LagrangePoint - Brad Howarth

Next - 'Allo, 'allo, Android

I've written several times in this blog about the difficulties faced by mobile phone applications developers (check out posts here, here and here) as they strive to overcome multiple operating systems and multimedia software tools when building their software. Several solutions have been touted, and each has been thwarted through being unable to capture enough of the handset market to alleviate the problem. The latest in the list is Android, a mobile phone technology platform acquired by and being developed by Google ahead of its open-sourcing later this year. I had the chance to chat to Android founder Rich Miner at the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. You can read about it in this story from Next in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald newspapers here.

Australian Anthill - Standing out from the crowd

Every year I drop into the ANZA Technology Network conference and showcase in Silicon Valley, and every year I'm reminded that there is an art to presenting a company that few Australian entrepreneurs really grasp. So once again I've tried to pass along some advice gathered from previous years of attendance, as encapsulated in this editorial piece for Australian Anthill.

You can read the whole article here, but for those with no time to waste, here are a few basic tips ...

Some tips on making an impact:

• Have a one sentence description of what you do that cuts away all of the fluff and can be understood by anyone. A good opening line will then prompt a follow-up question, ie: Entrepreneur: “We’ve got a technology that will help any company turn their website into a mini-YouTube.” Listener: “Wow – how will you do that?”
• Start with the conclusion. Australians tend to provide a lot of background before answering a question. Better to get to the answer first, then provide the supporting information.• Be positive. Statements like: “We liketo think we are OK at what we do” are fine in Australia, but do not translate to the US.

• Highlight the points that are unique about your business, and why they are important.

• Localise your examples – chances are no one in the US that you talk to has heard of Westpac or Boral. Promote your relevant examples.

• Be clear in expressing what you are looking for (be it money, partners of clients) and why.

It's all "About Us"

I've been getting weekly e-mails from Camtu Pham at the Wollongong-based web and technology services company CleverLink for some time now ... Sending out the CleverTips newsletter is a great way of keeping in touch with folk while also providing some value to them. I thought the most recent message however was particularly worthy of note however - 'Don't underestimate the 'About Us' page.

It's great advice. As a journalist, one of the first places I go when researching a new company is its About Us page. I want to know more about the company - what its history is, where it is based, who its founders and principle executives are, and so on. And most of all, I want individual contact details, at least for the person who handles media queries (because we all know that no one ever answers e-mails sent to the 'Info@..." addresses).

It doesn't seem like much, but a poorly-presented About Us page will only ever work against you.

You can check out the full message by clicking here.

The Domain returns to Melbourne in March

If you're in Melbourne and short of something to do on the evening of Thursday, March 13, you might want to pop into Port 1010 at Digital Harbour, where I'll be interviewing the ABC's Head of Multiplatform Production, Dan Fill. Doors open at 6.00pm, with the interview kicking off some time around 7.00pm. For more details, click here.

The difference one letter can make ...

A small error in the Enterprise 2.0 post relating to Westpac. Rather than saying that web 2.0 technologies are 'not' proliferating through Westpac, I really meant to say 'now' ....

Calling all mobile developers ... the Androids are coming

Android, the open source mobile platform being touted by Google, will be either:

-    a) the most important development for mobile phone application makers to hit the industry since the screen went colour, or;
-    b) yet another in a long list of disappointing fragmentations of the platform market. \

Everyone on the handset side seems interested - albeit cautiously. But it's the developers that I want to hear from. If you've had any experience with the SDK and have some views on whether Android will be good or bad for the mobile developer community, please drop me a note.

Next - Telstra chief sees a need for speed

I wasn't planning on interviewing Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo when Ericsson offered to fly me to Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress last week, but when the opportunity came up, I jumped at it. Trujillo has had a very rocky relationship with the Australian press and doesn't give a lot of interviews, so it was interesting to be able to spend 30 minutes with him. In person, he comes across as a highly articulate and passionate individual, with an unwavering certainty in his own actions ... which probably helps when you consider the agenda for change that he is running, and the toes that are being tread on as a result ... You can read the results (or at least the edited highlights) here.

Seeking the new broadcasters

I've already written about Stan Relihan's podcasts on networking and David Cannington's video interviews with Aussie tech start-ups in the US. I'm now out looking for other small business operators who are using web media to spread their word. I'm not looking at text blogs here - I'm interested very much in Australian podcasts and video-casts being produced by people without media experience as a means of building their brand. Of course I'm already aware of The Podcast Network, and I won't be including any endeavour being supported by a big media brand, but any other ideas would be useful - please contact me by e-mail.

Aussie stories from Enterprise 2.0

Some excellent case studies being revealed at Enterprise 2.0, starting with the software development manager at Cochlear, Victor Rodrigues, who discussed how use of wikis is transforming the way Cochlear staff interact and collaborate.

He was followed by the chief technology officer at Westpac, David Backley, who says that Web 2.0 is something that you have to get out and try, and not be afraid of failure, because you probably will fail once or twice at least. He also stressed the difficulty in introducing technology to a business who's employees cover three generations. Web 2.0 tools are not now proliferating through Westpac, governed by a code of conduct, which is in term led to a proliferation of activity within the organisation.

The third speaker was Nathan Wallace, the associate director of technology at the pharmaceutical company Janssen-Cilag.His company has replaced its intranet with a wiki, introducing web 2.0 technology to a very traditional business environment. Everyone can add news, with ease-of-use having been the mantra, along the lines of 'if you have to train them, you have lost them'. The company has even implemented its own take on Twitter, called Jitter, for communication with remote workers.

The final presenter was the national manager for technology and knowledge at Urbis, Andrew Mitchell, who has championed various Web 2.0 initiatives within the company. One idea was to use blogging as a way of circumventing e-mail traffic was knocked back by management, primarily on the issue of time. Since then the company has had some successes in its mobile and knowledge management teams, with a vision around enterprise RSS.

More from Enterprise 2.0

Just heard another interesting session at the Enterprise 2.0 event (see previous post) from Andrew McAfee from the Harvard Business School, the man who is credited with coining the term Enterprise 2.0 when describing 'the use of emergent social software platforms within companies, or between companies and their partners or customers'.

He identified three trends that define the emergence and benefit of Enterprise 2.0, starting with free and easy platforms for communication that enable everyone to contribute; the decision to make technologies not impose structures on their users by eliminating roles and identities; and that the new platforms properties have properties that enable structure to emerge over time. His talk was an interesting trip through how tools such as tags and wikis can be productive tools for fostering collaborative work within an organisation, while enhancing communication and helping people stay on top of their networks.

He also pointed out that it is wise not to underestimate the importance of ensuring that the business can adopt to a move to a more collaborative culture - for some it will be much easier than others.

 

He also pointed to a shift away from e-mail as a collaboration tool. Although he doesn't foresee a quick death, he does believe that young people today view it as somewhat quaint, and over time technologies such as wikis and instant messenger will become more prevalent in the workplace.

It would be interesting to know just how much of what he said sunk into the audience of business people ... and how much will make it into official proposals this year ...