Analysis of Aravind Eye Hospital

An Eye on Hope Miracles do happen. Don’t believe me? Ask that boy whose eyes would finally be able to see how the face of his mother is much more beautiful than even that angelic face that he had always imagined while listening to the lullabies she sang for him or how his cricketing hero actually looks like or how his kingdom of sand – that the world calls as a playground actually bore the signs of his footsteps or how the faces of his friends, who cheered for him for being specially-abled or who dissed him for his disability, change expressions on seeing him again. Now, here is a question for all the B-School students who are taught to derive the equivalent clink of coin-sound for all human emotions, day-in and day-out or for all the professionals who have grown up taking pride in putting a dollar tag on every single sentiment on this earth. Can you put a price tag on this miracle? How much would you be ready to invest if you could make this miracle a mundane reality for millions and millions of people in India? Can you be stoic enough emotionally to discard this proposal by taking help of an equally heartless financial jargon of profit-margins and return on capital employed? Or would you take a step forward and approach this problem the right way rather than the easy way. Arvind Eye Hospitals, since their inception, have proven time and again, year-after-year, that a business that deals in miracles like this can be self-sustainable if you have the right sentiments, intentions, vision and the sincerity to cater to the base of the pyramid, which because of its sheer volume, in a country like India can prove to be a self-dependent and autonomous business model. Put yourself in the shoes of the patients just for a moment, and you’ll understand how it can prove to be an economically viable model with a focus on intangible benefits rather than the tangible ones. Imagine a hypothetical case of Laxmi, who lives in Tangachi Mattam, a village forty kilometers away from Madurai, who decides to bring in her 10-year-old, bespectacled son Vishnu, to be examined at the centre this Saturday when he complained of irritation in his left eye. Ordinarily, it would have taken them a whole day to go to Madurai by bus and back, not to mention the cost of Rs 200 round trip. If the vision centre develops in every city, the consultation with the Doctor cost them Rs 20 – at less than the price of a coffee cup in a hip cafe, one little boy’s eyes can finally return to his school books. The model certainly can be emulated if the businessmen can abandon their perennial thirst for endless money for this cause and concentrate more on the intangible benefits of this exercise rather than tangible ones. But the question is how? Part-I – How ? If we look at the current status of blindness in India, about 90% of blindness is relatively easily treatable and cataract remains a major cause of blindness. Our annual cataract surgical rate is about 3. 5 million but the current levels of cataract surgery are far below the number required to clear the existing backlog, besides taking care of incidence. There is an urgent need to perform more cataract surgeries every year. If we look at the current service delivery pattern, the Government does about 25%, NGOs and voluntary organization 41. 2% and private 33. 8%. There is also an increasing shift towards IOL surgery. The increasing need in the community for eye care services combined with poor utilization of existing resources indicate a strong need for organizational development aimed at such eye care providers. One major need is to better equip these institutions to deal with the burden of blindness, to aid in the transition towards IOL surgery other standard procedures, to standardize duality of eye care provided by them, to promote cost effective practices for self-sustainability and finally to help the hospital leadership to articulate a well defined vision and goal for their hospital. Based on Arvind Eye Care’s experience, a capacity building process with other eye hospitals should be initiated. Arvind should set itself a target of partnering in capacity building with 100 voluntary eye hospitals that were under performing or in the start-up phase. The ultimate goal would be to help in developing each of these hospitals into a facility capable of doing high volume, high quality work and become financially viable. The financial viability will remain a critical issue in order to protect these voluntary organizations from the uncertainties of external funding. The first initiative in this direction has already come from the Lions International who wanted to establish a process for capacity building for the hospitals supported by them and as a spin off other INGOs like Sight Savers, CBM, Seva and IEF too joined hands for their partner hospitals. LAICO is currently partnering with 140 eye hospitals, of which 118 are from India and the remaining are from other countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Africa, Cambodia, etc. LAICO, is working on the following 4-step strategy to help with the capacity building of the under-performing and other NGO hospitals. The results so far have been astounding for LAICO. The following graphs show how the capacity development workshops have been a path-breaking success for this business model in general and the participating hospitals in particular. The resulting efficiency increase through the economies of scale is also evident in the cost recovery of the participating hospitals as shown in the graph below. But the biggest challenge in terms of the execution of the plan is to ensure the sustainability of this execution. The above analysis leads us to identifying some of the factors that affect the capacity building process as many of the hospitals have drastically increased, while some hospitals have shown no improvement or decrease in the performance. The leadership of the hospital is a major factor. The location, availability and involvement of the leader affect capacity building. Wherever there has been a permanent leader with a vision, those hospitals have shown a very good improvement. Resistance to change and openness among the team members are also crucial. The hospitals need to have teamwork rather than one person doing the entire show. If the institution is not interested in doing high volume or is satisfied with the current level of services, capacity