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    Wednesday, March 31, 2010

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    Listening, talking, typing, touching and now... looking

    How can the mobile phones (or any other mobile device) become a more complete emotional experience for the user, considering that we can interact with mobiles by listening, talking, typing, touching and now looking (through its lens)?

    What are the types of arts and sciences that will emerge and blossom in the new generations?


    How rich is the experience you are providing to your customers?

    Cheer up this moment!


    Thank Tiago Maciel for the heads up!

    Tuesday, March 30, 2010

    Costa Rica: main competitive advantages

    Costa Rica's main competitive advantages when compared with other countries, based on The Global Competitiveness Report:
    • Independency of public institutions and trust on politicians
    • Health system
    • Quality of education
    • Quality of demand conditions (customer orientation and buyer sophistication)
    • Labor on-the-job training
    • Labor market efficiency
    • Business sophistication (innovation, operations and strategy)
      Complete Report - Source: World Economic Forum, The Global Competitiveness Report - http://gcr.weforum.org/gcr09/


      Global Competitiveness Index 2009-201055
        Basic requirements SubIndex62
          Institutions47
            A. Public institutions48
              1. Property rights65D
                1.01 Property rights63D
                1.02 Intellectual property protection66D
              2. Ethics and corruption39A
                1.03 Diversion of public funds44A
                1.04 Public trust of politicians34A
              3. Undue influence32A
                1.05 Judicial independence28A
                1.06 Favoritism in decisions of government officials34A
              4. Government inefficiency48A
                1.07 Wastefulness of government spending37A
                1.08 Burden of government regulation63D
                1.09 Efficiency of legal framework in settling disputes55D
                1.1 Efficiency of legal framework in challenging regulations39A
                1.11 Transparency of government policymaking48A
              5. Security77D
                1.12 Business costs of terrorism51D
                1.13 Business costs of crime and violence104D
                1.14 Organized crime76D
                1.15 Reliability of police services58D
            B. Private institutions44
              1. Corporate ethics40A
                1.16 Ethical behavior of firms40A
              2. Accountability54D
                1.17 Strength of auditing and reporting standards59D
                1.18 Efficacy of corporate boards51D
                1.19 Protection of minority shareholders’ interests47A
          Infrastructure82
            A. General infrastructure85
                2.01 Quality of overall infrastructure85D
            B. Specific infrastructure82
                2.02 Quality of roads107D
                2.03 Quality of railroad infrastructure106D
                2.04 Quality of port infrastructure128D
                2.05 Quality of air transport infrastructure71D
                2.06 Available seat kilometers*74D
                2.07 Quality of electricity supply40A
                2.08 Telephone lines*37A
          Macroeconomic stability101
                3.01 Government surplus/deficit*40A
                3.02 National savings rate*79D
                3.03 Inflation*110D
                3.04 Interest rate spread*114D
                3.05 Government debt*76D
          Health and primary education29
            A. Health35
                4.01 Business impact of malaria71D
                4.02 Malaria incidence*92D
                4.03 Business impact of tuberculosis27A
                4.04 Tuberculosis incidence*22A
                4.05 Business impact of HIV/AIDS43A
                4.06 HIV prevalence*74D
                4.07 Infant mortality*54D
                4.08 Life expectancy*25A
            B. Primary education29
                4.09 Quality of primary education38A
                4.1 Primary enrollment*1A
                4.11 Education expenditure*67D
        Efficiency enhancers SubIndex58
          Higher education and training44
            A. Quantity of education78
                5.01 Secondary enrollment*70D
                5.02 Tertiary enrollment*78D
            B. Quality of education36
                5.03 Quality of the educational system26A
                5.04 Quality of math and science education55D
                5.05 Quality of management schools13A
                5.06 Internet access in schools62D
            C. On-the-job training28
                5.07 Local availability of specialized research and training services37A
                5.08 Extent of staff training27A
          Goods market efficiency47
            A. Competition55
              1. Domestic competition62D
                6.01 Intensity of local competition54D
                6.02 Extent of market dominance28A
                6.03 Effectiveness of anti-monopoly policy52D
                6.04 Extent and effect of taxation43A
                6.06 Number of procedures required to start a business*107D
                6.07 Time required to start a business*114D
                6.08 Agricultural policy costs38A
                6.05 Total tax rate*102D
              2. Foreign competition36A
                6.09 Prevalence of trade barriers91D
                6.11 Prevalence of foreign ownership16A
                6.12 Business impact of rules on FDI20A
                6.13 Burden of customs procedures70D
                10.04 Imports as a percentage of GDP*50A
                6.1 Tariff barriers*40A
            B. Quality of demand conditions36
                6.14 Degree of customer orientation45A
                6.15 Buyer sophistication39A
          Labor market efficiency36
            A. Flexibility24
                7.01 Cooperation in labor-employer relations11A
                7.04 Hiring and firing practices28A
                7.02 Flexibility of wage determination70D
                7.05 Firing costs*62D
                7.03 Rigidity of employment*49A
            B. Efficient use of talent58
                7.06 Pay and productivity49A
                7.07 Reliance on professional management49A
                7.08 Brain drain16A
                7.09 Female participation in labor force*110D
          Financial market sophistication79
            A. Efficiency90
                8.01 Financial market sophistication63D
                8.02 Financing through local equity market98D
                8.03 Ease of access to loans63D
                8.04 Venture capital availability72D
                8.05 Restriction on capital flows77D
                8.06 Strength of investor protection*122D
            B. Trustworthiness and confidence61
                8.08 Regulation of securities exchanges56D
                8.07 Soundness of banks30A
                8.09 Legal rights index*71D
          Technological readiness62
                9.01 Availability of latest technologies74D
                9.02 Firm-level technology absorption53D
                9.03 Laws relating to ICT58D
                9.04 FDI and technology transfer7A
                9.05 Mobile telephone subscriptions*107D
                9.06 Internet users*48A
                9.07 Personal computers*33A
                9.08 Broadband Internet subscribers*63D
          Market size77
            A. Domestic market size76
                10.03 GDP valued at PPP*79D
                10.05 Exports as a percentage of GDP*64D
            B. Foreign market size76
                10.02 Foreign market size index*76D
        Innovation and sophistication factors SubIndex37
          Business sophistication41
            A. Networks and supporting industries47
                11.01 Local supplier quantity53D
                11.02 Local supplier quality33A
                11.03 State of cluster development60D
            B. Sophistication of firms' operations and strategy34
                11.04 Nature of competitive advantage


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