Information Policy

Gemius: Israeli online audience measurement results published

Gemius, the leading internet research agency in the EMEA region, in partnership with local specialists Erez Bahat and Market Watch Institute, has published results of gemiusAudience online audience measurement of the Israeli market. The study, commissioned by the Israeli Internet Rating Association (IIRA), offers a much awaited, reliable ranking of the most popular sites on the market as well as an insight into the demographics and specificities of local internet users.
According to Erez Bahat, the key players of the Israeli internet industry are full of hope towards the online audience measurement project, even more so in light of the recent slowdown on the market. In 2011, according to the Israeli Advertisers Association, the share of adspends shrank for the first time in almost a decade. It dropped by 7%, while the average reduction in adspends in Israel was by 4.5%. Sagi Stunis, General Manager of IIRA, observing a huge interest in the data within JIC and beyond, adds: I am certain that the implementation of gemiusAudience will give the market a jolt of energy – for advertisers, ad agencies, as well as content managers.
gemiusAudience currently reaches 90% of the 5.1 million internet users (age 7+) in Israel, with online penetration oscillating at 75%. The results show that the distribution of genders in the population of web users is almost equal, with a slight advantage of men (53% versus 47% for women). Worth noting is the fact that as many as 40% of Israeli men and 35% women declare to browse the internet on their mobile phones. The most numerous age group on the Israeli internet is 35-44 year olds, constituting almost 16% of the total number of users.
At the moment, the results are based on the Gemius cookie panel data, where only the sites participating in the research are presented. Such site-centric data is enriched with insights from over 30,000 panellists who answered an online questionnaire and provided comprehensive information regarding numerous socio-demographical parameters. These were then used for media planning and for improving knowledge of publishers about their audience. As the research develops and a relevant decision of the Israeli Joint Industry Committee (IIRA) is issued, data regarding the popularity of global online players as Google or Facebook, which do not tag their sites, may be published as well.
As for now, the top 10 ranking of the most popular Israeli websites presents a cross-section of the market, with a visible predominance of news portals. The leader, walla.co.il, is a horizontal portal owned by a local telecom company. One of its key competitive advantages is a well-developed mail service, effectively attracting the local users. Ynet.co.il, no. 2 in the ranking, is a news portal owned by the largest offline publisher in Israel. The third of the leading sites, mako.co.il – is a general portal and an online arm of the leading Israeli commercial TV broadcasting company. The top 10 ranking also features such services as a user-generated content website (tapuz.co.il - no.4), a merge of a horizontal portal with a TV service (nana10.co.il - no.5) or a sports site (one.co.il - no. 10).
Table 1. Top 10 most popular websites on the Israeli internet
 
Source: Gemius, gemiusAudience, December 2011
The study introduced on the market by Gemius and its partners is a first fully credible and transparent one - the market used to rely only on declarative surveys and the number of Unique Visitors, that is cookies. gemiusAudience uses  methodology applied on 25 markets of the EMEA region. The key advantage of the project is the employment of Real Users person-based metric, offering a reliable calculation of the number of internet users on the market. To offer the study’s participants the highest level of convenience, a multilanguage questionnaire is used (4 versions: Hebrew, Arabic, English and Russian) using four different alphabets and sets of symbols (Hebrew, Arabic, English and Cyrillic).

http://www.gemius.com/pl/news/2012-01-31/01

Why most Facebook users get more than they give

Most Facebook users receive more from their Facebook friends than they give, according to a new study that for the first time combines server logs of Facebook activity with survey data to explore the structure of Facebook friendship networks and measures of social well-being.

These data were then matched with survey responses. And the new findings show that over a one-month period:

• 40% of Facebook users in our sample made a friend request, but 63% received at least one request
• Users in our sample pressed the like button next to friends’ content an average of 14 times, but had their content “liked” an average of 20 times
• Users sent 9 personal messages, but received 12
• 12% of users tagged a friend in a photo, but 35% were themselves tagged in a photo

“The explanation for this pattern is fascinating for a couple of reasons,” noted Prof. Keith Hampton, the lead author of the Pew Internet report, Why Most Facebook Users Get More Than They Give. “First, it turns out there are segments of Facebook power users who contribute much more content than the typical user. Most Facebook users are moderately active over a one month time period, so highly active power users skew the average. Second, these power users constitute about 20%-30% of Facebook users, but the striking thing is that there are different power users depending on the activity in question. One group of power users dominates friending activity. Another dominates ‘liking’ activity. And yet another dominates photo tagging.”

http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Facebook-users.aspx

New startup hub to boost Latvian tech community

TechHub Riga is set to open next month, and will offer co-working spaces to local IT firms. It is the second location of TechHub, based in London, a well-known startup incubator and co-working space.