building is difficult. Where ever the leader focuses more on resource creation rather than on resource utilization, an imbalance between performance and capacity arises. Operational areas, even having a single ophthalmologist or part-time ophthalmologist also affect the long-term sustainability of the hospital especially when these doctors leave the hospital. The pattern of compensation also affects the growth of the hospital. To some extent incentives help the hospital increase its performance but this does not help the hospital to grow as an institution. This brings us to the vital question – what should be the change in the outlook of the organization to sustain this change and continue to register growth in the strategy chosen. Part-II – How sustainable is sustainable? No matter the individual or the reason at hand, all effective leadership styles have one thing in common- they all contain the Four Cs- Character, Communication skills, Consistency, and the Creativity needed for successful problem solving. Of course, within each of these four traits, variances of extreme proportions are noted by those most inclined to utilize them. The ability to get onto the correct path for creating your own effective leadership style stems from within the individual, for realizing that it is the followers who recognize if a leader is successful is the first step. Share the glory with your team, but keep the pains to yourself. Small, cash-strapped nonprofits often find that the most accessible funding is restricted to specific initiatives, programs, and contracts. They accept them because they nominally fall within the organization’s broad mission statement, but they are much better aligned with the donor’s strategy than with the nonprofit’s. Because the funds barely cover the direct costs of the additional activity, much less the indirect costs, the nonprofit reenters the funding market again and again, each time as a bigger, less focused, and more cash-starved entity. Hence, within the non-profit sector, one can safely say that â€Å"The tree dies from the top†. As a consequence of this stick-and-stretch syndrome, nonprofits often develop anaerobic life styles. At one extreme is the bloated bureaucracy: It may have some hardworking parts, but as a whole, it’s slow moving and survives because of mission legitimacy, not mission performance. At the other is the ever-busy nonprofit characterized by action paralysis. The organization is so busy executing the day-to-day stuff, raising money, implementing programs, and so on, that it never steps back to consider the full implications of its actions. The combination of stickiness to the mission and stretchiness to market demands can undermine a nonprofit’s effectiveness. The stretchiness keeps it very busy on a day-to-day basis; it’s constantly executing programs and working to raise funds. But in a strategic sense, the organization moves very slowly because the stickiness holds it in place. Before it can move forward, it must unstick the inertia at its center and then creep forward one step at a time, carrying with it all its baggage. To create a strategy that is both ffective and measurable, nonprofits first need to translate their core mission into a narrower, quantifiable operational mission. Next, the nonprofit needs to convert the operational mission into a strategy platform using the following 4-step strategy process. Step 1: The Mission Statement. This statement tends to be broad and far-reaching and usually identifies the customer need the organization attempts to serve, such as hunger, homelessness, or une mployment. The purpose of the mission statement is to inspire. Its credibility lies in the significance and scope of the problem it has identified. A powerful and compelling long-term goal will draw the attention of funders, workers, and volunteers. Habitat for Humanity International’s goal is â€Å"to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the face of the earth [and] put the subject of inadequate housing in the hearts and minds of people. † The mission tells you the nature of the problem, but it doesn’t identify how Habitat will address that need or how much of it will be served by the organization. Step 2: The Operational Mission. This step brings the lofty, inspirational mission into the realm of quantitative goals. While the big mission should be broad enough to guide action through periods of organizational and environmental change, the operational mission must be narrow enough to allow the organization to trace its impact. The organization’s work should always be measurable, even if it must use proxies to do so. Habitat for Humanity, for example, tracks not only the number of homes it has built, but in some areas it also estimates the extent of poverty housing yet to be eliminated. Step 3: The Strategy Platform. This delineates how the operational mission will be achieved, including which programs to run and how to run them. The strategy platform consists of four important components: client and market development, program and service development and delivery, funder and donor development, and organization development and governance. (See the exhibit â€Å"Blueprint of a Strategy Platform. †) Each one should directly relate to the operating mission and should dovetail with the other components. Most important, every program should correspond to its appropriate strategy platform component. Step 4: The Choice of Programs. Once an organization has the platform for supporting the various strategy components in a coherent way, the day-to-day tasks of choosing which programs to fund and which to cut are much better guided. When a new program appears on the organization’s radar, the first question to ask is, How does the program contribute to the appropriate strategy component—funding development, for instance, or operational development? Conclusion: The leader in a non-profit like that of Arvind Hospital, should instead of trying to be all things to all people, should pick a niche, craft an operational mission and, flowing from it, formulate a coherent strategy platform. Then it should vigorously pursue those programs that support the logic of the entire strategy. That approach improves nonprofits’ chances for changing the world. Unfortunately, too few nonprofits conduct such strategic assessments of their work. And it is this difference which determines that how sustainable is sustainable?

