July 1st, 2009
Happy Independence Day from the Hydrogen Convergence
The team at the ebTDesign Forum would like to wish you and yours a happy and safe Fourth of July weekend. We are grateful for all our loyal readers and followers on twitter. These are very exciting times for energy independence and hydrogen convergence. The changes to our energy landscape are happening fast and furious. Sometimes you need a break to catch your breath so enjoy this weekend. We hope to see you next week at the ebTDesign Forum or in the twitterverse having had a very special weekend with friends and family.
Zachary Alexander
The IT Investment Architect®
June 15th, 2009
Commentary on Potential for United States Economic Growth
The Wall Street Journal published an article called “Federal Intervention Pits Gets vs. Get-Nots.” This article chronicles the lengths that the Obama Administration is willing go to ensure that America doesn’t suffer a double dip recession. However, the Wall Street Media has been slow to acknowledge the main challenge facing the United States Economy which is where will organic economic growth come from in the near term.
For almost a decade, the financial markets have been searching for a catalyst to lead us out of the economic wilderness. We at the ebTDesign Forum call this new concept for growth the hydrogen convergence. It implies that a new growth platform will emerge based hydrogen and the movement away fossil fuels. This means that the economic value of any one technology must be weighed against possibilities for moving the country ahead as a whole.
Post-Globalization, the potential for growth in the United States lies in its ability to create economic value with industry clusters empowerment. The last economic age was based on commodity thinking and transnational business practices. Today’s greatest potential lies with helping hometown communities navigate the many industry possibilities associated with hydrogen convergence.
Zachary Alexander
The IT Investment Architect®
June 2nd, 2009
Questioning President Obama’s Hydrogen Legacy
Many of President Barack Obama’s political opponents have been quick to write his administration’s hydrogen legacy after the DOE (Department of Energy) suggested defunding the hydrogen car programs. They have seized upon this decision and suggest that is a sign of things to come. We at the ebTDesign Forum warn that this criticism maybe premature.
A smoking gun has been found in the form of the GAO Report on the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative. This document calls in to question many of the assumptions that the DOE used to make its hydrogen car decision. In fact, the sub-title advices the DOE to update its goals regarding what it expects to achieve by 2015. If the DOE has done so, it’s hard to believe that justifications would have been found to interrupt any of the hydrogen research funding.
The one unexpected nugget of information that can be mined from the GAO report is the role the DOT (Department of Transportation) played in hampering hydrogen adoption. It would appear that the lack of hydrogen integration (e.g., refueling stations) can be attributed to under investment by the DOT. While the DOE is willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on lithium battery research, the DOT was only willing to spend at most $1.4 million on research into the deployment of hydrogen refueling stations.
Supporters and critics alike are reminded of the Obama Administration’s willingness to acknowledge errors in their calculations and to change course. They have also made transparency a hallmark and standing operating procedure. Once the existence of the GAO’s analysis of the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative becomes widely known, we have no doubt that the Department of Energy and the Depart of Transportation will seek to rectify the founding imbalances based on the potential for securing America’s energy future.
The IT Investment Architect®
Concepts: DOE, DOT, GAO, hydrogen, ObamaMay 28th, 2009
Open Invitation to the Hydrogen Revolution
Many of you have been tweeting about the Hydrogen Road Tour currently taking place on the West Coast. Like the time just prior to the commercial launch of the Internet, we are poised for explosive growth in the near term. Unfortunately unlike the ARPA era funding, the Department of Energy has decided to abandon hydrogen related technologies as commercialization efforts ramp up.
We at the ebTDesign Forum would like to invite you to join us in the twitterverse as we discuss the coming Hydrogen Revolution. Many of President Barack Obama’s most ardent critics have asked the question, “What happens after the economic recovery money is spent?” Based on America’s past investments, we would suggest that a market for hydrogen related technologies will emerge.
Join us as we ask the United States Congress to make America’s energy policy whole again. During our daily chats we will make the case for restoring hydrogen research funding to levels that were originally in place earlier this year. We will comprise a hydrogen resistance that won’t let the DOE Bureaucracy undermine the work of so many in the hydrogen industry and put America’s energy future at risk.
PS: You can follow me on twitter @zalexander
Zachary Alexander
The IT Investment Architect®
May 15th, 2009
Learning New Assignments for Angel Investors
This is the 5th audio segment in the “Let’s Talk Industry Cluster Empowerment” series. In this episode, we will talk about the benefits of working with angel investors on industry cluster empowerment. We will discuss the special knowledge they bring to the business development process.
Hopefully you’ll enjoy this new audio segment: Zachary Alexander, The IT Investment Architect®
May 1st, 2009
Like Pop Stars of the post-Globalization Marketplace
This is the fourth audio segment in the “Let’s Talk Industry Cluster Empowerment” series. In this episode, we will discuss the chops hometown communities need to participate in the post-Globalization Marketplace.
