Innovation Showcase Headlines – 11/9/2009

Lots of terrific articles posted this week on the Innovation Showcase news site. Read about new features in Visual Studio 2010, check out David Chappells’ whitepaper on the SharePoint 2010 Developer Platform and see video interviews with Don Box and Dave Thompson.

• Visual Studio 2010 Gallery - RegEx Editor
• Two Roundtable Discussions on Windows 7 Application Compatibility
• TFS 2010 for SourceSafe Users
• What is the Windows Azure Platform?
• Visibility and Control in a Service-Oriented Architecture
• 10 Things to Hate About the iPhone
• Azure - Helping a Non-Profit to Help Others
• Concerned about Windows Azure?
• What Makes Windows 7 A “Killer” OS
• The SQL Azure Tools Keep Coming!
• ORM Comes to SQL Azure!
• Azure Blob Caching – Life on the Edge
• Webcast: Designing Multi-Tenanted Applications on Windows Azure
• Dave Thompson: Turning Software into Services
• Don Box - Perspectives on SOAP, Programming Data and M
• Microsoft Holding BizSpark Incubation Week for Windows Azure
• SharePoint 2010: Developer Platform White Paper by David Chappell
• ARCast.TV - Improving Application Lifecycle Management with Visual Studio Team System
• NBC Winter Olympics on Silverlight
• Windows Marketplace for Mobile - The Race to Market Challenge
• Architect’s perspective on Silverlight 3

Visit the Innovation Showcase Site

Subscribe to the Innovation Showcase Feed

Follow Innovation Showcase on Twitter

Each month through June 2010, we’ll bring you a 90-minute Architect focused Webcast to educate on the latest trends/topics and how new technologies can align with your business needs.

Title:  An Architect’s perspective on Silverlight 3

November 24, 2009 at 11:00am – 12:30pm PST

Presenter: Tim Heuer

Abstract:  Many .NET developers are becoming more and more interested in the Rich Internet Application development space, and in particular Silverlight.  In this session we will step back from a detailed implementation technology and take a higher level look at Silverlight from the architect’s perspective.  We will discuss the types of applications where Silverlight makes sense and some scenarios where Silverlight may not be the appropriate technology.  We will also delve into some of the architectural decisions that the architect must consider when writing applications for this platform and where some of the tradeoffs may lie.

Event ID:  1032432980

Link to Register:  http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032432980&Culture=en-US

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Title: Cloud-computing architecture – designing multi-tenant applications on Windows Azure.

November 25, 2009, 11:00am – 12:30pm PST

Speaker:  Joseph Hofstader

Abstract: Cloud computing is one of the hottest topics in information technology today.  With all the confusion surrounding acronyms ending in ‘aas’ like Platform as a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) it can be intimidating for even seasoned IT professionals.  This presentation will briefly discuss the different types of cloud platforms and then address one of the key business scenarios for the cloud: Software as a Service.

Software as a Service is a business model for making applications available over the Internet.  One of the key tenets of SaaS is multi-tenancy, or software designed to be used by multiple parties.  Designing SaaS applications touches on many of the technologies that comprise the Azure platform: Processing, Storage, Workflow, Database and most importantly security.   This presentation will discuss how each of technologies can be utilized to define a flexible architecture for multi-tenant solutions.

Event ID:  1032432981

Link to Register: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032432981&Culture=en-US

SPEAKER BIOS

Tim Heuer

I currently work for Microsoft as a program manager for Microsoft Silverlight, a web technology aimed at delivering rich internet experiences to users.  Before this current role, I was a developer evangelist for Microsoft serving the Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Montana and Utah areas aiming to strengthen and support communities and software developers in these geographies. 

Josepher Hofstader

Joseph Hofstader is an architect/evangelist in Microsoft Communications Sector.  Joe has spent his career architecting, designing and developing solutions in the telecommunications industry.  Over the last 5 years, he has been involved in architecting solutions that provide telecommunications services in the cloud.  Joe presents regularly at industry events sponsored by organizations like the TMForum  and the National Association of Broadcasters.  In his spare time Joe is an adjunct professor in the department of Information Technology and Electronic Commerce at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business.

Windows 7 is Here Today…Available Globally

Today is marks the official availability of Windows 7 to the world.  It is great to see the tremendous positive response from customers, partners, moms, dads, kids. 

I was at my local Best Buy today to lend a helping hand to the blue shirt Best Buy employees help their customers.

