Virtual Workplaces and Technology Management

Virtual Workplaces and Telecomutting are not necessarily new concepts, but they have been more adopted in these last few years as a way to decrease costs and increase productivity. Before, telecommuting was only a way to help employees work without having to commute to work. These days Telecommuting has turned into Virtual Workplaces, which are designed not with the employee in mind, but with the company in mind. There exists so many technologies in the world that it has become more cost effective to pay for the equipment to set somebody's home up rather than spend money on the overhead of finding a work place. The benefits of this virtual workplace do not just end at decreased overhead costs, but also include the ability to have workers from farther away. Most people keep to a 30 minute or less commute to their jobs. A virtual workplace allows companies to employ people that may live more than 30 minutes from the local office. This gives the company the ability to pull from a more talented pool of people.
Despite all these reasons of why virtual workplaces are a great alternative to traditional workplaces, according to "Telecommuting, Telework &Telelifestyles", companies in Germany have been slow to accept virtual workplaces and telecommuting as a viable option for their work environment. This is largely due to TeleKom, the largest monopolizing ISP which has very high monthly rates for internet access. For most German companies "They just aren't realizing the savings that they are getting due to high overhead costs."

Technology Management, as stated in the Bank Technology Network website, technology can be incorporated into a wish list of ideas that will bind the banker to the bank as they manage their banking practices with todays technology. For example, they stated that instead of giving out household items that they can get for cheap to first time bankers, they should give cell phones with their online banking service application built into the phone. If the person signs a 2 year contract for the phone, they will need to also stay with the bank for 2 years. Another idea that was listed was for banks to partner up to auto companies and make EZ- PassFobs a built in technology that will link to your bank. This makes the bank able to deduct funds from the drivers account on toll roads. As people will not have to hand the money to somebody, not only will transactions be faster, but they will also be more frequent. Another good example of this is Microsoft's Sync that is installed in Ford cars and links to the drivers applications on their computer. This partnership between Ford and Microsoft has been a success in the United States and is being tried by other manufacturers in other parts of the world. It is possible that we will see this appear in Germany.


Sources:
Telecommuting, Telework & Telelifestyles
http://faculty.washington.edu/krumme/telcom/commuting.html#german
"Wishes for the next twenty" By Greg Goth
http://online.weber.edu:80/webct/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct?appforward=/webct/viewMyWebCT.dowebct

Profile 5: Wireless and Global Programming Industry

Wireless Technology

Germany is a leading country in their use of wireless technology. As part of the European community, Germany's society is dramatically incresing its wireless usage and technology. In Europe 76% of companies have some form of wireless infrastructure in place, with almost one-fifth of companies who are 'mostly' or 'completely' wireless. Research also shows that 88% of companies expect all their networks to be completely wireless the next three years.




The global recession has not decreased the use of wireless in Europe. "With budget being squeezed, companies in every industry sector are looking for ways to become more efficient and mobility gives businesses the means to be more responsive. It is therefore no surprise that the trend is towards all wireless networks," commented Marco Landi, Acting VP and GM, Motorola Enterprise Mobility Business - EMEA. "The applications for mobility are endless includinig, accessing patient data at teh bedside, enhancing lessons in schools and tracking whisky casks to name but a few. The truth is that workforces are no longer fixed and employees need to be able to access data on the move, both inside and outside their offices."



As Europe's largest country by population, Germany's marketplace focuses on increasing and selling wireless technology. In fact, one of the largest auctions of wireless communications licences to companies occurred in Germany with 12 permits selling at the expensive price of $50 billion. As the result of heavy investment, German company Deutsche Telekom AG holds a high position as Europe's leading provider of third-generation mobile service providers.

Germany also leads in the development of new wireless technology. In 2008, mobile companies T-Mobile and Nortel Networks successfully tested a new high-speed wireless technology in Germany that would compete and possibly exceed fixed fiber links. In the experiment, data rates of 170 Mbit/s occurred for downloads and 50 Mbit/s for uploads. This is three times faster than what is currently available in Germany. The focus primarily is for 4G networks as businesses continue to view Germany as a prime area to invest in new wireless technology.



