Discover Freelancing

The US agency in charge of secure communication for the White House has been the victim of a cyber-attack. The US Department of Defence confirmed that computer systems controlled by the Defence Information Systems Agency (DISA) had been hacked, exposing the personal data of about 200,000 people. The agency oversees military communications including calls for US President Donald Trump. The data exposed included names and social security numbers. The agency is responsible for the military cyber-security and it sets up communications networks in combat zones. On its website, DISA says its vision is "to be the trusted provider to connect and protect the war fighter in cyber-space." There are 8,000 military and civilian employees at the DISA, but through its operations, it handles data for many other individuals. This is why the personal information for so many people was exposed. Hack attacks A spokesperson for the Department of Defence would not say whether ...

Mr Trump's two-day visit is designed to partially tickle his vanity, but, as importantly, it is to boost his chances of returning to office in the 2020 US general election. He will visit three cities in India: the national capital, Delhi; Agra, where he will see the Taj Mahal; and Ahmedabad, the main city in the western state of Gujarat, where he is expected to address an audience of more than 100,000 people in an event aptly called "Namaste Trump". This is an unmistakeable public diplomacy response to the "Howdy, Modi!" extravaganza in Houston last year, where Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr Trump addressed an audience of 50,000 Indians living in the US. But these visits are not just about theatrics and atmospherics. They are also about forcing a change in American leaders' general approach.  . Trade between the US and India grew from $66bn (£51bn) in 2008 to $142.6bn in 2018. In part, trade grew as a result of strengthening strategic tie...

Chinese President Xi Jinping has written a letter expressing thanks to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the organisation's "generosity" and support tackling a deadly virus epidemic, state media said Saturday. The outbreak of the new COVID-19 strain has claimed 2,345 lives in mainland China and infected more than 76,000 people, with cases in more than 25 countries. Earlier this month the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation committed up to $100 million for the global response to the outbreak. "I deeply appreciate the act of generosity of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and your letter of solidarity to the Chinese people at such an important moment," Xi wrote in the letter, according to official news agency Xinhua. China is at a "critical moment" in the fight against the outbreak, he said. Millions remain under lockdown in central Hubei province, where the virus emerged in December, although new hotspots were found in sever...

France, Germany, and Britain are supporting the ineffectual and dangerous nuclear deal (the JCPOA) with Iran. Contrary to the assumptions made by these states, the deal doesn’t stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions. It actually is a glide path to Iran building nuclear weapons because all the weak limits in the deal expire. Moreover, the Iranians have not come clean on their previous nuclear weapons work, as required by the JCPOA, and of grave concern is the Israeli discovery of major Iranian nuclear work undertaken as early as 2003. Iran’s nuclear ambitions are not just of interest to the Middle East region. The Iranians are building ballistic missiles with ranges of thousands of kilometers which thus puts Europe under threat. This is transparent to all states, clearly including France, Germany and the UK. Thus, it is reasonable to explore the three reasons why they persist in giving Iran the benefit of the doubt in assuming Iran will abide by the JCPOA and why they believe that a nuc...

The modern organization is structurally and culturally very different from the prototypical hierarchies. The viewpoint of the business as an ecosystem is emerging, and something that top managers and the board of directors need to investigate and experiment with. The challenge of today’s business is to stay relevant, frequently enough. We met at a network meeting for CEOs and directors that I was facilitating. He was amongst the first to show up that spring morning, and we took the opportunity to share some reflections before the crowd showed up. After the normal pleasantries, he paused and lowered his voice a bit. “What really bugs me,” he said, “is the fact that we are not all designed to adapt, embrace or even exploit the massive changes. Our planning horizon has shrunk from three years to three months. Our talented people are slowly leaving. And we’re not learning fast enough as an organization.”He shared a story that I have heard often in the past. Developments in technolog...

Science and technology will become the lifeblood of the Chinese economy in this decade and will remain its lifeblood in the future. That is, in part, because China has become sufficiently advanced to be able to effectively compete with the US and other technological leaders in the West. It is also the key to China’s ability to innovate and compete in the future, as it is for other advanced economies. Innovation-driven growth is also required in order for Beijing to smoothly deleverage away from its manufacturing base model of growth, which is slowly running out of steam. In the decade that has just passed, its productivity gains faltered and credit-driven investment in low return capital propped up its growth. China must address its slowing productivity gains to produce a smooth rebalancing of the economy. Productivity growth will not come from textiles, steel or the property market, and the flourishing services sector will require cutting-edge technology to remain competitive. To...

Guyana, home to just 750,000 people, is about to leap from one of the poorest to one of the richest countries in the world. The financial predators are circling, led by the Chinese. Guyana‘s inexperience, incompetence and lack of Western interest will hand the Chinese a valuable prey. Oil discoveries off the coast of Guyana are on course to produce about 1 million barrels per day of oil for 30 years. If oil fetches just $50 per barrel, this equates to nearly $500 billion. Guyana’s share of this will be approximately $300 billion; the other $200 billion will go to the Exxon-controlled consortium. The amounts are conservative estimates: New oil discoveries keep coming. Exxon and its partners, Hess and Nexen (the latter owned by the Chinese), landed a very sweet deal. Guyanese outrage about how its government granted such a stupendously generous package is vocal and growing. The reason is no more than incompetence and sharp Exxon negotiators. But Guyana’s share is still giga...