Deloitte fails to deliver government IT project, loses contract

DutchNews, August 6, 2019

Illustration: Depositphotos.com

The cabinet has cancelled a contract with Deloitte for failing to deliver on an IT project to facilitate the hiring of external staff, broadcaster NOS reports. 

Deloitte, which has already spent most of the €6m earmarked for the project, had been warned earlier for not making enough progress by the government monitoring agency BIT which keeps an eye on large ICT projects. 

At the time the agency cited insufficiently defined project costs and confusion over management and roles, and the lack of a clear approach to the implementation of the new system. DigInhuur, the agency said, would not be active at the end of 2019 as planned even if the problems could be solved at a stroke. 

Deloitte was given more time but was still found to be insufficiently on course. It is not clear if the infrastructure ministry will be claiming back the money, NOS said. 

The Deloitte project is far from the first government IT project to run into trouble. In 2014, a parliamentary commission concluded the state is wasting between €1bn and €5bn a year on failing IT projects.

Satnav maker TomTom joins forces with Microsoft in location services

DutchNews, December 16, 2016

Amsterdam-based navigation software producer TomTom and Microsoft are to join forces to bring enterprise-grade location-based services to Microsoft’s Azure platform, based on TomTom’s maps, traffic and navigation software. 

TomTom plans to integrate its services into Azure to make it easier and more flexible for developers to build and manage enterprise, mobile, web and ‘internet of things’ applications that are location-aware, TomTom said in a statement.

‘Location is fast becoming a critical component of a broad range of applications and services. Teaming up with Microsoft will bring our technology to a much broader developer community on a platform they are already familiar with,’ said Harold Goddijn, TomTom’s CEO. 

‘The move strengthens our position. Potentially we can reach a much broader public,” Goddijn told the Financieele Dagblad. He added it will take some time for the partnership to have a clear impact on the the company’s revenues. 

Location based services from TomTom are essential in the development of self-driving cars. These services include the most up-to-date maps, real-time traffic information and traffic-avoiding navigation.

Google unveils first Asian startup campus

Gangnam district in South Korea's capital Seoul is now the new home of Google's first Asian startup campus. The US search engine giant hopes to encourage a new generation of global tech entrepreneurs in the region.

Deutsche Welle, 8 May 2015

Known as the "Beverly Hills" of South Korea, Seoul's hip and ritzy neighborhood of Gangnam has a reputation of being a hotspot for fashion and plastic surgery.

Now the district may be adding another attraction to its list - entrepreneurship.

US technology behemoth Google opened doors to its first Asian startup "campus" in Seoul's Gangnam district on Friday, citing South Korea's flourishing entrepreneurship scene and widespread smartphone use as reasons for picking the capital as a base, after opening similar sites in London and Tel Aviv.

The endeavor is the latest addition to the expanding startup scene in Gangnam, which has attracted app developers, entrepreneurs and investors. In the past couple of years, the district has become the home of domestic startups like D. Camp and Maru 180.

But despite local successes, Korean firms have struggled to take their products to the global market.

"Our goal with Campus Seoul is to create a space where entrepreneurs can thrive," Mary Grove, Director of Global Entrepreneurship, said on Google's official blog. "Where they can feel at home with the local community, yet have everything they need to build a global company."

Campus Seoul rents out its 2,000 square meter space to startup companies and venture capital investors. With an open plan office design, it hopes to foster collaboration between fledgling companies.

In addition to providing space for people to network, it offers mentoring and training by Google teams and experienced entrepreneurs, as well as access to other startup communities in Asia and beyond.

The campus is also an effort by the South Korean government, which has partnered with Google, to establish a "creative economy." South Korean President Park Geun-Hye pledged a 3.3-trillion-won ($3.0-billion, 2.7-billion-euro) fund in 2013 to help nurture startups over the next several years.

el/uhe (AP, AFP)

Public prosecutor, consumer authority both investigate IT fraud

DutchNews.nl, Wednesday 22 October 2014

(NOS/ANP)

The Dutch consumers authority ACM has written to 50 of the country’s biggest IT companies asking them for information about price agreements and other illegal activities, the NRC said on Wednesday.

