Internet Usage in Australia

The Australian component of the World Internet Project (WIP) is a collaborative project looking at the social, cultural, political and economic impact of the Internet and other communications technologies. The survey is carried out by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation at the Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology. Released in May 2010, CCi Digital Futures 2010: The Internet in Australia presents the findings from the 2009 Australian survey. The survey results show that the overwhelming majority of Australians are Internet users. In fact, 80% of Australians had used the Internet in the previous three months, up from 72% in 2007. By international standards, Australia’s level of Internet use is very high. In terms of home access, the vast majority of connections are now broadband (94%). Internet use still varies between different groups, although these differences have lessened since 2007.

Guidance on Using the Internet in Corporate Reporting

The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) has released three new research booklets that promote effective communication. The booklets are based on the soon-to-be-published CICA Research Report Using the Internet in Corporate Reporting. The series includes Practical Guidance for Managing Collaboration and Innovation, Practical Guidance for Managing Websites and Practical Guidance for Managing Web 2.0 and Social Media. The views expressed in these publications are those of the Study Group members who are current or former judges in the ongoing CICA Corporate Reporting Awards program. Feedback and comments are welcome.

Oxford Internet Survey 2009

Oxford Internet Survey (OxIS) research is designed to offer detailed insights into the influence of the Internet on everyday life in Britain. Launched in 2003 by the Oxford Internet Institute, it is an authoritative source of information about Internet access, use and attitudes. The Internet in Britain 2009, describes aspects of the new, broadband, and more mobile, Internet and its Web 2.0 platforms. The survey shows how this evolving Internet is reconfiguring access to information, people and services in ways that are reshaping economic and social development. Some of the areas covered include: digital and social inclusion and exclusion; regulation and governance of the Internet; privacy, trust and risk concerns; social networking and entertainment; and online education.

Digital Future Project 2010

Internet users deal with an unprecedented level of online connections and communication beyond basic e-mail that did not exist a decade ago: social networking sites, online video, PDAs, texting, IM, e-readers, portable video devices, and most recently the iPad and competing devices to come. Through this technology, users must rely on the Internet more than ever before, yet at the same time this survey is identifying growing concern about reliability of the technology and user trust in it. Have we reached the point at which users are going into online overload? See the July 23, 2010 press release and highlights of the Digital Future Project 2010 at the Center for the Digital Future, USC’s Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Issues in Institutional Investor Decision Making

The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) has released a Discussion Brief titled “Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Issues in Institutional Investor Decision Making.” The brief discusses the findings of interviews with institutional investors and reviews current market and regulatory trends and existing regulatory requirements related to environmental, social and governance issues. It also presents options for improving the provision and use of ESG disclosure for investor decision making.

IBM Global CEO Study 2010

In May 2010, IBM published Capitalizing on Complexity. This study is the fourth edition of IBM's biennial Global CEO Study series. To better understand the challenges and goals of today's CEOs, IBM consultants met face-to-face with the largest-known sample of these executives. Between September 2009 and January 2010, IBM interviewed 1,541 CEOs, general managers and senior public sector leaders who represent different sizes of organizations in 60 countries and 33 industries. Access to the full study findings and case studies are available on the IBM website along with the related press release.

Business Redefined: Global Trends that are Changing the World of Business

In 2010 Ernst & Young published a report called Business redefined: a look at the global trends that are changing the world of business. It provides an in-depth look at the six most influential trends that will redefine business success, highlighting the key questions that business leaders should be asking themselves right now. The way that business leaders plan for — and respond to — these trends over the next decade will help determine who the market leading companies of tomorrow will be. The report highlights six key trends: 1. the rise of emerging markets; 2. increasing focus on resource efficiency and climate change; 3. the transformed financial landscape; 4. increased role of government in the private sector; 5. the next evolution of technology; 6. fostering a global workforce in dynamic times.

Social Networking Report 2010

According to a May 2010 survey called The Social Networking Report, the vast majority of business men and women (83%) believe that social networking is here to stay compared to only 9% who think it is just a ‘flash in the pan’ indulged by the under 30s. In addition, nearly three quarters (71%) say that blogging provides an effective new medium to communicate with a wider audience while less than one in five (16%) say that it is simply shouting into the ether. The survey into executive opinions on social media was published by The Counsel House, a firm specializing in interim management within corporate communications, and Pilotmax, a PR consultancy. The full report is available free-of-charge on The Counsel House website.

