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Wow.

How did they event make it out of the hospital door? Oh wait–being hot. Got it.

I am back from speaking at the ITU/UN WSIS Forum in Geneva, and Astana Economic Forum ASTEX 2013. I have previously reported on WSIS so I will focus on the economic forum.

The Astana Economic Forum (AEF) ASTEX 2013, the largest in Eurasia, went very well. From post-event reporting, the total delegate count was over 12,000 with over 1,200 participating in the ASTEX 2013 (the ICT forum within the Economic Forum). Total country participation was over 132 countries.  Delegates included 35 current and former ministers, 10 Nobel Laureates and more than 40 heads of international organizations, corporations and businesses. 

Here are links to the speakers. If you click on the link by their names, you get their profiles:
ASTEX:  http://astex.kz/speaker?page=3&lang=en#list
Astana Economic Forum (AEF): http://2013.astanaforum.org/en/speakers/10

AEF News: http://www.kazakhembus.com/sites/default/files/publications/The%20Astana%20Times%20of%2029%20May%202013.pdf
Daily News http://blog.astanaforum.org/en/e-gov-at-astex-2013
ASTEX ICT Development Fund News: http://www.astex.kz/news/view/8?lang=en

Here are links to my speech:
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7OuBMe3Lys
Presentation Deck (PDF): http://www.astex.kz/files/85/8e70de5a31b9d219122ffdb6f592/e9.pdf
Investors, industry and government delegates came up indicating their interest – they indicated the presentation was their favourite for the conference since it was focused, delivered measurable value, contained many usable resources. My theme: “In this presentation, we will first overview general ICT trends which underlie new education methods. We will next discuss ICT-focused SMART education trends, examples and models, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and new resources. Finally we will talk about the extensive innovation and research advantages of an online digital library (DL), using the experiences of the Association for Computing Machinery or ACM. The ACM is the world’s largest scientific, educational, professional computing association well known for their awards (example, Turing Award often considered the Nobel Prize of Computing), 35+ special interest groups (example, SIGGRAPH), 70+ publications/newsletters, learning center resources, 500+ conferences/events, live webcasts, videos, and 1.5 million users of their digital library.”

The day after my speech, I was invited to co-lead an impromptu workshop on education reform with participation from the Ministry of Education, the Chairman of their National IT Company (NIT), Director of E-learning for NIT, and international senior delegates from the conference.

During the event I was also invited to submit my recommendations on Open Government, E-Government, and E-Learning for a special output report from the Astana Economic Forum ASTEX 2013. I provided ten pages which was integrated into a final report and then requested to sign the final document. Post-event, the recommendations and my presentation deck were requested by the Chairman of the National IT Company (NIT) to guide strategy and for implementation.

Post-event, I was invited to share the experiences of Canada and the Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS) on professional standards for ICT specialists, ICT qualifications framework, and ICT education system plus sit on an advisory board.

At the onset and from an intensive 5 hour exchange with the US Embassy, chief officer military cooperation, I learned much about the country, their history, culture, and particularly how advanced they are and a model for the region of 250 million people. In addition, I have an ongoing open invitation anytime I am in Astana to meet with the chief officer and the Embassy’s economic officer. The US Embassy is the largest in the region coincidentally only 300 meters (easy walking distance) from the two major pavilions hosting the economic forum.

Kazakhstan  is the model for the CIS region (Russian speaking countries) and now extending out globally to developing countries due to their rapid progress. They have an over 99% literacy rate and over 85% university transfer rate – most complete post-secondary education thus much higher than North America. Last year, they ranked 2nd by the United Nations in e-government e-participation tied with Singapore and at the ITU WSIS Forum in May 2013 (Geneva), they received the top award for e-business e-government– out of 193 countries. These are remarkable accomplishments in such a short period of time. I was at the ITU WSIS Forum ceremony in Geneva where National IT Company (NIT) Chairman Ruslan Ensebayev received the award. Ruslan is a brilliant, dynamic and courageous leader of NIT who has made tremendous strides with ICT for Kazakhstan. He has been chairman since his 20s’ and is now 32 – so remarkable achievements. In Kazakhstan, the leaders are purposely young to encourage new thinking, transparency, and democracy. Here is Ruslan at the ITU/UN WSIS 2013 talking about winning the top e-business prize:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr48LbMVYDM
ITU is the UN specialized agency governing and setting global standards for ICT. Their members include 193 country governments and over 700 fortune corporations/organizations.

My initial involvement came from the first IFIP World CIO Forum (WCF) where their country (ZERDE) Vice-Chair requested support—we met for 90 minutes in 2011 where she outlined their plans. The year prior to the WCF, I was invited to take on the role as WCF vice-chair.

