTER THAN ONE. No matter how alone you feel or how alone you try to be, you need others, you touch others and you affect others by your actions and your words and even by the breath you take. It's just the same with the convergence of technologies. One can be better but more than one is the best!

Guy Kawasaki: MAKE Meaning!

Guy Kawasaki? Who’s that guy?

He is a managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm and a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine. Previously, he was an Apple Fellow at Apple Computer, Inc. Guy is the author of nine books including Reality Check, The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way. He has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1954. He studied at Lolani School and graduated in the year 1972. That school was not as well known as its rival, Punahou, but he got fantastic and formative education there. After graduating in high school, he spent his college years at the Stanford University and graduated in the year 1976. He was a psychology major which he thought the easiest major he could find. Guy Kawasaki made a name for himself at Apple in the 1980s as the evangelist who helped launch the Macintosh computer. As founder and CEO of Garage Technology Ventures, he has tested and proven his ideas with dozens of startup companies. He is the author of over half a dozen business books, including Rules for Revolutionaries, Selling the Dream and How to Drive Your Competition Crazy. Kawasaki is the definition of an entrepreneur and he shares that knowledge and experience in his books. One of the books he wrote was, The Art of the Start.  His goal in this book is for an entrepreneur with a great idea to take this advice and get started. If the title of the book wasn’t evidence enough, Kawasaki advocates starting as the first and most critical step. Too much time is wasted planning, and not doing, so this book is the catalyst that will cause entrepreneurs who are stuck on the starting line to finally enter the race. Kawasaki provides eleven chapters, each of which begins with the phrase “The Art of” and followed by the concept covered in that chapter. Each concept covered is a corner-stone for any entrepreneur in the early stages of development. Topics covered range from positioning yourself in the market to crafting and pitching a business plan to raising capital or funding the operation internally to finding a partner and creating cash flows. It’s all topped off with Kawasaki’s lesson in ethics and the karmic scoreboard. Kawasaki exploits the fact that not all entrepreneurs are starting up small businesses in their garage. Some are current employees for large corporations, and need instructions on internal start-ups, the not-so-well-known second side of entrepreneurship. The information provided is truly priceless for any potential entrepreneur on the cusp of something great. Kawasaki writes in a down to earth tone, with an attitude of “let’s forget the foolishness and talk about what really works.” Kawasaki describes his own writing style as cutting through the theories, and getting down to real world tactics. The information is portrayed as though it is coming from a friend who wishes to see you conquer the world. Contrast that to a multitude of “how-to” guides written with business jargon from a know-it-all who’s talking down to you. Mr. Kawasaki wrote in that book the top 10 things that the managers should know. Here are those:

1.  Entrepreneurs are a rare breed. The number one attribute is persistence. So as cliché as it may sound – don’t ever give up. If you truly believe in something, spend your life trying to make it happen.

2.  If your product takes off in an unintended market, put more eggs into that basket rather than resisting this opportunity because it’s not how you wanted your product to be used.

3.   Although a business plan should be written for multiple reasons, it is not the single tool that will land the big investors. You, and your art of pitching, are what sell the product. Practice portraying your meaningful message personally instead of pouring over a word document scratching out a boring business plan.

4.  At the same time you want to master the art of collecting capital, realize how difficult that will be. At some early stage in the game you are going to be forced to buckle down, raise money, and fund the operation yourself.

5.  Find a partner – not executive partners or people that you employ to help you, but another business that can execute some of your work load (preferably better than you can do yourself).

6.  After success is achieved, giving back is the most beautiful thing one can do. A selfless donation from excess profits will pay dividends on the karmic scoreboard.

7.  Don’t try it alone. An entrepreneurial endeavor is not run by a one man wrecking crew. Find those with the same passions as you, and tackle this together.

8.  You are in control – you started this business and its fate is in your hands. The market and other outside factors may put you off course, but you control what steps the business will take to react to it.

9.   If you are going to do anything in the world, do it for the right reasons. Don’t do it for the money or the fame, do it to make the world a better place, and do it because you love it.

10.  It’s all about the art of starting (go figure). Getting up and doing, and not wasting too much time planning what you’re going to do it the essence of entrepreneurship. If you follow the steps in this book, the plan begins to form itself as you execute each step of action.