The cartel body is particularly interested in information about government contracts in the wake of revelations made by television programme Zembla earlier this month, the paper said.

The programme claimed that IT company Ordina had committed fraud several times in order to win government contracts.

The NRC also says the public prosecution department has begun its own investigation into the claims to determine if there is enough evidence to merit a criminal prosecution.

Related Articles:

Damning report says goverment wastes up to €5bn on IT failures

IT services group Ordina at centre of corruption scandal: Zembla

Damning report says goverment wastes up to €5bn on IT failures

DutchNews.nl, Wednesday 15 October 2014

(NOS/ANP)

The Dutch government is wasting between €1bn and €5bn a year on failing IT projects, says a parliamentary commission set up to look at a number of headline cases.

This ‘cautious estimate’ is an ‘unacceptably high amount’, the commission said in its report which was published on Wednesday.

‘The government often fails to keep control of its IT projects in terms of cost, timing and the end result,’ the commission said.

Unknown spending

Coming up with an exact figure of how much the government wastes on IT is impossible because ‘no one knows how much it spends’. But based on expert opinion the figure can be put at between €1bn and €5bn a year.

Parliament is also failing to properly monitor IT projects because of a lack of interest and expertise and projects are being undertaken with unrealistic expectations.

Among the 34 recommendations for improvement, the commission says a special committee should be set up to supervise projects with a budget of over €5m. The green light for such projects should only be given once the technical, management and organisation risks have been assessed.

What is ICT?

Parliament chairwoman Anouchka van Miltenburg made a major gaffe while accepting the report by saying she had had to ‘google ICT’ to find out what it meant.

The Netherlands uses ICT to cover information and communications technology, rather than IT like most of the world.

‘This is a real low point,’ IT entrepreneur Rene Veldwijk who was watching the proceedings told the Telegraf. ‘People are being cute about their ignorance.’

Projects

The commission was set up to look at six government IT projects which ran into serious trouble, and held its first interviews at the end of April. The NRC sums them up as follows:

• mGBA: modernising the local government registration system (births, marriages, deaths and address).

• Ov-chipkaart: smart card for public transport which was expensive and did not have enough loading stations.

• C2000: a new communication system for the emergency services which cost twice the budget and still has operating problems.

• EPD: a centralised system for storing patients’ medical records which floundered in the upper house of parliament because of concerns about privacy.

• Werk.nl: jobs website run by the UWV benefit centres which has been beset by computer failure

• A73 tunnels: a security system for tunnels on the A73 highway which did not work, leading to months of tunnel closures.

During the hearings information science professor Hans Mulder told the committee just 7% of the projects with a budget starting at €7.5m can be said to be successful. In total, 70% of projects fail.

Of those which flop, 36% fail so seriously the new system is never used and around half are of doubtful value because they turn out to be too expensive, take too long or produce unexpected results, Mulder said.

Related Article:

IT services group Ordina at centre of corruption scandal: Zembla

Hewlett-Packard reportedly set to split into two companies

Silicon Valley personal computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard Co. is set to split into two companies, according to a newspaper report. The business will look to focus more on corporate services.

Deutsche Welle, 6 Oct 2014

The Wall Street Journal reported on its website Sunday that HP was poised for the split, citing people familiar with the matter.

The move, which could be announced as early as Monday, would see HP create one company that sells computers and printers, and second that focuses on technology services, including data storage, servers and software.

HP was founded by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard in Palo Alto, California in 1939. It went on to have a pivotal role in the rise of the Silicon Valley tech industry and the personal computer revolution.

The company has struggled of late, laying off tens of thousands of employees over the past few years as it struggles with dwindling sales and a rise in mobile computing.

HP still retains 300,000 employees, however, and is on track to earn $112 billion (90 billion euros) in revenue this fiscal year.

A number of major companies have spun off operations into separate companies in recent years, in the face of pressure from shareholders. Investors often reward technology companies for doing so, in the belief that more focused companies perform better.