During the week, I had breakfast with the Minister, good discussions with the Vice-Minister including dinner, and good discussions with their ZERDE ICT Chairman, ZERDE Vice-Chairman, NIT Chairman (including dinner), ICTDF General Director, Vice-Rector for their International University (model for the country—courses are taught in English, they have a partnership with Carnegie Mellon, partnerships with leading companies, ZERDE Director of ICT (multiple lunches, dinners, she was my guide / driver / constant partner during my whole stay even taking me to the airport at 2am and staying almost until my flight arrived after 4am; the NIT chairman also assigned one of his managers to shadow me in case I needed added support, transportation, …), Director Ministry of Education …and many more … The ZERDE vice-chairman and ICTDF General Director picked me up at the airport when I arrived Sunday morning (about 12:05am). The country was amazing as host and to say I was well treated would be an understatement.

ZERDE is the holding company wholly owned by the government managing all of ICT through its multiple subsidiary 7 companies, research institutes, research parks and international IT university. For example, the largest IT company, NIT (National IT Company) is a ZERDE company.

Many other countries throughout the world and EU such as Korea and Germany are sharing, cooperating, demonstrating value delivery. Korea in particular has done a lot and are immersed in many projects. Kazakhstan is now on the road to EXPO 2017 (hosted in Astana), entry into the WTO, entry into the OECD (at their strong invitation), and will be investing multiple billions USD into their development.

Back when I was in high school, I used to wear a gold “Superman” logo on a necklace. I told people it was because my last name began with an “S”, but the real reason was that I thought Superman was cool. I loved (and still do) the idea that hidden among all of us “regular folks” is a superhero with the potential to keep us safe from our enemies; who rescues innocents from everyday harm and rocks his everyday job as a journalist. How vivid the symbolism was for the Cold War era but it still resonates today when you consider how easily any of us can be destroyed by the evil lurking online.

 

If you follow my Twitter stream, you know that I'm not only a fan of Mattamy Homes Canada Day in Barrhaven, but I've also been helping with their web and social media over the past few years thanks to hubby being part of their organizing committee. (At home, we used to call that "Army Volunteer" since my Dad was in the Forces. I call it "Spousal Duty" ;)
But don't let that detract from the shameless plug that follows ;) I'll keep it short.

With only two weeks left before the big day, we are in dire need of volunteers. I hope you consider putting your name forward. Whether you are:

• a long time resident or new to the community,
• a parent or a student with community volunteering hours to fill,
• an attendee of prior Canada Day events, and want to help make it incredible for the 20,000 or so people we expect over the course of the day.

No matter if you can spare an hour or a full day, we would love to have you.

To get involved, contact us through one of the following ways:

• Tweet at us @cdadaybarrhaven
• Send us a message on our Facebook page
• Email our volunteer coordinator

If you haven't heard of Canada Day in Barrhaven, it's a family-friendly fun-filled day with music, performances, an incredible headlining band, and even a Midway (which starts on Saturday!). Check out the site for full details.

Whether you can help out or not, I hope to see you there!

For geeky goodness 5 times a week, visit spydergrrl.com, Like the Facebook page or follow @spydergrrl.

Which cloud service is right for my organization?   

             

              

Microsoft prides itself in providing three base offerings of cloud services: Private, Hybrid and Public. All three have their advantages and so organizations must do their due diligence to ensure the best fitting option is chosen. Ensuring the right fit for your organizations implementation will appease executives, will help increase employee productivity and if done correctly will allow for growth.  

A Private Cloud offering, consisting of a Windows Server 2012 implementation, is one that is most prevalent in organizations today.  Consisting of a room of servers on premise, possibly managed by System Center Configuration Manager 2012 and coupled with a solid security strategy, will ensure privacy of all information kept.  Adhering to the "one box per service" logic in medium to large organizations may prove costly hardware wise.  To add, real-estate of said servers may surpass current holdings and the cost of relocation on its own accord might cause headaches financially.

And for a limited time, if you try out the Microsoft Private Cloud Offering today, you'll get a chance to win one of three Xbox 360 Prize Packages valued at $500 each!*  Get Started>>                               

Hybrid Cloud offerings are increasing in popularity as the cost of implementing a Hyper-V solution is virtually NIL and better utilizes hardware organizations have invested in or plans to migrate to.  Allowing the services to dip into a pool of available hardware resources provides IT professionals better control and insures all data is housed on premise.  The Hybrid Cloud's only limitation, would be hardware constraints should an organization outgrow its current hardware resources.