In East London, there's a small area known as the Silicon Roundabout, in the district of Shoreditch - it's the British answer to Silicon Valley. By 2010, there were nearly 100 tech startups located there, including TweetDeck, Songkick, Last.fm, Dopplr, and many others. In September 2011, Google acquired a seven-story building nearby as an event and workshop space.

One of the neighborhood's anchors is TechHub, a co-working space that was co-founded by one of the editors at TechCrunch Europe, one of the continent's most well-known tech blogs.

However, next month, TechHub is expanding for the first time to the European mainland - to Latvia. Starting on February 9, 2012 TechHub Riga will offer a co-working space for new IT start-ups and will host local and international tech events on a regular basis.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15658437,00.html

Russian companies invest in developing countries broadband at local market too tight

ICT Group and A&NN Investment have bought a controlling stake in Peru’s Yota Del Peru from Russian internet operator Yota.

Analysts say the Russian companies are looking for opportunities abroad as the domestic market is very crowded.

The companies plan to invest over $100mln in the project to increase the subscribers’ base to over 300,000 in three years. They estimate earnings will exceed 60mln dollars.

The Peruvian company was established in 2010 by Yota Holdings, major Russian high-speed wireless internet provider, and the Multinet Group, an international group of telecommunication companies that operate networks in the emerging markets. The joint venture specialises in high-speed Internet technology over long distances.

“We estimate that wide frequency domain and lack of other major players in this segment will let us swiftly and efficiently develop mass internet access service in Peruvian market” – wrote Igor Litvak head of ICT Group Investment Department on the company’s website.

Multinet Group will stay in the project and will perform operational administration, as it has business experience in such developing countries as Afghanistan, Mozambique, Bangladesh, Uganda and Sierra Leone.

ICT plans to abandon the Yota brand and switch to the name of Ollo. ICT, A&NN and Multinet Group already own a company under this brand in Bangladesh, which provides high-speed internet technologies in the country.

Investcafe analyst Ilya Rachenkov thinks the trend of Russian companies going abroad, specifically to developing countries is natural.“The Russian market is overcrowded by local operators. New players choose developing countries where technologies are not evolved yet and the market is relatively free of competition along with major operators. Besides, developing countries are known for their surging population which means more consumers”.

http://rt.com/business/news/russian-companies-investment-technology-981/

Horizon 2020: Commission proposes EUR 80 billion investment in research and innovation, to boost growth and jobs

The European Commission has today presented a package of measures to boost research, innovation and competitiveness in Europe. Commissioner Maire Geoghegan-Quinn has announced Horizon 2020, an EUR 80 billion programme for investment in research and innovation. Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou has put forward a Strategic Innovation Agenda for the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), which will receive EUR 2.8 billion of funding under Horizon 2020. In parallel, Vice-President Antonio Tajani has announced a complementary new programme to boost competitiveness and innovation in SMEs, with an additional budget of EUR 2.5 billion. The funding programmes run from 2014 to 2020.

Horizon 2020 : background memo:

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/11/848&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

Finland- nation of innovation

Irina Blomqvist, Timo Antikainen, and Jari Tielinen, of Invest in Finland, give an overview of why Finland is a true nation of innovation

A strong commitment to innovation and R&D by both the public and private sectors has played a crucial role in Finland's development into one of the leading knowledge-based economies in the world. Finland's R&D expenditure has consistently been above 3% of GDP since the turn of the millennium. As a result, Finland is now ranked among the most R&D-intensive countries globally.

In 2008, total R&D expenditure in Finland was €6.871bn – or 3.72% of GDP – in 2008, according to Statistics Finland. The share of business enterprises from the total expenditure was 71.4%, or €4.847bn, while the share of the university sector was 18.9% and the public sector 9.7%.

Finland and Sweden are the only countries that have reached the 3% target for research intensity set by the EU. In 2009 and 2010, Finland's R&D expenditure has been around 4% of GDP, which is also Finland's target rate for the year 2020. The private sector takes the lead in financing domestic R&D activities; in 2009, Finland had the highest gross domestic expenditure on R&D financed by business enterprises at 2.7% of GDP. Private sources contributed 68.1% of the gross R&D expenditure in Finland, compared to the EU average of 54.8%.