In that book, Mr. Kawasaki revealed his top 5 list for starting a business. And the first one was “MAKE A MEANING”. This is what we have discussed in our Technopreneurship2 class. Our Facilitator had provided a audio visual presentation for us showing Mr. Guy Kawasaki as he was talking about this topic. It was just a short talk. After watching, our facilitator instructed us to write a short review of what we learned after watching the video. Then after that activity we had a small discussion about the subject matter. Entrepreneurship is not all about making money.  According to him “if you make a meaning, you make money but if you make money, you don’t make the meaning”. In making a meaning as he noted, the following should be put into consideration as well:

1. Increase the quality of life.

Make people more productive of their lives. Change the lives of your customers. The term quality of life is used to evaluate the general well-being of individuals and societies. The term is used in a wide range of contexts, including the fields of international development, healthcare, and politics. Quality of life is an important concept in the field of international development, since it allows development to be analyzed on a measure broader than standard of living. Within development theory, however, there are varying ideas concerning what constitutes desirable change for a particular society, and the different ways that quality of life is defined by institutions therefore shapes how these organizations work for its improvement. Here are some tips to improve your quality of life :

1. Think daily. Meditate. Call it what you will but spend time each day alone with your thoughts. This surely isn’t the first time you’ve heard that advice, there’s a reason for that! There’s also a reason that this is the first step in the list. Doing the other things in the remaining nine suggestions without taking some time to reflect almost negates any benefit gained elsewhere.

2. Get in the zone. Not only will these be your most productive moments in life (the 20% of the time where you accomplish 80% of the results) but it will be a boost to your confidence that will alter the decisions you make elsewhere in life.

3. Make it a point to do something bold every day. Step out of your comfort zone, leave the routine even if for only a second. This might mean talking to someone that you generally wouldn’t talk to or starting a project that you feel intimidated by. There is no need to plan it in advance–though that might help at times, usually though you’ll find a point during the day when ‘two paths diverge in the woods’ and you have the change to take the one less travelled by. Take it.

4. Learn something new. Pick a topic, preferably something you know nothing about and learn something about it. A good source of inspiration for this can be the newspaper or Wikipedia. It helps to retain it if you have time to make a note of what you learned or explain it to someone else, but even if you don’t get the chance to do that, your brain will thank you for the new patterns you introduce as you learn something new every day.

5. Debate something. If you think you know about something, nothing will prove it like arguing it with someone who’s smarter or more informed than you. Find a friend you can debate with who has ideas that are different from your and who won’t be offended by debating them–this is easier said than done, but it can provide you with some of the best mental stimulation possible.

6. Spend time with a child. If you have one, consider yourself lucky, if you don’t, I bet you have friends who would be happy to let you borrow theirs for a few minutes (or hours). It doesn’t matter what age they are, children see the world entirely different. Look at it from their eyes. Be their hero. Appreciate what they appreciate. Enjoy the simple things again. You’ll love it and they’ll love you for it.

7. Go outside. If you don’t naturally spend time outside, make it a point to do it more. There’s something about the expanse of the sky that will bring out your inner philosopher.

8. Recognize what makes you happy. Reflect on the parts of your day that bring you real satisfaction. Everyone is working towards something, but what makes you happy now? Rate your overall satisfaction with your quality of life for each day on a scale of 1 to 10, focus on the things that happened that pushed the number higher rather than what made it lower. Try to incorporate more of what made you happy yesterday into today.

9. Stop broken thoughts. Broken thoughts are those subtle patterns that aren’t quite big enough to fall into the bad habits category. This means that despite their harmful effect they often escape under the radar. Broken thoughts often take the form of justifications. Examples? I’m just going to leave my dish here by the sink, I’ll wash it later (when you know your spouse will end up washing it). I’m bookmarking this article to read later (how often do you ever go back and read old bookmarked articles?). I’ll hang my shirt up later (when you know it will be there for a week before you touch it).

10. Don’t stress about it.

 

You, as the manager, should think of the people that will benefit from your business. They must be your first priority. Increasing the quality of life means changing the way people are doing. Think of some ways which will make the life of the people, your customers, easier.  You have to develop the motivation of changing the world, contributing something good in the world.

2. Right a Wrong.

Be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem. Always see the positive side of everything. We can’t avoid making wrong but there is always a way to make that wrong right. It’s about finding solutions to the problems our world is facing right now.

3. Prevent the end of something good.

Preventing the end of something good means protecting what the world has provided for us to have a good life. The earth has provided us so many good resources but sadly some of us are abusing it. We must prevent the end of these good resources. Let’s help those advocates who promote the preservation of our resources. It’s about time to make a big move to increase the quality of life. It is not nice to see something being ruined or changed, especially if you really see that something as beautiful.

