Is the Canadian dollar turning to be a safe haven?

• The lower oil prices would have net negative impact on  Canada.
• In January Bank of Canada   had  a 25-basis-point reduction in the policy interest rate.
• The economy saw no growth in the first quarter.
• Non-energy exports   have been doing well.
•  Business Outlook Survey shows that capacity constraints are encouraging exporters,  promising new investment.  
•  An annual growth of 1.9 per cent expected this year.  
• Inflation as measured by total CPI today is running at about 1.2 per cent, well below the  2 per cent target.

• Yet the CAD is rising. Is it now the North American Safe haven?

 

CAD-USD
2015-04-27: 1 CAD = 0.8261 USD
Source: Bank of Canada 

Without any risk or responsibility

India far behind?: reason why investors shy away...

Business Environment: How far behind India is:

              Rank                                                                     Factor

142	Ease of Doing Business
158	Starting a Business
184	Dealing with Construction Permits
137	Getting Electricity

             Source: Bank of Japan; based on 189 countries 

Source:Keynote address by Mr Hiroshi Nakaso, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Japan, at the Securities Analysts Association of Japan International Seminar, Tokyo, 24 April 2015.

Codes of Best Market Practice and Shared Global Principles

Codes of Best Market Practice and Shared Global Principles by Australian Foreign Exchange Committee

Personal conduct

FX market participants should adopt high standards of conduct in their actions and communications, both internally and externally.

FX market participants are also expected to conduct their business with due skill, care and diligence, and to act in good faith.

Personnel with supervisory responsibilities should ensure that those reporting to them have appropriate knowledge and expertise to carry out their FX activities, as well as to comply with relevant laws, regulations, and Guidance, all of which will require appropriate education and ongoing training with respect to FX Policies.

Such training should contain practical examples and guidance on how FX Policies should be applied specifically to their FX business.

Moreover, such personnel must embed an appropriate risk culture within the firm, taking into account the letter and the spirit of the Guidance. In doing so, FX Policies should clearly describe the personal conduct standards that have been adopted, whether such standards are embodied in law, regulation, or Guidance, against which the FX market participant and its personnel will be held accountable.

The FX market participant or any of its personnel may be held accountable for any breach of FX Policies that violate fair market practices, damage the reputation of the FX market participant and profession or undermine the integrity of the FX market.

In particular, FX market participants should have FX Policies and surveillance mechanisms in place to cover personal conduct and behaviour, which may include subjects such as dealing for personal account, entertainment, gifts and gambling.

The FX Policy of a FX market participant containing its personal conduct requirements should transcend individual businesses and activities such that these standards apply even as FX businesses and technologies evolve. FX market participants are responsible for having effective policies, processes and controls in place in order to ensure that business is in fact conducted within the framework of applicable personal conduct requirements. For example, remuneration policies tied to conduct should be in place.

 FX market participants are also expected to have processes to deal with individuals who have acted inappropriately, including reporting requirements to the relevant authorities where applicable.

Individuals should be encouraged to ask their supervisor or other designated personnel for guidance in the event that there is any uncertainty regarding their conduct obligations.

FX market participants should also have in place effective escalation procedures that enable individuals working for such FX market participants to report instances of suspected unlawful or inappropriate practices and ensure that issues surfaced through this channel are addressed promptly and transparently. Individuals working for FX market participants should feel confident that any information reported under these procedures will be dealt with seriously and effectively, and that the reporting will not be to their detriment.

FX market participants should be accountable for the integrity of these policies and for ensuring the protection of staff that make such reports.

Confidentiality and market conduct

FX market participants should have appropriate measures in place to protect the anonymity of both the FX trading activity and identities of their FX trading counterparties. There is a general expectation by all FX market participants that information relating to their trading activity or positions (“FX Trading Information”) will not be shared by their trading counterparties with any external parties unless such information (a) is disclosed to agents, market intermediaries (such as brokers and trading platforms) or other FX market participants involved in, or facilitating, the execution, processing, clearing or settlement of the transaction, (b) is reported, as may be required (and as not otherwise prohibited) under relevant law, rule or regulation, to market infrastructure providers (such as trade repositories or central counterparties), (c) is disclosed with the consent of the counterparty or customer, (d) is requested by a relevant regulatory or public authority or is otherwise required to be publically disclosed under applicable law, rule or regulation, or (e) is disclosed to advisors or consultants with the understanding that they hold the information in the same manner.

