Ten Best Green Jobs for the Next Decade

“It’s time to bail out the people and the planet,” says Van Jones [1], author of The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems [2]. We agree, and this guide to to sustainability-focused career paths will help retrofit and solar-charge your work life.

The TOP TEN GREEN JOBS FOR THE NEXT DECADE: read more

Girls Take Center Stage At The World Economic Forum

This week I’ll be heading off to Davos, Switzerland with my colleagues from Nike, Inc. for the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting. It’s no surprise that the entire meeting will be focused on the global economic crisis. All the big names from business, government and the media will spend the week asking questions on everyone’s mind: Where did we go wrong? What tough calls need to be made? How do we get out of this mess?

The answer to these questions lies in someone unexpected. There is an amazingly powerful force we can unleash to solve the world’s problems if we do the simplest thing: invest in a girl in poverty. With all this talk of the economy, it may seem odd to focus on adolescent girls, but we already spend a ridiculous amount of money and time trying to solve the world’s ills in the same old way. This financial crisis intensifies the need to invest existing resources more effectively, and a new and effective approach is right under your nose. It’s called the girl effect. read more

Why Students Prefer Virtual Schooling

What motivates a growing number of virtual-school students to forgo the traditional school structure and take their classes entirely online?

At the Virtual School Symposium hosted in mid-October in Phoenix by the North American Council for Online Learning, virtual-school students explained they like being able to progress at their own pace–and some said they appreciate being able to take classes not offered by their traditional, bricks-and-mortar school. read more

Does Globalization Threaten or Nurture Local Markets

In “The World is Flat,” New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman argues that computer technology has created a world in which, to a greater extent than ever before, individuals can compete and collaborate globally. Linked by a fiber-optic network, he says, we have all become next-door neighbors (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005).

Much has been made of this so-called flattening of the world. Friedman describes the penetration of global culture into some of the most unlikely places on earth. But as the planet continues to shrink—and as the wildest dreams of Kathmandu turn into the facts of Kew, will individual cultures vanish in the process? read more

Blue Is The New Green

First, some numbers. The United Nations estimates that by 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population will face periodic and often severe water shortages. And the problem is not limited to the developing world. Here in the U.S., water managers in 36 states are predicting significant shortfalls within the next decade. Even in regions that do have sufficient supplies, aging infrastructure, inadequate treatment facilities, and contamination pose more problems. No surprise, then, that battles over water rights are becoming commonplace, pitting states and sometimes nations against one another in increasingly bitter conflict. read more

Karl Fisch – Did You Know on Globalization and Technology

Establishing a Sourcing Entity in China

China is in a constant state of flux, and the legal environment is certainly not immune to this reality. As a foreigner your behavior is often scrutinized more than a local so you need to constantly be aware of the legal bounds under which you and your business operate. This article attempts to provide an overview of typical legal set-up options for a sourcing company in China, including RO (Representative Office), WFOE (Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise) and FICE (Foreign Invested Commercial Enterprise). read more

Obama vs McCain on Technology and Sustainability

WIRED Magazine put together a great comparative of Obama and McCain’s policies that are important to their readers – here’s the wrap-up.

Topic Covered:

1. Broadband
2. H1B issues
3. Investment in green tech
4. Net neutrality
5. Spectrum

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5 Trends That Will Change Society

Author Richard Watson examines emerging patterns and developments and society, politics, science and technology, media and entertainment, and other industries in his book Future Files: A History of the Next 50 Years — and makes educated, and witty speculations as to where they might take us.

He listed the top 5 trends that will change society over the next 50 years: GLOBALIZATION, LOCALIZATION, POLARIZATION, ANXIETY, MEANING.

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