Bottom of the Valley?

Original post by Anna Deacon  via World Finance

The Silicon Valley – the world-famous bastion for technological innovation – might have passed its glory days. Facing increasing competition from emerging markets such as China and India, the tech haven is suffering a ‘brain drain’ at a worrying rate.
However, any flight of expertise would simply correct for the large influx of immigrant entrepreneurs that flooded the sun-drenched region for generations. Reports indicate that as many as 52 percent of Silicon Valley’s start-up companies were founded by immigrants, and immigrant inventors contribute to 25 percent of US global patent applications.

The immigrants who flooded Silicon Valley form an integral part of the vital region; but loyalties are shifting. Turning their backs on the renowned home of IT innovation, many entrepreneurs have decided to take their practices back to their native countries, or relocate to other attractive tech havens – be it in China, India, Germany, France or elsewhere. According to a study carried out by researchers at Berkeley, Duke, and Harvard universities, many immigrant students plan to return to domestic shores rather than settle in Silicon Valley – which up until a few years ago had been the norm.

So where will the world find its new technological nexus? Countries such as China and South Korea have a distinct headstart thanks to the vast quantity of capital being pumped into their respective technology sectors. However, experts agree that it’s difficult to determine if these destinations really have what it takes to develop environments to rival the expertise and infrastructure already in situ at Silicon Valley.

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Cloud Base Proud to Announce CloudBees as Event Sponsor

TechMeetups is excited to announce the Cloud platform CloudBees as the official event sponsor of our Cloud computing event Cloud Base. CloudBees will also be presenting at the September event, along with a host of other companies who are experts in the fascinating and increasingly important field of Cloud computing.

The CloudBees platform is a ‘Platform as a Service’ that allows businesses to build, test and deploy Java web applications in the cloud. A pioneer in its field, it is the first ‘Platform as a Service’ to do this. Software teams benefit from the platform by being able to shift their development and production activities immediately to the cloud, without any infrastructure costs or restrictions. Amongst CloudBees’ array of famous clients are global companies such as Digg and Cisco.

Founded in 2010, CloudBees is incorporated in the United States and also has developers, architects and other team members in Europe and Australia as well as in the USA itself. We are honoured that it will be Francois Dechery, the CloudBees Vice-President of Services, who will be delivering the company’s presentation at Cloud Base.

If you want an insightful view of the Cloud computing revolution from one of the most innovative pioneer companies of that revolution, look no further than the CloudBees presentation at Cloud Base.

10 Steps to Cloud Control

Original post by Sundar Raghavan via E-commerceTimes

Even though they recognize the benefits of cloud computing technologies, many business leaders have questions about cloud security and control. That’s understandable. But by adopting a collaborative approach and aligning their responsibilities with those of the cloud provider, these leaders are finding solutions that offer the best of both worlds.

Business users are drawn to the cloud. Of course, that’s not surprising, considering they tend to see only the benefits: self-service freedom, scalability, availability, flexibility, and the pleasure of avoiding various nasty hardware and software headaches.

IT leaders, on the other hand, aren’t always as enthusiastic. They worry about cloud security and have legitimate concerns that applications and data could fall into the hands of unauthorized users. What’s more, they also want to retain a level of influence and control.

Can both “sides” have their way? Is it possible to deliver the freedom that users want and the control that IT leaders need?

Of course! But, doing so will take a collaborative effort. Both business users and IT leaders are going to have to assume a few key responsibilities . . . and you’ll have to be certain your cloud provider is doing its part, too.

Your 5 Responsibilities

1. Define the business need. Which specific problem are you trying to solve with cloud computing technology? Is it an ongoing concern or one that occurs only infrequently? Do you need an answer “yesterday,” or do you have time to build out a solution?

Remember: Not all clouds are created equal. Some can run your applications unchanged, with instant access. Others require a little tweaking. Knowing your needs and the differences between cloud technologies will help you determine the right strategy for attacking the particular business problem that needs attention.

READ 2-5 HERE

Tech City will become a tech centre of excellence

Original post by Gianfranco Cuzziol  via BCW

Silicon Valley it might not be, but I for one applaud the selection of “Tech City’s” location in and around Shoreditch in East London. Known as East London Tech City (or Silicon Roundabout!) the scheme has already received backing from tech giants such as Google, Facebook and Intel.

I’m not sure that any location selected by the Government would have been welcomed with open arms and minds. Outside of London? Somewhere else in London? Croydon? They have all been touted as alternatives.

Some of the criticism aimed at the Government has been around the level of funding for the plan and indeed the participation (or lack) of organisations. But would it have been different if the location had been different? Probably not.

Okay so the timing of the initiative wasn’t perfect and the slowdown of the economy and general lack of confidence in the short term future has had an impact on this. This landscape has affected organisations putting their money where their mouth is. But in principle it was, and still is, a great idea.

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Cash-strapped, states going after cloud computing taxes

Original post by Hayley Tsukayama via WP

State governments are taking a wary look at cloud computing and how best to adjust their tax laws to keep up with shifts in technology.

According to a report from Bloomberg, state governments are taking a hard look at the way they tax transactions as the traditional point-of-sale has shifted from a countertop to a Web page.

The report said, that the very nature of transactions is changing, and it’s become increasingly difficult for states to sort out when they have a right to tax a transaction. One issue the report raised, for example, was whether states should consider data accessed in the cloud a “taxable good or a nontaxable service.”

That question goes beyond the problem of the national and international nature of large online businesses, which states have tried to combat with so-called “Amazon laws,” which require nationwide online retailers to charge state taxes on all purchases. The laws have caused rifts between Amazon.com and state governments and prompted the retailer to cut ties with partners in several states to avoid the extra taxation. The company is now an integral part of an effort to repeal a California law that requires this kind of collection.

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TNW Conversations: What startup should Apple buy next? [Video]

Original post via thenextweb

It’s no secret that Apple is positively swimming in cash, so a few choice startup acquisitions are always within the realms of possibility.

What companies should be on Steve Jobs’ shopping list to help push his business to the next level? I got together with Jon Bradford, of UK accelerator Springboard, and Christina Cacioppo of Union Square Ventures to hear the opinions of people at the sharp end of startup investment. TNW’s own Hermione Way makes a guest appearance to offer her opinion, too.

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