 In addition, FX market participants may agree to a higher standard of non-disclosure with respect to confidential, proprietary, and other non-public information of their FX trading counterparties (“Designated Confidential Information”) which, at their discretion, may be formalised in a written non-disclosure or similar confidentiality agreement. In such case, the circumstances under which FX market participants may disclose Designated Confidential Information will be governed by applicable law and the terms of the confidentiality agreement. Proper treatment of FX Trading Information and Designated Confidential Information is essential for upholding market professionalism and integrity. FX market participants should have appropriate measures in place, including policies and procedures, to protect such information in accordance with the standards described herein, both within the FX market participant and externally.

All market participants’ personnel have a duty to obey the requirements of their institution’s FX policies and all the relevant laws and regulations governing trading on non-public information and other market abuse in their jurisdiction. FX market participants, therefore, should not, with intent or through negligence, profit or seek to profit from the misuse of Designated Confidential Information or FX Trading Information, however obtained, or collude with others to make a profit or seek to make a profit by misusing such information. “Misuse” of Designated Confidential Information or FX Trading Information occurs when a party utilises such information in a manner that is not permitted by law or regulation or under their internal policies or contractual obligations where applicable.

Subject to the above-mentioned duties, laws and regulations, FX market participants may engage in appropriate market making and risk management activities, including sourcing liquidity in anticipation of customer needs or hedging or mitigating exposure resulting from a client order. Under no circumstances should FX market participants use individual trade and position information of a counterparty or customer with the intent of adversely affecting the interests of that counterparty or customer.

FX market participants have the obligation to ensure that:

• there are well documented policies and procedures in place and sufficient systems and controls to protect FX Trading Information within the dealing environment and other areas of the market participant which may obtain such information, and that personnel have been trained with respect to such policies. These policies should also prohibit counterparty and customer anonymity from being circumvented through the use of slang or pseudonyms, both externally and internally.

• their personnel have been trained to identify Designated Confidential Information appropriately in accordance with internal policies and procedures including the manner in which such information must be handled, and to deal appropriately with situations that require anonymity and discretion.

• the communication technologies (for example, telephone, e-mail, chat room and other communication tools) used to transmit FX Trading Information and Designated Confidential Information are reasonably designed to be secure, monitored and protected against unauthorized access. Appropriate steps should be taken to prevent the leakage of such information through various kinds of communication technologies.

• any misuse of FX Trading Information or Designated Confidential Information is investigated promptly according to a properly documented internal procedure.

FX market participants should not share information with each other about their trading positions or individual trades with clients or other FX market participants beyond that necessary for the execution  of a transaction and subsequent transaction life cycle events, ensuring that no confidential information is disclosed. Furthermore, FX market participants should not pass on FX Trading Information to other FX market participants that might enable those entities to anticipate the flows of a specific client or counterparty, including around a fix. It is acceptable to share with customers a view on the general state of and trends in the market (often referred to as providing market color). However, any market color given regarding market activity should be sufficiently aggregated and anonymised so as to not disclose FX Trading Information or Designated Confidential Information. It is not acceptable to disclose information on individual trades, specific counterparty names and other non-public information, except in accordance with the standards set out above regarding FX Trading Information or Designated Confidential Information.

Finally, FX market participants should exercise careful judgment in assessing whether any information they receive (including, but not exclusive to, counterparty information) is true and accurate. FX market participants should have policies that require their personnel to refrain from passing on information that they know or suspect to be misleading. Such policies should be reasonably designed to ensure that any communication, whether to counterparties, customers, other market participants or other external parties have a reasonable basis, are fair and balanced, and do not contain any inaccurate or misleading information. These policies should also include the circumstances in which it may be acceptable to inform customers about a rumour prevalent in the market, and the requirements as to how that communication should be handled.

Policies for execution practices

FX market participants should put in place clear internal guidelines and procedures regarding their execution practices. FX market participants should not engage in any practices which could be held to constitute market manipulation, abuse, fraud, or anti-competitive behaviour. Where FX market participants are handling orders, whether for counterparties or customers, they should establish and enforce their internal systems, processes and procedures to address potential conflicts of interest arising from managing such order flow.

