[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o00xESxCWCo]
I received an interesting email today from New York based SX Mobile Media.

They recently shot and launched a new music video for Samsung Mobile called Europe United. Interesting concept. They went to 10 European cities; London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Prague, Ibiza, Barcelona, Moscow, Edinburgh and Galway and asked regular people to dance in the street.

Those who made it into the final cut of this video won a free Samsung phone.

And now the video is being spread via YouTube with only the lightest mention of Samsung.

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Samsung, SX, Europe United

While Canada is awaiting the release of the rules on the AWS auction, attention south of the border is focussed on the next swath of radio spectrum – the 700 MHz band.

Last week, as the World Radiocommunication Conference wrapped up in Geneva, a consensus was reached on using 700 MHz for wireless broadband services including cellphones, mobile TV and WiMax, although at each country’s time of choosing, as reported in the NY Times.

While the European Broadcasters Union was concerned about potential intereference with its digital TV signals, many of the large countries in Asia — including China, India, South Korea and Japan — signed on to the American plan.

The NY Times article speculates that such a global consensus will help increasing the number of potential bidders (possibly including Google, Apple and Yahoo) and driving the value – and the resultant bids – higher when the 700 MHz band goes to auction.

There is more spectrum available for mobile applications beyond the frequencies under consideration in the current AWS auction consultation in Canada. WRC07 has ensured that the 700 MHz band will be globally converted, creating an attractive alternative for future requirements.

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700 MHz, WRC 2007, NY Times

I had breakfast with a colleague last week and we were speaking about the growing chorus calling for various levels of governments to set out their innovation vision. I have some thoughts that have emerged from that meeting that I plan to share over the next few days.

I noticed that the Hill Times had a special Innovation supplement on November 5 with various interest groups submitting textual versions of the Ottawa handshake – you know the move – hold your right hand in front of you, palm facing to the left, straighten elbow, cup your hand and rotate it upward. Michael Geist’s column in that section has a subtitle that says we need more than tax breaks to maximize the value of research. I agree.

Let’s go back a few years. When the National Broadband Task Force was launched, its objective was to explore the best approaches to make high-speed broadband Internet services available to businesses and residents in all Canadian communities by 2004.

Unfortunately, as we approach the end of the year 2007, we still aren’t there.

In any case, I’d submit that broadband availability was insufficient as an ultimate goal; it is just a piece of the solution space. One step along the way.

If we are looking for Canada to lead in electronic literacy, what programs are we willing to establish to get there? This ties to a couple of my comments last week about the need to create the right environment to enable all citizens to be drinking from the digital fountain of knowledge.

Are any of the provinces willing to move forward on their own to set their own digital objectives? Across the broad spectrum of agencies, health care appears to have the lowest hanging fruit.

Ontario’s premier Dalton McGuinty has established a new $165M venture fund to “help create the jobs of the future by boosting cutting-edge companies here in the province”. It is an important contribution. But it strikes me as similar to making a charitable donation in lieu of rolling up your sleeves to volunteer sweat. We need governments to commit more than just money.

For an innovation strategy to take hold, can we energize further progress by changing the way government and public institutions deliver services?

For example, why are medical diagnostic labs still producing radiological films that require physical media rather than digital images? Doctors still keeping illegible paper records. Under a digital strategy, provinces would set a firm date by which all labs must upgrade in order to continue to be licensed or receive funding. Doctors – prepare to digitize your records.

What is the bold vision? Where is the leadership across all sectors and all levels of government to drive spending consistent with that innovation agenda. Where will innovation rank on political agendas?

For the past few months, I haven’t been blogging on weekends, but John Roese points to the One Laptop Per Child program beginning large scale production and there is a special opportunity available this week only.

For just $399, you can buy two of these adorable green machines. One gets sent to empower a child in a developing country. The other one gets sent to you. If that wasn’t enough, you also get a tax receipt for the $200 gift machine.

Further, T-mobile is providing purchasers with a year of free hot-spot access on their US WiFi network of 8500 access points. Any Canadian service providers want to step up?

For any corporations or organizations that are looking for a special way to participate as we approach the end of the year, the program has “Group Giving” consultants to work with you.

Give one, get one expires on November 26. The sooner you order, the better your chances of getting a cute little green computer in time to put it under the tree.

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OLPC

It is one thing to bring broadband internet to the masses, but how do we make them drink from the fountain of knowledge?

One of the challenges, of course, is that the industry has not yet sold turn-key applications that capture the imaginations of the unconnected. Surprising as it seems, email, Facebook, file swapping and web surfing have not yet attracted 100% of the population.

Are there some applications that might lend themselves to a toll-free model in order to reach the rest of the market?

For example, would home health care warrant installing a broadband connection as part of a monitoring service? The broadband access would be enabling underlying service, but the costs would be incurred by the health care agency, not the infirmed. Like toll-free calling, the application provider would pay the charges.

Your aging grandmother may have no idea that she would have a broadband connection coming into her apartment – perhaps complete with a wireless router. All she would know is that she can stay at home for routine monitoring check-ups.

Besides health care and elder-care, what other applications might “reverse-the-charges” for broadband access? Security services? Gaming? Entertainment? Energy management?

Among other considerations such as driving more universal connectivity, a reverse-the-charges model might put a very different spin on net neutrality – these applications will be asking the ISPs to bill them for a specific kind of access.