We hope you enjoy this new audio segment: Zachary Alexander, The IT Investment Architect®
April 29th, 2009
America’s First 100 Days of post-Globalization Transition
Fox has decided not to carry President Barack Obama’s news conference live. They have decided to focus on their bottom line while hometown communities continue to lose jobs and any hope of achieving the American Dream. President Obama was the first United States President elected during the post-Globalization transition. However, he is not the story. Improving the fate of working and middle class Americans as they move into the creative class is where we should be focused.
The last time we decided to behave in this manner and turn inward upon ourselves, we missed the signs that could have stopped the deaths of so many on the morning of September 11th. This is not the time to take our eyes off the ball or minds out of the game. We are in the midst of the post-Globalization transition and everyone is trying to improve the standard of living in their country.
Many developed countries will not respond to the changes this next great economic age will demand. They will pretend that the world will simply return the norms of the last economic age. We at the ebTDesign Forum would suggest that most in the United States wouldn’t want to live in one of those countries. We strongly advise working and middle class professionals to join us as we put America on a more entrepreneurial footing and create jobs in hometown communities. This is what really matters not the sideshow that politics has become.
Zachary Alexander
The IT Investment Architect®
April 15th, 2009
Adjusting to the post-Globalization Time Warp
This is the third audio segment in the “Let’s Talk Industry Cluster Empowerment” series. In this episode, we will discuss the current business climate and the potential adjustments needed for the post-Globalization Marketplace. We hope you enjoy this new audio segment: Zachary Alexander, The IT Investment Architect®
April 14th, 2009
What are you doing different with industry cluster empowerment this summer?
You can’t turn on the TV or pick up a newspaper or read a blog without someone talking about the fact that we live in extraordinary times. My question is “Should we be doing something more with industry cluster empowerment to improve the business climate in our hometown communities.” Should we be spending time finding ways to put our business communities on more entrepreneurial footings?
Once again, we at the ebTDesign Forum will be supporting Global Entrepreneurship Week. Global Entrepreneurship Week is an international initiative designed to inspire the next generation of hometown entrepreneurs. This event will bring together local groups interested in enhancing the education and engagement of young people in the entrepreneurial process. This summer, we will be actively planning Let’s Talk Industry Cluster Empowerment Special Events for Global Entrepreneurship Week. How about you?
The IT Investment Architect®
Concepts: entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, industry clusterApril 13th, 2009
Exploring the twitterverse for Industry Cluster Empowerment
Blogging has been light the past few weeks because we have been exploring opportunities for introducing industry cluster empowerment to the twitterverse. For those of you who are not active on twitter.com, the twitterverse is the online space that extends into facebook and touches LinkedIn communities.
If the blogosphere is where the last economic age ended (globalization), then the twitterverse is where the post-Globalization Marketplace will be defined. We at the ebTDesign Forum invite you to join us on this journey of research and discovery. It promises to be a very exciting time.
PS: You can follow me at www.twitter.com/zalexander.
Zachary Alexander
The IT Investment Architect®
April 8th, 2009
What can the NFL Teach US about Industry Cluster Empowerment?
This is the second audio segment of the “Let’s Talk Industry Cluster Empowerment series.” In this episode, we will discuss the seasonal planning required for success in the National Football League and the post-Globalization Marketplace.
We hope you enjoy this new audio segment: Zachary Alexander, The IT Investment Architect®
April 6th, 2009
Why the US Dollar needs Industry Cluster Empowerment.
Last week there was a huge outcry from some Asian countries to leave the dollar behind. Lawmakers in the United States Congress would do well to pay close attention to the tone and tenor of these discussions because the same chorus was heard a year before the banking crisis. Also, a similar uproar effectively ended the Doha Round of International Trade Talks and brought to a close the last economic age.
The post-Globalization Marketplace will be a very different place for everyone. As countries reduce their reliance on fossil fuel, their need for a single hard currency will also be diminished. Research has shown that individuals are rapidly moving away from using cash for personal business transactions. Even more significantly, this trend will manifest as an increase in the importance of influence investments which are the basis for industry cluster empowerment.
A case could be made that international business is currently driven by a fundamental need to obtain US Dollars for oil and other petroleum resources. Industry cluster empowerment could replace fossil fuel dependence as the rationale for market interconnectedness and US Dollar value. Local communities that want to retain their position in the post-Globalization Marketplace will develop satellite programs which extend the reach of their innovation-infrastructures and provide access to additional tacit knowledge.