The starting point of a business usually defines where your business is heading to. You can start at worst and find your business went into bankruptcy. But you have the choice of starting good and find yourself maintaining it and later achieve your success. You should try your best to make sure that your goal of achieving money in starting a business is only secondary. You should take into consideration certain things that you can use to achieve a long-term growth. We must stay dedicated to whatever you are starting and it must mean something that will provide for the betterment of the world. Your dedication should not come from money, or squashing the competition, it should come from making the world a better place and if you strive to do that you will have a meaning to keep you focused.

Life is meaningless only if we allow it to be. Each of us has the power to give life meaning, to make our time and our bodies and our words into instruments of love and hope.

- Tom Head

Serendipity Walk

Technopreneur?

A technopreneur is specialized into high-tech and innovative business e.g. web technologies, gadgets, medicines and automation solutions. Technopreneurship is the act on engaging into technopreneur. A technopreneur is a person who is into innovative technology venture by enhancing or by developing new tech products and/or services. It starts from a good idea, develop this idea into an opportunity, and then commercialize it with a good business model.

Idea?

An idea is just whatever is before the mind when one thinks. An idea arises in a reflex, spontaneous manner, even without thinking or serious reflection, for example, when we talk about the idea of a person or a place. Very often, ideas are construed as representational images; i.e. images of some object. In other contexts, ideas are taken to be concepts, although abstract concepts do not necessarily appear as images. Many philosophers consider ideas to be a fundamental ontological category. The capacity to create and understand the meaning of ideas is considered to be an essential and defining feature of human beings.

Serendipity Walk?

Sustained walking sessions for a minimum period of thirty to sixty minutes a day, five days a week, with the correct walking posture, reduces health risks and has various overall health benefits, such as reducing the chances of cancer, type 2 diabetes, disease, anxiety and depression. Life is also increased even for individuals suffering from obesity or high blood pressure. Walking also increases bone health, especially strengthening the hip bone, and lowering the more harmful bad low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and raises the more useful good high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Studies have found that walking can also prevent dementia and Alzheimer's.

Serendipity is a propensity for making fortunate discoveries while looking for something unrelated. M. E. Graebner describes serendipitous value in the context of the acquisition of a business as "windfalls that were not anticipated by the buyer prior to the deal": i.e., unexpected advantages or benefits incurred due to positive synergy effects of the merger. Serendipitous quality of innovation is highly recognized by managers and links the success of Japanese enterprises to their ability to create knowledge not by processing information but rather by "tapping the tacit and often highly subjective insights, intuitions, and hunches of individual employees and making those insights available for testing and use by the company as a whole". Serendipity is a key concept in Competitive Intelligence because it is one of the tools for avoiding Blind Spots.

My Experience….