Carrots and Sticks – Promoting Transparency and Sustainability

KPMG recently published a report Carrots and Sticks – Promoting Transparency and Sustainability: An update on trends in Voluntary and Mandatory Approaches to Sustainability Reporting. The study covered 30 countries, including both developed and developing world economies. It revealed that a total of 142 country standards have been developed related to sustainability reporting. Of these reporting standards, 65% are mandatory and 35% are voluntary. In addition, 14 assurance standards have been developed for sustainability reporting.

About The Future of the Internet

What will the Web become? How big can the Internet get? What are we going to do with all of this information? See the fascinating documentary, “A Story about the Semantic Web,” (about 14 minutes long) created by Kate Ray, a recently-graduated journalism/psychology student at NYU. The video deals with Web 3.0 and includes interviews with Tim Berners-Lee, Clay Shirky, Chris Dixon, David Weinberger, Nova Spivack, Jason Shellen, Lee Feigenbaum, John Hebeler, Alon Halevy, David Karger and Abraham Bernstein.

Social Media Marketing Industry Report 2010

“How much time do my peers invest in social media marketing? What benefits are they achieving? Where will they focus their efforts in the future?” To understand how marketers are using social media, Social Media Examiner commissioned the April 2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report: How Marketers Are Using Social Media to Grow Their Businesses. It set out to uncover the “who, what, where, when and why” of social media marketing with this report.

Snapshot: The IFRS® Taxonomy

XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) was developed in 1998 to provide a common, electronic format for business and financial reporting. It is intended to standardize financial reporting in order to promote transparency and to improve the quality and comparability of business information. The ongoing development of XBRL is coordinated by XBRL International, a not-for-profit consortium of approximately 550 companies, organizations and government agencies around the world. For public companies reporting under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and its oversight body, the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation (to become the IFRS Foundation) publish tags for each IFRS disclosure. These tags are organized and contained within the IFRS Taxonomy. For more information, refer to the ongoing project on the IFRS Foundation website and the June 2010 document “Snapshot: The IFRS® Taxonomy.”

IASB - Library of Snapshot documents

Snapshot documents are published by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and IFRS Foundation to accompany due process documents. They  provide a high level summary of proposals and are available to download free of charge from the IFRS Foundation website. The following projects are covered: Derecognition; Fair Value Measurement; Financial Statement Presentation; IFRS 9: Financial Instruments (replacement of IAS 39); Insurance Contracts; Leases; Liabilities; Post-employment Benefits (including pensions); Rate-regulated Activities; Revenue Recognition; and XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language).

Netwatch - The Medium is the message

Social networks are booming. It took radio 38 years to hit 50 million users. Television took 13 years, the Internet four years and the iPod three years. In that context, more than 150 million people engage with Facebook on external websites every month and Twitter reports some 50 million tweets are sent a day. The statistics on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are mind-boggling. The bottom line is that companies must think about how to communicate with their stakeholders in new and different ways. Read the article "Netwatch - The Medium is the message" by Jim Carroll in the September 2010 issue of CAmagazine online.

The top 10 tech issues for 2010

Annually, the Information Technology Advisory Committee (ITAC) of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA)  consults with the profession to learn what its greatest concerns are. In performing an analysis of the top 10 technology issues, newer technologies and their impact on business were considered and were addressed within the context of the more established issues. This year, the top ranked issue was compliance requirements. This is followed by the impact of the recession, information management, public trust and emerging technologies (such as cloud computing, social networks and personal technology). Other top 10 issues include collaborative-extended enterprises, infrastructure, IT governance, IT resources and skills, and knowledge management. Learn more by reading the online article "The top 10 tech issues" in the September 2010 issue of CAmagazine.

Netwatch - Location is the new intelligence

The location intelligence industry is growing as a result of the rapid dominance of location-aware mobile devices, the rapid emergence of massive sources of spatial data (geographic-oriented information, i.e., Google Maps), the rapid user adoption of location-based applications (i.e., iPhone Apps) and a significant amount of innovative thinking as to how to capitalize on these very fast-paced trends. All this is leading to significant business-model innovations. Read the article "Netwatch - Location is the new intelligence" by Jim Carroll in the August 2010 issue of CAmagazine online.

Stakeholders and IFRS

With International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), financial results should be more transparent to analysts, investors and regulators. But, have Canadian companies done their part to make sure their external stakeholders can make sense of IFRS? Read the article "Stakeholders and IFRS" in the August 2010 issue of CAmagazine online.