DailySpotlight

"The most eagerly awaited tablet since Moses delivered the Ten Commandments". This is how Michael Gartenberg, a technology journalist, analyst and blogger described the iPad before his launch. Few hours after Steve jobs revealed "the most important thing he ever made", two categories of blogers/people have emerged, the pros and cons of the iPad. As usual with a new Apple product, debates are passionate about knowing weither yes or not the iPad is a must have.

While Apple has just anounced the official release date of the iPad (beginning of April), I can not help myself to imagine how the iPad will continue the revolution introduced by the iPhone. After the mouse, the multi-touch technology has become the brandnew Graphic User Interface paradigm. Though I did not even tried the thing (like 99,99% of the basher-blogers who posted the first series of negative reviews), I am already seduced by all the possibilities offer by this new hype device which inspire me the following statements :

As a member of the UNeECC student board, I participated to the last UNeECC general assembly in Vilnius (Lithuania). During the student workshop, we had to do a brainstorming about Innovation, Creativity and Culture in order to conceive a project which can include all these elements. With Karl Fromberger, from the University of Essen in Germany, we developed a new concept of student exchange programme : the UNeECC week.

In few decades, European Union managed to build a political union between so different countries and people. However, when it comes to culture, citizenship, and identity, Europe seems to be still on progress, mainly for a majority of young people who are still looking for answering the question : what does it mean to be (a young) European?

Nowadays, student mobility tremendously contributes to intercultural understanding. While a lot of European programs like Erasmus or Leonardo succeeded in making progress the feeling of belonging to Europe, and promote the purpose of the European building, for many reasons, they unfortunately concern only a little part of students or youngsters in the EU.

After many setbacks (simplification of the Treaty, holding of a 2nd referendum in Ireland, Czech President and Euro-pessimists opposition) the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force on 1 December 2009. It is supposed to "provide the EU with modern institutions and optimised working methods to tackle both efficiently and effectively today's challenges in today's world", such as globalisation, climatic and demographic changes, security and energy (according to the European Commission website). 

However, from a lobbyist point of view, the Treaty of Lisbon Introduces some changes and novelties which should change the rules of the "game". So for Eurodom, my ex-consultancy (where I worked 8 months as a fresh graduated trainee), it seemed necessary to make people realize how this new treaty will change the way we work and interact with European decisions makers. Consequently, I was in charge of achieving a 20-slides presentation for the General Assembly of the cabinet. At the beginning it was no big deal for such a powerpoint/keynote expert as I am. Nevertheless I worked hard on it with my boss, Mr Bally, and after some sleepless nights, and a working sunday afternoon, we managed to achieve the presentation he wanted. 

The principal message we wanted to deliver was the following : the Treaty of Lisbon will reinforce democracy by providing the European Parliament (EP) with much more power than before. This is a good point for promoting the interests of European citizens, but that also signifies more efforts (and stress), more time, and more means for convincing a significant part of the 755 members of the Parliament. After all, Lobbyists will not suffer from this evolution; their work will just become a bit more complicated. In this economic downturn context, that probably means more jobs for experts in law and political sciences familiar with the EP functioning, which is a good news! Isn't? Anyway I hope you will appreciate this presentation and will not hesitate to write some comments about it.

You can also download the file:

Treaty of Lisbon

Like thousand of other brave Apple fans, I was this morning among the first customers of the first Apple store opened in France. I was so exciting by this inauguration that I decided on the fly to go to Paris from Brussels... in carpooling, for the first time (thanks Maya).

Finally, I was not disappointed... this opening was just impressive : 1,5 km of people standing in a queue, around 5000-6000 people waiting for discovering this brand new Apple store at 10 o'clock, 150 employees for supporting or advicing customers, 5000 collector t-shirts (in a magnificent - pyramid - package) for the first customers, some french famous people (Yvan Attal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Luc Besson, Vincent Cassel) in a sumptuous area... the Carroussel du Louvre.

Tonight I am the happy owner of a brand new Apple remote in aluminium, a beautiful collector T-shirt and many photos of this "historic" event. I will post more items as soon as possible, but for the moment I need to rest in order to recover from 3 hours of standing in line, in a quite cold weather. Anyway, this Apple store is a very charming and pleasant place and will surely succeed in attracting many visitors and customers.

If you want to see more photos, check out the blog of my friend Nathalie : www.theparisienne.fr

On october 2009 5th to 8th was held by the regions comittee and the European Commission, the 7th edition of the Open days. This annual event is dedicated to growth and innovation issues from a regional scale. There were plenty of great conferences and debates during all the week, however for professionnal purposes and booking issues (too many applicants but limited places) I finally attended to only one conference. The talk was focused on Clusters and innovation in regions and was very interesting. The most captivating speaker was Dr. Schuurmans, former professor of Solid State Physics, former Executive Vice President at Philips Research / Philips Medical systems, and currently Chairman of the International Advisory Board to the Biomedical School of Information Engineering in Shenyang. His message was clear and very meaningful : compared with Chinese, Indian or US education system, the European systems is globally far behind in terms of innovation and R&D, and our education system is not enough pragmatic and efficient. Too much theory and insufficient practical knowledge and ability. Another element was enlighted during the debate: the obvious lack of synergy between European regions. I totally agree with this analysis, and really hope things will change quickly, if not European competitivity and attractivity will decline dramatically.

