October 2009 – Page 5 – Public Intelligence Blog

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Shilpa Phadnis

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Bangalore: Money transfer company Western Union believes in tapping fortune at the bottom of the pyramid.

The company is tying up with microfinance institutions (MFIs) and e-governance service providers to facilitate financial inclusion.

This marks a shift in its India game plan, to offer money transfer services through MFIs besides its current portfolio of India Post network, banks, retail and finance agents.

The Nasdaq-listed company has tied up with e-governance and IT solutions provider CMS Computers, which has government's mandate to roll out more than 17,000 e-governance locations across India.

Continue reading “Journal: Western Union takes MFI route for rural spread”

2009/10/302009/10/30

EUCOM Week in Review Ending 27 Oct 09

Uncategorized

Hot Topics

AA: European Statebuilding Through Hard And Soft Power 10/25/09

AA: Gaddafi: Disarm Israel or let Arabs develop nukes 10/26/09

AA: In the Cybersecurity War, Collaboration Is Key 10/26/09

AA: Iran plans to file ‘gas complaint' against Turkey 10/24/09

AA: More diplomatic confusion between US and Poland 10/27/09

BY: Crime prevention is among priorities of Belarus' domestic policy 10/23/09

IL: Israel military to punish soldiers for pro-settler protest 10/23/09

KV: Kosovo kicks off media campaign to improve image 10/26/09

RS: Serbia's mixed feelings 10/27/09

RU: Kremlin warns against wrecking Russia with democracy 10/26/09

RU: Russia carefully studies new US missile defense plan 10/23/09

TR: Turkey now aligns with Iran, against Israel 10/27/09

TR: We have seen what “peace” in Turkey's terms means: Gibrahayer 10/23/09

UK: UK activists seek arrest of Israeli officers 10/27/09

Below the fold: Instability, Special Operations, Security Forces, Foreign Affairs, Crime

Continue reading “EUCOM Week in Review Ending 27 Oct 09”

2009/10/30

Worth a Look: Expresso from Covio

Tools, Worth A Look

Beginning 3 November 2009 you can download from Coveo called Expresso. It more or less trashes what the US Government is using now, both inside and outside the classified bunker.

2009/10/302009/10/30

Journal: NOT Real-Time Intelligence

Real Time

Grupo Hemas Taps Savi Networks to Monitor the Security and Status of Cargo Shipments in Real Time

Reuters, 28 October 2009

…has contracted with Savi Networks for its real-time intelligence service that automatically monitors the location, security and condition of shipment…

A Revolution Once More: Unmanned Systems and the Middle East

(Brookings, November 2009)

… drones not only carried out scores of strikes on Hamas leadership targets, but also provided continuous real-time intelligence to units on the ground. …

Continue reading “Journal: NOT Real-Time Intelligence”

2009/10/302009/10/30

Search: Civitas Maxima

Collaboration Zones, Communities of Practice, Ethics, Key Players, Mobile, Policies, Real Time, Searches, Threats

Intriguing and illuminating. Thank you.

Amazon Page

Harold Laski: Problems of Democracy, the Sovereign State, and International Society

Laski's concerns turn out to have much in common with those of present-day social democratic commentators – in particular the capacity of a state to effect social justice in conditions of global interdependence.

Peter Lamb's study of this overly neglected thinker is a highly relevant recovery. This lucid, well-judged and sympathetic account of Laski's later thought on the ‘myth' of the sovereign state is highly pertinent for cosmopolitan democrats, students of normative international relations and seekers of a genuinely radical ‘third way'.

Continue reading “Search: Civitas Maxima”

2009/10/302009/10/30

Search: World-Wide Linguist Supply

Commercial Intelligence, Communities of Practice, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, Methods & Process, Mobile, Real Time, Threats, Tools

Great search, thank you.

The OSS-EIN solution for this problem is as follows:

1. All World Language human linguist-interpreters

2. Telelanguage (an open source software) registration for in-house and for-fee linguists

3. Via InfoSphere AB in Sweden, European graduate students fluent in the target language and competent in English, French, or German also

It was the latter that allowd us to find, evaluate, and report on 396 terrorist, insurgent, and opposition web sites in 29 languages over the the course of 60 days for under $60,000 in 1997. We still do this today, using cover support plans as needed.

The solution requires that the client not be an idiot and demand US citizenship and any kind of US clearance for translations that can be handled in near real time. For example, captured Dari documents inthe field should be digitized within minutes and translated within hours. Anyone that cannot do this for our troops fighting in the field should be fired.

2009/10/28

Journal: True Cost of Drugs

07 Health, True Cost

Explaining Research – How much do drugs really cost to develop?

Although this does not seem like a fact that most people would commit to memory, somehow the average American has come to know that, not only is it insanely expensive to create a new drug and bring it to market, but it is expensive to the tune of $800 million dollars. Why is this important? It is the reason most often cited for why medications are so expensive in the United States.

So what is wrong with the figure? A number of things. First, let’s just approach the study from an economic standpoint. The actual out of pocket costs for developing a drug in the Tufts study were about $400 million, half of the final number. How did it get to $800 million then? Through a fancy piece of economic sleight of hand known as “opportunity costs of capital.”

Continue reading “Journal: True Cost of Drugs”