The CPTPP and Digital Trade: Embracing E-Commerce Opportunities for SMEs in Japan and Canada

One of the most innovative features of the CPTPP is its material on digital trade, especially its chapter on e-commerce which contains a number of provisions aimed at enhancing this vital sector of the economy by eliminating distortive trade barriers such as restrictions on data transfer and data localization requirements. Such provisions should be important to the CPTPP’s two largest parties: Canada and Japan, both of which are highly advanced economies seeking to enhance their digital trade capacity across the Pacific Rim. This paper explores the main features of the CPTPP concerning digital trade from the perspective of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Canada and Japan. Such businesses have a poor track record of e-commerce uptake and may be disadvantaged relative to their larger competitors which enjoy dominance in the online marketplace. Whether or not the CPTPP will assist these businesses while striking the right balance between an open internet and safeguarding of issues such as privacy is a matter of some debate

Developing the vision: preparing teachers to deliver a digital world-class education system

In 2008 Australians were promised a \u27Digital Education Revolution\u27 by the government to dramatically change classroom education and build a \u27world-class education system\u27. Eight billion dollars have been spent providing computer equipment for upper secondary classrooms, yet there is little evidence that a revolution has occurred in Australian schools. Transformation of an education system takes more than a simplistic hardware solution. Revolutions need leaders and leaders need vision. In this paper, I argue that we must first develop educational leaders by inspiring future teachers with a vision and by designing our teacher-education courses as technology-rich learning-spaces. A multi-layered scenario is developed as the inspiration for a vision of a future-orientated teacher-education system that prepares teachers to deliver a \u27worldclass digital education\u27 for every Australian child. Although written for the Australian context this paper has broad relevance internationally for teacher education

Developing the Curriculum for Collaborative Intellectual Property Education

Intellectual property education, i.e. how intellectual property should be taught or more importantly how intellectual property is learnt, is a recent addition to the academic 'intellectual property' agenda. The regulation, acquisition and management of intellectual property rights presents economic, ethical, social and policy challenges across the international academic and business communities. Intellectual property is also the starting point of interesting academic cross-disciplinary collaborations in learning and teaching and in research. It will probably always be primarily a law subject taught by lawyers to law students hoping to practice. At the same time there is a growing array of disciplines demanding an awareness of and a competence in handling intellectual property concepts and regulations. At Bournemouth, we have been teaching IP across the disciplines for more than a decade. Recently, the Higher Education Academy subject centres in Law and in Engineering jointly funded a project to research 'IP for Engineers'. WIPO has begun addressing IP Education in earnest. At an international symposium in July 2005, papers addressed different aspects of IP Education, including Collaboration between Law Faculties and other disciplines. In November 2005, they jointly sponsored a National Conference in China to consider IP Education from primary school thru postgraduate research. IP education beyond the law school raises interesting questions for anyone contemplating teaching this complex law subject to non-lawyers. What constitutes the IP syllabus? Who should be teaching IP? When should it be taught? How should it be taught? What resources should be available? This paper begins to explore some of the answers

Technology, Innovation and Latecomer Strategies: Evidence from the Mobile Handset Manufacturing Sector in China

Since the entry of Chinese domestic mobile handset manufacturers in 1998, Chinese domestic suppliers have successfully surpassed the market share of joint ventures (JVs) while direct imports have been largely phased out. By examining China’s mobile handset manufacturing sector as a whole and through case studies, we found several factors that contributed to the success of China’s domestic handset manufacturers which can be classified into three categories: market conditions, competition, and government’s support.

Globalization, Regionalization and Information-Communication Convergence of Africa

Globalization is characterized by many accomplishments of the world economy: from regional trade agreements proliferation to the acceptance of international standards. One way of integrating Africa into globalization trends is through regional integrations. However, Africa's dependence upon its colonial leaders has not reflected well on the process of regional integration. Regionalism in Africa was led by public sector organizations and it was done without the public support and the support of private sector. Information-communication technology represents another limiting factor to Africa's integration into the globalization and regionalization processes. This paper analyses Africa's position in the global economy and the level of involvement in regionalization trends. Special focus is given to the analyses of the role of information-communication technology in a successful development of Africa and its inclusion into the global trends. Classification-ACM-1998: J.4 [Computer Applications]; Social and behavioral sciences - Sociologyglobalization, regionalization, Africa, ICT

Domestic Technological Innovation: An Approach to Solving South Korea\u27s Labor Problems

When Korea\u27 became a democracy in 1987, Korea\u27s militant labor movement erupted into a series of nationwide protests and explosive labor strikes. As a consequence, Korea\u27s new democratic government enacted progressive labor laws aimed at increasing wages and improving working conditions for laborers. However, these new progressive labor laws lowered the productivity of businesses. Consequently, many Korean goods could no longer compete in the global market and Korean businesses faced bankruptcy. Tension now exists between Korean businesses and workers as each side attempts to regulate the Korean workweek. The competing interests between business and workers can be balanced by domestic technological innovation in Korea. Currently, Korean business imports expensive technology for its goods from other countries. Businesses often pay high royalty fees and enter into costly direct licensing agreements to get this technology. By creating technology domestically, Korean business can lower the amount of expensive technology it imports, earn higher profits, and still allow Korean workers to keep many of the rights given to them under the democratic government\u27s progressive new labor laws

Japanese Official Development Assistance and Energy Efficiency Projects

This comment examines the likelihood that the Japanese government will promote investments in energy efficiency programs in the developing world with funding from its Official Development Assistance (ODA). The Japanese Prime Minister has stated that Japan will support the promotion of sustainable development in the developing world, primarily through disbursements of its ODA funds. The need to promote investments in energy efficiency projects in the developing world is widely accepted by proponents of sustainable development. However, the likelihood that Japan will replace its current ODA energy program, which targets investments in energy generation, with a program that promotes investments in energy efficiency and conservation is remote. The Japanese governmental organizations that formulate and implement ODA policies and the Japanese business interests that have economically benefited from power generation projects can be expected to strongly resist this switch in investment within the ODA energy sector. At best, programs of energy efficiency will be an adjunct, rather than a replacement of Japan\u27s current ODA energy sector investments