About my Magma consulting activities

Having discovered Steve Ballmer's new initiative on a podcast, I decided to have a deeper look at his new pet project . Ballmer wants to offer a clear view on public spending, but more specifically a more readable and understandable view of the American public sector spending. Therefore, he funded a (indubitably on Microsoft technologies) web site where every citizen could understand where the money comes from and where it goes . Even if it is not the purpose of my blog to be politically oriented, I was wondering why did we need to have an American billionaire to have those kind of clear and neat reading of what political parties are doing with people's money? Why don't we have the same in Europe? Why is it that every single democratic state can't offer that kind of public information so that the tax payers could understand and follow what happens with the public policies? Why do we even need to make the publicity of this kind of "innovation" when we t...

Commission welcomes agreement to end roaming charges and to guarantee an open Internet   Huge telephone bills ruining your holiday budget, an Internet connection not delivering on its promises: these experiences will be soon old memories. Almost two years after the European Commission put forward its proposal for a telecoms single market, an agreement was found with the European Parliament and the Council. The compromise was reached earlier today following final negotiations between the three institutions (so-called 'trilogue' meetings). It foresees:   The end of roaming charges in June 2017. When travelling in the EU, mobile phone users will pay the same price as at home, with no extra charges. Strong net neutrality rules protecting the right of every European to access Internet content, without discrimination. These measures will be completed by an ambitious overhaul of EU telecoms rules in 2016. This reform will include a more effective EU-level spectru...

Now that we have a new European Commission in place (and if, by any chance, you spent your last twelve months in a fridge, have a look here if you want to know more about it ), the political work may start. One of the major action item we have to work on (amongst many others, I agree) is on technology and the digital agenda (we all remember the 2020 digital objectives, with becoming the most competitive digital economy in the world ). Well, in the meantime, we had a financial crisis (still), budget discussions, wars, Ebola, UK out of Europe (oh, no, sorry, that's not decided yet)...and I have the impression that the road to our technology heaven is still very long. But. The Commission worked on an ambitious agenda and in the last Open Innovation Letter, the dates for the new Net Futures 2015 have been announced (March 25-26 2015, in Brussels). The event will be a bring together event, around all the hype tech topics of today (cloud, open technologies, software and services)...

Being attending a political discussion yesterday evening, I was surprised (and happy) to hear that some politician finally understand and do care about new technology in Belgium (and in Europe). It seems that the public sector - at large - is now discovering the virtues of new technologies (job creation, environmental friendly sector, inclusion of jobless people in a sector that is continuously looking for bright minds and new ideas etc.). And one of my concern (I blogged already about it) is the lack of real, ambitious programme for offering a European strategic alternative for data storage (on a cloud-based model) and the support for alternative US software providers (exception made for the German SAP ERP software). Why is that Europeans are not capable to bring to market Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, Oracle giants? Where are Nokia, Ericsson, Linux today? And do we finally have a strategy to address the European market and propose a road forward? Interesting links t...

McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) published some months ago a report about Big data and where we really can expect to make significant gains (process improvement, doing more with better analyzed datasets, taking more efficient decisions within public or private sector etc.) The five key sectors MGI analyzed were: Healthcare in the US ; retail in the US ; personal location data (on Global level) ; manufacturing (Global level) and, my favorite one, public sector administration in Europe. The first question I would like to ask to our European institution is Have you read the paper and what’s your position regarding the drafted conclusions? A second (easy) one would be Do we have a similar institute that could extend the McKinsey research on Healthcare in the EU; retail in the EU? And final, but not least, are we coordinating some activities from the EU member states in order to win technology advantages compared to other continents? Where are we with Cloud computing legislation, lega...

A very good idea from the European institutions is to propose a centralized page with different legal frameworks and texts that are applicable in the ICT and European Union. Basically, you will find legal information about: Current general legal framework Regulatory framework. Competition. Digital Strategy, i2010 Strategy, eEurope Action Plan, Digital Strategy Programmes Internet, Online activities and ICT standards Internet and Online activities. Fight against illegal online activities. Network security and information system. Coordination and standardisation. Data protection, copyright and related rights Radiofrequencies Mobile communications. Radio spectrum. Interaction of the information society with certain policies The use of ITC for road safety. The use of ITC for electronic commerce. The use of ITC for payment systems. The use of ITC for research. The use of ITC for public health. Enlargement Ongoing enlargement. Enlargement of January 2007. En...

The European Commission has issued a third Open Innovation book. The 3 parts of the book focus on policy development trends and weak signals in service innovation cases and open innovation development in EU countries and regions What strikes me in the third part is that one of the case is about cloud computing that can take service innovation to next level . Let's see what does that means exactly... Cloud computing will boost our European economy with an accelerated time to market for new applications (installation time of a Database is today around 12 minutes; the deployment of new applications passed from some months to some days...), rapid information delivery and efficient data analysis. For the non service economy, enhanced connectivity and cloud solutions can help to bring local products faster to the local markets, in a more efficient way (think on logistics and transport). On the regulatory side, the European Union needs to harmonize the different national lega...