All firms should identify any potential or actual conflicts of interest that might arise when undertaking FX transactions, and take measures either to eliminate these conflicts or control them so as to ensure the fair treatment of counterparties. Practices that would (a) undermine the reputation of both the traders and FX market participants for which they work and (b) potentially expose parties to legal risks should, in each case, be well understood and avoided to the extent possible. When a market participant agrees to act as an agent on behalf of (and not a principal trading counterparty to) a customer, the market participant should not enter into a transaction which they 8 know, or ought to have known, would result in a conflict of interest to that customer, unless such conflict is disclosed to the customer, the customer consents to it and, if applicable, it is resolved in accordance with local law, rules, and/or regulations. In accordance with the FSB’s Foreign Exchange Benchmarks Report’s recommendations, FX market participants should establish and enforce their internal guidelines and procedures for collecting and executing fixing orders. If a firm engages in fixing transactions, those transactions should be priced in a manner that is transparent and is consistent with the risk borne in accepting such transactions. Finally, FX customers (including asset managers passively tracking an index) should conduct appropriate due diligence around their foreign exchange execution, including assessing the suitability of FX reference rates used, and be able to demonstrate that to their own clients if requested.



without any risk or responsibility

Make in India: The Need for Game Changers in Indian Education -skill building

1. An emerging economy like India  has to accept the role of Internet of Things (IoT) in  education- beyond information and communication technologies (ICT)  . With  the global spread of the internet and the attraction  that the web holds for the youth, education needs to capitalize on IoT if it is to seek skill development to meet the Make in India objectives.  The reach of technology should help strengthen relevant skills for the twenty-first century.

2. Education has to move to eliminate  the obsolete and archaic methods of delivery. It has to upscale conventional methods to integrate ICT with learning and teaching processes. Good teachers make good students. There is a serious need to put teachers in India back on teachers’ professional development. The purveyors of knowledge  have to be equipped with new sources of information as much as the learners.

3. New technologies must lead to teacher and student motivation. Capacity building has to be accompanied by objective assessment and an ongoing learner monitoring mechanism. Technology has to continuously  interact with the learner and the teacher over a range of areas. Accessibility into remote and sociologically , geographically or economically weaker sections need the support of technology.[1] There is an element of 'educational inclusion' called for.  

4. Corporates like Infosys seem to be waking up to the need to leverage on the technological shift to the Internet of things.[2]  Infosys is set to identify and incubate about a dozen new ideas that could potentially bring $100 million each and a total of over a billion dollars in incremental revenue annually over the next few years, as part of a deliberate innovation strategy . Cisco has advanced quite a bit on education in the scheme of IoT.  

5. The Government of India has to seize the technological moment. It must evolve an organized mechanism by which it identifies new Internet of education ideas based on artificial intelligence, school delivery automation and Internet of Things. The Government of India needs to have national policies in education encompassing::

 a - Big Data Analytic:. With the advent of big data, the accumulation, inventorying and interpretation of education statistics would be a key issue.  Student behaviour and  teacher value building all would be converted to data bytes which need interpretation from a futuristic and additive perspective.

b - Robotics- there is likely to be a dis-intermediation of human intervention in teaching in more routine areas. Subjects that need vast tutorial elements like mathematics can better be handled by artificial intelligence. This is likely to excite young minds and avoid monotony to the deliverer of learning.

c-  Internet of Education : Smarter classrooms through sensors measuring receptivity and feedback dashboards. According to Cisco, the increased deployment will affect  in many ways. The Internet of Everything (IoE) "is revolutionizing the way ... It's resulting in better, more reliable service, consumer empowerment and improved capacity and efficiency ..."[3] The Internet of Education has to capitalize on the digital developments. 

d - Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMs) – transfering information between the worlds of the physical and the digital.

e-  Nano-technology : Miniaturization of devices. As nano-material availability increases, miniaturization will thrive.  

f-  Working towards a cloud platform for the education industry.   

g - An ecosystem of partners   from education providers to technology providers

h-  Applying Mobile technology to spread education.

