Global Consumer Trends - Individualism. International Markets Bureau MARKET ANALYSIS REPORT | OCTOBER 2010 Global Analysis These reports cover a wide variety of subjects and countries of interest to the sector. New reports will be posted regularly. If you wish to be on e-mail distribution in order to receive the reports more quickly, or to comment on any of the reports, please contact infoservice@agr.gc.ca. The spirit of individualism applauds the freedom of the individual and encourages personal development and self-direction, with few social limitations. Self-Asserted Consumers: Consumers are increasingly likely to do their own research when it comes to product claims. Self-Care and Self-Improvement: Consumers are watching their health more than ever, in an effort to take more control of their lives and rely less on medical institutions.
Niche Markets and Consumer Segmentation: As consumers differentiate themselves from others, they are looking for products that cater to their exclusive needs and desires. Independence.
Media and entertainment cross the digital chasm: risk and disruption await. Sometime within the next two years, the average revenue of media and entertainment (M&E) companies will cross the 50-percent mark from majority traditional to majority digital. Not only are they selling digital, but they're also running more of their businesses on digital platforms as well. These are the findings of a new survey report by Ernst & Young, covering more than 550 senior executives from global media and entertainment (M&E) companies. Today, revenue from digital is 47 percent and survey respondents say that by 2015 it will account for 57 percent of revenue – "thus making digital the new norm and the primary source of revenue for M&E companies.
" As leaders in the newspaper industry understand only too clearly, the path to digitization is full of risk and disruption, especially with audiences expecting content at low or no cost. The study identified the social network and gaming sectors as the most agile segments of the media and entertainment space. SLE - Test of Reading Comprehension in the Second Official Language.
Description The SLE - Test of Reading Comprehension in the Second Official Language assesses the ability to understand texts written in your second official language. In this test, you are presented with a number of texts (e.g., e-mails, notes, letters, information bulletins, excerpts from reports, research papers). Your task is to read each text carefully and respond to the questions by selecting the best answer to each question.
There are a total of 60 multiple-choice questions of two different types in this test: Fill in the blank; and Answer the question. Of the 60 questions, 50 will count towards your score. You will have 90 minutes to complete all the questions on the test, in addition to 20 to 30 minutes for administration. Your proficiency level is determined by your raw score on the test. You will receive your results on the SLE - Test of Reading Comprehension in the Second Official Language within two to three weeks. Reading abilities for levels A, B and C Level A Level B Level C Tips. Crowdfunding enters the business mainstream.
Last week, two events took place that suggest that crowdfunding -- in which startup or seed capital is raised over networks -- has crossed the chasm from cutting-edge to business mainstream. As suggested by startup consultant Larry Downes in a recent post at the Harvard Business Review blogsite, crowdfunding just hit its "big bang" moment. First, the leading crowdfunding site, Kickstarter, announced it has now financed more than 50,000 projects, with pledges coming from more than five million backers. Second, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission finally cleared the way for individuals to invest in crowdfunded ventures, as spelled out in a recent proposed rulemaking document. The SEC has held up provisions of the 2012 Jumpstart our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, pending investigation and review of procedures for allowing startups to publicly solicit direct investments.
Until all is approved, crowdfunded investments into startups are categorized as "donations" versus equity stakes. Erase your online identity (if you’re a California teen) For years we've heard the horror stories about posting regrettable information online. It never goes away. It could cost you a job. While we should all keep this in mind before we push the publish button, soon kids in California will have some immunity to the permanency of the Internet. The so-called "eraser button law," signed into law earlier this week by California Governor Jerry Brown, allows minors to permanently delete embarrassing aspects of their digital footprint on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Google which would otherwise stay with them for a lifetime. "This is a groundbreaking protection for our kids who often act impetuously with postings of ill-advised pictures or messages before they think through the consequences.
The law goes into effect in January 1, 2015. Just as minors are often treated differently in the U.S. justice system, it makes sense to recognize that teens make seemingly minor mistakes without realizing they have major consequences. What do you think? How the new field of data science is grappling with ethics. It’s hard to imagine a world without personalized recommendations -- one in which Amazon and Netflix don't know what books or movies you might like, or Facebook and LinkedIn don't invite you to connect with friends and acquaintances. Analysis of our online activities is so advanced that in one famous anecdote retailer Target “knew” a teenage girl was pregnant before her father did: he found out after the store sent her coupons for baby clothes and cribs.
As we become more aware of how our actions are being studied, new academic programs in data science are cropping up with more frequency. This year, New York University and Columbia University launched new courses of study, joining similar programs at Stanford University, Northwestern University, Syracuse University and other educational institutions. As new academic programs catch up with the use of big data in the real world, many also are grappling with how to teach ethics. That doesn’t mean these university programs aren’t trying.