Last week online auction company eBay announced it would spin off its mobile payment service PayPal. The move prompted a more than 7 percent rise in share prices on the day when news of the move broke.

dr/av (AP, Reuters, AFP)

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IT services group Ordina at centre of corruption scandal: Zembla

DutchNews.nl, Thursday 02 October 2014

HQ of Ordina (NOS/ANP)

Civil servants have given IT company Ordina confidential documents which gave it an unfair advantage in winning government contracts, according to television current affairs show Zembla.

Zembla bases its claims on a whistleblower and a USB stick full of company information, addresses and emails. Most of the items date from 2005 and 2010 and show how business was being done.

For example, a Rotterdam civil servant gave Ordina information about a tendering process for a software project worth tens of millions of euros in 2009. Rotterdam has begun an investigation into the case and suspended one civil servant, Zembla says.

IND

Another project involved a contract for the immigration service. Justice minister Ivo Opstelten has asked the consumer authority ACM to investigate this.

A third case involves a tendering process in Rotterdam which Logica CMG, CapGemini and Ordina divided up the market in agreement with city officials.

The Zembla programme will be broadcast on Thursday night. Professor Chris Jansen told the show there are similiarities between this and the construction sector fraud of 2001.

‘Companies operating in the same sector have made agreements, with or without the knowledge of the government, to divide up contracts between themselves,’ he said.

That scandal also came to light following a whistleblower’s revelations.

Mobile phone games developed in Africa

Companies developing games for mobile phones are springing up in East Africa. Although the mobile gaming market there is growing, financial returns are still small. But the developers aren't easily discouraged.

Deutsche Welle, 15 Aug 2014

On the display of 11-year-old Kanini's mobile phone, a matatu - one of those notorious Kenyan share taxis - is roaring along a straight road. The yellow-striped minibus passes a stop sign and more cash is clocked up on the taxi meter. "Cool" says Kanini. "You have to dodge all the other road users - trucks, motorbikes, old cars." Then, all of sudden, another minibus appears, a black one. The game ends - in a crash!

The mobile game is Ma3 Racer. "Matatus here in Nairobi drive like maniacs anyway," said Mwaura Kikore who had the idea for it. Kikore is one of the co-founders of Planet Rackus, the company that developed Kenya's first gaming apps.

Mwaura Kikore is planning a more
ambitious game with better graphics

The first version of Ma3 Racer (tatu means three in Kiswahili), with low resolution graphics for basic mobile phones, was released three years ago. The game's developers didn't have very high expectations of it. "If the game had been downloaded 10,000 times in the first year, we would have thought that great," Kikore said. "But then we reached that target in the first three days. In the first year we had notched up over a million downloads."

Preserving African culture

Basic mobile phones are common in Kenya. 80 percent of the population uses them because Kenya does not possess an extensive, reliable landline network. The same is true elsewhere in East Africa. The mobile games market is booming."We're counting on it," said Daniel Okalany, head of Kola Studios, a game development company in Uganda."We are hoping that smartphones will sell faster than all other mobile phones. That's why we are making apps for mobile phones and not for PCs or the Internet," he said.

Kola's games include Mosquito Rush in which you have to swat some rather aggressive insects. They also offer apps that simulate traditional African card games. "We are helping to preserve African culture" said Okalany. "Everything that isn't digitalized these days gets quickly forgotten. That's why we want to preserve these games."

Ma3 Racer exceeded the developers' wildest expectations

African heroes

Kikore said African games differ slightly from their European or American counterparts. "That doesn't necessarily mean that these games are just for Africans. They have universal appeal. But we have African heroes, the settings are African or involve Africans in non-African settings," he said.

At the moment it is not profitable to develop games solely for the African market. Most Africans cannot afford even the more inexpensive smartphones, let alone gaming apps for these devices. App stores are international anyway. The market for apps is worth billions of dollars (euros) and the competition is tough. "Nobody on this continent can earn his living from developing games. We all have day jobs and we develop games when we have time," said Kikore.