Public Cloud offerings are not as new as many people believe.  This solution takes cues from mainframe implementations from yesteryear and modernizes them utilizing Internet ingenuity. As mentioned earlier, interest has grown around the Windows Azure FREE 90-Day Trial Offer by all sizes of organizations interested in hosting and accessing all its data without the worry of hardware limitations.  While it has been noted that some IT professionals fear the coming of cloud computing, those who embrace it find the ability to save time on maintenance, allow for more time spent on strategic objectives, adding value to the organization and furthering your career.

*No purchase necessary. Contest open to residents of Canada. Contest closes June 30, 2013 at 11:59:59 p.m. ET. There are three grand prizes to be won.  Each prize consists of  an Xbox 360 4GB Kinect bundle (includes Xbox 360 Console and Kinect), Xbox Live Gold Subscription for 3 months, Xbox 360 Branded Call of Duty Wireless Controller, Fable: The Journey game, Dance Central 3 game, Kinect Sports 2 game and Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary game (approximate retail value of $500.  Skill testing question required. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries. For full rules, including entry, eligibility requirements and complete prize description, review the full terms and Conditions.                               

Do you need to find money for the jobless? Or if you are currently not working and need financial help with a loan to pay bills? For people with no work and no money, we show you how to find the cheapest loans for the unemployed in the last paragraph of this article.

Being on long-term unemployment is difficult and when you have little or no savings left, life can be difficult with the cost of living on the rise and inflation at an all-time high. To get money for those emergency needs when you need quick cash urgently when you are unemployed, a quick way to find funding is through the use of unemployment private lenders. These private cash lenders are able to give loans to people with no job but are receiving some government help in the form of unemployment benefits.

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They claim money makes the world go round. At first, I doubted the significance of the line for it sounded too dull and boastful. But come to think of it, it's really true regardless how a person look at it. Money is essential and most often than not, we run short of it. What exactly do you do when you really need funds immediately but you don't know where to go? You avail the payday loan service.

Exactly what does payday loan imply?

It is a service in which loans immediate money to anyone who demands it. You are able to take credit starting from £75 to £500. It's easy and dependable so long as you comply with the instructions given on any site offering the service. It might be a new industry but it turns out to be efficient as well as reliable for its industry persists to improve by the minute. Borrowing money is simple and easy, so are the terms of payment. A charge of thirty percent the total amount shall be billed on top of the amount of money and should be paid within 30 days or on your payday. It's a risk-free method of asking for cash from acknowledged loan providers that guarantees an easy turnaround once your application's approved. So how exactly does payday loan work? Finish the online form obtainable on the service provider's site. Generally, loan providers can easily accept as well as decline your request in 30 seconds. A lot of payday loan providers makes certain a very high approval rate. Once approved, you can continue to keep on borrowing money whenever you need to have instant cash. Just provide your bank account and debit card details to the agents and you're good to go. To guarantee your trustworthiness as a client, several security checks will be done and after that you will receive a call from a company agent to verify the loan and discuss with you the transfer facts. How would you know which company to trust?

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Rolling over an auto title loan could run over your finances.

The additional interest and other fees you pay may quickly double, triple or even quadruple the total costs of your loan if you continually roll it over. What may have started as a loan in the hundreds of dollars could wind up costing you thousands.

If you desperately need the quick cash an auto title loan can provide, there are a few things you can do to help minimize the runaway costs of rolling over your loan if you can't afford to pay the loan back on the due date.

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You hear the commercials everyday on the radio. You see the billboards along the highway. 'No Points,' 'No Closing Costs.'

The mortgage industry has become extremely competitive in recent years, with literally tens of thousands of licensed brokers in California alone. How did it get this way? In recent years with interest rates at record lows it was an easy way for even inexperienced people to make a ton of money with little training, and no experience. The calls to refinance came pouring in. If you could answer the phone you could make good money in the real estate lending business.

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Payday loans are a quick and easy method of getting cash when you need a short-term loan.Once you have one, they are then repaid from your next months' salary (hence 'payday' loans). The sums lent can vary but they are usually for small amounts, from £50 to £1000. They can be used as an easy way to get hold of cash for sudden emergencies and loans can be processed and approved within hours rather than the traditional loan you may get from more established financial providers. They are also available for people who have a 'high risk' financial history that would normally preclude them from getting a loan elsewhere.

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The current economic flavour has left a bad taste in the mouth of money lenders with numerous borrowers losing their jobs thanks to major business closures. The effect of such large-scale job cuts and losses have resulted in many individuals digging their last bit of resources to pay for their requirements. Loans come as a respite to people who are unemployed and are in urgent need for cash. The problem is, many money lenders do not fancy providing loans to unemployed people fearing that they may not be able to pay them back on time or at all.

