End of 3rd. Semester

The third semester of the MSc. I am present studying (actually the reason because I started this blog) is over. With it, I have finished all the courses I had to study in Knowledge and Information Society. They have been:

- Introduction to the Knowledge and Information Society
- Technology Fundamentals of the Information Society
- Applied Statistics for Research in KS
- Technology, Economy and Society
- Information Management for Research
- Electronic Commerce and Marketing.
- Chaos Management. Introduction to Conflictology
- New Economy and E-Business
- Enterprise in the KS

Now I have to finish the MSc. preparing the Master Thesis. I prepared a brief Research proposal that I posted some time ago. Now I link the two essays I had to prepare for the New Economy and E-Business course. Both are in English and hope that you find them interesting.
The first one is on the effect of the different modes of payment in general economy. It pretends to be an introductory essay on macroeconomy. The second one is from the micro point of view and pretends to be an analysis of two case studies of enterprises applying the information collected in payment to improve their results. Both must be considered at the introductory level and hope to have the opportunity to expand them. Nothing more, enjoy the reading!

Mobile 2.0

Although talking about the Mobile World (That is, mainly about GSM) can make us think that we are far beyond the 3rd generation, from the internet point of view we are just in Mobile 1.0. Since the definition by O'Reilly of the term Web 2.o, some shy tries have been done in the direction of providing users with the social experience that means Web 2.0. For instance the GSMA has an entry in its website on user content. But, is it the only way to harness the collective intelligence, as O'Reilly says?
SMS, and the language it has originated, is a likely 2.0 experience. Is mainly social, the operator has the only duty of providing the service platform, has a lightweigh interface... and the content is user driven. Also the logo and ringtone business seems to be 2.0: Is mainly a social objective to make the phone look as we want to look and showing personal characteristics like status, uniqueness or kindliness. But out of these examples... what more? It would be interesting to read what Castells has to say about it but, personally, I think that in the near future we'll see a deep change in the way we see Mobile Network Operators (The Netscape of the Mobile 1.0 era) and the main actors in the Mobile arena.

Google & Cuatrecasas

Yesterday morning I was in an event of APD at the WTC of Barcelona. The event was on Internet and its integration in the business strategy. The panel was exceptional, Isabel Aguilera, CEO of Google Spain and other high ranked personalities.
Unfortunately I just could attend the one of Google and Cuatrecasas. The first one was the most interesting although the second one was the most fun. They both were very complemented and made a good combination. The first one talked about the Google Philosophy and what it has to offer to the companies interested in doing business in Internet. Like always its point of view is fresh and challenging, notwithstanding they converted billions of webpages in just a rectangle in the middle of a white page - and it worked. That's the most important contribution from Google to the world, simplicity and ease of use. I think no one using Google Applications has ever read a manual. Even programming through the APIs of its applications is made simple!
The second one, by a member of the board of Cuatrecasas, a lawyers buffete, talked about the legal aspect of doing business in Internet. Nothing new under the sky, just some requirements because the environment, but the rules are the same. Interesting a comment he made on security: "Security is like love, you always want more but if you push too hard, it breaks".

Here are the notes (in Spanish and Catalan) I took in the event.