The Kev Blog

So what exactly does a ‘flat world’ mean? Well, it means that the “global competitive playing field is being leveled” says Thomas Friedman.

Still confused?

Think of it this way:

“It is now possible for more people than ever to collaborate and compete in real time with more other people on different kinds of work from more different corners of the planet and on a more equal footing that at any previous time in the history of the world.”

It means that MBA students in North America can work on projects with MBA students in China, and then have that work edited by MBA students in India.

It means that someone with a laptop in an internet Cafe in Nigeria can start a business using Yahoo search engines and UPS logistics to ship products he has manufactured in China directly to the buyer who ordered the goods online, the whole time never touching his own products.

It means that anyone with a laptop can connect to absolutely anyone else with a laptop, and collaborate on any project, in almost any country, and change, create and develop anything they have the imagination to come up with.

It means a site like MySpace, if considered its own country, would be the 8th largest in the world, and that 1 in 8 couples married in 2008 will have met over the Internet.

It means that a company can open up its management, product development, and marketing tools to the world, share information that was once considered ‘for executives’ eyes only’, and see customers participate in company processes that used to be reserved for the boardroom.

It means that 6 billion people have a shot at participating in the new global economy.

Well….almost.

Friedman is quick to admit that not all the world is flat…at least not yet. There are still close to 3 billion people in rural parts of China, India, South America, Africa, and even Europe and North America who don’t have access to the flat world. However, that is changing as well. In efforts to maximize the global ‘talent pool’, individuals and organizations already in the flat world are now using globalization and collaboration to solve these problems.

Take Jeremy Hockenstein, for example. A former McKinsey employee, Hockenstein left to start a not-for-profit data entry firm that outsources work to Cambodia of all places; not the best of economies or work environments. So what did he and his colleagues decide to do? Bridge the gap between the flat world and the un-flat world. They opened “Digital Divide Data” and trained people in Cambodia to type information into computers. They then went to India to find data-entry organizations who needed text inputted into computers in digital form to be stored in databases. They also returned home to America to find work there. In fact, Harvard gave Digital Divide Data its first big contract, archiving old copies of its school newspaper. So, in a nutshell, two Americans trained people in Cambodia to type and use the Internet so that Indian companies and Harvard University could outsource data-entry work. The world is flat.

While we’ve all heard the arguments against globalization, it is critically important to see the advantages of living in a truly flat world. When projects like this can happen seamlessly, and its just as easy to communicate with someone in the next city as it is the opposite side of the world, the possibilities are endless. It will surely be exciting to see where the flat world takes us, and how it will shape education, governments, health care, organizations, and individuals.

The World is Flat should absolutely be a required reading for all business and economics students (at the very minimum), not to mention professors and faculty.

If our generation will be living in a flat world, should we not be educating for it?

With all the tools and technology out there, there is no reason why business and economics students are not working on research papers, assignments, and projects right alongside students in India and China.

There is no doubt that the concept of a ‘flat world’ is one that every future employee, business leader, politician, entrepreneur, student (and the list goes on), must understand.

The fact that globalization is happening is a non-issue. What does matter is the how the human race pushes globalization along. Friedman’s The World is Flat is an excellent starting point, but just like in the flat world, its what we do with all this shared knowledge and collaboration that counts.

Bangalore’s traffic is among India’s worst. About 700 new vehicles hit the IT hub’s roads daily, turning a normal 25-minute drive into two hours at rush hour, so executives often work on cell phones and laptops in their cars. In June, software outfit Mapunity Information Services roped in India telecom giant Bharti Airtel, and Bangalore’s traffic cops, to track traffic via cellular signals. These are used to create Web maps like the one above, of a recent evening rush, and Bharti sends customers text messages about which roads to avoid.

By Nandini Lakshman

BANGALORE DIARY

So what exactly does a ‘flat world’ mean? Well, it means that the “global competitive playing field is being leveled” says Thomas Friedman.

Still confused?

Think of it this way:

“It is now possible for more people than ever to collaborate and compete in real time with more other people on different kinds of work from more different corners of the planet and on a more equal footing that at any previous time in the history of the world.”

It means that MBA students in North America can work on projects with MBA students in China, and then have that work edited by MBA students in India. It means that someone with a laptop in an internet Cafe in Nigeria can start a business using Yahoo search engines and UPS logistics to ship products he has manufactured in China directly to the buyer who ordered the goods online, the whole time never touching his own products. It means that anyone with a laptop can connect to absolutely anyone else with a laptop, and collaborate on any project, in almost any country, and change, create and develop anything they have the imagination to come up with. It means a site like MySpace, if considered its own country, would be the 8th largest in the world, and that 1 in 8 couples married in 2008 will have met over the Internet.
It means that a company can open up its management, product development, and marketing tools to the world, share information that was once considered ‘for executives’ eyes only’, and see customers participate in company processes that used to be reserved for the boardroom. It means that 6 billion people have a shot at participating in the new global economy.

