Tag: Competition

Cyber warfare – trust is good … “kontrolle noch besser”!

2aces_wlIf anyone still nurtured cozy illusions about friendship and fair play between nation states, then 2013 marks the year where these last politically challenged students, at the back of the class, finally got it. As was stressed in “Success 101”: In life you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate. That goes for sovereign nation states, businesses and individuals all alike. But if you walk up to a negotiation table where the other party already knows what cards you’re holding, you’re not even going to get what you deserve – you’ll get trashed!

The only surprising thing about the revelations of the US spying on world leaders and very likely on as many corporate CEOs as they can, is that they got caught! Make no mistake: Barack Obama hasn’t yelled at K. B. Alexander – the head of NSA – for tapping into Angela Merkel’s phone but for being sloppy with data security!

The fact is: All the talk about global markets being good for everyone fail to mention that unless your leaders are apt at the negotiation tables, it might well be better for some and not-so-great for others. And you don’t want to be counted among the “others”! Politicians and business leaders involved have a crystal clear understanding of this. It therefore goes without saying that the old SAS “7 p’s” adage (Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance) is applied: Gather as much information about the other parties negotiation position, strategy and arguments as possible. Before going into the ring. And why not implement such best practices to their fullest? Read more

The battle over new Internet domains is being fought right now

This is the first article in a series that examine Internet governance. How it is organized, exercised and what impact is has on you.

Mark Twain once said : « Buy land, they’re not making it anymore». However, with the rising sea levels he might have been too optimistic. But what is lost to high water can perhaps be won elsewhere. The Internet is expanding: there is new land to be had. And although it is virtual, it could well turn out to be worth more than premium pay-dirt.

Let me introduce “ICANN”. If you haven’t heard about this organization, you are in good company: Most haven’t. The acronym stands for the “Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers” and they are for all practical purposes the landlords of the Internet. With a difference: unlike their Earth-bound name sakes, they can conjure up endless plains of virgin land without sending a single soldier out on conquest. And they are doing just that, right now. More than 1400 new Top Level Domains are set to be created in the next twelve months. But some of these uncharted territories come with the label “here be monsters”…  More …

The Olympics 2012: could the ranking be flawed?

On the official site for the 2012 Olympics in London you’ll find the final rankings according to athlete and by country – there is even a comparison gizmo to see two countries side by side. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will serve up information about all medalists since 1896 but are not so hot on rankings – especially not by country. Perhaps because such ranking turns out to be difficult to establish.

The ranking method that London and other venues have chosen is a simple “rank by gold medals”. With no regard for population size and a curious disregard for silver and bronze medals. Curious because the very spirit of the modern Olympics is about participating and “trying your hardest”. Shouldn’t participants who try so hard they reach second or third place count for something?

Taking silver and bronze into account by assigning three points for a gold medal, two points for a silver and just one point for bronze we get this: more …