Countries like Taiwan, Korea are able to become leaders in the electronic industry but India has to cover a longer ground although it has more entrepreneurs than these countries, along with skilled labor force.[4] Taiwan, Korea and China have massive government funding of strategic industries. Government and corporates need to finance IoEd university research, finance breakthrough research, help in education patents,   and help in setting up a massive ecosystem for education.  

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[1] http://www.unicef.org/education/files/Making_Education_a_Priority_in_the_Post-2015_Development_Agenda.pdf

[2] http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-04-07/news/60902939_1_ceo-vishal-sikka-michael-reh-navin-budhiraja. Vishal Sikka's strategy sees Infosys shift focus to Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, Anirban Sen, ET Bureau Apr 7, 2015, 02.49AM IST

[3] http://www.smartgridnews.com/story/50-billion-connected-iot-devices-2020/2015-04-21

[4] India Insight, Ecosystem for “Make in India” does not exist: Rajeev Karwal of Milagrow

By Reuters Staff http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2015/02/25/ecosystem-for-make-in-india-does-not-exist-rajeev-karwal-of-milagrow/ February 25, 2015

Big Banks- The debits seem more than credits.

Deutsche Bank's twin towers in Frankfurt am Main used to be called Haben und Soll (Credit and Debit). On Thursday, the debit column went up a bit taller as U.S. and British regulators fined Deutsche Bank $2.5 billion to settle allegations of rigging interest rate benchmarks even as its British subsidiary pleaded guilty to criminal wire fraud.

How valueless can international, global banks be? Eight banks banks have reportedly paid $ 8.5 billion or over. 

Less emphasis on values within bank management circles also arises  from an overconfidence coming out of organizations being too big to fail, (TBTF). Senior managers know that regulators dare not touch them as the implications on the system of their failure are too impacting. This makes organizations value rid behemoths; and managers continue their  existence.

Without risk or responsibility

Operational Risk: The vulnerability of the system

• A solo trader and a computer programme!
• A fraudulent mind ad a lagging regulator!
• From Nick Leeson to Navinder Singh Sarao, financial institutions are struggling with human resource risk.
• If you have a fraudulent mind and a manipulatable algorithm, nothing in this market is real. It is then an unreal, manoeuvrable  market where the figures are exaggerated and in control of some criminal intent trader.
• It is a failure of values in the financial world and the helplessness of a  supervisor.From LIBOR  fixing to mis-selling to to 'flash crash' , UK  seems to be  the host to valueless finance. 

"Bank supervisors cannot prevent all fraud or illegal conduct or forestall all undesirable behavior in large, complex financial institutions. But we can help create more resilient, less complex, and better managed organizations that promote, rather than undermine, financial stability."[1]

All the BIS guidelines on operational risk cannot eradicate fraud.  Let the investors beware.

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[1] Testimony by Mr William C. Dudley  President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection Subcommittee, Washington DC, 21 November 2014.

Currency Markets: Beware: Words of Cautionary Wisdom from Glenn Stevens

In a recent speech the Reserve Bank of Australia Governor[1] cautions on following counts:-
(Excerpt Extracts only) 

QUOTE

• Policy rates in the major advanced jurisdictions have been near zero for six years now. In fact, official deposit rates in the euro area and some other European countries are now negative.

• Central bank balance sheets in the three large currency areas have expanded by a total of about US$5½ trillion since 2007, and the ECB and Bank of Japan will add, between them, about another US$2½ trillion to that over the next couple of years.

• Recovering from a financial crisis is an especially long and painful process

• The direct effect of this unprecedented monetary easing has been to lower whole yield curves to extraordinarily low levels, and that process is continuing.

• The most pronounced effects can be seen in Europe. If one were to invest in German government debt for any duration short of nine years, one would be paying the German government to take one’s money. The same can be said for Swiss government debt.

• Even some corporate debt in Europe has traded at negative yields.

• European developments are also affecting long-term interest rates in the United States.

• Fiscal constraints on governments much less binding than they would otherwise have been.

