I credit Lennon (with his bad grammar), for making me a proud global citizen. My passports show stamps from 40 countries. We drive Chryslers in our family but I enjoy it when a colleague drives me in his BMW. I am too cheap to buy Evian, but like the fact that others can buy it locally.
I think most of us in the tech world are similarly global thinkers - working as we do with Nokia phones, SAP software, chips from Taiwan, Israeli and Indian developers. It is also great to see our industry help around the world - see the Sandhill story Software for Everyone.
But many of our neighbors and politicians are not so open minded. I do not like to hear protectionist folks like Lou Dobbs but he gets ammunition from 3 data points from around the world that got me down this week
a) The Indian government while seeking WTO help to prevent outsourcing bans is “mulling” whether to open up its own sectors to foreign competition.
b) My wife who is from Ireland just came back from a trip there and said the Irish are having a hard time adjusting to East Europeans migrating there as part of the European Union. The Irish have benefited from (and been fantastic contributors to) immigration around the world – I would hope they would be generous as their country enjoys long awaited affluence.
c) The Chinese continue to be stubborn about any suggestions to become fairer global players. Just Wal-Mart and its suppliers – one company - imported $ 18b worth of goods from China last year. Why not spend the trade surplus and let Chinese children enjoy the joys of travel to Disneyworld?
I am over-simplifying, of course. But I hope our tech colleagues in India, Ireland and China and elsewhere keep pushing to encourage the best and brightest from everywhere – ideas, individuals, investments and inventions.
"Imagine there's no countries.."
I credit Lennon (with his bad grammar), for making me a proud global citizen. My passports show stamps from 40 countries. We drive Chryslers in our family but I enjoy it when a colleague drives me in his BMW. I am too cheap to buy Evian, but like the fact that others can buy it locally.
I think most of us in the tech world are similarly global thinkers - working as we do with Nokia phones, SAP software, chips from Taiwan, Israeli and Indian developers. It is also great to see our industry help around the world - see the Sandhill story Software for Everyone.
But many of our neighbors and politicians are not so open minded. I do not like to hear protectionist folks like Lou Dobbs but he gets ammunition from 3 data points from around the world that got me down this week
a) The Indian government while seeking WTO help to prevent outsourcing bans is “mulling” whether to open up its own sectors to foreign competition.
b) My wife who is from Ireland just came back from a trip there and said the Irish are having a hard time adjusting to East Europeans migrating there as part of the European Union. The Irish have benefited from (and been fantastic contributors to) immigration around the world – I would hope they would be generous as their country enjoys long awaited affluence.
c) The Chinese continue to be stubborn about any suggestions to become fairer global players. Just Wal-Mart and its suppliers – one company - imported $ 18b worth of goods from China last year. Why not spend the trade surplus and let Chinese children enjoy the joys of travel to Disneyworld?
I am over-simplifying, of course. But I hope our tech colleagues in India, Ireland and China and elsewhere keep pushing to encourage the best and brightest from everywhere – ideas, individuals, investments and inventions.
June 03, 2005 in Globalization and Technology, Industry Commentary, Little to do with IT, but interesting!, Offshoring Negotiations/Best Practices | Permalink