Sources:

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSL166110920080918
New York Times article "50 Billion for German wireless licences; next-generation technology rights sold in richest global auction
http://www.itrportal.com/absolutenm/templates/article-netwireless.aspx?articleid=5393&zoneid=58

Global Programming Industry

As the global recession has often encouraged companies to find cheaper sources of programming. Germany is trying to hold its own inspite of the trend. At a global fair in march 2009 in Hanover, Germany, BITKOM industry president August-Wilhelm Scheer stated "For the time being, the high tech industry is holding its own in the crisis." Despite such statements, Germany struggles to maintain programming industry within its borders. In fact, BITKOM stated Germany's high-tech industry would actually perform worse than the global trends with only a boost of 3% in sales.


To combat these trends, the German government has invested heavily in its leading industry of programming, gaming. The computer and gaming industry in Germany generates more revenue than the film industry and is the second largest market in Europe (2.14 billion Euros in 2007). They are expecting a continual increase of 10% until 2011. German gaming companies have thrived as gaming has incorporated into their culture. DTP Entertainment's current game "The Dark Eye: Drakensang" is rated as one of the top games in Europe. Other games, such as Blue Byte's Software "The Settlers" and Crytek's "Far Cry" are widely acclaimed. In fact, so impressive were the graphics in Crytek's games, they were featured at the Cosumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas in 2007 where Bill Gates used the game "Crysis" to show off the graphics on his program of Windows Vista. However, despite these successes, Geramny only plays a small role in the global gaming community. In conjuction with government and private industries, the German Developer Prize was created to recognize and promote German gaming. In the spring of 2009, the "German Computer Game Prize" awarded 150,000 Euros for the best development with an additional 600,000 in Euros awarded in various other categories.

Despite the success in the German gaming industry, Germany is affected by the gloabl trend of outsourcing programming to other countries. Following other leading industrialized countries, many IT jobs have been outsourced to India. However, companies only average a savings of .52 for every Euro as differences in language and culture make large projects difficult. With these barriers, more Germany companies outsource to Eastern European countries, mainly Belarus and Russia. A survey in 2004 stated 40% of Western Europe's largest companies had begun to outsource services, such as programming. This has shown a direct effect on German's economy. Research from teh McKinsley Global Institute states that for every Europe of corporate spending in Germany's companies who send services offshore only returns .8 Euros in returning revenue for Germany.

Sources:
http://www.young-germany.de/mobile/business-career/article/doae99a788/the-computer-game-industry-in-germany.html
http://www.physorg.com/news155202926.html
"How Germany can win from Offshoring" McKinsey Quarterly, 2004, Number 4

Profile 4: EBusiness and EPayment in Germany

E Business and EPayment is strong and doing well in Germany.

EBuisness:
E Business, or electronic business stands for electronic business that is conducted commercially and privately through different electronic mediums, the most common medium being the Internet.

Germay has a decent infratructure to support business done on the internet. They also have a fair internet use base (enough people on the internet). Germany does have electronic business being done every day. The types of business can range from e-tailers to large corporation buisness (stock trading, international orders, electronic documents, etc.)



E-Payment in germany has been advancing in several ways, a few of these being the common use of MicroTransactions

E-Payment is a form of electronic cash, much like a credit card payment at the grocery store, or an online checking account paymnt.

MicroTransactions are transactions for small sums of money. This kind of transaction has really taken off in Germany and Japan. The Government has helped in making this form of transaction more popular by putting the readers on parking meters and transit fare collection stations. The user has a card, which looks much like a debit or credit card. Unlike a credit card, these cards are not tied to your bank account, they work much like a prepaid phone card. They are re-loadable and have a threshold of about $120. These cards are mostly used for transit fare, parking meters, vending machines, newspaper stands, and any other transaction that would normally only cost a few coins.