The IT Investment Architect®
Concepts: Doha-Round, industry cluster, Innovation-Infrastructure, post-GlobalizationApril 1st, 2009
Let’s Talk Industry Cluster Empowerment
This is the first episode in the ebTDesign Audio series called “Let’s Talk Industry Cluster Empowerment.” In this episode, we will introduce industry cluster empowerment and discuss what’s happening in the post-Globalization Marketplace since the last podcasts.
Please enjoy this new audio series: Zachary Alexander, The IT Investment Architect®
March 30th, 2009
Open Letter to Dir. of Auto Recovery about Industry Cluster Empowerment
To: Mr. Edward Montgomery,
If the auto industry is truly important to the United States Economy then solutions have to be designed to remove impediments to starting new car companies. The best way to do this is to fully invest in industry cluster empowerment. We at the ebTDesign Forum propose the creation of industry programs that unleash the creative skills of middle-class Americans and provides for an orderly movement of these workers into the creative class.
Auto industry research and discovery has to be unbundled from the current manufacturing base and held in independent repositories. Next generation solutions should not have to rely on last generation cost structures and transnational business practices that destroy hometown communities. The current car companies should be thought of as stop gaps that are funded to maintain tacit knowledge. Local communities should then be encouraged to rapidly start industry cluster empowerment programs to take advantage of the available industry specific knowledge.
We recommend the United States investigate the possibility of finding local partners willing to help establish domestic contract auto manufacturing facilities. These facilities could produce “hydrogen skateboards” that would then be sold to hometown entrepreneurs. The hydrogen skateboard was a bright idea considered by auto makers for addressing the continuously low margins associated passenger vehicles. Under this solution, all of the fuel cell technology and drivetrain are manufactured and sold as a single standardized sub-assembly.
Putting America on a better entrepreneurial footing is about creating more than just a slogan pledging support for disruptive innovation. New hydrogen driven companies are needed to produce hydrogen powered cars. This means you need industry leaders (pioneers) who understand the potential of hydrogen fuel cells and are enthusiastic about the current opportunities. Historically, mature companies and aging industries have never led America out of the depths of economic turmoil. It has always been our ability to harness the unknown and yet to be invented.
Zachary Alexander
The IT Investment Architect®
March 27th, 2009
Update: Industry Cluster Empowerment Podcasts
The new ebTDesign Audio series called “Let’s Talk Industry Cluster Empowerment” is proceeding on course quite rapidly. The goal of these new podcast segments is to start discussions about how to use industry cluster empowerment to drive hometown economies in this country and abroad.
Here are a few of the topics we are considering:
- Putting America on a more Entrepreneurial Footing
- Entrepreneurship in a post-Globalization Marketplace
- Channeling Creative Destruction with Industry Cluster Empowerment
We at the ebTDesign Forum are actively seeking input as we embark on this journey of research and discovery. We are looking for case studies and success stories but any advice or guidance is welcomed.
PS: If you’re not a member of the Strategic Network for Industry Cluster Empowerment (SNICE), now would be a great time to join.
Zachary Alexander
The IT Investment Architect®
March 26th, 2009
Can Industry Cluster Empowerment Solve Energy Problems?
There was a program announced today that asked the question, “Can Silicon Valley Solve the Energy Problem.” According to our research at the ebTDesign Forum, the answer is not in a reasonable amount of time. No one region can resolve the energy challenges for the country as a whole without at least a generation of pushback. On the other hand, not only can industry cluster empowerment fix the energy problem, it can restore vitality to the entire United States Economy.
Unless local entrepreneurs are involved in the development of these new technologies they will simply die on the vine when they are rolled out into hometown communities. It’s widely rumored that MTV brought down the Berlin wall. If that’s the case then it was the blogosphere and distributed ownership that brought down globalization. The reason is because individuals want to share responsibility for designing the policies that affect their lives.
There is always a sense of entitlement whenever someone from Silicon Valley talks about new research and discoveries. This sentiment is shortsighted because it ignores the negative aspects of transnational business practices that many in Silicon Valley adhere. The Wall Street bankers have not yet realized the need to abandon transnational business practices. Hopefully, the renewable-energy policy makers will hear the change in tone regarding Silicon Valley hatched schemes and recognize the need to put America on a more entrepreneurial footing.
The IT Investment Architect®
Concepts: entrepreneur, entrepreneurial-footing, industry cluster, renewable-energyMarch 25th, 2009
Post-Globalization Observations from President Obama’s Speech
The biggest takeaway from President Barack Obama’s news conference was that he is prepared to do what it takes to make the United States a leader in the post-Globalization Marketplace. We, at the ebTDesign Forum, define this next great economic age as a political economy in which the jobs are created locally and all markets are interconnected.
This observation was drawn from President Obama’s response to a question about the creation of a global currency. The question ignores the main contributor to the current financial crisis which was the end of globalization. As we describe it, globalization was a business strategy where consumption was local and the jobs were distributed globally.