Service with a smile: A new growth engine for poor countries. For more than 200 years, it was argued that economic development and growth was associated with growth of the labour-intensive manufacturing sector (Baumol 1967, Kaldor 1966, UNIDO 2009). Services were considered as menial, low-skilled, and low-innovation (McCredie and Bubner 2010). But today, services can be among the most dynamic sectors in an economy. The policy question is whether this is true even in poor countries. There is evidence that services contribute more to GDP growth, job creation, and poverty reduction than industry in many developing countries (Ghani and Kharas 2010). Services now account for more than 75% of the global economy (45% in developing economies). Services are the fastest growing sector in global trade. The share of developing countries in world service exports increased from 14% in 1990 to 21% in 2008.
It is not surprising that services are expanding rapidly in upper middle-income developing countries. Figure 1. Figure 2. Figure 3. Figure 4a. Figure 4b. Economics focus: The service elevator. Services: The next big thing. The services sector: The post-industrial future is nigh.
Google’s ultimate goal: The Star Trek computer. The tech giant's goal in life extends far beyond a popular search engine or renewable energy; Google wants to build the world's first "Star Trek" computer. Speaking to Slate, a number of Google employees have mentioned the concept of Star Trek-like technology in their interviews. Think something along the lines of "Computer! Where should I have dinner? " Such a system would be able to answer questions based on extensive knowledge about you personally.
Understandably, Google's visions of future search could be considered a clever marketing ploy. However, the head of Google's search rankings team Amit Singhal has spoken further about the tech giant's plans, and how we can see the effects already. "The destiny of [Google's search engine] is to become that Star Trek computer, and that's what we are building," Singhal commented. The Star Trek computer concept is based on design principles. However, problems remain. (via Slate) Digital business: industries that lead, industries that lag. Some industries embracing the digital business model -- such as travel and banking -- are doing so because they have been dealing with its disruptive nature for a number of years now.
Other industries which have been immune from the digital wave -- such as utilities -- need to sit up and take notice. That's one of the key takeaways from a new study conducted by Capgemini, which concludes that companies with mature digital strategies are 26% more profitable than their less-digital-savvy peers. What does Capgemini mean by "digital" business"? In a digital business, technology is baked into business processes and channels -- such as an online travel site.
Some companies have lots of IT assets and huge data centers, but aren't necessarily digital businesses. As the report explains it, going "digital" means more than implementing new IT systems and servers. What industries are ahead, and which are lagging? Way Out in Front (the "Digerati"): Lagging: (Photo: Joe McKendrick.)
Retail. Will drones replace the pizza delivery guy? Late night munchie attacks have long been quelled by the food delivery drivers who toil through the wee hours to help hungry, often tipsy partiers. In the U.K., drones could one day take over the job. Domino's U.K. franchise posted a YouTube video this week showing a pizza being delivered by an unmanned drone called the DomiCopter.
Drone company AeroSight, which created and operated the DomiCopter, safely delivers two pizzas in the test run. The test run is more publicity stunt than business announcement. Pizza-delivering drones aren't coming to the U.S. anytime soon. However, the prospect of thousands of commercial drones eventually floating around U.S. homes and businesses isn’t so far fetched.
The agency has already issued 1,428 permits to domestic drone operators, such as police, universities and federal agencies, since 2007. Photo: Domino's Pizza UK.
Health industry. Health innovations take a year to show cost results. The Obama administration’s experiments at controlling healthcare costs could take up to a year to produce results -- frustrating congressional lawmakers eager to know if new innovations in care delivery will actually work. Reuters reports. At the Senate Finance Committee hearing on Wednesday, Richard Gilfillan at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said three-dozen models involving 50,000 healthcare providers and more than 1 million beneficiaries are currently being tested (pictured). Congress created the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation to test “innovative payment and service delivery models to reduce program expenditures… while preserving or enhancing the quality of care” for individuals who receive Medicare, Medicaid, or Children’s Health Insurance Program benefits.
The innovations range from fixed rates for specific medical conditions to patient-centered medical homes. Here’s an interactive map of Innovation Models throughout the country. [From Reuters] Judge decrees Medicare data must be made public. A federal judge has ordered that a Medicare database must be made public, ending a 33-year-old injunction. The system in question stores ever Medicare insurance claim ever made. On Friday, Judge Marcia Morales Howard ruled that the U.S. District Court lift the ban, imposed in 1979, in favor of a motion proposed by Dow Jones. The Wall Street Journal, owned by Dow Jones, found that fraud amounting to the millions as well as the financial abuse of patients by doctors and other Medicare providers has taken place.