Sources:
http://www.cio.com/article/30283/E_Business_Mark_White_on_Microtransactions

E-Business in Germany

E Business, or electronic business stands for electronic business that is conducted commercially and privately through different electronic mediums, the most common medium being the Internet. Germany is doing very well in some forms of e-business. For example, Germany and Japan are among the few countries which have the highest percentage of microtransactions. What are microtransactions you ask? They are the next "Coming Thing" in business-to-consumer transactions. The idea is that you can carry a small card, like a debit or credit card, which is designed to be pre-loaded with a certain amount money. This card is not tied with your bank account and has a very small threshold. It was conceived to handle the problem of carrying loose change around with you to pay for the little things, such as travel fare, newspapers, parking meters, vending machine snacks, internet cafe use, etc. The reason that this form of payment is so popular is because of the ease of use. The Government has poured money in so that these card readers are placed almost anywhere. Businesses have jumped on the band wagon, which has made these microtransaction cards a necessity.





Another way that E-commerce is growing in Germany is the invent of RFID's on products. This technology will help speed the process and inventory of Logistics Management and other warehouse storage and shipping. The process involves a radio frequency tag which can be placed on an item or grouping of items. This RF tag responds to a certain radio frequency when pointed at. For example, imagine that you had a mirror that could be tuned or set to reflect a certain frequency or light particle. All other light or frequencies would pass through this mirror. This is how an RF tag works. It is set to reflect a certain freqency and let all other frequencies "pass through". A computer is setup to define which frequencies respond to which items. This is much like a bar code, but is much faster as the RFID only needs to be near the RF reader, and not directly swiped over or the tag found on the box or item.


Germany is also working on Theseus, it's spin off of Quaero, France's "Google Killer" This search engine will work much like Google's but it will have advanced technology which focuses on better indexing and cataloging of multimedia on the internet. Imagine being able to search for a video clip from places other than Youtube or Google Video or Yahoo video.

Another advance that Germany has been using is the use of Cookies and other website tracking software to help businesses market to a particular individual. This information of where a person has been or what they like to search for on the internet will allow businesses to tailor their marketing aproaches to that particular potential customer.

Sources:
E-Business in germany has been advancing in several ways, a few of these being the common use of MicroTransactions and RF-Tags.

MicroTransactions are transactions for small sums of money. This kind of transaction has really taken off in Germany and Japan. The Government has helped in making this form of transaction more popular by putting the readers on parking meters and transit fare collection stations. The user has a card, which looks much like a debit or credit card. Unlike a credit card, these cards are not tied to your bank account, they work much like a prepaid phone card. They are re-loadable and have a threshold of about $120. These cards are mostly used for transit fare, parking meters, vending machines, newspaper stands, and any other transaction that would normally only cost a few coins.
Another trend that has taken off in Germany is the use of RF tags to help businesses keep better track of inventory and speed the process of shipping and logistics. These RF tags work much like barcodes, you have a tag and a scanner. Unlike a barcode however, the tags will reflect a certain frequency when the reader sends a myriad of frequencies toward it. This speeds up the process as the user does not have to find the barcode on a package or item. The user simply points the reader in the general direction of the item, and the tag reflects back the proper frequency which belongs to the item or items.

Sources:
http://www.cio.com/article/30283/E_Business_Mark_White_on_Microtransactions

http://www.quaero.org/modules/movie/scenes/home/index.php?fuseAction=article&rubric=documents&article=documentsInformationsPresse

Information Privacy and Security

Computer crimes, access to information, and security are problems globally as geography doesn’t limit the internet. Germany is not immune to these problems and attempts to actively protect its citizens from such infringements and crime.

Critical information can range from copyrighted material to security information. Piracy in Germany is widespread.

A few statistics:
374 million music titles were illegally downloaded from Germany file-sharing systems in 2006
Damage was estimated at 440 Euros (US$ 642 million)
From January to June 2005, 11.9 million Germany-language or German-dubbed films were illegally downloaded
In 2006, film industry measured up 2 million downloads of their films within 30 days of their availability
Book and journal publishers cite an increase of infringing on ebook and audio book files on P2P networks.

