Today I got my project management certificate! I’m planning to start my Harvard Business School Leadership Program this week as well.
Because this December period can be a little quiet on the M&A front (deal makers, bankers and lawyers go on their Christmas breaks) it’s a great time to sharpen the axe a little and grind up a sharp edge. Because a professional who graduated yesterday but stops learning today will soon find himself irrelevant tomorrow.
Deloitte recently launched the Energy & Resources Predictions 2012 report.
Some of my key take-aways after the break.
Deloitte publishes regular economic outlook reports for Asia Pacific (monthly) and Globally (quarterly). Here I’ve shared a summary of both and links to the full articles.
A new publication which I contributed to was published last month. “Key challenges facing central banks” was a pretty big team effort with contributions from Deloitte professionals from all corners of the globe – Hong Kong, Singapore, Madrid, New York, Dublin, Oslo, Cali, Frankfurt, Moscow, Pittsburgh, Richmond, London, Tokyo and New York.
Can you hear that sound? It’s the sound of rumours, speculation and anticipation over Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2011) next month in June 2011. Historically, Apple have used previous WWDC’s to announce new hardware, but so far the company has indicated WWDC 2011 will be a “software event not a hardware event”.
So what could they be planning to unveil next month?
Based on the pattern of recent acquisitions and a need to further re-enforce a competitive “unbreachable moat” around it’s iTunes and App Store offerings, I think that Apple’s ($AAPL) next move is going to introduce an “iGrid” service offering. This will be competitively differentiated from Google’s ($GOOG) and Amazon’s ($AMZN). Here are some ideas for what will be unveiled:
1. Cut pricing on the current “MobileMe” offering – to Free for all iOS devices that aren’t jail broken.
2. Introduce Cloud-based storage for iTunes, with a “master” version of your purchased music in-cloud syncing with all your devices and Macs. They may also include budget pricing for back catalogue titles.
3. Introduce an “iGrid” service offering. This will be competitively differentiated from Google’s ($GOOG) and Amazon’s ($AMZN) through offering not just storage space but also allowing users to run processes on Apple servers for not just “traditional” apps like personal walls, websites, collaboration portals, forums but also new offerings like software agents and persistent apps.
4. Introduce an incremental update to the iPhone 4, a Black-only iPhone 4S this June.
DISCLOSURE: I am long $AAPL.
Today I was asked “Who is your Best Friend + Why?“. So here’s a response of sorts!
Well, in life you’re likely to meet these 5 people:
1. The first crush. They leave an indelible memory.
2. The best friend. They’ve got your back no matter what.
3. The soul mate. You share everything with them.
4. Crazy in love. Like a moth to the flame, burned by the fire.
5. The life partner. The one you’d grow old with,
Some people are lucky to meet all 5. Some people find one person is 2/5 or 3/5.
@ummiabdullah you’re my 5 out of 5.
Every once in a while in a man’s life, he finds himself at a crossroads. Where one choice leads him down one path, and another choice leads him down a different. Two diametrically opposite choices, these two paths are as different to one another as yin is to yang, as East is to West, as internal is to external.
And so the drama that has unfolded over the last 4 months came to a head yesterday in a surprise development. I know that having options is good, but this was ironic. (more after the break)
To dance like nobody’s watching; love like you’ve never been hurt. Sing like nobody’s listening; live like it’s heaven on earth.
One of my friends in Brunei (`sup Fawwaz!) asked this very astute question on his Facebook profile.
Recently, D&L Partners, were engaged by AITI to conduct a study on the Networked Readiness Index of Brunei. D&L was founded by the two Directors of the INSEAD Elab faculty, and they have great credentials in this space.
So the question is … is Brunei ICT Ready?
My response was:
What do you guys reckon? Are we ICT ready?
D&L reckon that a change in the environment (market, political or regulatory) and the levels of public awareness and enthusiasm could improve our “Networked Readiness Index”.
This morning I spotted a forum thread talking about street photography in Brunei. The 1st post was about:
More discussion after the break:
