Brainstorm Magazine

1. SA is falling behind
(October 2008/Columns)

... controls who delivers what services to consumers and how they do it. Of course, this makes innovation completely impossible, and destroys any potential for competition in the market. If and when we do ...

2. Real-time all the time
(October 2008/UpFront)

... industry. According to the “Travel Innovation and Technology Trends, 2010 and Beyond”, by PhoCus Wright, trends include discovering alternatives to global distribution systems (GDSs), expanding use of ...

3. Too much to do…
(October 2008/UpFront)

... existing systems quickly enough to make that possible. Legacy systems are not good at that, so you struggle to introduce newer technologies to make things possible.” Innovations at the Spar Group come ...

4. CIVETS are the new BRIC
(October 2008/In-Depth Analysis)

... supply. Sasol, mooted by Forbes as South Africa’s second best company, may provide the innovation to oil the country’s electricity needs using its synthetic processes, particularly with gas. Exploration ...

5. Move from an efficient to effective government
(Informatica/Effective e-Government 2009)

... lower costs for departments and improve the effectiveness of service delivery to citizens. Optimisation supports innovation. It takes existing resources and needs into consideration and helps government ...

6. Building SA's science & technology skills base
(Informatica/Effective e-Government 2009)

... progress is being made, although more remains to be done. “We find that disadvantaged learners often have creative ideas but lack resources,” Moodley explains. “The Eskom Innovation Fund has stepped in ...

7. SITA: A decade of existence
(Informatica/Effective e-Government 2009)

... around innovation, transformation, skills development and collaboration growth, and sustainability, have been the foundation on which its achievements over the past 10 years have been grounded. SITA’s ...

8. Getting To the Heart of Convergence Smart
(Informatica/Bytesize 2007)

... the travel requirements of the seemingly endless supply of ideas, innovations and gadgetry. South African SMEs and their networks are working their way towards facing (and surmounting) many of the issues ...

9. Get SaaSy: Software as a Service
(Informatica/Bytesize 2007)

... online, you only pay for what you use, meaning that many commentators are viewing SaaS as the key innovation for the smaller business trying to avoid licensing costs and administration headaches. And while ...

10. The Return of the Mac
(Informatica/Bytesize 2007)

SOFTWARE - OPERATING SYSTEMS Words: Pamela Weaver APPLE There’s no escaping the fact that the Mac operating system has led everything from innovation in appearance to functionality. Despite its ...

11. Commercialising Innovation in SMEs
(Informatica/Bytesize 2007)

INTRO - landscape Words: Janet Paterson INSIGHT Dr Anthon Botha, MD of TechnoScene, discusses issues around innovation in SMEs. Two levels of innovation exist in a national system of innovation: ...

12. Fostering the Entrepreneurial Spirit
(Informatica/Bytesize 2007)

INTRO - landscape Words: Janet Paterson INNOVATION Entrepreneurship, the beating heart of any SME worth its salt, is becoming an increasingly important focus for the South African government. In ...

13. Just How Big Is Small?
(Informatica/Bytesize 2007)

... of new employment opportunities. • Small business is unique in the extent that it lends itself to inventions and innovations due to the personal initiatives of the entrepreneur. • Small business lends ...

14. SMEs – the exciting future of business
(Informatica/Bytesize 2007)

... seldom understood matter – innovation. Innovation is not only about new inventions and new products; it is also about enhancing existing processes and procedures. This is an area where businesses have ...

15. A CONTRADICTION IN TERMS?
(Informatica/Effective e-Government 2007)

... of the Western Cape are offered little, which is disappointing. The centre for e-Innovation In addition to the Gateway project, the Western Cape’s Centre for e-Innovation (Ce-I) acts as the primary ...

16. Wireless Cuts Loose
(Informatica/Converging communications 2007)

... for a long time, wireless continues to surprise and excite with high levels of innovation and seemingly limitless potential. In many ways, it’s the ultimate tabula rasa for the inventive mind seeking to ...

17. BUSINESS AGILITY IS KEY TO FUTURE GROWTH
(Informatica/Converging communications 2007)

... decision-making. Doing this will not only increase the employees’ feeling of responsibility and ownership, thereby bringing more engaged minds to the problems at hand, it will also foster innovation and ...

18. PUTTING THE JOY BACK INTO COMMUNICATIONS
(Informatica/Converging communications 2007)

... their positioning given the vicissitudes of an environment where innovation and change is so rapid that equipment can be rendered obsolete in an instant. As a result, only those vendors capable of remaining ...

19. GETTING READY FOR BANDWIDTH BLAST-OFF!
(Informatica/Converging communications 2007)

... bring innovation to Africa’s drive for better communications. These two-way satellite ground stations with dish antenna are the only cost-efficient way to immediately open up the bandwidth highways. Africa’s ...

20. HOW THE CONTOURS OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY ARE CHANGING
(Informatica/Converging communications 2007)

... are growing and so is their appetite for natural resources of all kinds. • The emerging consumers: Emerging economies are becoming important consumer markets in their own right. • The new map of innovation: ...