I’ve already gotten requests from my parents and friends for copies.

Enjoy the moment:)

Innovation/Showcase on Internet Explorer 8 and Silverlight 3

Join us at Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 and Silverlight 3 Innovation Showcase where you can learn how IE8 & SL3

features deliver the best web experience for your users.  Register today to see what Innovation can do for you!

During this showcase we will discuss how you can Expand your Business Reach with Internet Explorer 8 and

Build a Line-of-Business Applications with Silverlight 3 and Expression Studio 3.

Who Should Attend:

Solution Architects, CIO’s, CTO’s, Development Managers, Lead Developers, Business Decision Makers

Are you a .NET Developer looking for some “How Do I” videos on Cloud Computing?

Cloud Computing has been generating a lot of interest as of late.  In this economy we are all looking at ways to reduce costs and increase performance.  But how do I get started as a .NET Developer on Windows Azure?  Check out the new “How Do I” videos around Windows Azure, Live Servers, and .NET Services that were just released on MSDN! 

These types of videos will walk you through step by step on how to get started, code snippets, and how to perform some of the more common tasks all before having to download the bits.  Go here for the break down:

Don't Miss the 2009 Microsoft Enterprise Developer & Solutions Conference!

Microsoft “Surface in a Yacht”

"Lazzara Yachts and Microsoft along with software development company Infusion became the first to launch the Microsoft Surface technology into the yachting industry. This technology will change so many aspects of how our owners will be able to interact with the Lazzara Brand and product."  Said Rich Lazzara, VP of Marketing & Sales

On Feb. 12th-16th, 2009 at the Miami Yachts & Brokerage Show, my colleagues and I joined Lazzara Corporation to launched Phase I of the Lazzara Microsoft Surface in a Yacht suite of applications for the retail showroom and as features in the yacht starting this Fall 2009.

Lazzara Yacht Company Overview:

Lazzara Yachts is a family-owned company whose goal is to build a few, high-quality, innovative yachts that set the industry standard and to create, for our family of owners, the highest level of customer support and service.

In partnership with Microsoft and Infusion Development, Lazzara will introduce their new Surface computing technology available in sales showrooms (“Retail Concierge”) and in their yachts as featured offerings at the Miami Yacht & Brokerage Show kicking off February 12, 2009. Customers will be able to visualize and interact with customization options for yacht interiors.

Available applications: (Retail Showroom Concierge)

· Yacht Explorer – Interactive visual navigation on Surface to get specifications on the yacht, details of offerings, photos, and video interactions, etc.
· Interactive Room Customization – Ability for customer to visualize the interior and exterior and customize options such as wood color.
· Customization results – Show final look of their customize product as final delivery

Future planned yacht options: (Surface in a Yacht Suite of Applications)

· Trip Planning – Nautical Way Finder with GPS and point of interest suggestions.
· Tour Guide – interactive tour guide concierge.
· Ship Management – onboard ship management and controls.
· Social Networking features – share photos and activities with friends and families in the cloud beyond the waves.

Press Coverage, Marketing Activity, and Phase I Launch

The Yacht and Brokerage Show in Miami Beach, Feb 12^th-16^th, 2009. The Yacht and Brokerage Boat Show in Miami Beach is a multi-million dollar presentation of yachts including the world's most extraordinary and uniquely designed yachts and superyachts from the world's foremost custom boat builders. Accordingly to Rich Lazzara Blog, this is one of the largest yacht shows in the US attracting upwards of 10K+ people.

Microsoft partnered with Lazzara and Infusion Development to develop first of a kind suite of Microsoft Surface applications that would be used in the retail showroom as well as offering it as a feature in all its yachts starting this fall, when the new 76 foot LMC cruiser will debut.

Everyone recognize the current bad economic climate. Dick Lazzara, cofounder addresses this issue by saying “we'll make it through this”. As an innovator in the business, he sees the partnership with Microsoft and Infusion as a major differentiator in his brand and product offerings. On Feb 12^th, Dick Lazzara kick-off the week-long event with a press announcement function attended by all major yachting industry editors and local news media. He announced a new model LMC76 to debut in the Fall as new innovation incorporating new engine technology and Microsoft Surface suite of applications.

