A SPATE OF recent stories in China on Neocha.com (company website and Twitter), a social-network site in Shanghai for China creatives that was founded by Sean Leow (LinkedIn), a Chinese American from Silicon Valley and an econ graduate from Duke University in the United States . . . Launched in 2007, the site brings together artists, musicians, designers and filmmakers to share and promote their work . . . Last year, Leow and partner Adam Schokora, formerly of Edelman Digital for China, founded the NeochaEdge consulting firm . . . Neocha is seen as a bridge between indie Chinese creatives on the street and mainstream corporate marketers and advertisers such as Nike and PepsiCo . . . More cha, please, and don't chill those voices . . . Hope they keep growing, as the New Asia and China keep evolving.
China International Business,"The Coolest Cup of Cha" by Blake Stone Banks.
Tech Beijing,"Sean Leow, Founder and CEO, Neocha."
NeochaEdge,com,"Shanghai Daily Talks to Sean Leow about Creative Chinese Youth."
THE SLOGAN OF the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: "All Lives Have Equal Value" . . . In their latest act of global grace, the Gates said today at the World Economic Forum in Davos that they would donate $10 billion over 10 years to research and deliver vaccines to ailing children in poor countries . . . Nearly 9 million kids won't die of diarrhea, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and malaria if they get vaccinated this decade . . . “Vaccines are a miracle," Melinda Gates said. "With just a few doses, they can prevent deadly diseases for a lifetime." . . . Generous U.S corporations gave $300 billion-plus in 2008 to worthy causes, says the Giving USA Foundation and Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy("U.S. charitable giving estimated to be $307.65 billion in 2008"), and the Gates keep raising the bar for the United States and the world . . . In Act Two of his life, Bill Gates has evolved from a filthy rich brainiac and conquerer of the tech world to a righteous global role model, and it has been truly extraordinary to see . . . Can this man and his spouse be cloned? . . . Their crusade is worth emulating.
FOR BUDDHA'S SAKE, enough of the iPad, no matter how cute or cool it may be . . . Unless CEO Steve Jobs and Apple donate 10% of all units to those in need (emerging countries, poor entrepreneurs, struggling non-profits, low-income neighborhoods and schools), why should we care about the latest tech toy? . . . Will Apple's iProducts -- and other pricy consumer gadgets -- really change the world? . . . Or is it sugar water for the middle-class masses and Third World elites? . . . The brilliant Jobs should follow the soulful examples set by Warren Buffett, Bill and Melinda Gates,George Soros,John Bogle,Sir John Templeton,Charles and Helen Schwab, and other altruists who define grace through their contributions.
HOW MANY MEDIA stories, how much tech and business talent, have been devoted to yet another consumer gizmo, when more urgent matters loom large? . . . Imagine all that world-class brainpower devoted to the greater good, not the next fiscal quarter or stock-option grant . . . Among other pressing socioeconomic issues, there's a global gender gap, which the World Economic Forum and a cadre of multinationals and NGOs are working on . . . The magical, transformative revolution will take place there . . . Save the sea bass and argula salad for later, and read all about it:
WomenENews, "Gender Issues Must Move to the Heart of Davos Agenda" by Roxanne Maxin Cason.
AS THE WORLD speeds into a new economic era, Ernst & Young CEO James Turley hammers home several key points that many companies still seem to ignore in the year 2010. Accounting giant Ernst & Young and other U.S. multinationals anticipated the new global diversity arising years ago. In a BusinessWeek opinion piece ("The New Global Mindset: Fostering Diversity . . . Is the Key"), Turley writes that global financial crisis has compelled companies to examine "talent management and development, and the connection between diversity of thought and innovation." Turley also talks about global diversity and innovation in an Ernst & Young videotaped interview for the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland:
On global demographics and capital (World Economic Forum): "Each company in the world needs to recognize the two big shifts that are taking place: Both the demographic shift . . . and the shift in capital flows from West to East, from developing markets to emerging markets. If a company doesn't recognize these two big shifts, they're going to be left behind."
On women entrepreneurs (World Economic Forum): "Economic analysis by the World Bank, the United Nations and Goldman Sachs show links between gender equality and the level of development of countries. Other studies examine the relationship between corporate financial performance and women in leadership roles. Their conclusion is that having a critical mass of women at the top improves financial performance. One of the most important changes we can make is to support the vast potential of women as an economic force."
On innovation and diversity (BusinessWeek): "The knee-jerk reaction is to relegate diversity to the realm of human resources, associated with fair hiring practices and good corporate citizenship. But any company that clings to that old-fashioned notion of diversity risks limiting its creative potential and ultimately losing its competitive edge. In a globalized world, diversity is much more than just a question of race or gender. It is a spectrum of attributes, including culture, generation, educational background, skills, personality, education, and life experiences. And research shows that capitalizing on these differences is a powerful factor in encouraging innovation. Leading companies have shown that visible benefits to the bottom line result from leveraging inclusive ways of thinking."
THE PLANET''S POWER BROKERS jet to Davos this week for the World Economic Forum's yearly soiree in the snow. Time to redo, reset, rebuild, realign, reimagine, reinvent. While they're pondering policy and thinking deep thoughts, I hope they pray for the commoners around the globe. Because life still will be cheap in Haiti, long after the Davos Men fly home.
PUNDITS PREDICT THAT the global money meltdown last year could lead to new collaboration among countries -- or to even more bitter cross-border clashing. As author and business consultant Don Tapscott (Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything) puts it, the world is broken and in desperate need of fixing. To no one's surprise except us, the U.S.A. also keeps losing economic stature in the eyes of the world, as the WEF's "Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010" has found. (See video clips below.)
IS THERE ANY doubt why the free business world has lost faith in us, with Wall Street making out like software smugglers in the jungle? Third World counterfeiters with layers of hidden books, or no books at all, have nothing over our derivatives salesmen. In a brutal, dog-eat-dog world (Malthus, anyone?), the keys to regaining that trust in America will be global regulations, global enforcement, and global financial transparency. Billions of dollars in aid and economic development mean little without rule of law.
THE WEF WILL cover events starting today with an array of social media tools (bloggers, Twitter, FaceBook, MySpace, YouTube), and it will micro-blog in Chinese at Sina.com. Reuters also will live-blog the economic talkfest ("Davos 2010: Live Coverage"), while YouTube invites readers and news junkies to pose questions and ideas to world leaders.