Kikore has a job in an advertising agency. But he doesn't want to stay there forever. He is working on an adventure game. It will have ten levels, 3D graphics and be sophisticated enough so that gamers will be prepared to pay to use it.

Google self-driving car coming around the corner

Yahoo – AFP, 14 May 2014

Google's Lexus RX 450H Self Driving Car is seen parked on Pennsylvania Ave.

in Washington, DC, on April 23, 2014 (AFP Photo/Mark Wilson)

Mountain View (United States) (AFP) - A white Lexus cruised along a road near the Google campus, braking for pedestrians and scooting over in its lane to give bicyclists ample space.

The car eased into a turn lane, waited for a green light and a break in traffic, then continued on its way in the Silicon Valley city of Mountain View.

It even avoided stopping on train tracks.

But there was nobody holding the wheel. What looked like the work of a conscientious driver was a Google car making all the moves -- with an AFP reporter in the back seat.

Google used machine learning to teach cars how people drive and, from there, to anticipate what motorists in surrounding traffic are likely to do.

Computer-fast reflexes

"Computers have really good reaction times. They don't get distracted, drowsy, fall asleep, and they don't drive drunk," Google self-driving car software team lead Dmitri Dolgov told reporters getting an intimate look at prototypes at the Computer History Museum.

Google's Lexus RX 450H Self Driving Car,

 seen parked on Pennsylvania Ave. in

 Washington, DC, on April 23, 2014

(AFP Photo/Mark Wilson)

"They don't need to stop messing with the radio to see what is happening, or even take time to move a foot from the gas pedal to the brake."

The bustling street crowd paid little heed to the self-driving car, which sported a whirling gadget on top about the size and shape of a large coffee can.

The roof-top device used radar and lasers to track everything around it.

A camera peeking out from the Lexus front grill watched what was ahead.

Data is processed by onboard computers programmed to simulate what a careful driver would do, but at super-human speeds. And, naturally, the Google autonomous car was connected to the Internet.

A "Googler" from the technology titan's test driving team had a laptop computer that showed what the car "saw" -- everything from cyclists and traffic signals to orange cones and painted lines in the street.

Another Googler was in the driver's seat, ready to take over in the unlikely chance a human was needed to make a driving decision.

A red button could be hit to grab control from the computer. A tap of the brake would do the same.

Real driving a drag

Development of the self-driving car began five years ago, part of a special project headed by Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

"If you are in a car commercial, that is driving we enjoy," said project director Chris Urmson.

"If you are commuting to work, that is not fun."

While most people have cars that boast seating for four or more people and that can achieve racing speeds, statistics show that much road time is clocked by solo drivers going closer to 30 miles (48 kilometers) per hour.

Google cars navigate using detailed digital maps showing what streets are supposed to look like, then concentrate processing power on assessing real-world variables such as traffic.

The cars can't drive places where Google hasn't mapped roadways down to implied speed limits, elevations of traffic signals, and curb heights, according to mapping team lead Andrew Chatham.

Google's Lexus RX 450H Self Driving Car, seen parked on Pennsylvania

Ave. in Washington, DC, on April 23, 2014 (AFP Photo/Mark Wilson)

"It tells the car what the world looks like empty, then the job of the software is to figure out what is going on," Chatham said.

Have no fear

Prototype Google cars have driven more than 100,000 miles on public roads, always with someone ready to take the wheel.

There have been two accidents while cars were on auto-pilot. Both times, vehicles were rear-ended while stopped at traffic signals, according to Urmson.

"We are at the point where we are really convinced we have cracked this and can make it work," Urmson said of self-driving cars being trusted on roads.

Urmson sidestepped predicting when Google self-driving cars might hit the market, but said he is determined to make it happen by the time his six-year-old son reaches driving age.

Brin has publicly stated the even more ambitious goal of having the cars ready less than four years from now.

A panel of urban development and transportation specialists that took part in the event billed the self-driving car as a quantum leap in safety that could prevent many of the approximately 33,000 roadway deaths in the US each year.