Official presentation of the keynote: Unite and innovate! European clusters for recovery. The wealth of Member States and regions is increasingly dependent on the development of appropriate framework conditions to promote innovation and productivity. Clusters are at the core of innovative development and can create a powerful stimulus for growth, by bolstering connection between companies and centres of research and education. The Commission has published a communication to develop strong world-class clusters as the main drivers for Europe’s competitiveness. However, Europe’s clusters are large in number but small in scale. While world-class clusters are fundamental to competing internationally, existing clusters still have great potential to respond to the needs of the market and to help developing European regions. Strategies to develop both type of clusters are not mutually exclusive, but may involve important trade-offs that need to be analysed. What does it take to develop world-class clusters in Europe? Which trade-offs do strategies to develop world-class and small-scale clusters imply? What is the role of companies in fostering cluster development?

Since the beginning of may 2009, I have been a lucky intern in a consultancy cabinet - EURODOM - located in Brussels and focused on european affairs. Our main activity is to defend the economic interests of the European outermost regions, mainly the French ones (Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyane, Réunion, etc.). Working in this area is very exciting but also very compelling. Most of the time, you work on macroeconomic issues and deal with politicians or high level experts. In the European affairs microcosm, there are few vacancies but many applicants... Indeed, I met a lot of overqualified and high skilled people who are looking for a job - since months - in the european affairs field. That's the reason why I feel very lucky to do my trainee period in this area.

Moreover, lobbying is a controversial activity which triggers many fantasies. Some are over-exaggerated and other are quite true. However, it is something more natural and transparent than people think. In Brussels, which is the second most important city in terms of lobbying (behind Washington), most European affairs cabinet are registred in a special register for transparency purpose.

Every sectors, NGO, european regions, EU member states, significant associations, etc. are represented in Brussels. From the NGO, Human Rights Watch to the Pharmaceutical firm, Sanofi-aventis, "everyone" can lobby for their interests or defend their cause. People used to think that Lobbyists make laws. In fact, the main important role of the 15000 people who work in the Lobbying industry in Brussels consist in informing politicians (european deputees, Commissaries) and european civil servants about technical aspects, they are not able to understand properly.

After all, politicians are those who make the decision and only them. Before implementing any measure, they have to weigh up the pros and cons, and never forget that they work for common interest. It can happen that some amendments could be directly inspired or wrote by a lobby but it is more an exception than a rule. Anyway, lobbying is as old as politics itself. The good question is how to make it more transparent, better regulated and more fair between those who have money and those who don't.

For writing my thesis, I managed to schedule some interviews with people who are working on or promoting ICT as an enhancer for development. Consequently, I had the opportunity to meet very passionate and fascinating people. My meeting with Thierry Devars, Responsible of the international relations at the Information Society and Media DG (European Commission), was one of the most informative and transparent I ever had. M. Devars was a very good educationalist and we talked almost two hours about development issues. I thank him for all his advice, and for his frankness. Listening to him convinced me more than never, that ICT and development were very relevant topics, and that the future of emerging countries, specially Africa, will be closely related to these issues.

The other meeting I would like to talk about, was the one which allowed me to touch and use the controversial XO computer, made by the One Laptop Per Child foundation. As you may know, the main mission of this NGO founded by Nicolas Negroponte (MIT), consist in bringing education to rural areas in developing countries, thanks to a low-cost computer, initially priced at US$100. Finally the XO is more expensive than expected US$180, but it is a great educative tool. I wanted to personally test it to make my one opinion on this device.

So, I contacted the OLPC Europe headquarter to plan an interview and a review of this amazing computer. It is Giulia D’Amico, Development Director at OLPC Europe, a very bright (she worked for the World Bank) and friendly person, who answered all my questions and proposed me a meeting at OLPC Europe to use the XO. I have to admit that I was impressed by this little device, which is designed to resist to dust, heat and humidity. The Graphic User Interface (GUI) was not the best I knew, but the XO educational potential is not a myth. The possibilities of learning new languages, reading books (100 ebooks in each device), expressing creative skills are huge. The connectivity seems good to me, and the performance correct. And last but not least, the XO is very, very simple. I just think that the content and all the environment around this project (teachers education, services, maintenance, etc.) should be more localized and conceived according to what final users (children in developing countries) really need.