An outline marketing plan for the next year for Atlantic Quench301 Essay

An outline marketing plan for the next year for Atlantic Quench301 - Essay Example The global beverage industry is dominated mostly by the fruit juice products. The soft drinks industry includes aerated drinks, carbonates, fruit juices, tea, coffee, etc. The industry is growing at a rate of more than 4 percent annually (Marketline, 2014). The growing health concerns of the consumers have lead to increased popularity of healthy fruit juices. However, the choice of fruit is market dependent, as different market has different taste preferences (marketsandmarkets, 2014). This study is based on the marketing strategies and upcoming marketing plans of Atlantic Quench Cranberries Inc. It also includes the analysis of the competitive forces present in the industry by using porter’s five forces analysis, and the SWOT analysis of the company. In 2013, the global soft drinks market made revenue of $ 624,363.5 million, which represents a growth by 4.2 percent from 2009 and 2013. The Asia-pacific market grew by 6.9 percent ($169,360.7 million) whereas the European market saw relatively less growth of 2.4 percent ($188,413.7 million). In 2013, the market consumption also increased by 3.9 percent to 571.9 billion litres (Marketline, 2014). The carbonated soft drinks (CSD) industry has declined severely in U.S as the consumers are gradually giving up consuming CSDs to curb the growing epidemic of obesity across the nation. Studies have shown that the added sugar in the CSDs is responsible for the obesity among the consumers (Marketline, 2014; Wang, Bleich and Gortmaker, 2008). As a result, the consumers are switching to consumption of fruit juice drinks, as is considered as a healthier beverage which does not contain any added sugar (CBI, 2011). This change in consumption pattern has increased the sale of packaged fruit juice products. In U.K, from 2008 to 2013 the fruit juice industry has grown by 10 percent to  £4.8 billion (Marketline, 2014). The fluctuation of price of raw fruits has declined the

Business in context Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business in context - Essay Example China’s GDP growth was 9.9% in the year 2005 and according to World Bank, China’s projected growth rates from 2005–2009 was 8%. China was one of the top recipients among developing countries which had inflow of around 72 billion USD in 2005. While China had experienced already high growth rate, India’s growth rate was around 4% per annum. According to World Bank, India’s growth rate was around 8.3% - 9.2% after 2003. Therefore, both the countries are relatively attractive for British companies (Homlong & Springler, 2009). India’s Business Relation with the UK India’s relation with the UK has strengthened with regard to business. Both countries have maintained a healthy relationship, for several years, in term of export and import and business relationship. In whole European region, the UK is largest business partner of India and compared to the whole world, the UK is 5th largest business partner of India. The import and export between UK and India had increased by 20% in the year 2005, i.e. ?7.9 billion. The UK’s export to India had increased by 21.3% in the year 2005. ... This company has 4 business units which are the UK business, International Business, Retailing Services and Non –food. Approximately 4 million t-shirts and vests were sold in Tesco’s Indian stores, which accounted 40% of Tesco’s import in the year 2004. Tesco provide low cost and quality products in India. Tesco supplies textiles worth 72 million USD annually. In the year 2004, the company’s revenue from India was around 67.5 million USD (Tesco, 2005). Attractiveness in India India’s low cost advantage for sourcing cheap but quality products is the major reason for attracting business. Tesco sources around 72 million USD of textiles from India annually. Tesco has realised that India’s major strength is their availability of skilled and educated labour with low cost. This is the reason for Tesco’s successful business in India (Tesco, 2005). Johnson Matthey Johnson Matthey is a UK company which deals with pharmaceutical materials, precio us metals and catalysts. It is one of the leading companies in superior material technology. It has two divisions in India which are Catalyst and Ceramic. The company is making automobile emission catalysts in India since 1998. For Johnson Matthey, India is a key base for export. Approximately 75% of catalysts and technologies product are exported from Johnson Matthey (Johnson Matthey, 2005). Attractiveness in India India’s major attractiveness is skilled and educated manpower, which is available at competitive cost than any other countries. It helps companies to set up manufacturing unit in India and operate at less fixed costs. The other important aspect is India’s potential market. The vehicle market of India is growing rapidly which in turn is a great opportunity for Johnson Matthey. The company perceived that