• A striking feature of the global economy, according to World Bank and OECD data, is the low rate of capital investment spending by businesses.
• Listed companies seems to have remained where it has historically been for a long time, even as the return on safe assets has collapsed to be close to zero. This seems to imply that the equity risk premium observed ex post has risen even as the risk-free rate has fallen and by about an offsetting amount. Perhaps this is partly explained by more sense of risk attached to future earnings, and/or a lower expected growth rate of future earnings.

• Whether this is best seen as a temporary increase in risk aversion, a genuine dearth of investment opportunities, evidence of monetary policy “pushing on a string”, a portent of secular stagnation, or just unusually long lags in the effects of policy, will probably be debated for some time yet.
• In capital markets some valuations are stretched, credit spreads are compressed, there has been significant cross-border capital flow and liquidity may be less available than investors are assuming. That raises the risk that a sell-off, were it to occur, could be abrupt.
• What might trigger such an event? The usual trigger people have in mind is a rise in US interest rates.   
• Growth has already weakened in some economies, several of which have been bruised by falling commodity prices. Capital that flowed into emerging markets could flow out again, perhaps when interest rates begin to rise in the United States.
• That would probably occur alongside an appreciating US dollar. So the distribution of credit risk and foreign currency risk will be of considerable importance. One can easily see why investors could become less forgiving of borrowers on a shaky footing, be they corporates or sovereigns.
• A complicating factor here is that the rise in US interest rates looks set to occur while the central banks of Japan and Europe are continuing an aggressive easing of monetary policy via balance sheet measures.
• The combined Japanese and European “QE” will be very substantial.  

UNQUOTE

Author's Comment: Exhortation to buy the US Dollar? 

Without any risk or responsibility 

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[1] Address by Mr Glenn Stevens, Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, to the American Australian Association luncheon, hosted by Goldman Sachs, New York City, 21 April 2015.
Source: Reserve Bank of Australia

Why should Emerging Economies encourage Internet of Education?(IoEd)

Why should Emerging Economies encourage Internet of Education?(IoEd)

·         Accessibility to education is an issue among emerging economies. Remote area students do not obtain the same level of delivery proficiency as the students in the urbanized areas do get. Urban students have an elitist advantage by virtue of knowledge and technical accessibility. For a level playing field, developing an IoEd Platform at a macro level (perhaps in association with technology providers of an international stature ) will bring about economies of scale and economies of access. Emerging economies might have to plan for a centralized IoEd Platform to avoid the operational  risk enhancement and lack of compatibility s involved in divergent platforms.  Device management would vary and regulators might have inadequate access to functionality.

·         Quality of teaching is abysmally low in emerging economies. Teachers are reluctant to be innovative or do not seize technical advantages of the internet so as to help delivery better. Given that teaching is not a first choice for the graduate, emerging economies have to avoid slipping to a cycle of mediocrity where low level academic inputs bring about low level skill outputs. Quality assimilation among teachers leaves considerable scope for improvement. Given the vastness of numbers, teacher training is a difficult option as outreach is difficult. Given that time to delivery is short, there is a need for a mass level teacher training programme. That can only be facilitated by technology. One has to reckon with the reluctance of managements to take on the responsibility of training as they view it as a cost rather than an investment matter.

·         The Governmental / supranational intervention in collaborative effort with international technology and device providers (Intel, Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Samsung, Dell, HP) in creating an IoEd Platform should ensure an ongoing teacher training. This should be 'training anytime- training anywhere' and intensely personalized.  The costs of digital training are lower and comes down with every successive inductee. In the long run it is not just an economic investment but a social capital building. The IoEd should  bring teachers on to a network for peers where there will be collaborative learning and also anonymous querying.

·         For the student and the teacher, the usage of internet learning reduces the costs of learning.  While the initial investment is high (fixed costs) the average costs tend to come down with the induction of incremental numbers. As education acquires mass dimensions, the marginal costs turn negligible.

·         As resources are digitalized, and in a cloud driven environment inventorying knowledge is less expensive.

·         As international agencies (like UNESCO) and well reputed Universities like Harvard and Notre Dame are involved , this will lift the quality of teacher inputs to high levels.

·         Special needs' students can be approached with a tailored programme.

·         In the emerging economies, the social media has been intensely popular. This popularity can be leveraged on effectively and social media can blend with learning-  social networking services, (SNS), Wikipedia, web dictionaries, blogs, user created content (UCC) can be creatively put to use.

