Cx3: Japan earthquake and tsunami

In the wake of the Japan earthquake and tsunami, the maturity of digital networks and social media is being demonstrated.

Less than an hour after the earthquake, Japan's phone system was knocked out and Twitter became the go-to place in the emergency - the number of tweets coming from Tokyo topped 1,200 per minute according to Tweet-o-Meter.

Google has set-up its Person Finder service so people can look for others, or post information saying they are safe - more than 4,000 records were posted in the first hour.

On YouTube the Japan tsunami channel hosts official news and user generated videos. The video below has already been viewed more than 3 million times.



Mashable has posted an article Japan earthquake and tsunami - seven simple ways to help in the aftermath of the disaster.

No-one can say that the devastation of Japan's earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant explosion isn't shocking, and the essential need of digital and social channels for connecting people and connecting the world with information is clear.

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Mashable: Japan earthquake and tsunami - seven simple ways to help
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Cx3: The virtual business

I like this article 'The virtual business: Doing deals in your pyjamas' - the article also poses the question, do modern businesses need four walls?

There is renewed interest in businesses leveraging the internet and the power of 'the cloud'. Although conceptually, the virtual office has been around for a while, it is only now that the convergence of technology connectivity and the economic climate as business drivers that a virtual reality is raising to the fore again.

But is a paradoxical virtual business reality a viable option? And can technology and digital communications sustain a virtual business?

The economic climate drives global operational economies and digital communications facilitates cost-effective management of those operations. No secret there.

The full-time/remote workforce split. Again cost effeciencies minimise full-time workforce overheads and temprorary on-demand remote-working specialist 'suppliers' make-up the balance that enables a business to negotiate beneficial rates. However, relationships with these temporary specialists is now the connection for a driven and motivated workforce. Cloud computing and social solutions are connecting stakeholders digitally, and nurturing loyal relationships.

There will always be grounding forces. Finance, corporate regulation and compliance. Growth may necessitate a physical reality, and can a virtual brand and its values be sustained?

Also, layer on top of this a generation of digital natives' natural virtual persona multiplicity, which is now grown-up - technology giant Microsoft is already exploring avatar technology for conferencing (interesting sign of the times). Going forward, the business drivers for virtual working may not be solely economic and technological, but behavioural.

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The virtual business: Doing deals in your pyjamas