The New Nissan Versa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The New Nissan Versa - Essay Example Logos is the use of reasoning to construct an argument. Advertisements, for example, make logical appeals in their presentation. The object of rhetoric analysis is a discourse that makes the principles of rhetoric analysis similar to those of discourse analysis. Rhetoric methods are applicable to objects like cars, castles, and computers among others. The aim of rhetoric is to persuade, appeal, motivate and inform specific audiences in particular situations. The video Nissan Versa 2012 Test Drive & Car Review by RoadflyTV with Emme Hall presents a review of the Nissan Versa 2012 with the goal of getting the readers to see how one can save on fuel as they drive the car. At the exterior of the car, there is a steel spare wheel and temporary spare tire, inside mounted spare tire, all season tires, and four-wheel covers. The interior front seats are ergonomic in that the driver’s seat is adjustable, covered with elegant clothes. The car also has bucket front seats. The roof has intermittent wipers and rear defoggers. There is also an air conditioner that makes the interior very comfortable. The new Nissan Versa has a maximum cargo capacity of 14.8 cu.ft. It has a rear trunk spoiler, chrome trunk accent, and splash guards. There is a gas-based type of engine with four inline cylinders. It has an EPA mileage, stability and traction control, electronic brake force distribution and emergency interior trunk release. On entertainment, there is a mast antenna, two speakers, and single CD player stereo and auxiliary MP3 audio input. The car also has a carpeted floor and trunk mats, illuminated kick plates and auto-dimming rearview mirror. In order for the presenter to effectively get her message across, she has used many strategies. An example is the use of didactic tone that makes the listener sound like a credible and experienced one creating a sense of superiority for herself and the reader.  

The Impact of ICT in Contemporary Diplomacy

The Impact of ICT in Contemporary Diplomacy HOW HAVE THE CHANGES IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY AFFECTED THE ROLE OF THE MODERN DIPLOMAT? INTRODUCTION It is no longer news that the revolution of Information and Communication technologies (ICTs) has revised the practice of conventional diplomacy. Lees evident, however, is the extent of the impact of revolutionized ICT on the role of modern diplomats, and how this will either aid diplomatic roles or augment them. In addition, ICT has contributed immensely towards two important elements in the conduct of diplomacy; namely space and time. Communication tools and environments have paved way towards the compression of space and time in the international political environment. For example, the attack of the twin towers in New York in September 2011 was transmitted around the world instantaneously; however, â€Å"the transmission of the news of the independence of America in (1776) to Southern America, took about the same time it took to reach England by ship†( Abeyaoonasekera and Ransinghe, 2012 p.2 ) This is the ability of ICT to narrow space and time differences between states. This essay aims to illuminate this narrative by examining the revolution of ICT in the 21st century focusing on aspects that concern modern diplomats in their functional and strategic roles. Whilst evaluating the role of revolutionized ICT in contemporary diplomacy, this essay specifically discusses the utilisation of ICT as a positive too, in diplomats achieving international relations objectives. ICT has not only created equality between players in the international political environment but it has also brought awareness to the general public. In the end, I will highlight the enormous opportunities available to diplomats and their representing countries on capitalizing on ICT. THE ICT REVOLUTION The end of the cold war brought a pragmatic restructuring and advent of two important factors: the increase in the size of the members in the state centric world system and the astronomical development in science and technology. Development in science and technology have become drivers in the international political system and knowledge of such trend in major field has become an essential prerequisite to effective international negotiation and conduct of relations by diplomats. As a result, ICT is now an unavoidable part of everyday life as well as integral element to large scale economic, social and political restructuring. Nevertheless, strategic advancement in ICT has changed the communication environment. Ranging from the first satellite, Anik 1, a Canadian satellite evolved in 1972 (Pierre, C. 2003), to internet (Formerly known as ARPANET) in 1983 and then the establishment of the World Wide Web in 1991. It has evolved to the point where instant messaging has become the norm. However, the Global system for Mobile Communication (GSM) has provided a new platform to effective and efficient communication. In addition, the World wide web, has replaced radios, telephones and televisions and has compelled them to include themselves in making the world wide web the primary source of information and communication in the world. File sharing; video conferencing, audio and visual streaming have transformed the simple presentation of information to be more complex but yet interactive, efficient and speedy. The technologized world of today has empowered citizens to constantly evaluate, and upgrade their socio, political and economic bonds. However, business communications and transactions are largely conducted using ICT. This is an era where digital signatures are gradually replacing conventional ones; where paper documentation has also taken precedence over traditional filing. Governments are catching up to the ‘digital