References:

UNESCO: Technologies in Higher Education: Mapping the Terrain

ISACA: Internet Of Things: Risk And Value Considerations

Note: This is a part of the author's research on the Internet of Education. Copyrights vest with the author. He can be contacted by email at jaynayar@gmail.com

Migrant Remittances might slow in 2015, says World Bank

The World Bank says that over 215 million people are migrants to other countries.  A weak Europe , the fall of the euro and the ruble might slow the remittances, the Bank cautions.


Total Remittances touched $ 583 billion in 2014. The largest recipients were India ($70 billion), China ($ 64 billion) and the Philippines ($ 28 billion)

http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2015/04/13/remittances-growth-to-slow-sharply-in-2015-as-europe-and-russia-stay-weak-pick-up-expected-next-year

Less explicable gains on European stocks...

Even as China eased liquidity, the Asian stocks fell. 

Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo and Mumbai all declined but the European centres at opening seemed good. The Chinese central bank's action surprisingly enthused Europeans more than the Chinese themselves. The reduction by a massive 1 % was interpreted by the Asians as a recognition of a faltering economy but the Europeans saw that as a great opportunity. Seemed a bit strange that traders  in the 2 continents read interpreted the news differently.

Was there an element of 'irrational exuberance'?
Or is it that the trend is not necessarily a friend?
Or is it buy and sell?

----------

Indian stocks fall over 1000 points in 4 trading sessions...

Indian stocks fell over 1000 points over  4 sessions ; today it fell 550 pints; the Indian Rupee fell to 62.86 to the dollar, its lowest since March 16.  Foreign investors seemed to be leaving on the back of strengthening US Dollar and also tax fears among FIIs.  

Investors seemed to seek reassurance from quarrelling politicians that they would support reforms. Bloomberg reported that foreigners sold $ 34 million on 16th April, 2015. 

Without any risk or responsibility 

From Spring Meetings - 2015- of World Bank/ IMF and relevant information

• The global economy is growing slightly faster than in 2014, although growth rates vary widely among countries.
• Risks are from potential financial market volatility, movements in exchange rates and oil and other commodity prices, and sluggish global trade.
• While some middle-income countries (MICs) are experiencing easing of growth, low-income countries, as a group, continue to record good growth rates.
• In aggregate, cheaper oil and commodities will result in a significant real income shift from oil exporters to oil importers, with a net positive effect on growth in developing countries.  
• IMF states that policymakers were encouraged to implement bold measures to prevent growth from settling into a “new mediocre,” with unacceptably low job creation and inclusion. While accommodative policies remained essential, addressing structural deficiencies needed to become a much higher priority.

Area	Fall 2014 Policy Agenda	Spring  2015 Policy Agenda
Euro Area	Provide demand support Invigorate labor and product markets	Provide effective demand support -Implement labor and product market reforms
United States	Safeguard financial stability Tackle infrastructure gaps	Ensure smooth monetary normalization- Establish medium-term fiscal consolidation plan
Japan	Improve product and labor markets Address fiscal sustainability concerns	Implement fiscal and structural reforms- Enhance monetary policy transmission
China	Foster demand rebalancing Rein in shadow banking	Manage demand rebalancing- Address vulnerabilities in overinvested sectors
Emerging Market Economies	Tackle structural deficiencies Strengthen macro frameworks	Address external vulnerabilities- Lift potential growth
Low Income Developing Countries	Mobilize fiscal revenues Deepen financial markets	Strengthen policy frameworks - Rebuild fiscal and external buffers

 Without any ris or responsility

Europe is frozen in the past....

Why Europeans have a reason to be afraid of things...