In an effort to combat accessing information, under EU guidelines, an individual or company has the right to the IP addresses and identity of infringers on their privacy and information. However, Germany does not adhere to the EU guidelines. With the passing of Data Retention Directive, it is no longer possible to obtain ISPs in civil cases, even under court order. Copyright owners are left with only using a criminal action in obtaining the identity.

Germany, along with its European community, has tried to proactively create measures that would detect and protect. Beginning in 1998, Germany joined forces with Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States to coordinate efforts and investigate and prosecute cyber crimes. In 2001 European countries met at a Convention on Cybercrime to being creating a unified front against cybercrime. Since then, Germany has consistently tried to create laws and regulations that align with the Convention’s goals.

However, this active approach against cybercrime in Germany has not met the support of all of its citizens. For example, in 2006-2007 Germany debated and adapted a revised anti-hacking law. The purpose was to align with the Convention’s Article 6 which bans the creation of computer programs for the purpose of committing cybercrime. The law tightened up existing sanctions and “prohibits unauthorized users from disabling or circumventing computer security measures to access secure data.” It made it illegal to create, program, install or spread software that goes around security measures.

While this law is designed to proactively combat computer and cyber crime, many in Germany feel it over generalizes the problems and prevents some individuals from using these programs to legitimately combat cyber-crimes. Often, they will create such hacking programs to test the security of their company’s data. Under this new law, these programs would be considered illegal and could be accompanied with stiff penalties. "In essence, the way the laws are phrased now, there is no way to ever comply... even as a non-security company," says researcher Halvar Flake, a.k.a. Thomas Dullien, CEO and head of research at Sabre Security. As the law and many others continue through the court system, the question continues in Germany as to how far a country should go in its fight against cyber crime.

Sources:
http://www.darkreading.com/security/app-security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=208804698
http://ecommerce.hostip.info/pages/241/Computer-Crime-INTERNATIONAL-COMPUTER-CRIME.html
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9003712/Computer_crime_laws_worry_security_pros
http://www.iipa.com/rbc/2008/2008SPEC301GERMANY.pdf

Profile #2: Language & Culture, Workforce, IPR

Language and Culture

German is the official language with over 95% of its citizens who speak German as their first language. Primarily influenced by its geographic location, immigrants often speak Turkish, Arabic, Greek and Italian. However, English is often learned as their first foreign language in school.

German culture is very formal and dictated by a set of rigid guidelines. Germans will often separate their personal life from their business. They do not need a personal relationship to form a business relationship. In choosing who they deal with they focus more on credentials rather than personal acquaintance and connections. Business transactions require a lot of written communication as promises and agreements will be discussed in great detail. Final decisions will be outlined in detail, often with rigid protocols and bureacratic standards.

Meetings are formal and must be planned out in advance. They adhere to strict agendas and punctuality is highly valued. When one communicates, they look each other in the eye and will use formal language. When entering a room, the eldest or high ranking individual will enter first with lower individuals filing in by rank.

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/germany-country-profile.html

Global Workforce

Germany values and excels in educating its citizens. Germany has a 99% literacy rate. Both men and women are able to read by at least 15. However they only spend 4.6 % of GDP on schooling. This ranks them 86 in the listing of countries for GDP school expenditures, behind the UK at 5.6, France at 5.7, and the US at 5.3. However, education money's spent on each student is 16.57% of GDP for primary students and 22.34% of GDP for secondary students.Germany also has a school life expectancy of 16 years, which matches with most of Europes other countries. In Europe, unless you get very high grades in school at 16, you don't go on to study at the University.

In education and training for jobs in Information Technology, German meets the rigorous standards found in most developed countries, such as the United States. For example, if one were to search for Information/Technology jobs in Germany for today here is a sample of the job and qualifications required.

Associate Business Analyst in Frankfurt, Germany

Requirements: College degree with an emphasis in business and technology, knowledge of database applications such as Microsoft Access, Sybase, Oracle or SQL server, familiar with object oriented programming such as Java, and problem-solving and communication skills.