Thanks to all the OLPC Europe team and specially to Isobel Amonoo Neizer, Africa Liaison Officer, who explain me during my guided tour how works the XO.

Three weeks ago, I contributed to the SOLIDAYS festival in Paris as a volunteer. I worked for a friends' association created in march 2009 called SIDASOS. Its aim is to prevent AIDS, mainly by focusing their activities on the young inhabitant of Brussels. When they were still students, Gaïa and Céline, the SIDASOS historic founders, realized that there was not any significant entity which was working to avert HIV and AIDS transmission to people of their generation.

Now SIDASOS is based on an loyal and dynamic team of volunteers (like me), and we plan to organize in Brussels a big solidarity festival to prevent AIDS, FESTIVAIDS. 30 artists, playing various kind of music (Rock, Pop, Soul, Hip-hop, Electro) are scheduled and the Show will take place in the Botanique (a famous salle in BXL).

The ambition of SIDASOS is to create in Brussels an music festival as famous and symbolic as SOLIDAYS in Paris. If you want to attend to a very special event and be solidaires to AIDS patient, I give you RDV on 25 to 26 september 2009. For more information you should take a look to the website of Festivaids and stay tuned...

FESTIVAIDS - The website

Du 23 au 25 avril 2009, la prestigieuse université de Pécs, Hongrie, à l’origine du réseau des universités des capitales européennes de la culture (UNeECC), organisait dans ses murs la première édition de l’UNeECC Student Workshop. Ce colloque avait pour objectif de réunir des représentants d’associations étudiantes issues des universités membres du réseau UNeECC, afin d’impliquer les étudiants et leurs associations aux activités du réseau, qui ne cesse de prendre de l’ampleur à mesure que le titre de Capitale Européenne de la Culture gagne en prestige et en notoriété.

Pour cette première édition, l’Université Catholique de Lille était représentée par deux membres du pôle « relations internationales » de la FEDE (Fédération des étudiants de la Catho), Margaux Lugand et Cédric Pierre-Louis, qui ont saisi avec enthousiasme cette opportunité exceptionnelle d’échange et de coopération à la fois multi et interculturelle.

Durant cette session de trois jours, les étudiants venus d’anciennes, d’actuelles ou de futures Capitales Européennes de la Culture telles que Cracovie, Lille, Avignon, Anvers, Liverpool, Sibiu, Vilnius, Lisbonne, Maribor et Pécs, ont présenté leurs universités et associations respectives, évoquant notamment les temps forts de l’année durant laquelle leur ville fut ou sera Capitale Européenne de la Culture.

Puis, dans une ambiance conviviale et chaleureuse, des visites de la ville et des rencontres avec les organisateurs de Pécs 2010, des ateliers de réflexion visant à imaginer quel pourrait être l’apport des étudiants au réseau UNeECC, ont ponctué ces 3 jours de découvertes et de coopération, très riches en nouveaux contacts. Des amitiés très fortes ont d’ailleurs vu le jour, et il a été admis que devant le succès de cette première édition, l’expérience méritait d’être réitérée.

À l’issue des travaux, Margaux Lugand a été nommée au conseil d’administration de l’UNeECC Student Association, créée à cette occasion. Les propositions des étudiants participants seront présentées à l'assemblée générale de l'UNeECC le 22 octobre 2009 à Vilnius, l'actuelle capitale européenne de la culture. Ce premier UNeECC Student Workshop, fut clairement une réussite et l'équipe de Gyöngyi Pozsgai, Secrétaire Général de l'UNeECC, et responsable du département « relations internationales » à l'Université de Pécs, peut se targuer d'une organisation sans faille qui fait honneur à l'Université de Pécs.

Pécs, qui sera en 2010 avec Istanbul, la prochaine capitale européenne de la culture, a ainsi été le lieu d’une fructueuse rencontre entre de jeunes européens heureux de pouvoir contribuer à l’émergence d’une Europe de la Culture, ou plutôt d’une Europe des Cultures.

Le réseau UNeECC (University Network of the European Capitals of Culture) a été créé en décembre 2006, à l’initiative d’une quarantaine d’établissements européens. L’idée fondatrice était d’impulser une nouvelle forme de synergie et de collaboration académique, pédagogique et culturelle entre les universités établies dans des Capitales européennes de la culture.

CATHO International Num. 7 - juin 2009. Rédacteur : Cédric Pierre-Louis, étudiant Master 2 ICM FLSEG, membre du Pôle International de la Fédé étudiante, Université Catholique de Lille

Site web :

www.uneec.org

UNEeC student workshop

Galerie photos - UNEeC student workshop

Those who lived recently or are still living in Valencia, won't be surprise by this amazing TV commercial broadcasted by the Valencian tourism office. It just remind me how much I miss this city, and how much I enjoyed living there... I hope I will go back very soon to VLC, the best city in Spain... For me of course.