I love doing serendipity walks. To me it means letting myself wander without any preplans, lists, agendas – and see what happens and where I end up. This is my whole experience… It was November 27, 2010 when I and my classmates decided to go to Gaisano Mall at Bajada. We didn’t plan it but it’s just that in a single second we decided to go there. We had much fun in our travel because we had a ride at our classmate’s multicab. As we arrived at the parking lot, one thing suddenly enters my mind. I want to make a program to organize the cars in parking lots. A parking lot is a cleared area that is more or less level and is intended for parking vehicles. Usually, the term refers to a dedicated area that has been provided with a durable or semi-durable surface. I want to make an automated car parking so that it will be easy for the customers to find a specific place to park their cars and it will be an advantage for the company because man power is lessen due to the automation. The process goes like this: when the customer‘s car enter the premises of the parking lot there will be a machine booth the owner must enter his/her cars’ plate number and then the machine will release a specific priority number for that car. In the specified place, there is an automated “gate” that opens when it detects that the plate number of the car assigned to it is the same as the one which is entering. If the plate number did not match the gate will not open. After we got down from the multi cab, we headed to the entrance of the mall. What I saw first as we enter their premises was a camera store. Photography is really one of my obsessions. Photography is the process, activity and art of creating still or moving pictures by recording radiation on a radiation-sensitive medium, such as a photographic film, or electronic image sensors. I really like to capture every single detail of my life here on earth. As what the song says, “a picture paint a thousand words”. I was very amazed watching those photography gadgets in that store and another thing abruptly pop out on my mind. I want to have my own photo shop or studio. I was also inspired by the person who gave a talk at our devcon a day ahead. He was very inspiring because his course was not related in photography but because it’s his passion he pursue to learn it. And now he has been handling big clients and is enjoying the fruit of his efforts. I will try to learn the basics of photography to start my journey in this matter. I am hoping that someday, I could be as successful as he was. The secrets of serendipity can be yours. Allow yourself to let go of constraints for a moment and then see where serendipity takes you. Give your brain a rest and let your intuition and imagination lead you. Feel the ‘tug’ towards a place – wander in and see/feel/hear/taste what’s there – wander on. Still walking in the mall, we arrived at the laptops sections. It was very frustrating to see all of those units and thinking when can I have one. That thing inspires me to think of a better technopreneur idea in relation to that matter. I was thinking of making my own model of laptops combining all the specifications I like from different computers, in the future. It’s a very impossible idea, especially for me, but I am not getting the .1% probability that someday I can make it. If ever I made it, I will sell it to the public in a reasonable price and I will sure the public will patronize it because it’s simply perfectly amazing because of the specifications I programmed in that unit. Hahaha Can I laugh? I remember we had a joke agreement with one of my classmates that we will only buy a laptop when it is the last model released and luckily it was the one I invented.. lol what a big joke! Daydreaming is a great example of serendipitying in your conscious and unconscious – misty wanderings that have all sorts of images and sounds – sometime becoming a crystal idea – sometimes one of those mmmmmmmmm moments. We continue to stroll around the premises of the mall and one store got my sight. It was a craft store. Doing that thing is one of my interests. I am fun of doing some arts. Then I remember what our group had proposed for our business proposal last semester. It really suits my interest. It is a customizing online shop. It customizes bags, shoes, shirts and accessories. In the site, there is an interactive program that enables the customers to make their own designs. It is very customer friendly because the program is built for beginners but runs great. That program enables you to select from different colors, shapes, figures and etc. When the customer click the finish button, his or her design will be forwarded to us and a message will prompt to them saying that there order has been forwarded and is subject to immediate processing. The exact delivery date will also be seen in that message. To ensure that the customer is not just faking us, they must input necessary important information about them and they must pay at least 50% of the total cost of the product they are ordering. After we had our lunch, we headed at the NCCC Mall because a job fair is held their and as a scholar we are required to bring to job applicants as one of the requirements for the renewal of our scholarship. When we arrived their, I was surprised because there is a slight stampede inside and outside the mall. The line was until the outside premises of the mall. It was very crowded specially in the event center because of the people roaming around. They were not organized. The people are shouting and walking everywhere. Surely if you were there you might collapse. It was then, out of the blue I picture out what I would be after graduating. I asked myself, is it the reality?. Then I think that if it is the reality I must think of something that will make the applicants comfortable and make the process organized. I am thinking of an online job fair which is very accessible to all especially now that we are on a highly advance technological kind of society. The applicants will just submit their resume in that site and the companies will just email them if they are subjects for interview. By this idea, it will lessen the effort in both sides of the company and applicant because they will not be meeting only just to check the applicants resume. It is a very convenient way. People can apply wherever they maybe. As I was reading the qualifications of one of the companies who participated in that job fair, I remembered our approved business proposal in technopreneurship 1. We call it Tympanic. It is a digital thermometer which automatically records the results of the test conducted to the patient. It has also an usb connector which helps in the fast transfer of the data in their main units. It is a great help especially for the nurses because by this, they will not be hustled to record in a piece of paper all the results in the test they have conducted. It makes their work easier than the usual thing they are doing. We believe that it is a great help in the field of medicine because now, we must cope up with the changes on our society, now that we are in a highly technological kind of society. It will make their works more reliable and fast balancing to the demands of the society.

As I go home, I have realized that you can bring the serendipity experience to places you think you already know. It’s a kind of walk you will surely remember. Creativity demands serendipitying. I developed a model of creativity years ago after working with artists and other creative people. I termed the phrase ‘foraging’ to describe the serendipity experience of wandering that happens at the beginning ( and thru) a creative process. It’s a kind of walk (sometime physical) thru ideas and images and fragments of sound – everything that could somehow spark a creative idea or theme for an exhibition or sound for a symphony is foraged. A kind of musing on connections and disconnections. Wander your street, your city, your workplace as if you’ve never been there before… wander into conversations with people you know and let go of an agenda or a perception or an expectation. Decide to wander the known with a specific intensity – try and only hear women’s voices or see shades of blue or the scent of certain food. As long as my main objective is to help our country, I will not quit on thinking other ideas that will surely make our community prosper. I will just walk and walk and walk. And I believe that along that path I can find a one of a kind stone that will help rebuild the economy of our community. I am hoping that I am not just the only one dreaming for this, I am hoping that each and every individual of this community is thinking for the better future of our country.