Where is Europe in a strong cloud computing strategy? hmmm...., 'not that far' I would say, but there is some hope in the decisions and in the implication of the European authorities and the lack of a mandatory clear vision of regulating the question. If you're interested in what the European Parliament is doing on the Cloud Computing question, have a look at the official publication. You can download the report here .

New strategy to create single set of rules for cloud computing and increase EU GDP by €160 billion annually by 2020. Many of us are using ‘cloud computing’ without even realising it. Web based e mail, Facebook and Spotify all use the technology to store data such as pictures, videos and text files. The files are stored in massive data centres containing hundreds of servers and storage systems that are compatible with very nearly all computer software. When you wish to access your information, you simply connect to the ‘cloud’ from your PC, smartphone or tablet.The advantages are numerous – users don’t have to buy or maintain expensive servers and data-storage systems. Over 80% of businesses already using the technology have reported a drop in IT costs of 10-20%, while 20% have seen savings of 30% or higher. In addition to lowering IT costs, cloud computing saves office space and reduces the need for in-house IT support teams. But the EU is not yet reaping the full potential of cl...

When you are in the middle of a crisis, it's always wise to have a financial strategy, isn't it? The multiannual financial framework (MFF, formerly ‘financial perspectives’) is a spending plan that translates the EU priorities into financial terms. It is not a seven-year budget, but the basis for the annual budgetary exercise; it limits expenditure over a fixed period and defines the maximum amounts available for each major category of spending. It therefore provides a political as well as budgetary framework for focusing resources and investments where needed. The current MFF period started in 2007 and will end in 2013. To put in place reforms and start implementation of the new programmes on time, the MFF should be adopted before the end of 2012. Link to the web site of the financial framework

Attending the 2012 European Cloud Computing Conference yesterday in Brussels, I was very happy to hear that a strategy paper had been proposed to VP Nelly Kroes. This kind of position paper will hopefully support a strong IT take-off of cloud computing in our complex European landscape. The paper can be downloaded from here.

Despite the financial crisis, the European Commission has communicated some crucial agenda points for an innovative union: EU and member states need to continue to invest in education, R&D, innovation and ICT. Those investments should be performed hand in hand with reforms to get more value for money and tackle fragmentation. Our education systems at all levels should be modernized. Researchers and innovators must be able to work and to cooperate across the EU as easily as within national borders. Access to EU programmes must be simplified and their leverage effect on private sector investment enhanced, with the support of the European Investment Bank. We need to get more innovation out of our research. Remaining barriers for entrepreneurs to bring 'ideas to market' must be removed (better access to finance, affordable Intellectual Property rights etc.) European Innovation Partnerships should be launched to accelerate research, development and market deployment of innovati...

As I already quoted on LinkedIn, I'm a surprised by the lack of public european initiative on cloud computing and secured cloud architecture within the european region. I'm really convinced that cloud architecture could boost the european ICT adoption (with offering cheap and secure data storage for european citizens) and make it cheaper for the weakest european countries. If you're not convinced that Europe is waiting too long to adopt any plan, check what happened last month in Washington on the Knowledge Management level....

Europe's most visible forum for ICT research and innovation. ICT 2010 will focus on policy priorities such as Europe's Digital Agenda and the next financial programme of the European Union for funding research and innovation in ICT. This biennial event has become a unique gathering point for researchers, business people, investors, and high level policy makers in the field of digital innovation. ICT 2010 will focus on policy priorities such as Europe's Digital Agenda and the next financial programme of the European Union for funding research and innovation in ICT. Registration for ICT 2010 will open in May 2010 Go to related site

The new on-line service "eBusiness Guide for SMEs: eBusiness software and services in the European market" is now available at the European Commission's Europa portal . The eBusiness Guide for SMEs is an intelligent online tool that helps enterprises to self-diagnose their eBusiness competences and related ICT needs. Based on this diagnosis, the eBusiness Guide proposes a range of suitable solutions, as well as local ICT service providers that can offer information and advice. All that ICT providers have to do is to register and enter into the platform detailed information on their products and services in their national language. The procedure to register and enter the relevant data into the e Business Guide for SMEs is rather simple and can only offer benefits to the local ICT providers which will be very easily accessible and thus promoted in a pan-European level. This marketing instrument that has been funded by the European Commission is offered totally for free of ...

What is SME week? The first European SME Week, taking place from 6 to 14 May 2009, is a campaign to promote entrepreneurship across Europe and to inform entrepreneurs about support available for them at European, national and local level. It allows SMEs to discover an array of information, advice, support and ideas to help them develop their activities. Throughout 2009, events are taking place to inform, assist and connect existing and potential entrepreneurs and also help them develop new ideas and benefit from personalised information and support. The SME Week encourages and supports SMEs to reach their full potential. It also marks an opportunity to inspire potential entrepreneurs to 'take the plunge' and work towards achieving their aspirations. The European SME Week is co-ordinated by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry, but most of the events and activities taking place during the SME Week are organised by business organisations, sup...