Words of Rich Lazzara, Lazzara VP of Marketing & Sales (blog post)

[Lazzara Yachts and Microsoft along with software development company Infusion became the first to launch the Microsoft Surface technology into the yachting industry. This technology will change so many aspects of how our owners will be able to interact with the Lazzara Brand and product. For the first phase of the launch we are using Surface technology in our retail Showcase. It allows prospects to view pictures, videos, specifications and even personalize a yacht interior all using your hands to manipulate and interface with the device. Phase two will bring the Surface technology into the yacht itself. With the Surface technology on the yacht owners will be able to research the various ports of call they are traveling to and find out about activities, events, restaurants, services in those locations. In addition it will also be used to display the owners manual, family pictures, control on board audio system and link to other Surface devices. With the launch of a Lazzara Yacht Club Social Network this year owners will be able to link to each other and network and share information around their yachting lifestyle.] 

Microsoft Technology showcase (Phase I & II)

1. Microsoft Surface, Vista, WPF, Silverlight 2.0
2. Virtual Earth, Live Framework, Windows Live ID
3. Social networking site integration – connecting owners, friends, and families. Photo sharing in the cloud, concierge services en-route, shopping, etc.

Check out the demo for Phase I, launch Feb 12th

Check out the Phase II preview video from our partner Infusion Development

Press coverage so far, more to come in the next several weeks:

Megayachnews.org blog posting (write-up and video)
Diane M. Byrne, Owner & Editor
http://megayachtnews.org/content/builders/1117-lazzara-partners-with-microsoft.html

Microsoft Surface Trailer: Lazzara Yachts by Infusion (Phase II preview)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsE9_mO2n3U

Rich Lazzara Blog posting
http://richlazzara.com/

Yachting Industry Magazine coverage

Yachts International, Cecile Gauert, Editor-in-Chief
Barche International Yacht Magazine, Franco Michienzi, Director

Local Broadcast station
WPLG-TV (ABC), WTVJ-TV (NBC), WFOR-TV (CBS), WSVN-TV (FOX)

Healthcare Reform in China

Microsoft Health & Life Sciences Industry Council

China Healthcare Perspectives

Thursday, December 11, 2008 at 2:00pm – 6:00pm

Microsoft Office – Farmington, CT
74 Batterson Park Road
Farmington, CT 06032

Overview

What was once a model based on pure social services, China’s Healthcare is evolving into a hybrid blend approach that includes a mix of government price controls, fee for service disparities, social security coverage gaps/limitations, and emerging “western oriented” privatized healthcare insurance.  China is in the midst of a Healthcare Reform…essentially a breakaway from traditional social service towards a new model that will better serve China’s population from a cost, quality, and availability perspective. Currently, China’s total Healthcare spending is 4.8% of the GDP, essentially the largest country (1.3B) has the lowest total spend.  But, China is committed to significantly increasing its total spend…or, potential reversing the model making China a Healthcare leader vs. laggard.  In this session, US & China based Microsoft representatives will share perspectives and insights on what we believe will rapidly became the next  epicenter for Healthcare innovation.

Discussion Topics

China Healthcare Overview – “The world is flat”

“The world is flat”… a cliché that people use to illustrate broad commonalities.  It is often backed with very little evidence to prove its truth in a real world context.  But use in relation to Healthcare, and we believe it has real meaning.  In this session, we will do a contrast/compare of Healthcare in the US to Healthcare in China and put the cliché’ to the test.  

A Real World China Healthcare Example…

Zhoungshan City Hospital is one of China’s highest ranked Healthcare facilities from an overall quality and patient satisfaction perspective.  In this session we will do a detailed walkthrough of their population coverage, operating principles, business workflows, and technology solution augmentations, giving you a birds-eye view of how Healthcare really works in China. 

Emerging Technologies Sneak Peak: Microsoft Azure Platform Services

In this session, we will give a “hot off the presses” high level overview of Azure Platform Services providing perspectives and insights to how they might be leveraged to improve Global Healthcare.

Speakers

James Chen, Director Business Development, Microsoft China:  As an experienced senior professional with 28 years who works in multi-national large corporations such as Microsoft, BellSouth and NEC. Strong experiences in strategic planning, investment, mergers and acquisitions, also in government relations, regulatory affairs, corporate communications and business development.  Prior to Microsoft, he was a senior consultant for the President of NEC Mobility that has setup 3G wireless trial project in Shanghai. Before then James served 16 years for BellSouth in different management positions. Also, James has run two startups in USA, NetCommerce Company and the prototerra.com.  James holds a MBIS degree in Business Information Systems, a MBA degree in Marketing and Finance, also a BS degree of Oceanic Biological Engineering.  James was serving as a Board of Director of Atlanta China Round Table Meeting includes BellSouth, Coca Cola, UPS, Home Depot, Delta Airline,

and Scientific Atlanta. 

