April 2000 Edition
STATISTICS
In an effort to satisfy the enormous demand for some official measure of the digital economy, Statistics Canada is preparing to analyze Canadian Internet commerce in an ambitious survey to be released this month. The economy-wide study will attempt to put a dollar figure on Canadian e-commerce. In the U.S., the Commerce Department has unveiled a new index to track e-commerce separately from its overall retail sales figures. This is the government's first attempt to provide an indicator devoted to tracking the on-line boom.
PEN SCANNERS
Driven by the growing popularity of the Internet and the need for image digitization, scanners have gone mainstream. Pen scanners, also known as digital highlighters, are the next step in scanner evolution. According to IDC, this segment of the U.S. scanner market will experience a compound annual growth rate of 109% from 1999 to 2004, as shipments climb to 840,000 units by the end of the forecast period. Once confined to the desktop, scanners have become a fully portable peripheral that can scan single lines of text, convert them to editable text, and store the information for transfer to a personal computer.
TELEVISION
Harvard researchers have concluded that TV is having a corrosive effect on public life. People who say the medium is their primary form of entertainment also say they are significantly less likely to attend dinner parties, visit friends, go on picnics, give blood, and send greeting cards or e-mails.
WORK
There has been an extraordinary growth in self-employment during the past two decades, according to data from the Canadian Labour Force Survey. Between 1976 and 1998, self-employment doubled in Canada. But this rate of growth was far surpassed by the increase in the number of dual-earner, husband-and-wife couples in which at least one spouse was self-employed. In 1976, at least one spouse was self-employed in 21% of all dual-earner couples. However, by 1998, this figure had virtually tripled to just under 1.2 million couples, accounting for 33% of all dual-earner couples. Self-employed couples tended to be older than couples with paid jobs, and were more likely to live in a rural area.
TELESCOPES
The fastest growing part of the U.S. telescope market (up 50 per cent since 1992) is instruments that cost less than $250 U.S.
CYBORG
A British computer scientist has had a silicon chip implanted in his arm. The chip communicates through radio waves with computers in his laboratory at the University of Reading. When he enters the lab, the computers inside know who he is and greet him with a "Hello." This is part of a new and growing field of computer engineering in which engineers are trying to embed computer power in people.
GMOs
Because of overseas resistance to genetically modified (GMO) crops, U.S. farmers are losing overseas markets. Brazil and China have both benefited from certified non-GMO shipments, while American farmers lose over one billion dollars in sales. U.S. grain exporters continue to insist that GMOs be sold instead of giving the customer what they want. The attitude of US exporters and some domestic farm organizations is forcing overseas buyers to turn their backs on U.S. corn and soybeans.
BUREAUCRACY
Although there are 660,000 sheep in the Falkland Islands, British servicemen must import tons of lamb from Britain, 12,000 kilometres away because the one Falkland slaughterhouse does not meet European Union standards. Falkland farmers cull 30,000 sheep a year and burn or bury the carcasses.
SHELVES
A new study commissioned for the Food Distributors International suggests that independent grocers are losing sales because they are not getting new products to shelf as fast, or managing their shelf space as well as their chain store counterparts. The study shows that independent retailers who move new products to their shelves faster can increase unit sales by 21%, realize a 12% increase in sales revenue and see a 7% hike in gross profit. It takes independent retailers on average 7.2 weeks to get a new product on their shelves. By comparison, chain supermarkets take only 3.6 weeks. Consumers look for the new products because they are heavily advertised. When the products are not available consumers will shop elsewhere.
URUGUAY
Between January and November 1999, trade between Canada and Uruguay grew by 39 per cent compared to the same period in 1998. Uruguayan exports increased from C$57 million to C$80 million while Canadian exports reached C$28 million from C$21 million. Overall Canadian exports to South America dropped by as much as 15 per cent in the first three quarters of 1999.
MOVIES
Canadian film and video productions made major inroads into foreign markets in 1997-98, as exports surpassed the $100-million mark for the first time. The continued surge of Canadian productions abroad, as well as strong sales of foreign film and video productions in Canada, led to overall record revenues of $1.8 billion for the industry as a whole.
GOLD
One major South African gold producer is trying to assess the financial costs of the AIDS crisis to their operation. South Africa based Gold Fields, the world's third largest gold producer, estimates that by 2006 employees infected with the virus could cost the company as much as $15 (U.S.) an ounce on its annual gold production of four million ounces. Average cost of production is $220 an ounce. The company operates three hospitals in South Africa which now cost $31 million a year to operate.