Java Developer in Germany-Hessen

Requirements: University degree, excellent knowledge in OO design, Java, and J2EE, experience with relational databases, strong SQL skills

Source: http://jobs.efinancialcareers.com/Information_Technology/Germany.htm

While only a fraction of the representation of the variety of jobs available in the Information/Technology sector, it represents a high standard required from their workforce. A unique characteristic found within their workforce is the need for bilingual individuals. Communication is valued as necessary in dealing with other businesses and clients.

Intellectual Property Rights

In dealing with intellectual property rights, Germany adheres to very strict laws, which protect their own and others' intellectual property. In August, 2008 enhancements to their existing laws were passed which allow the property holder the following rights: recalling stolen goods from the channels of commerce -at the infringers expense; goods to be destroyed at the request of the propertyholder; rights to the publication of the judicial decisions; right of disclosure from infringer the method of interception and the methods and entities distributed to.

Source:http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=65084

Germany is very aware of potential security threats with technology. In recent years, they have proactively supported research that attempts to thwart any risk. In 2005, Germany traded over 10 billion euros for safety-related products and services. Out of the 10 billion, 3.5 billion went to IT safety products. In 2009, the German Ministry of Research provided 100 million Euros for products that would protect Germany's technology and resources. The areas specified for this research included areas such as "developing new safety solutions for communication networks, industrial plants, buildings, systems of supply and logistics."

Source: http://www.research-in-germany.de/coremedia/generator/dachportal/en/04__Research_20Areas/Security_20Technologies/Security_20Technologies.html

Introdution to and IT Infrustructure of Germany!

Germany is located on the Western side of the Eurasian continent. It used to be called Prussia, but durring the 1880's and 1890's, the many different kingdoms were beginning to be united, which facilitated the rapid industrialization of the country. In the early 1900's, Germany formed an alliance with neighboring Austria/Hungry empire. With the assassination of King Ferdinand, the alliance caused a chain reaction which led to the involvement of Germany in World War I. The defeat of Germany led to large payments of reparation for the war's costs to the victors. These payments and other damages from the war led to a massive depression in the 1930's. These adverse conditions led to the rise of the Nazi political power with its infamous leader Adolf Hitler. Ignoring treaties and limitations placed by other European countries, Hitler conducted a successful campaign resulting in Germany's re-emergence as a global power. The aggressive moves however, led to World War II. Once again, Germany's defeat caused conflict within the country. Divided by the two major Allies of United States and Russia, Germany became the focal point of the Cold War. After being divided for over 40 years, Germany was once again re-united in the early 1990's. Since then Germany has risen again with a formidable economy, and a leader within the European Union.

As far as the GIIC is concerned, Infrastructure is one of the most important contributing factors to a good technology oriented society. Unfortunately, according to an article in Times magazine, they are severely lagging behind. This is due to a high speed internet monopoly called deutsche telekom. About the monopoly, the Times states: "Deutsche Telekom, which has a de facto monopoly on high- speed Internet connections, costs about €28 per month, or 65 percent more than in the Netherlands". However, the fifth supporting element to a well tech oriented society on GIIC's list is entrepreneurship, which is demonstrated in CIO's article "Germany Boasts Fully Automated Supermarket." In a Metro AG's Extra supermarket located outside Rheinburg, Germany a automated market has been created. This market features shopping carts which are equipped with wireless laptops w/bar code scanners. The shopper simply takes a cart and starts shopping, swiping each item in front of the barcode scanner. The scanner keeps a running tab of the shoppers charges, and is also equipped to take credit cards, which makes checkout very easy. The laptop also has the ability to tell a shopper where an item is, what sales are taking place that day, and other useful information. A system of webcams and scales make shopping for produce very easy. This has resulted in a 30 percent increase in new customers which has increased overall sales.


sources:
NYTimes, "Dutch found to be the most computer literate in the world." http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/21/technology/21iht-pew.html
CIOMagazine "Germany Boasts Fully Automated Supermarket." http://www.cio.com/article/32038/Germany_Boast_Fully_Automated_Supermarket