Instead of owning cars, people could summon them when needed and be chauffeured places while they text, chat on phones, put on make-up or do other distracting tasks some motorists attempt while driving.

"This is not a science project, this is reality," said former General Motors vice president Larry Burns.

"It is something you need to embrace; there is nothing to fear."

New Taiwan software solution saves app development time, money

Want China Times, CNA 2013-10-12

A screenshot of the software solution created by Taiwan's Institute for Information
Industry. (Photo courtesy of the Institute for Information Industry)

A new software solution created by Taiwan's Institute for Information Industry can help people develop mobile applications in a more efficient and cost-saving way, the developers said on Friday.

Using the solution, called AppCross, content providers can save an average of 60% in development time and 80% in development costs, said Anthony Chien, a senior engineer at the institute, citing figures from Taiwan's largest publishing group, the institute's partner in the project.

With the solution, a publisher that can normally develop 40 apps a year has the potential to make 400 a year without needing to code and debug, Chien said.

"It is as easy as using (Microsoft) PowerPoint to make your own slides," he said, adding that as long as the content is in the format of Adobe InDesign, there is no need to hire or contract extra programmers to develop an app.

Even as user-friendly as it is, the AppCross can "meet any needs," the developer said. There are 15 templates, and animation arrangements and interactive features can all be customized to the developer's needs, he added.

The institute is hoping to license the software solution to corporate clients and has already successfully marketed it to Cite Media Holding Group, Transmission Books and Microinfo Co, Sanlih E-Television and others, Chien said.

There are also plans to promote the solution abroad, he said, adding his institute has been in contact with two Japanese companies.

Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

Software firm's shares jump almost 9% after announcement that Ballmer will retire as CEO once a successor is found

theguardian.com, Staff and agencies, Friday 23 August 2013

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, is to retire after more than
32 years with the US software firm. Photograph: Markus Schreiber/AP

Microsoft has said its chief executive, Steve Ballmer, will retire within the next 12 months, once it has selected a successor, sending its shares up almost 9%.

Ballmer said in a statement on Friday that he would have timed his retirement in the middle of Microsoft's announced transformation to a devices and services company. But he said: "We need a CEO who will be here longer term for this new direction."

The software company said its board had appointed a special committee to direct the process of appointing a new chief executive.

The committee is chaired by John Thompson, the board's lead independent director, and includes Microsoft founder and chairman, Bill Gates, as well as other board members Chuck Noski and Steve Luczo.

It will consider both external and internal candidates and is working with executive recruiting firm Heidrick & Struggles International, according to the company.

Microsoft shares rose by 8.9% to $35.27 in pre-market trading.  

In an email to Microsoft employees, Ballmer said: "There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time. My original thoughts on timing would have had my retirement happen in the middle of our transformation to a devices and services company focused on empowering customers in the activities they value most. We need a CEO who will be here longer term for this new direction." 

He said he was proud of what he had achieved at the company: "We have grown from $7.5m to nearly $78bn since I joined Microsoft, and we have grown from employing just over 30 people to almost 100,000. I feel good about playing a role in that success and having committed 100% emotionally all the way. We have more than 1 billion users and earn a great profit for our shareholders. We have delivered more profit and cash return to shareholders than virtually any other company in history."

Related Article:

Microsoft employees rate Steve Ballmer as tech's worst CEO. How long can he last? (5 April 2011)

Yahoo! buys app from British teen

Google – AFP, 25 March 2013 

Yahoo! did not disclose the terms of the deal it struck with 17-year-old Nick

D'Aloisio (Getty Images/AFP/File, Justin Sullivan)

SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo! announced plans Monday to buy mobile news reader app Summly from the London teenager who invented it, likely transforming him into one of the world's youngest self-made multimillionaires.

The company did not disclose the terms of the deal it struck with 17-year-old Nick D'Aloisio, but the London Evening Standard said Yahoo! would pay between £20 million and £40 million ($30 to $60 million).

