World Briefing

By Sean Gregory

HEALTH TECH Lab in a Box

NetImpact, a California-based health-care company, is applying technology to improve health-care delivery and disease control in Mali, one of the poorest nations in Africa. Earlier this year OnQ Africa B.V., a for-profit company in the Netherlands that invests private and public money in subSaharan health, telecom and education, awarded NetImpact a $125 million contract to install MDS 200, a portable disease-detection device, and NetCare 7.0, a software package that stores and analyzes medical data. MDS 200, which can run on battery or solar power in areas without electricity, instantly screens for viruses like HIV and Ebola in blood or water samples. Test results are routed to NetCare 7.0, which also lets clinicians quickly peruse system-recommended treatments. NetImpact will start equipping Malian hospitals with labs and computers early next year.

Blackout Profits For ABB

The lights went out in lots of places during the blackout of 2003, but they were burning brightly in Zurich, home of engineering giant ABB. The company expects to earn up to $2 billion as the U.S. reinvests in its glitchy power grid. ABB claims more than 60% of the market for the electric-transmission and -distribution equipment that needs renovation or replacement. "This isn't going to happen overnight," says Randy Schrieber, vice president of ABB's U.S. Power Technologies division. "But the impetus that the utility companies have shown from the blackout bodes well for us." This promising news and the streamlining instituted by Jurgen Dormann, the German CEO who was imported last year to save the nearly bankrupt company, have provided a jolt to ABB shares. Their price rose 75% from June to September.

AEROSPACE Still Out Of Orbit

One tech industry that hasn't rebounded this summer: satellites. In July Boeing booked a $1.1 billion charge against earnings for its scandal-marred military business, and former stalwart Loral Space & Communications filed for bankruptcy. Then in August a launch disaster in Brazil killed 21 technicians and jeopardized that country's program. "Unquestionably, the commercial-satellite market is depressed right now," says Chris Mecray, an analyst at Deutsche Bank. From 1996 to 1998, satellite sales grew 49.4%, but they have shrunk 2.4% in the past four years. Worse, hurt by the telecom bust and tough export rules, U.S. market share has plummeted from 64% in 1998 to 36% in 2002. How long will the industry be lost in space? Says Mecray: "It's fair to say that there's no rebound in sight."

ACADEMIA Prof. Rainmaker

China keeps opening its doors--even the ones in the ivory tower. Beijing's elite Tsinghua University has appointed former Goldman Sachs president John Thornton professor of global leadership, making him the first U.S. businessman to teach at the school since the 1949 revolution. During his 24 years at Goldman, Thornton helped the firm become a force in Europe, Japan and China, where Zhu Rongji, the reformist former Prime Minister and a dean at Tsinghua, was a confidant. Thornton has insisted that he's focused on teaching, but don't expect a globe-trotting rainmaker to spend all his time holding office hours or grading papers. Besides his ties to Goldman, Thornton sits on the boards of Ford, Intel and two News Corp. subsidiaries, British Sky Broadcasting and Hughes, the parent company of DirecTV. (Star TV, also owned by News Corp., is one of two Western stations broadcast into China.) "He's looking forward to slowing down a bit," says Jeffery Harte, a brokerage analyst at Sandler O'Neill & Partners, "but I expect him to be an active and involved board member."

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Office Guru

Turns out the Dalai Lama is a typical overachiever. In The Art of Happiness at Work, a follow-up to his best-selling collaboration with psychiatrist Howard Cutler, The Art of Happiness, the Tibetan holy man reveals that his most blissful moment didn't occur in a state of relaxation. It happened when he passed the final exams for his Geshe degree, akin to a Ph.D. in Buddhist philosophy. Practical achievement should be exhilarating, the Nobel laureate says, as long as work is a calling--whether that calling is to serve others, work in government or provide for a family by practicing corporate law. Buddhist wisdom and Western science intersect in other places: the Dalai Lama warns that to avoid jealousy and bitterness, workers must possess a realistic view of their abilities. The book is largely a transcription of Cutler's conversations with the famous monk, and the most poignant material is in the last five chapters. But early on, he provides comfort for us working stiffs: during some meditation rituals, even the Dalai Lama gets bored on the job.

Go from VHS to DVD

Break out those Seinfeld tapes piled in your closet. Hewlett-Packard recently unveiled the DVD Movie Writer dc3000, the first device that combines a DVD recorder and an analog-to-digital converter in one box--meaning you can transfer your VHS tapes to DVDs. The gadget includes software for your PC and connects to a VCR or a camcorder using standard video cables. In a few clicks, more than two hours of footage can be transferred onto a single disc. The software breaks the DVD into chapters, allowing you to skip to your favorite scenes, and comes with an editing package that can set your 1987 high school graduation to Eminem's Slim Shady. The Movie Writer is one of 158 products HP launched this summer, and it's generating the most buzz. Notes technology analyst Rob Enderle: "Those videotapes don't age well."