FISH
Canada's export of fish and seafood products reached a record high of $3.7 billion in 1999. Exports to the U.S. showed strong growth, rising from $2.14 billion in 1998 to $2.58 billion in 1999, a 21 per cent increase.
TRADE
While developing countries' share of trade in merchandise goods increased from 20 percent in 1973 to 28 percent in 1999, it still is a long way off from a high of 33 percent in 1948. There are three reasons for this figure: technology and knowledge has bypassed developing countries and the gap is widening; second, those markets where developing countries are competitive (e.g. textiles and agriculture) remain very closed; and third, developing countries themselves have not done enough in terms of adjusting their national policies to take advantage of global markets.
CAUTION
A survey of 900 firms by Deloitte & Touche has found that many sectors of Canadian industry are merely paying lip service to conducting business electronically. Fewer than half the companies surveyed are using the Internet to serve customers, and only 30 per cent said their Website created an effective place to conduct business. Of those using the Internet, the functions are most often marketing and communications with customers. More complex uses, such as processing orders and payment transfers are somewhat limited.
EXPOSURE
Last November, each hour of U.S. prime-time network television contained an average of 16 minutes, 43 seconds of advertising and other "non-programming" content, a jump of 59 seconds from the preceding year. Now U.S. advertisers are increasingly worried about the amount of time devoted to non-programming content because they fear their messages can get lost in the clutter. Of course, prices for commercial time keep going up.
MARKETS
Mexico moved into the top spot on the list of California's export markets last year. All told, California exported $14.9 billion (U.S.) in goods to Mexico in 1999, an increase of 11.8 per cent over the previous year. This was the biggest piece of the state's total exports which reached $107.5 billion in 1999. Mexico mostly bought computers, cell phones, electronics and industrial machinery. Japan has been the state's leading export market since the 1980s.
BRITAIN
A team of U.S. officials is to visit Britain to size up the British economy for possible membership of the NAFTA. The inquiry is proceeding at the request of the U.S. senate where members believe that there may be advantages for the U.S. if Britain, the world's fourth largest economy, were to become part of the NAFTA. However, joining the free trade zone would almost certainly require Britain to leave the European Union. Presently, Britain does 53 per cent of its trade with the EU and only 17 per cent with NAFTA countries.
BIOSAFETY
The US Department of Agriculture has announced new guidelines for organic foods. Under the rules, foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) would not be considered organic. The guidelines also prohibit the use of pesticides on crops, ban the use of sewage sludge as fertiliser and heavily restrict the use of antibiotics in livestock. This is the second attempt by the USDA to issue comprehensive organic guidelines. Two years ago the agency was flooded by complaints by organic farmers, environmental and consumer groups for being too loose.
PORTS
For the 14th year running, Singapore is set to retain its position as the world's busiest port. It handled 877 million gross tons last year, up 2.3 per cent from 1998. About 38 per cent of last year's tonnage consisted of container ships, 30 per cent tankers and 15 per cent bulk carriers. A total of 141,523 ships called at the port last year. Rotterdam was second followed by Hong Kong.
GROCERS
Fifty of the world's largest food, beverage, and consumer product manufacturers have joined with the Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA) to explore creating a new, open, electronic marketplace that would be accessible to all supply chain players and could connect to other exchanges in the future. The electronic marketplace reportedly would be the largest collaborative effort among food, beverage, and consumer product manufacturers to seek to create efficiencies on a global level over the Internet.
CHICAGO
Chicago is the candy capital of the world having more chocolate manufacturers within a small radius than any other place in the world. This dates back to the 1800s when Chicago was a national hub for transportation and manufacturing, in addition to being very close to sources for key candy ingredients, milk and corn syrup. It was also convenient to ship candy products to either coast from Chicago.
PATENT
The first patent was granted in 1421 to architect Filippo Brunelleschi in Florence to make a barge crane to transport marble.
AWARDS
According to Variety, the number of entertainment awards has reached epidemic proportions. In 1997, there were 252 entertainment-award ceremonies, this year it has counted 332.
DEMAND
Recently, Home Depot customers picked General Electric as the third-best known brand in water heaters, even though GE did not make water heaters. So Home Depot paid GE for the right to slap its label on a line of Japanese-made heaters.
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