Europe is in the throes of anxiety, nay fear. Fear of the future.  "Fear creates its own fears which are more fearsome than fear itself."(Author unknown) 

• ·         Saturday evening , Germans marched in Berlin, Munich and other cities, protesting the US -EU Free Trade pact - Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
• ·         Last week a lady showered confetti at Draghi, the ECB President protesting ECB policies.
• ·         On the day ECB's new premises was to open in March 18, Europeans took out protest processions decrying austerity measures.
• ·         In Greece, as in the more afflicted parts of Europe, the leftists seem to be on the ascent and the masses have been quite restive.
• ·         All these are indicators of resentment among the masses. Rising anxieties at the future of Europe among the youth is spilling on to the streets.
•  

Europe today appears steadily moving into shades of oblivion. Europe's big companies like Ericsson and Nokia are no more the  great  brands they once used to be.  Italians, (remember Ariston?) once reputed for their industrial prowess is faltering between scandalous politicians and declining growth. Europe's big airlines, representative of the services industry,  have faltered; Qatar, Emirates and Etihad Airlines with their latest big spaced aircraft have given British Air, Lufthansa  and Air France a run for their money. The Japanese cars have taken over the mid-size segment threatening to leave Fiat in to probable memories of another period. The European brands that are most reputed are targeted at high net worth customers ( Mercedes Benz, BMW Louis Vuitton).  China by contrast, has become the world's workshop supplying cheap goods to an aspirant middle class. 

Europe's educational system has been unable to attract talent as US or even Canadian universities do. Except perhaps UK Universities and some European Universities like Sorbonne or Erasmus, international students do not see these academic places as first choice destinations. The 'auslander' (outsider) fear among students is real both on language and cultural divergence in Germany for example. The American Universities, by contrast are seen by the international student as great place of learning and freedom of academic thinking.

The digital era seems to have a follower not a leader in Europe. The Europeans have been unable to re-create the industrial revolution era in this age of the digitalization. Its IT companies are largely less known for break through innovation.  Countries like India had seized the opportunity while Europe which really has time zone advantage has not been so swift.

Europe has been rather non receptive and patronizing to immigration. USA has , on the contrary been a net recipient of talent. Its Universities have always welcomed innovative brains. US immigration policies have been supportive of retention of talent to assist economic growth. Parts of Europe , on the other hand, have earned a reputation of shades of 'Teutonische Arroganz' in its approach to outsiders. At best,  there is an element of patronage of the less fortunate. Having earlier been great mechanical engineers and ship builders,  Europeans had been reputed to be innovative and  many several countries have prospered as colonialists in the bygone, prosperous days. Some of the economies have built the edifice of their economies on the drain of wealth from the colonies. These colonial flow sources have been dry for over 60 years now.  Old colonies like India have risen from the embers of colonialism to take up commanding heights of the global economy while Europe has to live on past glory.

Spearheaded by China and India, the fulcrum of the World growth has now largely shifted to Asia. The central banks of Asia hold trillions of dollars and Europe in their kitty. Given the lack of cohesion in thinking and the delayed decision taking seen in Europe, Europe is no more so dominant a power on the world scene. From Iceland to Ireland to Italy there are pronounced weaknesses. Fears of a Japan like fall into prolonged recession haunts even as there is dithering over Greece for nearly three years!. To be Quantitative easing or not to be took several months to arrive at a decision. It cannot arrive at any consensus or  alternatively, a bold decision over Greece. All Europe does is to contribute to market volatility over several years! The world needs to move beyond Greece even if Europe is inefficient. Greece is too small to matter.  

Europe needs to rethink its approach to men and machines.  It can survive, like UK,  only with transatlantic support. US remains a leader who is far ahead in innovative breakthrough technology. From Coca Cola to Google to Facebook to Twitter to Intel it is US brands all the way in relevant consumer markets. The Americans are affording an opportunity to Europe to still retain relevance. Europe is still frozen in the past. Like the ostrich it has its head in the sands.

Without any risk or responsibility....

Why we need the Internet of Education!!!!

Source of Photo http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/week-pictures-april-11-17-2015?cid=sm_tw_msnbc

Digitalizing Educational Throughput in Emerging Economies in the Days of The Internet of Things

The convergence of the digital and the physical realms induced by the Internet of Education (IoEd) in the educational  world is the new big trend in education.

Under the scheme of IoEd, a connected series of devices assist learning and teaching. A smart phone with a student, when interconnected on the internet, performs beyond its original, primary  function of receipt and transmission of calls. This connectivity although a secondary function, assumes import in the Age of IoT. The smart phone is equipped with technology that helps the students to source from several channels of information and knowledge which have networked knowledge sharing function such as  (access to video- films (You Tube, Khan Academy, Ted Talks), social networks, (forum of Edunext, MOOCS)  e-library (EBSCO); teaching/ learning education delivery platforms (Blackboard, Moodle) and general news  (from Reuters to Bloomberg alerts). 