The collapse of the Wall Street banks and the global financial system was a direct result of the failed attempts to conclude the Doha Round of international trade talks. Everyone who was listening clearly heard a change in tone concerning the benefits of globalization. It would appear that many of the most lionized corporate thinkers were simply tone deaf to the negative aspects of transnational business practices and the potential impact that the failure of the trade talks would have on the United States Economy.
Zachary Alexander
The IT Investment Architect®
March 24th, 2009
Choosing Industry Cluster Empowerment when the Reset Doesn’t Work
This weekend one the commentators referred to the current financial crisis as an economic reset. The problem with this statement is that people don’t economically reset. They have to be helped to transition into the post-Globalization marketplace. Choosing to fully invest in industry cluster empowerment is important because it provides a framework for absorbing displaced workers as they adjust to a P2P Economy that requires them to be more entrepreneurial.
In the post-Globalization marketplace, local industry leaders (pioneers) can use industry cluster empowerment and business federations to create market advantages unavailable to companies with high legacy costs. For those readers new to the ebTDesign Forum, we define globalization as a business strategy where consumption is local and the jobs are distributed globally. On the other hand, the post-Globalization marketplace is a political economy in which the jobs are local and all markets are interconnected.
Many Wall Street bankers don’t understand this process because of their outdated beliefs about globalization and their heavy reliance on transnational business practices. The process of globalization provided senior executives with a healthy sense of self-worth and economic entitlement. Decisions could be made without regard to the impact on hometown communities because credit was cheap and funding was readily available. Hopefully, Wall Street will see the value in a P2P Economy transition once they understand that a simple reset doesn’t work.
The IT Investment Architect®
Concepts: industry cluster, pioneer, post-Globalization, transitionMarch 19th, 2009
Industry Cluster Empowerment vs. the Real Danger of the AIG Snafu
Many in the mainstream media and in the blogosphere started sniping at President Barack Obama’s stimulus package before any of the money had been deployed. Since the news broke about the AIG bonus payments, the chorus has gotten even louder. We at the ebTDesign Forum would suggest that readers look at the AIG Snafu as an example of what could have happened if the stimulus package had failed and as the rationale for why we need the foundation for economic change that industry cluster empowerment provides.
Most of the commentators and industry experts (tourists) that complain about the stimulus package have ignored the importance of speed when dealing with an economic crisis. These gurus have underestimated the social unrest that would have occurred had unemployment rates reached levels not seen since the Great Depression. Main Street would have erupted on a much grander scale because the press would not have been able to suppress the details of the government’s inaction.
The United States is not out of the woods yet. The trends lines are headed in the right direction but we still haven’t dealt with the core problem which was the end of globalization. We have only just begun to build the institutions that will be needed for the emerging P2P Economy. In fact, one of the things that may have saved European countries from the hardships we have seen is the quality of their social safety net. This has produced a distinct advantage in the post-globalization marketplace because fewer of their people have panicked.
This advantage should, however, disappear as more of President Obama’s micro business safety net takes hold. Once support issues have been canceled out, countries will have to create market advantage using their ability to innovate and harness enthusiasm for industry cluster empowerment. In the post-Globalization marketplace, leadership will come from those countries and/or communities that are placed on the soundest entrepreneurial footing.
The IT Investment Architect®
Concepts: entrepreneurial-footing, industry cluster, Obama, pioneer, post-Globalization, touristMarch 18th, 2009
Can Industry Cluster Empowerment Salvage a Wasted Decade?
Commentators on the cable news channels like to call Japan’s effort to end its economic slowdown as the lost generation. Few of these industry experts (tourists) take the same tact when talking about the last decade in America’s economic history. When the middle-class almost disappeared in the United States, where was the outrage and where was the outcry for new frameworks like industry cluster empowerment?
Working and middle-class Americans have subsisted on a daily diet of globalization hype and dreams of a brighter tomorrow. First there was the dotcom bust then the Enron debacle and finally the housing meltdown. It’s been almost a decade since the end of the dotcom boom and the majority of Americans have had some good news. While executives at transnational corporations padded their bonus checks, the American Dream has been under attack and many have fallen.
White House officials tell us, we are nearing the end of this economic downturn. They point to positive trends in the stock market and new home starts. On the other hand, we at the ebTDesign Forum believe that the true measure of success will be when America is put on a more entrepreneurial footing and there is wide spread adoption of industry cluster empowerment. The effects of this wasted decade will linger on until hometown entrepreneurs take ownership of their local business climate and stop letting the transnational media set terms of success.
The IT Investment Architect®
Concepts: entrepreneur, entrepreneurial-footing, globalization, industry cluster, tourist