The web economy blog

Archive for March, 2011

The British government should e-privacy at the international level, together with EU partners and the United States, the Communications Minister Ed Vaizey said.
In his speech, the CBI Forum on e-privacy and digital economy, Vaizey said the Internet must be potted “lightly regulated driven.

But he said similar privacy standards were emerging from current regulation and new legislation in Europe and the US.

Unlike traditional television and radio publishing, Vaizey said the internet did not respect national boundaries. And he said: “The rules governing on-line privacy need to reflect that.”

“For the sake of web users and businesses we need a unified and consistent approach to on-line privacy that crosses borders.”

US regulation under a forthcoming ‘consumer bill of rights’ was said to be “not that different” from European data protection and e-Privacy directives, and Vaizey said countries should work together.

Creating an international standard to ensure the privacy of online business to compete on an equal footing, in which Web users enjoy the same protection that is based on the site. “

A web design company that closed last week, more than 17 million federal tax liens, and a lawyer for the company, said Tuesday that contributed to his decision to “relax” its operations.

HIT Web Design, also known as Heritage Web Design, unexpectedly closed its doors on March 8, with little attention to employees or customers. Provo attorney Sonny Olsen said HIT was unable to meet existing obligations and outstanding “because of the economy and levy a tax dispute.

“HIT made the most reasonable and prudent decision that it could given what the recession has done to this company and the industry,” Olsen said.

The Internal Revenue Service filed four tax liens on HIT Web Design’s property in Provo from Oct. 25 to Nov. 8, according to Utah County Recorder’s Office records.

The company also is known as Heritage Internet Technologies and Heritage Web Solutions.

HIT was contesting the liens “well in advance of the company dissolving, and [the tax liens are] making it impossible to resolve the wage claims and liability claims while it is pending,” Olsen said. “So HIT Web Design is working with IRS to resolve these issues.”

The company also is “evaluating its position” to try to address other liabilities, he said.

“HIT is well aware of the wages owed to employees at the time of HIT, and management intends to pay for these requirements to the extent that it has power,” Olsen said in a statement.

Colorado web designers Madwire Media, the fastest growing web design company in Colorado, brought six million U.S. dollars in the northern Colorado economy in 2010 and forecasts in addition to fifteen million in 2011.

With unemployment still high and a fragile economy, companies left and right have had to close their doors or lay off employees to stay afloat. CNN Money Magazine reported that unemployment has remained above 9% for 21 consecutive months, and economists and politicians, including Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, have said repeatedly that is likely to remain high in coming years.

Even amid this broken economy, Colorado’s largest web design firm with local, national and global clients, Madwire Media, grew from five to over forty employees in 2010 and plans to add 35 more to the staff by the end of 2011. With this growth, Madwire Media impacted the Northern Colorado economy by six million dollars last year. The reason for such growth is because they put great focus on phenomenal customer service, modern design, efficient development, and marketing that drives results at incredibly low rates.

At this rate, it is forecasted that Colorado web design firm Madwire Media will add an additional fifteen million dollars to the local economy in 2011. This brings a positive light to a not-so-positive economy. Madwire Media is obviously doing it right, and their integrative and non-traditional approach to business probably has a lot to do with it.

Madwire Media is not your unfortunately typical poor service, email only, slow turnaround time, under-delivering web design and internet marketing company. In fact, they pride themselves in being the complete opposite of that. They eat, sleep and drink great service, design, marketing, and affordability. They never leave their clients hanging out to dry, under-serviced, and unsatisfied. Madwire Media is outperforming in the current market, helping to stimulate the economy by bringing in new money nationally and locally.

Madwire Media does everything in their power to help their clients reach their goals, within their budget, and build their business. When it comes to internet marketing and design, they do it all.

His business approach is refreshing and encouraging today’s economy and the media Madwire is sure to create plenty of buzz in the market this year. With its innovative web site design, SEO marketing to inbound, brand identity, and social media, which seem to do anything, and do well.

Ontario East has launched the first collaboration of its kind, with the regional web portal that uses social media to reveal the innovative initiatives underway in the community and show the world that Ontario is more creative eastern corner of Canada.

“This site is a way to introduce, in one place, all activities taking place in eastern Ontario to build a creative economy,” Stephen Paul President of the Ontario East Economic Development Commission (Ontario East).

Eastern Ontario focuses on the enlargement of a creative economy on the fact that rural areas of this type, including small towns and cities are less likely to benefit from the headquarters or expanding manufacturing.

“The real economic growth in these areas is going to come from entrepreneurs and small businesses employed in the creative economy, those individuals who are paid to solve problems, use their intellectual capacity and collaborate,” says Paul.

The new portal will display social media posts from as many as 20 communities, detailing their hottest creative economy activities in real time. It also provides links to each community’s website.

The portal’s design is based on the concept that continuously updated, fresh content will boost the site’s Google ranking and Internet presence. This will make it easier to find Ontario East online and raise the profile of the myriad of activities occurring in the region that are contributing to the creative economy. This higher profile should help attract and retain more creative economy entrepreneurs.

Creative economies are defined as ones in which people are paid to think using ideas, analytical skills, innovation, knowledge, and collaboration, and in which the nature of work moves from routine-oriented jobs to creativity-oriented jobs. In Ontario, the creative economy employs 35 per cent of the workforce yet pays 51 per cent of wages. Jobs in the creative economy tend to pay twice that of the next wage category.

There are many advantages to developing a creative economy: creative economies cross all sectors, there are low barriers to entry, and there are high growth trends. They are also human capital intensive, which works well for Ontario East and its highly educated and skilled workforce.

“When people think of the word ‘creative,’ they tend to think it’s about artists and musicians. It’s much broader than that. It’s about architects just as much as it’s about programmers and artists and potters. It’s beyond bohemians and includes real estate, insurance, brokers, stocks, and more,” says Dan Taylor, Ontario East’s Creative Economy Sector Team Lead.

“A creative economy asks us to look at the economy a little differently. We usually think about sectors in economics. Creative economy doesn’t address sectors; it focuses on people, creative workers – people who are paid to think. Their job is to solve problems and come up with creative solutions,” Taylor adds.

Creative industries can include advertising, business consulting, design, education, engineering, film, gaming, healthcare, heritage, marketing, fine arts, public relations, and software development, among other industries.

The Ontario East Economic Development Commission, also known as Ontario East, was one of Canada’s first regionally-based economic development commissions when it formed in 1988. Its new site is an example of the collaborative nature of its communities to pull together toward a common vision.

Eastern Ontario consists of 124 regional economic enlargement professionals and entrepreneurs who work together to promote the business’s leading position in the area. Association represents more than 200 communities, thousands of companies, and nearly two million inhabitants.