This forward and backward linkages machine 2 machine (M2M) and Machines to Men (M2m) are transforming the education field in gargantuan proportions. Online learning is acquiring space and reducing the distance to education. In emerging economies, IoEd is more equitable and avoids elitism. The Internet of Education induced advanced digital learning transforms student lives by linking machines and systems to teaching and learning processes. As these machines and systems are interconnected, there are huge resultant learning economies and economies of scale at a macro-level for huge sized emerging countries like China and India. Inaccessibility ceases to be an issue, given the pervasiveness of digital  devices like smart phones. The technological transformation in the education landscape will  result in a 'big skill push' to the economy (compare the Make in India campaign of India Government) with emphasis on 'across the board' skill development.

The thinning of lines between online learning - click and mouse- and teaching services in brick and mortar schools will open up hitherto untapped dimensions in studies. Digital and physical learning would work in tandem. The inter-connectivity will help reduce the time to learning for the students. The less performing student will have a technical aid round the clock. Doubts are cleared in real time and the learning cycle is shortened. Human interventions (which are rather boring in actuality) are minimized thus augmenting productivity and value creation in education. Teacher talk time is reduced. In MacAulay's language 'the agony is abated' for the student!

Machine induced responsiveness leads to higher student satisfaction. The need for emerging economies is to blend educational expertise with technological expertise. A plethora of  digital-educational  companies must spring up (Let a thousand flowers bloom as Mao said) so that so that emerging economies run the race to be ahead of the learning and experience curve.

  

Innovation, design and learning need to be closely intertwined to learn from each other and adapt to each other,   Software development must be guided by the futuristic needs of education. They must juxtapose with the objectives and horizons of the educational hardware. Emerging economies may have to invest  in software centres exclusively for education. Software ought to be compatible with hardware availability as also be adaptable to a diverse and huge country (say as in China or India).  Connectivity is the contemporaneous confluence of communication (machine 2 machine; machine to human), collaboration (between hardware and software; between various education providers) and compatibility (of systems and with jurisdictions).

Platforms are essential to enable new learning.  A powerful platform would have the following features:

·         receipt of data

·         analytical abilities;

·         predictive abilities;

·         culling out insights from information;

·         interpreting data patterns on an ongoing basis;

·         simulative capabilities

·         optimal solution suggestions

·         it must be cyber - secure.  

How will the platform help the teacher?

·         It will equip him/ her with analytics, simulation, and optimization solutions.

·         It will help by sending across real time feedback;

·         It will assist in optimizing and real timing decisions.

·         It will help him strategize his approach;

·         It will help exception management such as top performer expectations and least performing student anxieties.

What should be the deliverables the education  sector should be looking for?

·         Prediction revealing education solutions

·         collecting real time education data

·         providing education intelligence

·         providing actionable insights  to teachers, administrators  and regulators

·         Smart software tools

·         analytics' abilities

·         algorithms to help achieve higher levels of efficiency  

·         A secure and reliable cloud-based platform  

·         monitoring and control management systems with real-time visibility  

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References for this Article:-

Annunziata, Marco ' The Value of Interconnectedness: Toward a new kind of industrial company '  General Electric

G´omeza Jorge, Hueteb Juan F., Hoyosa Oscar, Perezc Luis, Grigorid , Daniela 'Interaction System Based on Internet of Things as Support for Education' Procedia Computer Science 21 ( 2013 ) 132 – 139

Hannon, Valerie , Patton, Alec and Temperley, Julie : 'Developing an Innovation Ecosystem for Education' Cisco

Selinger , Michelle, Sepulveda, Ana and Buchan, Jim 'Education and the Internet of Everything How Ubiquitous Connectedness Can Help Transform Pedagogy' Cisco

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Note : These strands of thought are a part of the research work being undertaken by the author on the Internet of Education. Copyright of this material vests with the author, Jayaram Nayar. He can be contacted at jaynayar@gmail.com