frenzy by including information in the public domain, allowing citizens to obtain public services on line. THE EFFECTS OF ICT ON TRADITIONAL DIPLOMACY CHALLENGES A year after the transatlantic war was over in 1886 with the completion of the transatlantic cable between the United States of America and Europe, the United States formed a telegraph office to deal with the new method f communication such as telegraph in international affairs. This development in communication, accelerated diplomacy and restraine the independence excersied by diplomats, thereby centralising foreign plicy. Treaties and gareements were no longer formulated across green tables amngst diplomats with surplus tim (Gottemoelle, R. 2012). As at today, diplomats are still in the ‘catch up’ phase, whilst citizens have embraced the new technologically advanced environment. Nevertheless, the world wide web, the internet, digital imagery have changed the environment in which diplomacy operates. The three factors that enhanced the transformation of the environment in which diplomacy operates are : shrinking costs, increase in capacity, speed of application ( Grant, R. 2004). Advancements in ICT has revised conventional diplomacy, so much that the new diplomacy is known as ‘Public Diplomacy; has been pushed forward as a useful business tool in the international arena connecting diplomats not only with their counterparts but also extending to new activists such as citizens, NGOs, Journalists, etc directly communicating with them in a more sophisticated manne using tools such as image building, reputation management and multiparty dialogue to meet their foregin policy ends which may or may nt result into a compromise. Nevertheless, there is the certainty that the advent of 21st century ICT has reconstructed access to information which has automatically compelled foreign missions and diplomats to adapt to the new system and its practices, in order to protect their national interest. Conventionally, diplomats have been forced to explore methods beyond those encoded in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Missions 1961. Diplomats ae constantly trying to deal with the consequences of the development of ICT, forcefully changing their method of diplomatic conduct to adapt to the fast rising media and non-state actors who have complicated the diplomatic profession, which is now operating in a multi polar international system. Whilst citizens and the corporate world at large, have several primary roles such as collecting information, representing their home country†¦etc. THE EFFECT OF ICT ON THE ROLE OF MODERN DIPLOMATS THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF ICT ON THE ROLE OF MODERN DIPLOMATS Being one of the earliest forms of international relations in the state, diplomats play the following roles; negotiator, mediator, information manageing, and messenger. In addition, diplomats also act in recncialiation, conflict resolution and preventive diplomacy. This section of the essay, examines these roles in details and how ICT has either contributed or augmented the service delivery. INFORMATION GATHERING Information is an essential aspect of diplomacy. Most if not all actions in iplomacy are taken based on information. Information dealt with by diplomats is highly sensitive and confidential. As a result, diplomats have the responsibility to negotiate with the sensitivity and confidentiality of information. However, ICT plays a vital role provides necessary tools to ensure efficient management. The economic, political, and social conditions and giving feedback to the headquarters remains a key role and function of a diplomat. However, this has transformed in the technologized age. Prior to this, diplomats, had the responsibility of collecting newspapers and transporting them to the foreign missions. But the information age has enabled diplomats to adopt sensitivity to local and cultural relations to provide analytics of crucial information filtered out of media and other important actors such as NGOs an the public at large byy fllowing online information dissemination and social media tols. Fact finding is no longer as tedious and difficult as it use to be. Information on demographics, is available at the beck and call of a diplomat through internet services such as goggle scholar, Wikipedia, CIA WORLD FACT Book etc. The traditional ‘diplomatic bag’ has been replaced by the use of the ‘intranet’ which can be customized to suit the extreme confidentiality levels necessary in diplomatic communications with access limitations for different level of the heierarchy. Collecting information and data from various sources via the internet and distributing and disseminating it through a structured intranet has and will compress the time and the cost factors that are involved with diplomatic information management. MEDIATION In circumstances, where a face to face dialogue will not be condiuuycive, ICT can help by not only saving time but costs and lives in most cases. Computer led communications can create a safer and non-cnfrontatinal channel of dialogue between groups. An example of this is when the Unite States institute of peace mediated an ICT led peace intitative to put a halt to a 14 year civil war in Liberia enaging Gyude Bryant, the leader of the National Transitinal Goovernment of Liberia in a virtual town hall meeting with Liberian Diaspora on the prospects of peace for the country (Radunovic, 