Removing the injunction may lead to scrutiny over how patients are treated -- and what healthcare professionals charge. The American Medical Association have fought making the confidential data public, arguing that physicians will lose their rights to privacy if the information is released. Read More: Reuters Image credit: Flickr. Healthcare analytics market to reach $10.8 billion by 2017? A new report suggests that the healthcare analytics market may be worth $10.8 billion by 2017.
Healthcare analytics is the field which develops tools and systems to plan and analyze medical data which can be then applied to modern healthcare practices. Statistical tools are often used to try and both predict and improve medical outcomes, as well as find flaws and problems that could be improved to help efficiency rates. Due to the growing digital world, the concept of "big data" -- where vast quantities of information can be cheaply stored and analyzed at leisure by organizations -- and mobile technology, the new market research report suggests that the healthcare analytics market is estimated to be worth $3.7 billion in 2012 and is growing at a rate of 23.7% from 2012 to 2017 to eventually reach $10.8 billion.
Image credit: Alex Proimos Related:
Meet Cue, the personal assistant of the future that predicts your next move. Let's be honest: I’m a fanatical list-maker. Being able to visualize what I need to do in a day is essential if I want to be even remotely productive. It ensures that there's nothing I miss -- unless, of course, I forget to put it on the list. Calendar reminders pop up on my phone and laptop, and pre-set alarms help me be where I need to be on time. It’s an intricate, but not integrated, system that still relies on me being with-it enough to pre-set those reminders and write out those lists.
Daniel Gross and Robby Walker co-founded the service Cue to add a dose of intelligence to my ad-hoc setup. “We both realized that, in this modern age, it’s actually shockingly difficult to get access to information you might need at a given time,” Gross said. It's a moment of clarity to which we can all relate. Gross and Walker say they developed Cue to connect bits and pieces of information like names, addresses, directions and events.
Gross and Walker want Cue to replace the calendar. Service with a smile: A new growth engine for poor countries. 5 reasons the financial industry is ripe for disruption. The gateway to disruption, as defined by Clayton Christensen, is the creation of products for underserved or unserved markets -- typically shunned by existing enterprises that are too busy chasing the high-margin businesses. Eventually, however, the low-end providers begin eating their way up the food chain. Just ask Toyota or Microsoft about their beginnings, servicing low-budget consumers. Now, similar disruption is hitting the financial services sector. One example is crowdfunding, in which startups can bypass banks and venture capitalists for startup capital. A new report out of the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) and Core Innovation Capital explores this emerging industry of new startups for underbanked customers, which it calls "FinTech.
" "The same technologies that are driving the growth of startups from Silicon Valley to Atlanta are reinventing the marketplace of financial services for underserved consumers. 4 payment industry predictions for 2012. Services: The next big thing. Look to nature for lessons in building resiliency. For business, food waste a ripe opportunity for savings. A second act for WebMD’s content queen. In Melbourne, eating with strangers.
NYC subways to get interactive information touchscreens. Ideas. New bookstores are still opening, and here’s where. Upstart | Yaron Galai, Outbrain. Upstart | Alex Tryon, Artsicle. Economics focus: The service elevator. Outsourcing to surge in 2013: study. Why patents matter. Internet of things. An appliance to manage the Internet of things.
With Trakdot, keep tabs on checked luggage. Ford’s Glympse tracks your location when driving. Advertizing. Crowdsourcing, Crowdfunding. Kickstarter scam nearly duped thousands out of $120,000. Mysterious structures in China raises suspicion. Emirates issues Windows tablets to onboard airline staff.
New app simplifies selling stuff online. What would you pay for used MP3s and e-books? Employee outsources own job to read Reddit, earns a fortune. Bypassing traditional shipping methods through travelers’ good will. Self-published books becoming best sellers. Too tired to cook? Choose and buy your neighbor’s leftovers. Talk to your city with PublicStuff, it will talk back. After Boston Marathon, Google releases people finder tool. Start-up Sailthru wants you to read less. Online ticket marketplace lifts stodgy ski industry into digital age. The cold truth of new media. Target explores ways to lure Facebook users into retail stores.
Massive open online courses discover global talent. Colleges help students develop a squeaky clean online image. Entrepreneurship can’t be taught in schools, but some education helps. Security. Google: government surveillance is on the rise. Who will control the Internet? (Who will pay for it?) The Morning Briefing: Data privacy. Can you really keep phone data anonymous? Google gives users control over their data in the afterlife. Google puts a ring on it to infuriate hackers, replace passwords. The Morning Briefing: Cybersecurity in 2012. The $1 billion opportunity in cyber security.