"We're excited to share that we're acquiring Summly, a mobile product company founded with a vision to simplify the way we get information, making it faster, easier and more concise," Yahoo! said in a statement.

"At the age of 15, Nick D'Aloisio created the Summly app at his home in London. It started with an insight -- that we live in a world of constant information and need new ways to simplify how we find the stories that are important to us, at a glance."

Yahoo! said most articles and web pages were formatted for browsing with mouse clicks and that "the ability to skim them on a phone or a tablet can be a real challenge -- we want easier ways to identify what's important to us."

The California firm said that "Nick and the Summly team are joining Yahoo! in the coming weeks."

D'Aloisio said in a tweet: "@Summly has signed an agreement to be acquired by Yahoo!! Excited for the next chapter of Summly! Thanks to all who have supported me."

The Evening Standard said the Wimbledon youth, who would become one of the world's youngest technology millionaires, claims to have created the app as a hobby.

"I didn't realize it was possible to make money out of it," he was quoted as saying.

About the new inflow of cash, the youth said: "I like shoes, I will buy a new pair of Nike trainers and I'll probably get a new computer, but at the moment I just want to save and bank it. I don't have many living expenses."

Former Google executive Marissa Mayer took over at Yahoo! in July 2012 as part of efforts by the struggling Internet search pioneer to reinvent itself.

Ghana's John Mahama launches Hope City project

BBC News, 4 March 2013

An IT university will be built at Hope City

Related Stories

• Ghana country profile
• Kenya tech city building begins

Ghana's President John Mahama has launched a project to build a $10bn (£6.6bn) IT hub near the capital, Accra, within three years.

Dubbed Hope City, it will have Africa's tallest building, at a height of 270m (885ft), an investor says.

It will be built on empty land and will employ about 50,000 people and house 25,000 people, the investor adds.

In January, Kenya unveiled plans to build an "Africa's Silicon Savannah" within 20 years at a cost of $14.5bn.

Kenya's Konza Technology City, about 60km (37 miles) from the capital, Nairobi, is supposed to create more than 200,000 jobs by 2030.

Mr Mahama said the private sector would spearhead the building of Hope City.

"Government has led growth since independence with all the major investments... The time has come for the private sector to take over," he said at the project's launch.

"We can see that already in several sectors, including ICT [information, communications and technology] and telecom."

The head of local technology giant RLG Communications, Roland Agambire, told the BBC that his company was investing in Hope City with the aim of making Ghana globally competitive.

"What we are trying to do here is to develop the apps [applications] from scratch," he said.

"This will enable us to have the biggest assembling plant in the world to assemble various products - over one million within a day," he said.

The IT hub would be made up of six towers, including a 75-storey, 270m-high tower, "the highest in Africa", RLG Communications says on its website.

"Hope City will provide work for 50,000 people and will host 25,000 inhabitants," it adds.

It would include an IT university, a residential area, a hospital, as well as social and sporting amenities, the BBC's Sammy Darko reports from Accra.

Related Articles:

Africa is world's fastest growing mobile market: study


Africa - "The End of History"- Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)

"..  Let me tell you where else it's happening that you are unaware - that which is the beginning of the unity of the African states. Soon the continent will have what they never had before, and when that continent is healed and there is no AIDS and no major disease, they're going to want what you have. They're going to want houses and schools and an economy that works without corruption. They will be done with small-minded leaders who kill their populations for power in what has been called for generations "The History of Africa." Soon it will be the end of history in Africa, and a new continent will emerge.

Be aware that the strength may not come from the expected areas, for new leadership is brewing. There is so much land there and the population is so ready there, it will be one of the strongest economies on the planet within two generations plus 20 years. And it's going to happen because of a unifying idea put together by a few. These are the potentials of the planet, and the end of history as you know it.