2010). Negotiation Negotiation is an essential role of a diplomat. Bilateral and multilateral negotiaations have gained insight from ICT advancements reaping benefits from the time, space and even cost compressions that have taken place. In a post-recession era where overheads of ministries have dwindled and budgets have been e-concentrated on militarization, ICT has and will be tremendously helpful in the negotiation process. Before the actual negotiation, ICT can play a major role in re negotiation and preparation by creating new channels of information both internal and external that helps There are many situations that take place before actual negotiation between two or more parties, and the use of ICT has made each phase of the prcess mre productive. CONFLICT RESOLUTION, PREVENTIVE DIPLOMACY AND RECONCILITION Effective information sharing acts as the key to conflict resolution, reconciliation and preventive diplomacy. ICT through main stream media platforms and new media can play a big role in supporting diplomats in conflict resolution, reconcialiation and revention efforts. Most especially in situations where engagement of international actors, local activists, citizens and diaspora is necessary for the efforts to succeed, ICT can be used to create awareness and publicity for policy initiatives adpted to address core issues, to create open discussions and receive feedback on ‘state thinking’ amongst non-state actors. The Si Lankan government’s intiative through the Ministry of external Affairs is a good example where e-diplomacy has been employed to educate the Diaspora and the international community on efforts taken in reconciliation and prevention of the re-escalation of the armed conflict which ravaged the country for over thurty years. ICT AS A BOOSTER OF SOFT POWER IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Cyber pwer can be used to produce preferred outcomes within cyberspace or it can use cyber instruments to poduce preferred outcomes in other domains outside cyberspace (Nye, J, S. 2012). An enormous number of people are beginning to rely on ICT fr information ad communication. The diplomat’s audience is no longer confined to his external counterparts and internal cllegues. He is force to interact with ndviduals supplying their own souces a blogs to terrorists producing and web publishing graphic videos of killings ( Grant, R. 2004). The following are situations where ICT can be sed in achieveing two major elements of Public diplomacy RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT AMONGST KEY DIPLOMACY PLAYERS A diplomats relationship is no longer exclusive. Diplomacy has lost its exclusivity and ability to operate in insular, protected circles. Influence is no longer in a single direction i.e from diplomats to citizens. Diplomacy has become more democratized (Grant,R. 2004). Therefore, diplmats should embrace this democratization and expand their utreach and use ICT tools to manage the ld and new players in the system. Virtual deks and netwoks connecting key players such as the academia, NGOs, corporate, citizens and the Diaspora, active participation/interactions in the ‘blogsphere’ and social media can induce confidence and trust and credibility amongst the new players such as NGOs, corporate, citizens and the Diaspora, active participartin/interactions in the ‘blogsphere’ and social media can induce confidence and trust and credibility amongst the new players such as NGs and citizens wh have immense mobiliing power in the public domain. ADVANCEMENTS OF POLICY GOALS ICT has been used for advocacy amngst players such as NGOSs, interest groups etc. It is a well knwn fact that the ‘Arab springs’ which took overthrew regimes and the policy fabric of the Middle Eastern world was ably supported by new media tools. Similarly, foreign policy gals cn be lobbied by government through the use of ICT tools. The ‘CNN EFFECT’ which became popular during the Gulf war era has been put forward as an example where media has been the driver of foreign policy of one major state (Piers, R.. 2010) . ICT can be used not onlyl as a river, but also as a ‘producer’ of consent aimed at achieving policy goals of a government. (Saddiki, S. 2006) . CONCLUSION Evolution of ICT’s poses fundamental challenges to conventional diplomacy such as breaching confidentiality, promoting openness and transparency, and reducing hierarchy. Despite this, the business case for ‘virtuality’ in diplomacy and diplomatic relations is compelling in that it is more efficient and acts as a leveraging tool. The use of ICT in international relations is especially beneficial to developing countries and countires that are in post conflict resurgence situatins. Furthermore, GSM phones to satellite televisions, emails to the Wi-Fi(internet), to voice and video conferencing over skype have not only revised the way and manner diplomats view the world around them and redefined the manner in which the international environment is being conducted, there has also been an astronomical shift in the international environment. This shift has not only affected the conduct of diplomacy, but also the context in which diplomats carry out their roles. Primarily, an increase in the number of non-state actors, the involvement of citizens in both foreign and domestic foreign policy making all have an effect on the traditional state as it reduces the power of autocratic states. Notwithstanding, modern diplomats are