Ohio University Scripps visit

Today, I visited my alma mater -- Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. It was a pleasure to be there. I had the opportunity to share some of my many journalistic experiences with a group of students enrolled in an online journalism class. Thanks goes to Professor Robert Stewart for the invite. I hope to return to Athens soon!
On an added note, I have to say that I am glad I am not graduating this year. New grads face the difficult prospect of finding a job in a rapidly changing media landscape. Only the truly enterprising among them will emerge as winners.

University week

I'm just back from Harvard, and soon to be on my way to Ohio University -- both the Lancaster campus in my hometown and also the main campus in Athens. Did you know that OU is known as Harvard on the Hocking (River?) The campus does have similar architecture. Here's the scoop on the luncheon and lecture at Lancaster.
http://www.lancaster.ohiou.edu/pages/news-events/China%27s%20Tech%20Lead.htm

On Friday, I'm going to speak to some journalism students at the Scripps School. Professor Robert Stewart invited me. I'm looking forward to the visit!

Harvard China Review notes

Congratulations to the team at Harvard China Review who organized the 12th annual conference on the Cambridge campus. It was a terrific weekend of networking with a diverse group of people -- professors, students, venture capitalists, budding entrepreneurs -- who are all interested in China's future role in the world economy. I know conference organization can be quite trying, but the student organizers pulled it off with panache. Sessions were held in tandem at various Harvard halls, and expert speakers traveled from China to bring their messages, ranging from healthcare and education to the economy and enterpreneurship.
I was invited to moderate a panel on the new face of China's digital media. My fellow panelists were Mike Balaban of Xinhua Finance and Lyndon Cao of China Daily. They gave terrific case studies, just right for Harvard! I outlined the premise of Silicon Dragon and showed how Chinese e-media are gaining a foothold quickly due to China's uptake of the Internet and mobile communications.

EVENT: Harvard China Review

Here's a new event on the Silicon Dragon social calendar.
Harvard China Review 12th annual conference, April 10-12, 2009
Cambridge, Mass.
http://harvardchina.org/conference/conf2009
It will be fun to be at the Harvard campus again!
I'm an invited speaker, and I'll be talking about how technology is impacting media in China. My fellow panelists are Lydnon Cao, president of China Daily USA, and Mike Balaban, principal of Balaban Associates and associate director of Parkview Ventures.
It promises to be an action-packed weekend, with a VIP dinner Saturday evening with the other speakers. I better learn more Mandarin fast. Thankfully, a lot of these speeches will be translated.

Silicon Dragon: Silicon Shanghai

Silicon Dragon: Silicon Shanghai

Silicon Shanghai

Here's some photos from the Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park that I recently visited. While the place doesn't have the palm trees and sunshine of Silicon Valley, it scores high on facilities. Take a look at those tennis courts and even a canal. It's a little peculiar that the design theme is remniscent of Versailles, but hey you can't argue with success. This 25 kilometer square park houses several large semiconductor companys including SMIC, insurance company Ping An and Wipro, among dozens of tech, digital media and biomedical firms.
I can't say that I saw a lot of people milling about outside, like you might see on a typical day on the Yahoo, EBay or Google campus. It was in fact rather lifeless. But maybe that's because it was a little chilly and who knows? Maybe they were all inside, working hard to fulfill that master goal to make China a tech innovator.

Silicon Valley Ghost Town II

Here’s some reasons why Silicon Valley is losing its edge in technology innovation – and why Asia is chipping away at its lead.

America’s share of research and development spending slipped to 30.1 percent in 2008 from 32.7 percent in two years’ time while Asia’s share rose to 40.8 in 2008 from 36.9. Battelle-Global R&D Report

America still tops all nations for the most patent applications annually – 53,521 of nearly one-third the total in 2008. But that percentage has slipped from 35 percent in 2004. World Intellectual Property Organization

In 2008, South Korea ranked 4th globally with 7,908 patent applications, an increase of 12 percent and a big improvement over 10th place 15 years ago. China placed sixth, applying for 6,089 patents in 2008, a hike of 11.9 percent. China has steadily climbed the charts, from the 7th spot in 2007 and 8th in 2006. WIPO

Last year, venture capital investment outside the U.S. increased 5 percent to $13.4 billion. The U.S. is still the top venture market, but international now accounts for nearly one-third of total venture money invested. Dow Jones VentureSource

Venture capital investments in the U.S. slid 8 percent last year to $28.8 billion while fund raising decreased 25 percent to $24.7 billion. DJ

In 2008, Asian venture investments declined by 22 percent to $22.3 billion.
Asia venture funds jumped 8 percent to $20 billion. AVCJ

In 2008, China raked in $9.3 billion in new venture investments while India weighed in at $8.5 billion. AVCJ

Asia accounted for 62 percent of global IPOs in 2008, up from 53 percent in 2007. North America contributed only 11 percent of 745 IPOs worldwide in 2008. Ernst & Young

China had the most IPOs two years in a row—126 in 2008 and 209 in 2007.
The U.S. chalked up 34 IPOs in 2008 and 178 in 2007. E&Y

U.S. venture-backed companies generated $24.1 billion through IPOs and M&As in 2008, down 58 percent from $57.6 billion in 2007. Just seven venture-financed businesses in the U.S. completed IPOs and raised $551 million, compared to 76 and $6.8 billion in 2007. These were the lowest levels on record since 1992. DJ