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Bridging loans sometimes get a bad rap in the lending world. The main reason is that they can cost the borrower more than a traditional, permanent loan. But the real truth is that they can provide many benefits to businesses and individuals alike. In fact, a huge percentage of business deals and residential transactions would likely never occur without these short term loans. They certainly would be more difficult to complete. If you find that you are in need of money quickly for whatever reason, you may want to seriously consider using one of these loans to help solve your problem.

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Searching for a home loan with bad credit? Mortgage rates have been at historic lows, which is great if you have good credit. But it can be frustrating if you have bad credit and are not eligible for the best rates or mortgage loans. However, even if you have bad credit, you may still be able to get a home mortgage loan. Take a few proactive steps and you may be able get the loan and house at an affordable interest rate.

First, fix your credit score. Order a credit score and look for any mistakes or missed bills. Call any creditors to correct any possible mistakes. You may be surprised how quickly some errors can be fixed, and how quickly and dramatically your credit score can improve.

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A person with a bad credit may find his or her finances causing many embarrassing situations. If ones income is not sufficient, it becomes imperative to borrow money to repay the debts so that the credit score can improve. However, one can get loans at affordable interest rates only if one has a high credit score.

If the score is very low, there are chances that the lender may simply refuse the application for the loan. This means that the loan for improvement of credit will only be available after the credit improves. This funny situation can be very dangerous if you are searching for bad credit small business loans. If you do not bring your business back on track very quickly, chances are high that you will end up in the bankruptcy.

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There are some convenient and conventional loans in which you pay the amount borrowed in a few weeks' time. They are called as payday loans. These loans are of two types - one of the payday loans are is where you require to fax the documents required and other one is payday loans no fax. Payday loans no fax allows us to apply online only. Payday loans no fax services are available to all without taking any consideration of your current or past credit situation.

To find payday loans no fax at the earliest requirement one should go in for the quickest payday loans. There are different ways to go in for payday loans no fax type. One of them is to apply online which is one of the quickest ways to apply for payday loans. Here one can save the time on traveling and waiting in queue for any approval. These loans are provided as doorstep services verifying the financial records for loans. Cash advance companies take time to review the documents required by companies for giving loans so one can go for a lender who can approve loan within minutes. These lenders create an application using databases to check information and then generate an automated response.

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In Missouri, legislators are seeking to draw up new legislation that would create new regulations to place over lenders throughout the state. Payday loans, a short-term cash advance on the consumer's next paycheck, have constantly been under fire for luring consumers in with quick application processes and high approval rates and then gouging them with ludicrously high interest rates.

These types of patterns have long been considered to place consumers on a cyclical pattern of repeating debt. By treating the short-term problem, many believe that payday loans are simply a way to place the borrowers in danger - giving them a way to get cash fast, but putting them in a hazardous cycle in the long-run.

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In the instantaneous online world, the days of physically having to see a bank manager and get approval for a loan are long gone. With an increasing number of online financiers and a variety of different available loans, the process of getting a car loan can be quick and painless. Often, it will require little more than a click of a mouse and a few personal details. There are many advantages to getting a loan from an online company - online car loans usually require little paperwork. And, by virtue of the internet, you can peruse different offers from different lenders in one location. Many people today are likely to be eligible for an online car loan, but it's still important to do your research and understand what you are agreeing to when signing up with that online institution. Here's a quick guide to getting quick car loans:

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Needs can crop up on anyone any time. It is paramount that we should handle them and handle them with due care. A need could be an emotional one or it could be a financial one. We can solve our other problems but where the finances are concerned sometimes it is difficult for us to deal with the financial requirements. The requirements could be one or many for which our regular income is not sufficient to carry the entire burden of that requirement.

An example of such a need is that suddenly you need funds to cover up for the expenses of his children's educational expenses for which you were not prepared at first. That is an ideal scenario when a person can take the help of outsiders for financial purpose.

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The first thing which discourages us from borrowing a loan is perhaps the high interest rate. Most of the loan products available in UK come with high interest rates. Another deterrent is the short repayment term of most of the high-priced loan products which increases the monthly instalments considerably. It is to attract people those who get discouraged by the high interest rate and the short repayment term that some lenders in UK have come up with cheap loan plans.

Cheap loan products have lower interest rates than usual and the lenders sometimes may allow short repayment term to you as well. A variety of cheap loan products like cheap personal loan, cheap educational loan, business start-up loan, small business loan, debt consolidation loan, car loan, holiday loan, purchase loan, and wedding loan are available with the best lenders UK.

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Almost everywhere you look these days you can find advertisements for payday loans. And like other financial products, you can usually conclude that the more a product is advertised, the higher the profit margins it provides for the seller.

Pay Day loans come under the guise of a variety of titles including; cash advance loans, check advance loans, quick cash loans, post-dated check loans, and deferred deposit check loans. But no matter what they call it, the product is always essentially the same.

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