advised to adapt quickly to the new hi-tech communication environment. Furthermore countries such as Nepal an Sri Lanka can use ICT to attract and build networks with Diaspora who have immigrated to other countries due to the country situation and encourage returnees and build broken bonds with them. Moreover, news can be presented in a more authenthic fashion with the se f new media platforms rather than the run of the mill press conferences and statements ssued in connection. ICT can not only be used for its functional benefits but also strategically as an advertisement platform of a ountry;s competencies, socio political and economic ideals and realities As mentioned earlier, diplomacy has been democratized by the onslaught of technological advancements . This democratization should be seen as an advantage and not otherwise. In essence, democratization coupled with the decentralization of information has helped forecast events in the international sector gearing diplomats to formulate responses beforehand rather than ‘fire fighting’ during and in the aftermath of an event. Considering all this determinant factors and obvious changes, it is important that diplomats take note of the technological developments and get in to line with the information environment created y them to prevent redundancy in the ICT age. Developing countries, ought to take a step and reassess and analyse the training programmes made available for diplomats in ICTS. In addition, developing states such as Sudan, ought to see ICT should be seen as ‘a blessing in disguise’ that will strengthen their diplomats to overcome either socioeconomic or political challnges that are thrown their way in the path of development.

The Internet Essays -- The Internet

Whether you’re an average teenager wanting to keep in touch with friends after school, or a business person needing a low cost but effective way to keep work related material local and secret, chances are you use E-Mail or Instant Messaging services. For communication purposes in this high tech lifestyle that exists today, these systems are used only with the basic understanding needed to run these devices. You are about to learn how these systems came to be and the in depth understanding needed to make them work.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To start with, you must know that they require a system of computers connected to a LAN (Local Area Network) server. The most commonly used and largest LAN server in the world is the Internet. Since the internet hosts the majority of all IM (Instant Messaging) and E-Mail servers, then you must know the beginnings of it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Internet’s precursor was the ARPANET. The ARPANET was a large wide-area network created by the United States Defense Advanced Research project Agency (ARPA). Established in 1969 ARPANET served as a test-bed for new networking technologies, linking many universities and research centers. The first two nodes that formed the ARPANET were UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute, followed by the University of Utah. Because of his unique expertise in data networking Len Kleinrock would use the technology which by then had come to be known as â€Å"packet switching†. When TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) was adopted by the ARPANET as its connection for the networks, the Internet was born.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first email message was sent by Len Kleinrock in 1973. He used the Resource-Sharing Executive program (RSEXEC) to send a message to a man in London that he forgot his razor in his room and to retrieve it while at the international meeting for government funding projects like the ARPANET from other countries. To do so he first had to run the RSEXEC program in his home in Los Angeles and then had to think of a person on the network at 3 A.M. When he did, he put the â€Å"where so-and-so† command in and connected his computer to the other so the TALK command would be enabled. RSEXEC opened a split screen window, one to write messages and the other to read. As time passed, this process of using a resource sharing program as a message sending... ... out with their own versions as well. Since AOL controls the majority of IM systems, it will not allow the software the capability to communicate with other IM systems. Other companies have taken a different approach rather than wait for an agreed-upon standard. Jabber is one company that has created a client program capable of communicating with various IM systems.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Instant Messaging works by using a piece software called a CLIENT. The CLIENT is normally a software the is in the server and/or maybe needed in the user to machine for proper use. The client communicates with an ICQ server whenever the user’s online and the client is running. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is currently developing a standard protocol for instant messaging, this protocol is know as the Instant Messaging and Presence Protocol.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As time has passed and technologies have improved more and more little things tend to replace the uses of what was once a great and commonly used services. So who is not to say that one day the usage of e-mail services will gradually be wilted away by some unheard of system that may become just as big.