Well….almost.

Friedman is quick to admit that not all the world is flat…at least not yet. There are still close to 3 billion people in rural parts of China, India, South America, Africa, and even Europe and North America who don’t have access to the flat world. However, that is changing as well. In efforts to maximize the global ‘talent pool’, individuals and organizations already in the flat world are now using globalization and collaboration to solve these problems. Take Jeremy Hockenstein, for example. A former McKinsey employee, Hockenstein left to start a not-for-profit data entry firm that outsources work to Cambodia of all places; not the best of economies or work environments. So what did he and his colleagues decide to do? Bridge the gap between the flat world and the un-flat world. They opened “Digital Divide Data” and trained people in Cambodia to type information into computers. They then went to India to find data-entry organizations who needed text inputted into computers in digital form to be stored in databases. They also returned home to America to find work there. In fact, Harvard gave Digital Divide Data its first big contract, archiving old copies of its school newspaper. So, in a nutshell, two Americans trained people in Cambodia to type and use the Internet so that Indian companies and Harvard University could outsource data-entry work. The world is flat.

While we’ve all heard the arguments against globalization, it is critically important to see the advantages of living in a truly flat world. When projects like this can happen seamlessly, and its just as easy to communicate with someone in the next city as it is the opposite side of the world, the possibilities are endless. It will surely be exciting to see where the flat world takes us, and how it will shape education, governments, health care, organizations, and individuals. I would go as far to say that The World is Flat should be a required reading for all business and economics students, not to mention professors and faculty. If our generation will be living in a flat world, should we not be educating for it? With all the tools and technology out there, there is no reason why business and economics students are not be working on papers and projects right alongside students in India and China.

There is no doubt that the concept of a ‘flat world’ is one that every future employee, business leader, politician, entrepreneur, student (and the list goes on), must understand. The fact that globalization is happening is a non-issue. What does matter is the how the human race pushes globalization along. Friedman’s The World is Flat is an excellent starting point, but just like in the flat world, its what we do with all this shared knowledge and collaboration that counts.

September 24, 2007
Marc and Craig Kielburger

Walking along the streets of Khartoum these days, it’s not very difficult to find a dim sum restaurant.

It’s an odd image, to be sure. The colourful Chinese signs – for everything from restaurants to pharmacies – stand out in Sudan’s dusty capital. But it’s a reflection of Africa’s rising economic reality. Foreign investment, once scared away by fears of war, corruption and instability, is pouring into the continent like never before.

Last year alone, nearly $40 billion worth of foreign direct investment landed on African soil – more than double that of 2004. Africa’s growth rate is now outpacing both Japan and the United States.

And Asian investors are leading the way. Exploding economies in places like China, India and Singapore mean that those countries are in need of untapped natural resources and fresh markets for their goods. Africa is the perfect fit.

In fact, the economic ties between the two continents are now the strongest in the developing world. China has companies in nearly every African country, and upwards of 750,000 Chinese nationals work on the continent.

But despite the multi-million-dollar contracts and trade deals, this new era of co-operation, as the United Nations calls it, has done little to boost Africa’s fortunes.

That’s because much of the foreign investment has been geared towards the continent’s resource-rich oil and mining industries, which often generate low tax revenues – meaning little money actually trickles back into the economy.

For example, according to a UN report, Ghana has seen a significant spike in investment in its gold industry, yet receives as little as 5 per cent of the value of the gold it exports. So despite its mineral wealth, nearly 80 per cent of the country lives on less than $2 a day.

At the same time, many of the business deals with countries like China are becoming wrapped up in the continent’s political troubles.

Beijing has long been criticized for propping up the regime in Sudan accused of committing genocide in Darfur. Nearly two-thirds of Sudan’s oil exports are sold to China, in deals worth $2 billion.

For Sudan, increasingly isolated for its role in the killing of civilians, that is much needed cash.

While most Western countries would hesitate to work with governments suspected of massive human rights violations, China sees the allegations against Sudan as internal affairs. For them, business and politics don’t mix. That has many people worried and has spurred calls in the U.S. for a boycott of next year’s Olympics in Beijing if China does not do more to end the bloodshed in Darfur.

So if Africa is going to reap the benefit of economic investment, foreign businesses will need to stop treating the continent as a place to flood markets with cheap goods in exchange for oil and minerals, no questions asked.

Many of the continent’s economies are driven by single commodities. Those economies must diversify if they are going to compete. And Africa will have to better attract foreigners to its manufacturing and agricultural sectors, alongside its lucrative natural resources, by clamping down on corruption, red tape and poor governance.

Doing so would mean the billions of dollars pouring into Africa would benefit local populations the way it is supposed to. That’s an investment worth making.