Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
Announcement of the site does not make clear whether it will be a warts and all representation of the situation, or report only good news. For example it is possible to click on countries in a list and find country specific information, but some countries are conspicuous by their absence: for example, African basket case, Zimbabwe and Burma. Yet according to Google's press release "MDG Monitor/ tracks progress toward the MDGs in a number of categories in nearly every country in the world." However even when countries are listed there is often insufficient information. For example here is none for Iraq on any one of the goals.
On China, known for its rapidly increasing consumption or natural resources, against the goal 9, "Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources" there is an "insufficient information" indicator. However one does not need an indicator to know that progress on: "the proportion of land area covered by forest, the ratio of area protected to maintain biological diversity to surface area; energy use (kg oil equivalent) per $1 GDP; carbon dioxide emissions per capita," are all going in the wrong direction.
That said the aims of the site are admirable. It hopes that "by laying out areas of progress and continuing challenge for the world to see, /MDG Monitor / aspires to keep the global community's eye firmly fixed on the Millennium Goals, and to provide vital information for policy makers and development practitioners worldwide."
One portion of the site allows a Web surfer to use Google Earth to fly anywhere on the planet and explore from above, in three dimensions, the places where work is being done to realise the MDGs. This information will soon appear as a Global Awareness layer in Google Earth, and is currently available for download.
Cisco, whose approach to corporate citizenship includes applying its business and technological expertise to social issues, provided expert consultancy as well as technical and financial support for /MDG Monitor's/ development. Bontron & Co also chipped in, producing /MDG Monitor's/ logo on a pro-bono basis.
David Bass
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