Feel free to explore on new things. Just walk. See where that leads you. 

Reflection/learning's on Technopreneurship 1

Technopreneurship 1 was indeed a good start for students, especially for us who are taking technology related course. I have learned many things from the discussions given by our facilitator. Technology and entrepreneurial skills are driving many economies to prosperity. Technopreneurship is not a product but a process of synthesis in engineering the future of a person, an organization, a nation and the world. It is the only source of long-run sustainable competitive advantage. In an era of man-made brainpower industries, individual, corporate, and national economic success will all require both new and more extensive skills sets than have been required in the past. A technopreneur is an entrepreneur who is technology savvy, creative, innovative, dynamic, dares to be different and take the uncultivated path, and very fervent about their work. They take challenges and strive to lead their life with greater success. They don't fear to fail. They take failure as a learning experience, a stimulator to look things differently and walk for the next challenges. By themselves skills don't guarantee success, but without skills and technopreneurship there are no successful organizations. Technopreneurship focuses on four main ideas abbreviated as SEED (Self-mastery, Environment, Enterprise and Development of Business Ideas). But since we lack time, we did not finish the first two factors. We only discuss the Self-Mastery. Related to it, we have taken several tests to know more about our self. These are Personality test, Emotional Quotient Test, Adversity Test and Intellectual Quotient test. A personality test aims to describe aspects of a person's character that remain stable throughout that person's lifetime, the individual's character pattern of behavior, thoughts, and feelings. Second is Emotional Quotient Test. This test aims to measure your ability to handle your emotions in a given situation. The third is Adversity Test. This test measures your ability to react in some adverse situations that you will encounter in your life. And the last is Intellectual Quotient. This test measures your level of intelligence. Aside from taking those tests, we have also made other activities and discussions. One of those is, watching Pirates of the Silicon Valley. For me, it was such a very inspiring story, in spite of some of the “wrong” ways the characters have chosen. The main characters of that movie were Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Steve Jobs is one of the famous technopreneurs in the world. He is the Chairman, CEO and co-founder of Apple Inc., a leading manufacturer of electronic devices including the Macintosh Computer (MAC), iPod, iPhone, and the music and video software itunes. He was well known for his innovations. IPod - most carried gadget by young population. While Bill Gates is one of the best-known entrepreneurs of the personal computer revolution. He was the chief executive officer of Microsoft. These two people are considered as one of the elite in the information society. We had also discussed about the life of Steve Jobs and the struggles he faced before going to success. I have known that he was just an ordinary man. He wasn’t able to finish schooling yet he had reached the top of success. He has many incapacities but it did not stop him to persevere for the dream he was building. I was even more amazed when I read his commencement exercise speech. There, he revealed his true identity, of who really he was. He had suffered from many struggles but yet until now he is still growing in the industry. We had also asked by our instructor to make a business proposal by group. My group mates were Marybert Lee AND Dianne Jean Dumdum. We had a hard time thinking of what project will we propose. But then we remember what our instructor has told us. In planning for a business, it is very important that it is something you love. So we think of the tings we love. We have different likes but we decided to choose “BOOTINGTHINGS”. This is the name of our proposed program. It is an online program which customizes things such as bags, t-shirts, shoes, etc. We were not that confident for that business but since we love it, chokz na yun! Hehe when the proposal day had come, we were all very nervous because we are ask to present our business at the front and after it we are going to entertain some questions from our classmates. When it was our time we had presented the characteristics of our online program and at the end we were given a score of 1.3 with 1 as the highest. It put a great pressure on our part because we need to propose another business idea until our instructor would approve it. It was very hard to think of ideas which are not common. We think and think and think beyond the box. But thank God our instructor approved our 2nd business proposal. It was called tympanic. It is a specialized digital thermometer which can store data from the patients. It will help the work of the nurses easier than letting them record each data in a sheet of paper which is prone to be lost or something. It has also an usb chord which will let them transfer the files easily to the main computer they are using. Thanks to the sister of Dianne who gave us that idea. At the first days of our first semester we had an assignment to suggest improvement for fast food chains. As a concerned citizen, I have some suggestions to improve the facilities of these fast food chains. As what I have observed, they are lacking in terms of man power. So, to solve that particular problem I am proposing that instead of releasing money for additional man power, they will use the budget to have highly technological machines or gadgets to make their transactions easier and faster. I suggest that they should place 4 stations in their branches. The first station is where they can choose their orders from the menu in the touch screen. After specifying their orders they will then proceed in the 2nd station where they would pay the total amount of the food they have ordered. There is an automated cash registrar in the station separating coins from bills. Customers can also swipe their credit cards in the machine if they don’t have cash. After paying the exact amount, they will then proceed in the last station, where they can get their purchased food. Upon getting the food, they will then go to their respective tables. In the table, an I-pod touch-like gadget which they can use whenever they have additional orders. If ever they have additional orders, they will just choose it from the I-pod touch-like device then the orders will be automatically send in the last station where they can pay their accounts and get their specified food orders. In terms of house to house deliveries, they should provide a site for their store. The customer will first enter some personal details before she/he can choose her desired orders. After choosing, there will be an option if they will pay the amount in cash or in terms of credit cards. If the customer chooses cash, he/she will then pay as soon as his/her order arrives but if he/she choose to pay through credit card, the customer will be prompted to enter her account number. This will reduce the need of man power because all the stations are automated thus the only man power they need is the people who will maintain the cleanliness of the store. There will be no long lines of people because the machines are easy to operate so there is no need for the customers to take longer time in choosing their orders in the menu. There will be no delayed transactions because the machines are supervised by some experts if ever the machines went wrong. My proposal is quite expensive but it surely can make the transactions inside the store faster and more convenient in the part of consumers. It will just serve as an investment for the future growth of their store which surely can be drawn back easily because of the positive response of the consumers. I surely say that because nowadays, people are engaged in that kind of high technological environments. It was very fun to visualize things and I wish, I could make my suggestion in reality. 