Ben Flock, Health & Life Sciences Industry Advisor:  Ben is a technology leader and Healthcare Industry subject matter expert with over 21 years experience building architectural   teams, technology practices, and business solutions delivery organizations.  Prior to Joining Microsoft in 2005, he was responsible for leveraging advancements in business applications and technology for many of the nation's largest health care insurers including CIGNA, United Health Group, Aetna, and The Travelers. He has a BS in Computer Science from SUNY at Oswego, NY and an MBA from the Lally School of Business at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Hong Chong, Architect Advisor:  Mr. Choing is a business and IT leader with 18+ years of business and technology implementation experience with proven results.  He has worked in Health &  Life Sciences industry, financial services, and professional services organizations leading strategy and architecture groups. Prior to joining Microsoft in 2004, Mr. Choing was the Manager and  Solutions Architect for a business unit of Merck & Co., Inc.  Prior to Merck in 2001, Mr. Choing was the Director of IT and Chief Architect at ProCaveo, Inc.  In 1999, Mr. Choing was the Founder and Principle Consultant of LeviTron Consulting, a professional services IT consulting company for the Financial Services and Pharmaceutical Industry. In his role as Industry Architect Advisor, Mr. Choing serves as trusted technology and business advisor to Health & Life Sciences industry customers from Fortune 200 companies.  He has a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Electrical Engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA - USA.

LOGOSTICS

Microsoft Office – Farmington, CT
74 Batterson Park Road
Farmington, CT 06032

December 11, 2008
2:00 PM–6:00 PM

Register: Event ID: 1032395880

Windows 7 Beta 1 for MDC Attendees

Breaking news!!!

Attend an upcoming MSDN Developer Conference and you will receive a Windows 7 Beta 1 DVD.

Register today and you’ll get the best of the PDC in your own backyard and hear all of the exciting announcements around the Azure Services Platform and Windows 7.

1. Experience Windows Azure
   Create applications that seamlessly bridge the gaps between PC, Web, and phone
2. Be among the first to see Windows 7
   See the latest advances in Multi-Touch Application Development
3. Take your .NET skills to the next level
   See sessions on WPF 4.0, Silverlight 2, The Future of C# and VB, ASP.NET 4.0, Live Mesh and more

The Cost? Just $99.
And, did we mention that attendees will get some cool giveaways?

Check out the session line up…

Register for a city near you…

Cool Giveaways

The MSDN Developer Conference will not only WOW you with the coolest sessions from the PDC but you will also be in the running to win one of 3 Lego NXT Robotics Kits and the WROX Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio book. Other giveaways include a Gamer Backpack filled with the latest XBox games and a Mobility Backpack full of cool hardware.

Community Courtyard

As good as the sessions are, there's always more to explore and discuss. At MDC, you'll have a chance to step into the Community Courtyard and choose what to talk about, based on your interest and passion for the subject.

Running in tandem with the presentations is an open discussion area where you will choose the subjects and the participants.  Whether you want to mingle with the presenters, talk about an MDC session, a related subject or something else you have the opportunity.  Borrowing from Open Space Technology and other forms of open, community-driven discussion, using fishbowls and free-for-alls, this area is yours.

Online Community

Find our tag cloud under #MSDNDevCon. Join the buzz!

 MSDN Social

 Facebook - Join the group

Twitter - follow the feed

Flickr - post your MDC pictures

del.icio.us - share your bookmarks

Twemes - global twitter tags

Live Services Jumpstart 2009 – Washington, DC,November 13th and 14th

We have 80 people registered for this event next week in Washington, DC but still have a few seats open.  If you want to get a Jumpstart on Live Services, take a minute now to register for next weeks free training event.

Want to build traffic, drive user engagement and influence behavior through your Web applications?

Want to ride the social networking and mobility wave in the consumer market?

Join us at the Live Services Jumpstart event in Washington, DC on November 13th to explore the full breadth of the consumer components of the Microsoft ‘Software + Services’ Services – Live Services – in several in-depth technical sessions, hands-on code labs and informal Q&A. Microsoft's top engineers and Web development experts will lead you through 2 days of level 300-400 discussions on the latest technologies and upcoming offerings.