In approximately 70 years, there will be a black man who leads this African continent into affluence and peace. He won't be a president, but rather a planner and a revolutionary economic thinker. He, and a strong woman with him, will implement the plan continent-wide. They will unite. This is the potential and this is the plan. Africa will arise out the ashes of centuries of disease and despair and create a viable economic force with workers who can create good products for the day. You think China is economically strong? China must do what it does, hobbled by the secrecy and bias of the old ways of its own history. As large as it is, it will have to eventually compete with Africa, a land of free thinkers and fast change. China will have a major competitor, one that doesn't have any cultural barriers to the advancement of the free Human spirit. …." 

Man paralysed for seven years uses eye movement to tweet 'hello world'

Tony Nicklinson has locked-in syndrome – mentally awake but physically paralysed – and wants doctors to end his life lawfully

guardian.co.uk, Press Association, Thursday 14 June 2012

Tony Nicklinson, is completely paralysed and can only move his eyes. His
'hello world' tweet got him 2,500 followers in 24 hours. Photograph: Twitter

A man with locked-in syndrome has joined Twitter and sent his first tweet – "Hello world".

Tony Nicklinson, who seven years ago had a major stroke that left his body completely paralysed, used special eye movement technology to access the social networking site. He is also approaching the high court to allow him to lawfully end his life.

Under the username @TonyNicklinson, he wrote: "Hello world. I am tony nicklinson, I have locked-in syndrome and this is my first ever tweet."

After less than 24 hours, his account had almost 2,500 followers.

Nicklinson, 57, can only communicate by using a computer that follows his eye movements. Software converts his eye movement into the letters of the alphabet and in turn into words and speech.

Channel 4's Dispatches captured the moment on film ahead of a programme about Nicklinson's life to be broadcast on Monday 18 June at 8pm.

The same day Nicklinson and his family, who live in Melksham, Wiltshire, will go to the high court to argue that a doctor should be allowed lawfully to end his life.

Nicklinson sums up his life as "dull, miserable, demeaning, undignified and intolerable".

Nicklinson suffered a stroke in 2005 while on a business trip to Athens. He is asking the court to grant declarations that a doctor could intervene to end his "indignity", with his consent and with him making the decision with full mental capacity, and have a "common law defence of necessity" against any murder charge.

Nicklinson has two grown-up daughters and had an active life before the stroke.

Google Supporting Technology Hubs in Africa

Google Africa Blog, Friday, May 4, 2012

As part of our mission in Africa to make the internet more relevant and useful, we are partnering with tech hubs. Our goal is to enable tech hubs by providing them with technical content, business tools, infrastructure upgrades, so that they can support increasing demand from developers and start-ups.

Whether an established tech hub like iHub (Kenya), or a brand new hub such as KINU (Tanzania), these partners are the technology leaders in their community and a logical home for Google communities such our Google Developer Groups and Google Business Groups. These groups are made up of entrepreneurs, developers and tech enthusiasts who use Google tools to create relevant solutions for themselves and their customers, and to power their businesses. For example, Olalashe, one of the winners of the Africa Android Developer Challenge, was developed by David Lemayian working out of the iHub.

Tech hubs provide a venue for developers and the wider tech community to engage directly with companies and training partners like Google. They host a range of events, workshops, and provide co-working space. Googler Bob Aman holds regular office hours at iHub in Nairobi, and earlier this year Googlers presented at CcHub’s Developers Parapo event “Google and the Nigerian Techie in 2012” in Lagos.

Developers Parapo event at CcHub

For those unable to attend Google I/O in person, we are working with our hub partners to bring the event live to you. This way, you can still connect with other talented developers and watch the keynote and other major sessions live. If any of the hubs is in your country, add them to your circle on Google+ and you’ll be updated on attending Google I/O Extended sessions. Thanks to our passionate technology leaders for providing an avenue for us to engage: Co Creation Hub (Nigeria), ICEAddis (Ethiopia), iHub (Kenya), Jokko Labs (Senegal), KINU (Tanzania), and iLab (Liberia).