As time pass by, I have realized that being a technopreneur is not an easy venture. Technopreneurs need to be effective. That doesn't mean you have to stay the course when the course turns out to be the wrong one. It doesn't mean you ignore parts of your company. It simply means you have an optimization problem – how to make the most impact with your limited time and attention. Since I was a child I have been dreaming to be one of the successful entrepreneurs in our country and even around the world. I am looking forward to a restaurant business. I know it at that time that it is not that easy to put a food business. You must consider lots and lots of factors. But it did not stop me to believe that I can be that person someday. I was inspired by my older brother who was now running his own business. I was just stunned on how fast money was circulating in a business. But, as I have read business books, you must be someone and must have something. I don’t want to follow those rules because I believe, that time, that I can run my own business in my own ways. As I grew up, I slowly understand what the word “Successful Business” really means. In order to be a successful entrepreneur, you must be competent, you must have viable business concept and has access to adequate capital. By then, I realized to jump off that dream and choose other options. As years passed by, I have observed that technology has been playing a vital role in our economy. Technology-oriented companies are growing fast and are opening doors to many applicants. As I was thinking of what course I will prefer to enroll in college, that realization comes into my mind. I don’t say that taking Bachelor of Science in Information Technology was really my choice. Honestly, my sister just told me to take it but as times goes by I am starting to love my course because of the advantages it brought me. Seeing myself as a technopreneur seemed to be funny because I am not that techie person but I came to my understanding that Technopreneurship is not only about technology, it also deals with entrepreneurial skills. My course allowed me to think beyond the limitations. I was stars trucked by what computers can really do. it greatly affects our daily lives. Even in simple ways, computers are very useful. This was the time that I came back to the dream I dreamt before, to be an entrepreneur in terms of technology. A technopreneur. There are great opportunities technology can offer in terms of business. As what I have observed outside our school, there are many small businesses that are using computers as their main source. It was very attractive to the people especially to the youths who are very exposed in a highly technological kind of society. Now that I have I Technopreneurship subject, I am looking forward to apply the concepts that our instructor would impart to us. I am looking forward seeing myself as a successful technopreneur someday, allowing great opportunities to people who are unemployed. I am also planning to have an internet-based business like the well-known EBay. It is very easy to circulate money in this kind of business because nowadays people are very inclined in the internet. As the era of high technology approached, I will help the government refocused its efforts on creating a workforce and industry ready to lead the world in new high-tech industries. Knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurship are now globally valued commodities, and can be capitalized on anywhere.

All we need is to focus and set our goals and just remember all the things we had encounter and learned.

More power and God Bless