Finland's innovation environment has often been judged to be among the best in the world by the World Economic Forum (WEF), IMD, OECD, Economist Intelligence Unit and others. Recently, the Global Innovation Index published by INSEAD ranked Finland fifth overall, and among the top 10 in many of the 'pillars' on which the index scores are based, including institutions, human capital and research, infrastructure, business sophistication, and scientific outputs. Specific strengths identified in the index include Finland's political stability and government effectiveness, education system, the number of researchers and expenditure on R&D, knowledge workers, collaboration between universities and industry, cluster development, and patent applications.

Attractive innovation ecosystem
Finland has established strong institutions that promote a transparent innovation ecosystem involving companies, research institutes and the public sector. Finland's new innovation university – named Aalto University after renowned Finnish architect and academician Alvar Aalto – has opened up new possibilities for strong multidisciplinary education and research. The knowledge transfer between business and universities has been one of the key factors in Finland's track record of innovation and economic success. The Finns also recognise good design as one important aspect of innovation, and are very proud that Helsinki has been chosen as the World Design Capital for 2012.

Although Finland's innovation record stands up well to international comparison, one area where Finns would like to see improvement is the level of foreign direct investment in Finland, especially in R&D. Finland's dynamic innovation environment has a great deal to offer to international companies who are interested in boosting their R&D operations. For example, they can benefit from Finland's advanced 'Living Lab' environment, where users, companies, researchers and public institutions are joining forces to form problem-solving communities.

Researchers and engineers galore
One of the crucial resources Finland can offer the world of R&D is its highly educated workforce. According to the EU's Innovation Union Competitiveness report 2011, Finland has maintained significant growth in the number of its science and engineering graduates. In 2008, Finland had the highest penetration of researchers in the workforce in the EU.

About a third of Finland's working population has a degree or higher qualification and Finland is a leader in the EU in the number of new doctoral graduates relative to the population aged 25-34. In 2009, the rate of participation in Adult Lifelong Learning in Finland was 22.1% of the population aged 25-64, while the EU average was 9.3%.

WEF has ranked Finland as the best in the world for its education system and the availability of scientists and engineers. Nokia's recent strategic shift, resulting in staff reductions in Finland, has also temporarily increased the availability of software engineering talent in the labour market, providing a good opportunity to hire highly qualified and experienced staff.

Finnish ICT and R&D
The ICT sector has grown into one of the cornerstones of the Finnish economy, with Nokia making a major contribution in this regard. R&D intensity has been especially strong in Finland's ICT manufacturing sector, with the country leading the EU in terms of investment in ICT Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) in relation to GDP.

WEF ranked Finland third for ICT readiness and utilisation in the Networked Readiness Index of its Global Information Technology Report 2010-2011. According to the report, Finland has conducive market and regulatory environments, as well as excellent soft and hard infrastructures for ICT utilisation.

Nokia's emergence as a global leader in mobile communications has driven the development of a uniquely strong mobile technology cluster in Finland. The Finns love new gadgets and many services and technologies have been introduced in Finland much earlier than in other countries. Major international companies are using Finland as a test laboratory for experimental launches of new products and services.

According to Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation – companies and research groups working in Finland have world-class competence in a wide range of ICT fields: wireless and mobile communications and networks, radio technologies, future internet, embedded and adaptive systems, signal processing, software technologies and games, algorithms and architectures, security and trust, e-banking, machine vision, positioning and navigation, wireless sensor networks, printable electronics, optical component technologies, and Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS).

Future prospects in ICT
A report published in 2010 by the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries identifies many areas where Finnish ICT companies can play a key role in the business activities of the future. For example, their ICT expertise is central in the development of energy and environmental solutions such as smart grids, smart transport, energy efficiency, environmental monitoring, clean water production and waste processing. As the economies of the developing countries grow and the process of urbanisation continues, there will also be increasing demand for new ICT infrastructures, products and services.

Demographic changes also call for new ICT solutions, particularly in Finland where the population is ageing faster than in the rest of Europe. Finns are already developing new technologies that support wellbeing, independent living and better healthcare for our senior citizens.

Finland is well placed to utilise its mobile expertise in creating smart environments and systems, for example in industrial automation, information systems for construction, buildings and the built environment. The Finnish Ubiquitous Computing Cluster aims to be a leader in the development and commercialisation of embedded intelligence in human-centred, distributed, mobile and constructed environments. The competitiveness of important Finnish exports like machinery, industrial processing equipment, automation systems and ships is greatly dependent on the creative application of innovative ICT solutions.

The rapidly growing importance of digital media in our lives is creating new business opportunities based on the internet and the mobile internet, including games and virtual reality applications. Finnish game developers are already making their mark on the global scene with success stories like Angry Birds, Alan Wake and Habbo. Online services that are more user-friendly, secure and ready to meet the needs of everyday life will also be a key area of growth for the Finnish ICT sector.

