Vision - November/December 2008 - (Page 9)

by Carolyn Slater ] • [ newS around the world going global New EU Institute Formed to Boost European Technology The European Union (EU) provided an initial funding of more than 300 million Euros to launch a new European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) tasked with generating advances in European technology efforts. The Institute, which held its inaugural meeting in Budapest, Hungary plans to pull together the expertise of European universities, research bodies and R&D businesses into “Knowledge and Innovation Communities” (KICs) with the aim of increasing innovation, competitiveness, employment and growth. The EIT believes that by bringing together entrepreneurs and researchers, Europe can narrow the almost 85 percent gap in business-funded research and development that it faces with the USA. Priority projects for the institute are renewable energy, a low-carbon Europe and next-generation IT technology. Brazil’s PC Market Grows with Financing Driven by a new availability of consumer financing, Brazil has surged ahead to become the world’s fifth largest computer Dialing for Food Prices in Italy Rapidly rising food prices are causing market. Unlike China and India, Brazil’s citconcern and hardship worldwide. Howizens have not enjoyed a significant growth ever, in Italy, citizens are using their cell in cash income, but financing now is allowphones to find the best prices. A ing them to break into the market. In joint venture by the Italian agrimany Brazilian stores, the advertised price is shown as the monthly financed culture ministry and the Consumer price rather than the total cash price. Federation empowers Italian conFinancing arrangements typically are sumers to call a service when faced two to three years with interest rates by what they consider to be unreasonable food prices. They receive a of five to six percent a year. In addition Carolyn Slater reply via a text message which lets to brands like Dell and HP, consumthem know the prices for that food ers can opt for local brands such as product in various areas of Italy. The conPositivo and Itautec. The government’s “PC sumer then can decide whether to try to for All” program subsidizes interest rates, negotiate with the store to get the price but only for computers sold with the Linux down, or shop elsewhere. The system has operating system. Market research company been praised by The Economist magazine, Gartner estimates that 18 or 19 of every 20 which believes for a supply and demand computers sold in Brazil with Linux subsequently gets converted to Windows. Jochen Sand/Getty Images system to work optimally, consumers need to be able to effectively and quickly compare prices. The system is becoming even more sophisticated by allowing consumers to scan a product’s barcode with their mobile phone and then have the service compare it with Internet retail prices. India Commits to $10 Laptop The Indian government is developing a laptop to be sold for $10 that will be targeted toward higher education applications. Research on the low-cost laptop is being carried out by the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai. India’s Minister of State for Higher Education did not specify in his announcement just how such a low-priced laptop could be achieved, but the program likely will be subsidized by the government. As part of the National Mission in Education through ICT (information and communications technology), the government plans to make free bandwidth available for education to create a “knowledge network” between universities. India opted out of the One Laptop per Child (OLpC) program, however, Reliance Communications, a telecommunications service provider, has been running an OLpC pilot program in India during the past year. Russia Supports Government Technology Programs An announcement by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin may help boost the country’s lackluster high tech industry. Putin has vowed to invest 600 billion rubles (roughly $24.6 billion U.S.) in Russia’s technology industries over the next two years. By focusing on high tech growth, Russia hopes to become less dependent on income from the export of their natural resources like oil, gas and metals. With other countries moving to find alternatives to fossil fuels, Russia is anxious to diversify its economy. However, funding will only be directed to state-run high tech programs, not to individual start-ups or privately funded endeavors. • november/December 2008 Inti St. Clair/Getty Images www.ce.org 9 http://www.ce.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Vision - November/December 2008

Vision - November/December 2008 Contents Shapiro's Spectrum In this Issue The Economist C4 Trends Going Global Visionary CES Unveiled Eco-Intelligence Is Vital in a Sustainable Global Market XGP— A Game Changer Enhancing the Tech Experience High-Definition Decade Public-Private Partnerships CEA Newsline Tech Speak Tech Policy Eye on Business Market Insider Just the Stats

Vision - November/December 2008

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