Posted by Johanna Kollar, Program Manager, Emerging Market Start-Up Support

Who Needs Bosses? Not Game Company Valve

ABC News, by Alan Farnham, April 25, 2012

Software developer Valve Corp in Bellevue, WA, has 300 employees
and not one manager or boss. (Value Corp)

Video game and software developer Valve Corp, in Bellevue, Wash., has 300 employees--but not a single manager. How to they do that? What's it like to work in a boss-free zone? And what other companies share Valve's approach to non-management?

Valve's website proclaims: "We've been boss-free since 1996. Imagine working with super smart, super talented colleagues in a free-wheeling, innovative environment—no bosses, no middle management, no bureaucracy," just highly motivated peers coming together to make "cool stuff" without anybody "telling them what to do."

It would be wrong to say that up until this week Valve kept its no-boss policy a secret, or that its happy peers toiled in obscurity. The company gets plenty of attention, acknowledgement and feedback from customers, suppliers and reviewers for the best-selling games it makes.

But a few days ago, Valve allowed its unique and quirky employee handbook to be posted onthe Internet -- and since then, the phones have been ringing off the hook.

The calls aren't coming from would-be game buyers. They're coming from doctors and lawyers, clerks and car mechanics asking either "Can I go to work for you? Boy, I hate my boss" or "Can you teach our organization how to do what you do--get by boss-free?"

All of this attention, says Valve's Greg Coomer, has come as something of a shock. "Surprising," he calls it. "We've been hearing from people well outside our usual audience, from the UK, even from the public sector."

As its handbook makes clear, Valve's approach isn't for everyone. The U.S. Army, for instance, is never going to embrace no-boss-ism. Nor, probably, says management expert and business author Geoffrey Colvin, could FedEx--or any other business that employs tens of thousands and has to function like a Swiss watch, day after day, with precision and predictability.

Coomer agrees. "We know we're unique," he says. But he adds, "We wouldn't advise others against trying it. We're very interested to see others applying it to their organizations."

He says it's taken Valve every day since its founding in 1996 to make its system work. But work it does, judging by results. The company is to video game distribution what Apple's iTunes is to music. Its best-selling games series include Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Left 4 Dead, and Portal. In 2010 privately-held Valve announced it had in excess of 30 million active user accounts.

"Welcome to Flatland," says the handbook, referring to Valve's non-hierarchy. It goes on to explain that hierarchies are great for maintaining predictability and repeatability, but maybe not so good for an entertainment company trying to manage some of the most "innovative, talented people on Earth." Telling people like that "to sit at a desk and do what they're told obliterates 99 percent of their value."

Employees get to vote on their assignments. If they hear of a project they want to join, they literally vote with their feet and with their desks, which all have wheels. They unplug their computers, push back from the wall, and wheel themselves to whatever new project they want to join.

There's a system for reviewing their work and for assigning blame and praise. There's a system for tweaking compensation. But it all plays out without what most long-suffering office schlubs would consider top-down authority. For a full (and vastly entertaining) description of how Valve accomplishes this trick, see their handbook.

The closest Valve gets to having bosses are people called Team Leads. Says the handbook, "Often, someone will emerge as the 'lead' for a project. This person's role is not a traditional managerial one." They serve as clearinghouses of information, "keeping the whole project in their head at once, so that people can use them a s a resource." When the project disappears, so does the Team Lead.

Is it possible to get fired? You bet, and Valve employees certainly have been, says Coomer. But the reason has never been for an honest screw-up. Valve from time to time has hired people who, by temperament, found it frustrating or impossible to work within so gossamer a structure.

He freely allows that not having bosses has its downside. The handbook, in fact, has a section headed "What is Valve Not Good At?" Number 1 on the list: helping new people find their way. After that comes: mentoring people, disseminating information internally, and missing out on hiring people of talent who simply need to work within a more traditional structure.

Management expert Colvin, author of "Management Strategies for Difficult Times," says he can think of only two other companies that do business the Valve way: Fabric innovator W.L. Gore, where, he says, not only is the organization flat but people's business cards list no title (just their name, phone n email).

"This is the company where somebody once said, 'To see if you're a leader, call a meeting and see if anybody comes.'" And the other boss-less company? A Brazilian outfit called Semco.

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