Sometimes I describe what I do at being at the intersection of technology and politics and education. No better example of two worlds colliding than the use of Twitter during the G20 summit. There must be a real movement afoot as I cannot seem to go anywhere without hearing a reference to Twitter these days. I am such a luddite for not signing up. Yet. Indeed some of you may be going “Eh?”. Well here is a great guide by Lucy Atkins in the Telegraph.

Probably a good way to keep track of President Obama on his tour. He’s in Turkey now.

I am told that Stephen Fry has been ‘tweeting’ on his travels in Asia – bizarrely following a similar route to me just weeks before him. Singapore I know well but I did enjoy visiting Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia for the first time. Borneo is a good spot – we got fairly close to some orang-utans and lizards; though we did not venture deep enough into the jungle to meet leeches and snakes thankfully.

After sampling the sights and lights of Sydney and glimpsing roos in Queensland, it was time to chill in Bali with a friend. She managed to book me into an incredible little boutique hotel with luscious gardens, right on the beach, in a quiet part of the island. Then home to what should have been March mayhem but instead has delivered sunshine and warm days, as I eased myself back into the Q3 workload with intermittent dog walks, bike rides and flying lessons. This very pleasant spell has continued into April and people in general seem to have a sunny disposition.

Actually from where I am sitting the news is all good. The progress with BizSpark in the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region is incredible. 20 countries have launched and Turkey continues to lead while South Africa, Israel, parts of Levant and North Africa (Tunisia, Egypt) are storming ahead. Pakistan is doing a great job. Gulf and Saudi are ‘on the grid’ as are Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya. Very satisfying after months of preparation. 

The trend in other emerging markets is similar: in Central and Eastern Europe, 19 countries are live with the program and - while Russia and Poland have an impressive lead – Ukraine, Romania and Hungary are closing the gap. Other countries continue to astound watchers with demand – Croatia, Belarus, Slovenia and CZ. There is no doubt that there is real appetite in these emerging economies and people will brave the challenging environment to start new businesses – often in what one would readily admit are not ideal social, economic and political circumstances. Still, good to know there are beams of light making it through.