Jumpstart your business with Live Services. Register today!

About Live Services
Live Services enables developers to engage large audiences with rich social sharing embedded experiences, and to connect the power and scale of the Web to rich client experiences across a world of digital devices. Live Services:

1. Provides access to over 400M users and the experiences, relationships and data they care about.
2. Uses an open standards programming interface and resource model that spans the PC, phone and Web (cloud).
3. Enables data synchronization and local accessibility across many end points, including PC, phone and Web.
4. Enables Windows applications and technologies to locally access Web data, enabling new and rich Web experiences.

The nature of software development is radically changing... Are you ready?

Did you miss PDC this year?  Well, you are in luck!

Please make plan to attend one of the regional MSDN Developer Conference where contents from the Professional Developer Conference will be presented live at a city near you.

Prepare yourself for a demanding future. Attend the MSDN Developer Conference.

1. Experience Microsoft’s Cloud Computing Platform
   Create applications that seamlessly bridge the gaps between PC, Web, and phone
2. Be among the first to see Windows 7
   See the latest advances in Multi-Touch Application Development
3. Take your .NET skills to the next level
   See sessions on WPF 4.0, Silverlight 2, ASP.NET 4.0, Parallel Programming, Live Mesh and more

The Cost? Just $99.
And, did we mention that attendees will get some cool giveaways?

Presenter Spotlight

Mark
Hindsbo
Full Bio »

Mark Hindsbo is the General Manager of the Developer & Platform Evangelism Group (D&PE) in the US and is a member Microsoft’s North American Leadership team...

David
Robinson
Full Bio »

David Robinson is a Senior Program Manager on the SQL Server Data Services (SSDS) team. David is responsible for a multitude of things including driving product features...

Jennifer
Marsman
Full Bio »

Jennifer Marsman is a Developer Evangelist in Microsoft’s Developer and Platform Evangelism group, where she educates developers on Microsoft’s new technologies...

AGENDA

Register Now

Songdo ("City of the Future")

How would you like to live in a city where everything is new and built from the Ocean?  That is Songdo, a city near Incheon, South Korea.

Songo, South Korea is considered the gateway to Southeast Asia. With its unique location that can be reached by 1/3 of the world’s population within a 2 hour flight. It is the epicenter for a new Asian financial district and residential city.

The Songdo International Business District (Songdo IBD) is a $30+ Billion master planned international city being developed on 1,500 acres of reclaimed land along the waterfront of Incheon, South Korea. When completed, the city will be home to 65,000 permanent residents with an additional 300,000 commuters, business travelers and visitors on a daily basis. The city will consist of approximately 50m sq.ft. of commercial space, 35m sq.ft. of residential use, and 15m sq.ft. for retail, hospitality, and school use, while 40% of the total area will be maintained as open space. With the strong commitment to environmental sustainability, as well as the amenities rarely seen in a city of this magnitude, the quality of life in the Songdo IBD will be unparalleled. Source: Gale International

Key Features

· 65 Story, 1,300,000 sq.ft. Multi-Use Northeast Asia Trade Tower (NEATT)

· 400,000 sq.ft. Convention Center

· 1,250,000 sq.ft. Retail Mall

· Cultural Center

· 9 million sq.ft. of parks, including the 100-acre Central Park

· 250 acre, 18-hole Championship Golf Course designed by Jack Nicklaus

· International Public and Private Schools for 6,000 students

· World Class Hotels with 5,000 rooms

· State-of-the-art International Hospital

· Ubiquitous City Based on Leading IT Infrastructure

· LEEDs Certified Development

· Ecotarium

· Construction is currently is underway with 10 projects costing $5 billion, with a

total of 27 projects and $10 billion scheduled to be underway by the end of 2007

Source: Gale International

Microsoft Healthcare Information Exchange, Oct. 15th, Beijing, China

Microsoft global presence is evident in Healthcare.  It is a well kept secret intentionally or unintentionally that Microsoft has made significant investments in the healthcare industry.  This is a long term investment to improve health around the world.

On October 15th, 2008 many groups within Microsoft will come together to host a Healthcare Information Exchange Event in Beijing, China.  Event is FREE so if you happen to be in the area, please register to attend (contacts below).