Key objectives of the Government of Finland regarding the development of the Information Society in the next 10 years include the opening up of access to public data and their efficient use, promoting user-oriented service development, securing the position of ageing people as active citizens, and supporting sustainable development solutions by adopting new technologies. The government also aims to make high-speed, 100Mb broadband connections available to nearly all permanent residences, businesses and public administration bodies by the end of 2015.

Growing strong with cleantech
The global demand for cleaner technology, energy and processes is constantly increasing. Finland's innovative and fast-growing cleantech sector now includes about 2,000 enterprises, and the national objective is to develop the sector into a new cornerstone industry. Finnish cleantech companies are already global leaders in energy efficiency, clean industrial processes and bioenergy. Other key areas are measuring, analysis and automation, renewable energy, waste management, air protection, as well as water and wastewater treatment.

In 2010, the Finnish Cleantech Cluster was ranked among the world's top three Green Tech Clusters by the Cleantech Group. Finland currently has nine centres of expertise focusing on environmental and clean energy technology, and several ongoing R&D programmes with a total budget of more than €500m. Finland is a great source of advanced technologies and best practices, as well as an ideal test laboratory with its demanding Arctic conditions. International companies can also benefit from the dynamism of the Finnish cleantech sector and cooperate with its ongoing programmes by establishing an R&D unit in Finland.

http://www.publicservice.co.uk/feature_story.asp?id=17621

Commission pushes for effective deployment of pan-European mobile satellite services

The European Commission today adopted a decision which would allow it to coordinate the efforts of EU Member States to accelerate the commercial deployment of pan-European Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) and, if need be, to adopt appropriate enforcement measures. Mobile satellite services use radio spectrum to provide access to communication services, such as Internet access, mobile multimedia/radio and emergency services for all Europeans, however remote the area in which they live. The Commission has taken this decision following the expiry of a two-year period which two operators, Inmarsat Ventures Limited and Solaris Mobile Limited, were given to deploy mobile satellite services systems across Europe.

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/11/1167&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

Telia aiming for 663 LTE localities in 2012

Sweden’s TeliaSonera (Telia) has announced its expansion targets for its Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile broadband network in 2012. Telia plans to expand LTE to 432 new towns, cities, municipalities, resorts and other locations during the year, taking the total number of locations to 663. Earlier this month Telia reached 153 LTE locations and revealed that it would expand coverage to 231 by end-2011.

http://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2011/09/30/telia-aiming-for-663-lte-localities-in-2012/

NASA wants Internet access in space

NASA hopes to extend the use of the Internet across the solar system as one of a host of key enabling technologies to help achieve future goals for human space exploration. The space agency recently published the Global Exploration Roadmap, the result of collaboration between multiple space agencies around the globe, to find "feasible and sustainable exploration pathways to the Moon, near-Earth asteroids, and Mars," according to the document. Now that NASA has ended its space shuttle program, the agency is turning its attention to developing a new space-launch system and crew vehicle that can carry astronauts beyond near-Earth orbit and deeper into space, among other technologies. The roadmap identifies two mission key goals, Asteroid Next and Moon Next, and outlines some of the technologies that will be needed to facilitate them and other future space missions. Among other technologies, the document calls for the expansion of the Internet throughout the solar system by developing advanced communication and space internetworking capabilities. NASA and other agencies will test the technology by setting up disruptive tolerant networking nodes on the International Space Station to try to figure out how to handle long time delays and communications interruptions that come with deep space communication, according to the document.

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/nasa_wants_internet_access_in_space/

Internet more important than food to Gen Y: Survey

It seems like some young people believe that the Internet is as important as basic resources in their lives. According to a worldwide survey done by Cisco on 2,800 respondents, one in three college students and young professionals believe that the Internet is a fundamental resource for humans, as much as food, air, water and shelter. 49 per cent of college students and 47 per cent of employees, said they could not live without the Internet as it is an "integral part of their lives." This is more than half of those polled, according to the second annual Cisco Connected World Technology Report. Combined, four of every five college students and young employees believe the Internet is vital to daily life. 40 per cent of those surveyed said the Internet is more important to them than dating or socialising with friends. Social networking site Facebook was also considered important. 27 per cent of respondents said staying updated on Facebook was more important than partying, dating, listening to music, or hanging out with friends. Furthermore, online social interaction have blurred the lines between work and personal lives. The survey reported that seven of 10 employees "friended" their managers and/or co-workers on Facebook. Of the employees who are on micro-blogging tool Twitter, 68 per cent follow the Twitter feeds of either their manager or colleagues.

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/internet_more_important_than_food_to_gen_y_survey/