Understanding Climate Change

Here is some software that Adriano, a friend of mine from Brazil, is working on. It can help evaluate the theoretical outcomes of various global CO2 policies. This would allow policy makers at United Nations Climat Change Conference - Copenhagen 2009 to quickly get an idea if their proposed policies are actually sustainable, or at least viable.

From the ISee website:

In this web seminar, instructor Chris Soderquist uses simple STELLA/iThink model to help you understand the basic concepts and systems principles driving climate change dynamics. Learn about the challenges we face, the changes we must adapt to and those we need to mitigate or avoid. Explore simulations developed by Climate Interactive that will be used at the upcoming Copehagen summit and see the future impact of worldwide policy decisions.

This webinar is the first session of a four-part web seminar series titled Modeling for Environmental Sustainability. All materials from this session are "open source" and available to share with as many people as you can!

JOIN LEAD TO WIN AND DRIVE MASSIVE INNOVATION IN CANADA’S CAPITAL REGION

Here is a message on behalf of the Lead To Win program:

JOIN LEAD TO WIN AND DRIVE MASSIVE INNOVATION IN CANADA’S CAPITAL REGION


If you are serious about starting a profitable business in Canada’s
Capital region, we invite you to apply to the November session of the Lead
to Win program.

If accepted to the program, you must attend six-days of training scheduled
for November 3, 4 and 5 and November 23, 24 and 25 of 2009. Your company
will be expected to create at least six knowledge jobs within the next
three years.

The Lead to Win program is free to qualified applicants - no strings
attached, no small print, no surprises. Individuals from 50 organizations
are investing to make Lead to Win participants successful for the benefit
of the individual and our community. The objective is to create knowledge
jobs, retain technology talent, and attract direct investment.

To apply to Lead to Win, please complete and submit the application
available at www.leadtowin.ca

We are seeking talented individuals who are able and willing to create
technology-based businesses in Canada’s Capital Region. Each new business
must be designed to grow so it can employ at least six knowledge workers
in Canada’s Capital Region over the next three years.
Lead to Win has three phases. In the first phase, you apply online.
Qualified applicants will then be invited to meet with Lead to Win
leadership. Participants will be selected based on their experience,
commitment, and opportunity profile. In the second phase, you participate
in an intense six day training program where you will learn how to lever
business ecosystems, profitably serve attractive vertical markets, and the
key factors that contribute to the ultimate success of a fledgling
technology company. Upon completion of this second phase, you will be well
equipped, and encouraged, to launch your new technology businesses in the
National Capital Region. In the third phase, Lead to Win connects you to
strategic customers, revenue opportunities, and individuals, companies and
organizations that can provide requisite resources, including capital.

If you know of serious individuals who may benefit from Lead to Win,
please forward this email to them. Note that we are only looking for
serious applicants.

We look forward to meeting the next wave of the region’s technology
entrepreneurs on November 3!

If you need additional information over what is at www.leadtowin.ca,
please contact:

Ludovico Prattico, prattico-at-sympatico.ca
Michelle Iseman, michelle.iseman-at-vitesse.ca
Serge Lafontaine, slafontaine-at-arrow.com
Ian Graham, ian-at-thecodefactory.ca
Rowland Few, rfew-at-sce.carleton.ca
Tony Bailetti, Bailetti-at-sce.carleton.ca
Yannick Bouchard, bouchard.yannick-at-gatineau.ca

The MBA Oath - Coincidence

Before I begin, let's get one thing straight. I don't subscribe to notions of determanistic futures, the concepts of fate or all the supernatural mumbo jumbo. I do, however believe that everything in the universe is connected, but that's only because our traditional naive understanding of Gravity tells us so. I also believe that there is much more to the physical world than imagine and much much more than we can visualize. But sometimes weird stuff happens, and it seems that this weird stuff happens much more often that it should... Statistically speaking of course. For instance when you are thinking about someone, then they call you on the phone. Or in more extreme circumstances; you are about to call someone, you pick up the phone and they are already there because they just dialed your number but your phone didn't even get a chance to ring yet. Well something like that happened today but in a much weirder way:

A few days ago I was chatting with a colleague of mine. Lets call him "Harley". So Harley tells me he is creating something called "The Great Canadian MBA Oath". The purpose of the oath is to increase integrity and accountability of MBAs (who will eventually be in command of the corporations that control our lives and the lives of our beloved children, friends and family and what you will). So, as it went, I tell him that he should talk to the Aspen Institute because they are into that sort of thing. I had talked to one of their depute directors a few weeks ago (lets call her Nancy) and sent an email introduction between her and Harley asking if anyone at Aspen would be interested in MBA oaths or oath related business. So Nancy replies to Harley referring him to a director at Aspen, who will be "henceforth" known as Rich.

Nothing happens for a day or so. I am wandering around on Twitter and find this guy who is suggesting some good CSR people to know about on Twitter. I decide to follow them reading each of their last tweets. Who would have guessed it? One of them just Tweeted about an MBA Oath just launched at Harvard Business School (HBS) by the 2009 graduating class! What a coincidence I though, so I read further. I then learn that the students had talked about this idea with a professor of theirs named David Garvin. David then referred the students to professors Rakesh Khurana and Nitin Nohria. It turned out that Rakesh Khurana and Nitin Nohria had already been working on an oath for MBAs with the World Economic Forum and ... guess who? That's right! The Aspen Institute! Wow another coincidence! Just then, my eye catches my gmail tab in Mozilla indicating that I just received a new email. I click over and read it and who is it from? None other then "Rich" from the Aspen Institute. Guess what Rich was sending? Nothing less than a copy of the Harvard Busines Review entitled "It's Time to Make Management a True Profession" by none other than Rakesh Khurana and Nitin Nohria. Now I'm not allowed to copy or post this document but let me tell you 2 things: It was about oaths and MBAs. That's enough coincidence for me for a while. But I am now quite curious about this MBA oath business as it is so closely related to CSR and corporate sustainability. Cheers for now.