Wake Up World: The Future of Computing Is Here

David Gelernter (pictured), Professor of Computer Science at Yale, offers his fresh and compelling view on future computing, including his new concept called "lifestreams." Worth a read.

The idea, though, of lifestreams has been catching on. A lifestream is a way of organizing digital objects—photos, emails, documents, Web links, music—in a time-ordered series. A timeline, in essence, that extends into the past but also the future (with appointments, to-do lists, etc.). Facebook, with its "wall" constantly updated with postings by you and your friends, is a lifestream. Twitter's feed is a lifestream. "Chatter," developed by Salesforce.com for internal use by client companies, is a lifestream.

Rethinking the Digital Future

More on David at Edge and Wikipedia

Photo courtesy Edge.

How to Rev Up American Exports

The Wall Street Journal's David Wessel moderates a discussion on the U.S. trade gap and how to fire up the export engines. Read the edited excerpts of the conversation below.

Building a U.S. export economy start with a new mind-set for companies

Here's one comment:

Only 1% of U.S. firms today are exporters. In a sense, U.S. firms have never had the export muscle—or to the extent that they had it, that muscle has atrophied over time.

And one of four recommendations:

1. GLOBALIZE ATTITUDES OF U.S. BUSINESS

To ensure growth, U.S. businesses should recognize the importance of developing foreign markets, including locally based products and services. They should set targets and goals for increasing participation in foreign markets and encourage more U.S. nationals to live abroad for a period. Government can help by providing support and education to smaller and medium-size businesses to increase their exports.

Related article:

Leading with a Global Mindset (1998) by Laurel Delaney

Global Rebalancing

What is global rebalancing?

The idea is to change the world economy so that it relies less on American consumers and more on shoppers in China, Germany and other countries with big trade surpluses. The aim is to build a firmer foundation for global growth and avoid financial instability.

Easier said than done?  You bet.  Learn more here.

Illustration credit:  Country sources; OECD; Moody's Analytics

Expansion Lies in Selling Foreign Markets

According to the Commerce Department, U.S. exports grew by almost 17% to $1.8 trillion last year.  Imports jumped nearly 20%, pushing the annual trade deficit up to almost $498 billion, a 32.8% increase that marked the biggest percentage gain in a decade.

And look at what the big focus is:

With developed economies growing slowly, U.S. companies are recognizing that expansion lies in selling to other foreign markets—some that were long seen as competitors. The Obama administration is pushing that perspective to achieve its goal of doubling U.S. exports by 2014.

Read more here.

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog

Leaving Your Heart In Argentina

Exploring a new country, buying a vineyard and starting a new life is not the easiest thing in the world to do.

Learn about how a couple pulled it off here:

Moving to Argentina

Illustration credit:  Google Maps

A Revival in Global Economic Activity

Exports during the month hit their highest level since August 2008, the month before the financial crisis.

"More and more of our exports have started going to the faster-growing regions in Asia, Latin America and Canada," said Morgan Stanley economist Ted Wieseman. "It highlights that the emerging markets never really had much of a slowdown at all. They've continued to outperform throughout the crisis."

Exports of industrial supplies were particularly strong, rising 8%, driven by chemicals and plastics. Food exports also surged. Among the big gains: Soybean exports jumped to almost $2.4 billion, an all-time high, from $1.8 billion in September.

Read the entire article here.

If You Were to Bet on Growth, Where Will It Come From?

According to Abbott Laboratories Chief Executive Miles D. White:

... he has assembled a business in fast-growing countries that the company will count on for a big part of its growth.

"Where do you think the growth in the world is going to come from?" Mr. White asked during an interview at his suburban Chicago office, a few miles from Lake Michigan. "Would you bet on the U.S.? Would you bet on Western Europe? It's going to come from emerging markets."

The article goes on further to say:

Now, the fast-growing emerging-market economies are much more attractive. Expanding middle classes in such countries as Brazil, South Korea and Turkey are not only spending more on health care, but their rising affluence has contributed to increasing rates of diabetes, heart disease and other conditions that once had been limited to developed markets. Some governments, notably China's, are beginning to provide insurance to pay for health care.

Read the entire article here.

Graphic illustration source here.

Global Strategy: For the Time Being Avoid the U.S.A.

China's biggest search engine company, Baidu Inc., is more dominant than ever now due to Google's pullback (moved its search to Hong Kong due to censorship demands that were placed on Google by China government).

Baidu's 41-year-old founder and CEO Robin Li has to figure out how to grow the business amid investor concerns on just where the growth will come from since there will be an intentional avoidance of the U.S.A. market for now.

More than two-thirds of China's population is still not on the Internet so there is room for Baidu to squeeze out additional local growth over the next 5-10 years.

But other revenue streams will be critical for Baidu to maintain and sustain its position in the local and global marketplace.

Read the interesting Bosstalk interview conducted by Owen Fletcher (WSJ) with Robin Li (at Baidu's Beijing headquarter office) -- here.

Illustration credit (very striking -- scary -- how much it looks like Google): Baidu search engine service, China

Posted by: Laurel Delaney, The Global Small Business Blog

Do Not Fear the Globalization of Higher Education

The new global brain race is intensely competitive.

Read all about it here.

Posted by: The Global Small Business Blog

P&G Extends Reach to Some of the Most Populous Countries in the World

The U.S. and Europe are in a slump so Procter and Gamble plans to target India -- where consumers remain a tough sell -- for its international expansion push.

Read more here.

P&G India here. P&G India: brands.

Photo credit: P&G Ariel, India