Microsoft Healthcare Information Exchange
Microsoft Innovation in Healthcare: Enabling the Possibility Today & Tomorrow

Overview

This is a unique event designed for business decision makers & technology decision makers from partners & customers in the healthcare industry in China. We eagerly invite you to join us to discover new ideas, innovative healthcare solutions, thought leadership and strategy on how to improve health around the world.  Microsoft has made a significant investment in healthcare with a comprehensive strategy for enabling customers and partners to delivery world class solutions through Software + Services.  With market growth opportunity globally and especially here in China, you will see how Microsoft technology and solution innovations can benefit customers and partners.

•Repeatable Industry Solutions        
• Thought Leadership          
•Technology Innovations

Agenda

Key Topics Introduction

Keynotes: Microsoft China Healthcare Perspectives

Nigel Burton                                                      

GM - DPE Group, Microsoft GCR                      

Peter Moore

GM - PUBLIC SECTOR, Microsoft China

Microsoft Healthcare Products Overview

Some of you may have heard about them, others may be scratching their heads in bewilderment. This is a great opportunity to gain business insight and technology perspectives - Microsoft’s flagship Health Product brands.

Microsoft Healthcare Strategies & Industry Specific Solutions

Every vision and strategy must have a plan - a blueprint for execution from both a near-term and long-term perspective. In this session we discuss Architectural Best Practices such as Microsoft’s Connected Industry Framework, providing specific context and solution strategy across the Health & Life Sciences Industry.  Our Premier Partner Sponsors will describe how they are leveraging the Framework in the delivery of Health & Life Sciences Industry solutions.

Partner Ecosystem

How to build a strong & healthy ecosystem for all partners & customers to win together? The showcase might provide you the answer. We’ll invite partner & customer to present their showcase which use Microsoft’s Technology Platform in a unique, Industry impactful way, which bring more value & efficiency for their business.

Touch the Future with Microsoft Surface
You’ve heard of it, but NOW you can touch it. We will have a Microsoft Surface device available during this summit –Microsoft WWPS team & DPE Industry team have developed 2 Healthcare Demo applications that will be showcased at this event, attendees will be able to view, interact, and see compelling demonstrations of how Microsoft Surface can be used in Health & Life Sciences.

Registration & Contact:

We eagerly invite you to attend this great summit!

Please help to fill in the attached registration form & send back to the following event contact by email or by fax, we will follow up & confirm with you as soon as possible.

If you have any questions regarding event & registration, please feel free to contact with us.

Your Contact:

Mr. Jack Jin                                             

Email: jack.jin@force-focus.com or MSHealthcareSummit@force-focus.com                     

Tel:  (8610) 5202 6801 ext 116 (13911926375)                

Forbidden City

Background (Sources Beijing Trip.com)

The Forbidden City, also named the Palace Museum, shares the honor of being one of five world-famous palaces with the Palace of Versailles in France, Buckingham Palace in England, the White House in the U.S. and the Kremlin in Russia. The palace, the most magnificent and splendid palace complex in China, was listed as a World Cultural Heritage Building in 1987. It was built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the construction of this group of buildings took fourteen years from 1406 to 1420. In the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), it was the imperial palace where twenty-four emperors ascended the throne and exercised their strong power to the nation.

The incomparable palace occupies an area of 720,000 square meters (177.9 acres) and has approximately 8,700 rooms. A high red wall with a total length of 3,400 meters (3,718 yards) encases the palace. There are four gates in each side, with Meridian Gate (Wu Men) as the main entrance. Four exquisite watchtowers sit at the corners of the wall. With roofs covered with golden glazed tile, red painted walls and grey-white bases, the rectangular palace appears extremely luxurious and grand. Spectacular halls in it are neatly arranged in bilateral symmetry along a central axis that conforms to the axis of Beijing City.

The palace has two primary parts: the Outer Court and the Inner Court. Some halls are converted into art galleries to exhibit paintings, clocks, bronze wares, pottery and other invaluable treasures. It is said that there are over 1,000,000 articles in this museum that account for one-sixth of such national treasures. Tourists can enter into the palace from the Wu Men (Meridian Gate) or the Shenwu Men (Gate of Divine Might). It is impossible for visitors to see every corner of the palace in a single day. Let's start our virtual guide  from the Wu Men to make our route clear.

