Missile defence, Berber anger, a plan for Europe, a fortune for the European Union, Asian trouble, these are the headlines in the political section of "The Economist" in London. The whole country is breathing a new fresh vigour of happenings, right from politics to high-end technology. Knowledge, with the speed of economy, centers across all kinds of businesses in Europe.

Shiladitya 'Sunny' Ghosh*, Consultant, NetGalactic Europe

sunny@netgalactic.com

The British land is not only the center of tourist attraction, but also the center for IT businesses since recent months. The stooping to conquer bacteria, an inflationary universe, the better uses of scientific literature and the copied digital music have transformed the face of media in recent days. The new media wave is making a lot of noise.

IT is happening

IT enabled businesses & laws governing the relationships among various parties seem to be the generic movement in London. Lately, the European Union brought copyright protection to Internet. Copyright protection has been the most contentious legal issues hitting the European parliament, with bodies representing music, films and the software sector. The copyright directives, approved the last week by the 15 member states, offer copyright on books, music and other products, with each country determining how to apply the law at a national level.

The Mobile Internet portals in UK have long before realised the values of the brick and click economy. Iobox (a leading Mobile Internet portal selling ring tones, logos, etc.) is one of the first offline retail distribution dealers with Weskit. Iobox is looking at getting into a collaboration of bricks and clicks to secure their stand in the m-commerce business-to-business platform. Understanding the transition of customer behaviour and offering Iobox vouchers worth GBP 5, thru' 315 WHSmith retail stores will increase their access to 7.5 mn shoppers a week.

The new alliance between People news (Online media) & Brighter Pictures, part of Endemol Entertainment, UK, marks the new beginning for cross-platform content formats. Charlotte Cameron, the Commercial Director for People news revealed, "The Industry has moved far beyond TV formats and is looking for cross-platform formats. More and more broadcasters are considering these ideas."

Few of the top consumer brands are now turning towards the wireless medium for their offline marketing initiatives. Wireless Marketing Association (WMA) recently paved the way for brands like Sega & Thomas Cook, to integrate wireless into their offline marketing strategies. The uptake of mobile marketing by large FMCG brands is a key factor in driving the medium to majority.

Kingfisher will be launching a major transactional website end of this month, when its French DIY chain Castorama begins to take Internet orders. E-Kingfisher CEO Ian Cheshire said, "This is the last major launch within the Kingfisher Group and now we are going to concentrate on turning all of the brands into real online businesses." Yet another milestone for the Internet business-to-business industry.

Leading consulting companies such as Obrys Consulting, the KPMG's, etc. are also witnessing new trends in change management and business theories. Angela Shutt, Principle Consultant - Obrys Consulting, states, "Companies have become aware of the change management & are seriously contemplating on offshore outsourcing. Clients are handling short duration partnerships with outsourcing agents and retaining their core business values within themselves. The partnerships are not only financial & credibility-driven, but also culturally conscious business decisions."

The Exclusive Research Group of Computer Weekly reported on the ebusiness expenditure in UK for the year 2001 and the figures are quite inspiring for all businesses.

UK shows an increase of 11% in its IT expenditure from the previous year. It is expected to increase another 10% by the next year.
UK IT expenditure in both public and private sector was up from under 50 bn in 1999 to 55.7 bn pounds in 2000. It is set to top 61.8 bn by the end of this year.
Computer services are the biggest item on the IT bill, just ahead of hardware.
UK organisations spent 7.8 bn pounds on software last year. They are expected to incur 8.8 bn this year, escalating to 10 bn pounds in 2002.
Last year, the expense on IT salaries were over 15 bn and is set to rise to 16 bn pounds this year, touching 17.6 bn in 2002.
The downturn of the global equity markets has shocked people around the world, although they still stand firm in the equity culture. The awareness of the common man on the investment challenges in today's economy is far outstanding in this part of the world. London needs e-investment, in outlining the most significant issues including affordable broadband access, e-skills, education and e-government. UK is far behind its competitors in Europe, North America, and the Far East, but the changes in the clearly marked strategies will set things right for the future.

The awareness note from the London Mayor, Mr. Ken Livingstone said it all, with the focus of creating distribution networks, change in strategy and intervention in government, e-skills, education and methods of e-governance. He also emphasised the need for urgent action to prevent the capital's competitiveness to be un-determined by lack of access to the right technology and right training.

Government Awareness

A remarkable point to be noted is the extent of support and infrastructure that the Government is providing for the digital business to flourish. Of late, life and pension industry giants are poised to commit to an industry-wide online security standard in a bid to bolster public confidence in web-based services. The multi-million pound digital certificate framework- due to be unveiled in July - is one of the most ambiguous attempts yet to overhaul time-consuming online security measures such as multiple passwords. Also, it could pave the way for consumers to buy pensions online.

Origo, the body for life and standards, also proposed streaming line links between financial services organisations and independent financial advisers, speeding up financial transactions over the web.

The next generation of Internet security for netizens is almost here. The UK's high tech crime units are to encourage IT directors to report hacking, denial of service attacks and other computer crimes on a confidential hotline. The crime unit is to specialise in gathering intelligence on criminals and security vulnerabilities, to be analysed to identify the common security frauds and publish solutions. The aim is to differentiate between best practices and identify breaches and solutions.

The IT group in the government, which has been ignored for years, has been given a new umbrella for a united voice. The existing user cloud - which tends to represent types of users - have not had the political clout to influence policy on issues such as the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act, the IR35 tax rules and the roll out of broadband. Now the new body will create a lobby group representing 30-bn pound worth of computer buying power, with a voice to be heard against the financed markets of infrastructure and suppliers.

Other governments are also leaping to use the power of the net. The Portuguese Government is using the Internet as a tool to diminish bureaucracy and its cost. The Portuguese Justice Ministry launched an online service to officially connect, register births, deaths, lands, etc. DGRN - General Directions of Registries and Notary Authorities have already computerised all records after 1998 & stored in each land registry. A major step towards getting all the information connected & accessible for citizens.

Everyone with Internet access can now obtain registered information for conveyance and property. At present, the fees for registering a land is paid within 48 hours of request, but in the future, this will be done through the credit card. This is certainly a simple and inexpensive method of making a true e-government initiative work.

India everywhere

Amid the post dotcom economy and the burst of the new economy, India still brings a lot of promises to this land too. While the west seems to be outsourcing all its manufacturing to China, Mr. Vollenweider, who was a partner at the Delhi office of Mckinsey & Co, believes that a typical bank can outsource 17-24% of its cost base, reducing its cost to income ratio by 6-9% and in many cases, doubling profits.

Such calculations have created a new industry for India, which is helping the Indians transcend their experience and knowledge and create new commerce opportunities. One such forecast has come from the MIT laboratory Director, Professor Michael Dertouzos, where he reckons that India has some 50 mn English speaking population, that could earn $20,000 a year and thus make a one trillion, twice India's current GDP, doing office work. Also, the English after centuries are getting to know India again, with the changing face of the new economy.

About the author

Shiladitya 'Sunny' Ghosh is the head of consulting services in NetGalactic Europe.