Nt1310

Define the following terms: 1. Horizontal Cable : A type of inside cable designed for horizontal use in non-plenum areas. While horizontal cable must be fire retardant, the National Electrical Code (NEC) specifications are not as demanding as those governing the use of plenum cable or riser cable. See also NEC, plenum, plenum cable, and riser cable. 2. Backbone Cable : Backbone cabling is the inter-building and intra-building cable connections in structured cabling between entrance facilities, equipment rooms and telecommunications closets.Backbone cabling consists of the transmission media, main and intermediate cross-connects and terminations at these locations. This system is mostly used in data centers. 3. Patch Cords: a short cord with a plug at each end, or a plug at one end and a pair of clips at the other, used for temporarily connecting two pieces of equipment or signal paths. 4. Connectors: A device for holding two parts of an electrical conductor in contact. 5. Conduit: A tube or duct for enclosing electric wires or cable. 6.Racks: A computer rack (commonly called a rack) is a metal frame used to hold various hardware devices such as servers, hard disk drives, modems and other electronic equipment. Some may refer to a rack as â€Å"LAN or network furniture† as resembles a shelving structure where components can be attached vertically, stacked on top of one another. A computer rack can also be called a relay rack or open rack. 7. Punch-Down Blocks: is a type of electrical connection often used in telephony. It is named because the solid copper wires are â€Å"punched down† into short open-ended slots which are a type of insulation-displacement connectors.These slots, usually cut crosswise (not lengthwise) across an insulating plastic bar, contain two sharp metal blades which cut through the wire's insulation as it is punched down. These blades hold the wire in position and make the electrical contact with the wire as well. 8. Consolidati on Points: an optional device for interconnecting horizontal cables between the Horizontal Cross-Connect and the Telecommunications Outlet or MUTOA within a structured cabling system. 9. Crimpers: A tool used to crimp, to join two pieces of metal 10.Fish Tape : a flat tempered spring-steel tape or wire used in pulling electric wire and cables (as into conduit runs) —called also snake wire 11. Continuity Tester: is an item of electrical test equipment used to determine if an electrical path can be established between two points;[1] that is if an electrical circuit can be made. The circuit under test is completely de-energized prior to connecting the apparatus 12. Category 5e/6 Cable : cabling is used as a cabling infrastructure for 10BASE-T (Ethernet), full duplex 100BASE-TX (Fast Ethernet) and 1000BASE-T (Gigabit Ethernet, or GbE) networks.The Cat 5e standard provides performance of up to 100 MHz and can be used up to a maximum length of 100 meters. 13. Binder Groups: A group of wire pairs bound together, usually by some sort of color-coded plastic tape or thread. In a large twisted pair cable, there may be many pairs combined into binder groups of 25 pairs for ease of connectivity management. Each pair within a binder group is uniquely color-coded for further ease of management. See also cable and wire. 14. Hybrid/Composite Cable : composite cable A communications cable having both optical and metallic signal-carrying components.Note 1: A cable having optical fiber(s) and a metallic component, e. g. , a metallic twisted pair, used solely for conduction of electric power to repeaters, does qualify as a composite cable. Note 2: A cable having optical fiber(s) , plus a metallic strength member or armor, does not qualify as a composite cable. Hybrid †¢An optical communications cable having two or more different types of optical fibers, e. g. , single-mode and multimode fibers. 15. Pulling Cable : The act of pulling the wires, as of a puppet; hence, se cret influence or management, especially in politics; intrigue 6. Wavelengths of Light: The length of a single cycle of a wave, usually measured from crest-to-crest. For electromagnetic waves 17. EMI : is the disruption of operation of an electronic device when it is in the vicinity of an electromagnetic field (EM field) in the radio frequency (RF) spectrum that is caused by another electronic device. 18. Optical-Fiber Strand : Is this referring to the actual pure glass on the middle of the fiber 19. Index of Refraction : the ratio of the velocity of light in a vacuum to that in a medium. 0. wordnetweb. princeton. edu/perl/webwn 21. Cable Jacket : The outer protective coating which covers the core of the cable.. 22. Cladding Size : A metal coating bonded onto another metal under high pressure and temperature. 23. Multifiber Cables : Fiber optic Cable bearing many fibers independently sheathed and capable of carrying unrelated signals. They often surround a central strength member, a nd can be either loose- or tight-buffered. One standard configuration is a 12-fiber cable. 24. Differential Mode Delay: 25.In an optical fiber, the variation in propagation delay that occurs because of the different group velocities of different modes. Synonym multimode group delay. 26. Chromatic Dispersion : In optics, dispersion is the phenomenon in which the phase velocity of a wave depends on its frequency,[1] or alternatively when the group velocity depends on the frequency. Media having such a property are termed dispersive media. Dispersion is sometimes called chromatic dispersion to emphasize its wavelength-dependent nature, or group-velocity dispersion (GVD) to emphasize the role of the group velocity