COSPO/CENDI Industry Day Conference

The conference's objective was to provide a forum where government information managers and industry information technology experts could have an open exchange and discuss their respective needs and compare them to the available, or soon to be available, solutions. Technical summaries and points of contact are provided for the following sessions: secure products, protocols, and encryption; information providers; electronic document management and publishing; information indexing, discovery, and retrieval (IIDR); automated language translators; IIDR - natural language capabilities; IIDR - advanced technologies; IIDR - distributed heterogeneous and large database support; and communications - speed, bandwidth, and wireless

Equity valuation dissertation Walt Disney Company

This dissertation aims to evaluate Walt Disney Company (ticker: DIS US Equity). The evaluation process is done through three different mechanisms in order to achieve a more accurate and complete valuation exercise. The first valuation method is the Discounted Cash Flows model, in which each company’s segment is valued separately, therefore obtaining the company’s overall valuation by combining them all. This model provides a Walt Disney share price estimation of $88,52 which, compared to its market price of$85,38, represents a buying opportunity. The second valuation method is the Economic Value Added model. Through this valuation technique, the Walt Disney share price is estimated as of $77,89 which, compared to its market price, represents a selling opportunity. The third and last valuation method presented is the relative valuation. By applying the Enterprise Value to EBITDA multiple, it is achieved a company share price of$83,96 which also represents a selling opportunity. Lastly, it is compared the valuation obtained through this dissertation to the one accomplished by J.P.Morgan, in which the Walt Disney share price is estimated as $90,00. By doing so, one can conclude that the valuation in this dissertation is more conservative, being the different assumptions made examined further in this report

Access to telecommunications markets: the interrelation between general competition rules and sector-specific rules In the EU and Japan

The starting point of the thesis is the key competition law issues that arise in relation to access to telecommunications markets in the EU and Japan. This issue is presently regulated in the EU and Japan by a dual regime combining general competition law regulation and sector-specific regulation aimed at opening up the markets. Chapter 1 analyses the relevant general competition rules (i.e. dominance and its abuse, including the doctrine of essential facilities) and the relevant sector-specific rules (i.e. interconnection) that apply to access to EU telecommunications markets. Chapter 2 does the same exercise for Japan through the analysis of the relevant general competition rules (i.e. refusal to deal) and sector-specific rules (i.e. general market access regulation and interconnection) that apply to access to Japanese telecommunications markets. The analysis described above leads to the core object of the thesis which is the study, undertaken at Chapter 3, of the interrelation between general competition rules and sector-specific rules as they apply to access to telecommunications markets in the EU and Japan. This thesis will argue that the dual regime presently regulating access to the EU and Japanese telecommunications industries needs to be maintained. However, the increasing complexity and dynamic character of the telecommunications industry means that a change in the current interrelation between the two types of regulation is necessary. It will be argued that the future balance between the two types of regulation should be one where sector-specific rules will increasingly serve limited functions and where general competition rules will progressively take precedence over the regulation of third party access to telecommunications markets

Report on SHAFE policies, strategies and funding

The objective of Working Group (WG) 4 of the COST Action NET4Age-Friendly is to examine existing policies, advocacy, and funding opportunities and to build up relations with policy makers and funding organisations. Also, to synthesize and improve existing knowledge and models to develop from effective business and evaluation models, as well as to guarantee quality and education, proper dissemination and ensure the future of the Action. The Working Group further aims to enable capacity building to improve interdisciplinary participation, to promote knowledge exchange and to foster a cross-European interdisciplinary research capacity, to improve cooperation and co-creation with cross-sectors stakeholders and to introduce and educate students SHAFE implementation and sustainability (CB01, CB03, CB04, CB05). To enable the achievement of the objectives of Working Group 4, the Leader of the Working Group, the Chair and Vice-Chair, in close cooperation with the Science Communication Coordinator, developed a template (see annex 1) to map the current state of SHAFE policies, funding opportunities and networking in the COST member countries of the Action. On invitation, the Working Group lead received contributions from 37 countries, in a total of 85 Action members. The contributions provide an overview of the diversity of SHAFE policies and opportunities in Europe and beyond. These were not edited or revised and are a result of the main areas of expertise and knowledge of the contributors; thus, gaps in areas or content are possible and these shall be further explored in the following works and reports of this WG. But this preliminary mapping is of huge importance to proceed with the WG activities. In the following chapters, an introduction on the need of SHAFE policies is presented, followed by a summary of the main approaches to be pursued for the next period of work. The deliverable finishes with the opportunities of capacity building, networking and funding that will be relevant to undertake within the frame of Working Group 4 and the total COST Action. The total of country contributions is presented in the annex of this deliverable

Debating ICT policy first principles for the global South : the case of South Africa

This article builds on the work of Robin Mansell and civil society inputs to the World Summit on the Information Society, to propose a set of first principles for ICT policy making for the global South. It draws on the case of South Africa, which has experienced a troubled path towards convergence of its media and telecommunications sectors into one ICT sector. Shying away from the realities of convergence will not help countries in the global South, such as South Africa, to confront challenges of ICT adoption and usage, such as the very real and present danger of ICTs reproducing or even reinforcing existing informational and communications inequalities. In fact, this article argues that policy is needed to ensure that the benefits of ICTs are generalised across society. However, in the absence of radical approaches to ICT policy-making, these developments risk becoming under-regulated or even unregulated, leaving them to the vagaries of the market. If policies are developed, they may be laundered from other contexts that do not speak to the informational and communications challenges of countries like South Africa..

Financing Africa: Through the crisis and beyond.

[Dataset available: http://hdl.handle.net/10411/17679]

Enhancing Workforce Development in Rural Communities: The Georgia Mountains Manufacturing Initiative

This study examined the perceptions of stakeholders in the Georgia Mountains Manufacturing (GMM) region in terms of how the education providers, high schools, and technical colleges worked together to address pathways, skills-gap training, and increase human capital for the benefit of both industry and the communities in the region. The GMM initiative was funded in 2010 with a two-year grant through the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development (GOWD) under former Governor Sonny Purdue. The purpose was to address graduation rates, employment readiness, and specific training needs of manufacturing industries in the region. That initiative was designed to create a Georgia Work Ready Region that provided targeted training for advanced manufacturing jobs within one state sector. This dissertation research examined the public-private partnerships to provide a better understanding of the education and economic development factors in the region. The researcher used semi-structured interviews to examine stakeholder perceptions of the relationships found between business and industry, government and local education providers in the six-county area. Twelve members participated in semi-structured interviews about the delivery of career and technical education (CTE) programs in the designated work-ready region. The researcher identified the employability traits that educators and employers desire for success in middle-skill manufacturing jobs. Although education and economic development partnerships were stimulated by the demonstration project they could not sustain long term viability in the region. Additionally, the CTE delivery system lacked the flexibility to design new school-to-work transitions for the sector