The animals and figures seen here are typical of ancient Chinese architecture.  Its purpose is for function, esthetic, and social communication. Esthetic and Social Communications: According to my Chinese sources, the animal represent various demons said to exist in the world.  Confucius, a famous Chinese philosopher lived during 551 BC- 471 BC.  His philosophy emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity. During his life time, he was regarded as an outcast.  His radically thinking was ahead of his time.  It was not until the Han Dynasty that these values gained prominence in China. Descendents of Confucius was proud of their ancestor lineage and was regarded as high class nobles.  According to legend, one of his descendents was very deformed and ugly.  His family would not allow him to venture out into the streets during daylight.  He was allow to come out at night and was said to roam among the demons at night.  He later came to be regarded as the guard against bad demons as represented by the various animals seen on the picture.  These figures were incorporated into building architect as a way to guard as evil demos.  The guy riding on a chicken is the ugly descendant of Confucius guarding against evil demons.  Only odd number of animals are used (5,7,9,11,13).  The higher the family status was in society, the more animals they incorporate into the roof.  Passerby can determine the status of a family just by looking at the number of animals.  In Chinese society, arranged marriage is a common practice so this helps with the selection.  Function: The position of the animal also serve as an anchor for the roof tile so it will not fall off.  It also serve to break down snow build up during winter.  During rainy season it help to break the water flow down to the ground. Yellow tiles are reserved for house and palace of Emperors.  Nobles use yellow with mixture of green.  Commoners use green tiles.

Perspective into Chinese Healthcare System

Sept 12th - Today, I was privileged to take part in a tour of a real Chinese Hospital System in operation with my Microsoft colleagues in China.  Our host was Dr. Liu, CIO of Zhongshan City People's Hospital.  James Chen, Microsoft Dir. of Strategic Investment and Business Development helped arranged the visit.  This is a rare opportunity for us to spend an entire day with Dr. Liu to get an inside look of the complex processes and operations of one of the top 20 rated hospital in China.  Dr. Liu is a really busy man and we appreciated his time spent hosting the Microsoft team.

Background:

In every Province of China there are three types of hospital services.  City, Town, and Village (community).

City Level - Generally large hospital in a well populated city.  Example: Zhongshan City Hospital has 1250 beds and expected to increase to 1500 beds by year end 2008 operated by 2000 professional staff.  Well staffed with senior doctors and nurses.  Facilitities and medical testing equipment are widely available such as onsite lab test analysis, Cat Scan, pharmacy, etc.

Main entrance to Zhongshan City Hospital in Guangdong Province


Main floor of Zhongshan City Hospital - payment, pharmacy, and triage center.
 

Our host and us in the IT operational center.

Very similar to a NASA Houston Control Center.

Town Level - Small town serving local populates.  Staff and facilities are adequate but major complicated lab tests are sent to the City level hospital for analysis.  Example: Sanjiao Township Hospital has 100 beds and 230 staff including doctors, nurses, etc.

Sanjiao Medical Clinic, example of a township level hospital facility


Sanjiao Medical Clinic Patient registration center and triage.

Village Level - Small health clinic with basic facilities.  Example: Suburb of Sanjiao township with 7 professional staff.

Each hospital has a rating system ranging from A (lowest) to AAA (highest).  Within each rating class there are their tier level.  Zhongshan City Hospital is rated at the top tier of AAA.  AAA is a prestigious rating that is very difficult to achieve with clear criteria.  Example are # of beds, # of in-patients and out-patients processed annually, organizational structure, # of specialty, information technology department, quality control, # of specialist certified, and years of operational services.  For AAA rating a minimum of 10 years in service operation is required.  Zhongshan City Hospital has been in operation for 50 years.

 
Sanjiao Community (village) clinic

Village clinic medical service rate charges.  All rates are quoted in Chinese RMB.  As you can see rates for medical services and prescription drugs are really nominal.  For residence of the village, the service are covered by government health insurance program.  fro non-residence such as migrant workers who leave their home cities to work in larger cities, towns, and villages they are not covered.  Thus for non-residence they either pay out of pocket or get coverage via commercial health insurance.

Impressions:

Due to the massive amount of population, hospital systems in China are focused more on outcome instead of quality.  Quality do play an important role for AAA or AA rated hospitals BUT access to healthcare is a much higher priority.

Zhongshan City Hospital System headed by Dr. Wang is the poster child of a well run hospital system.  Information Technology plays a key role in its efficiency.  However, those efficiency could not be achieved without changes in operational processes.  Dr. Wang was instrumental in eliminating outdated processes and adopting new ones since the introduction of an integrated Hospital Information System (HIS) that is now deployed to all three types of hospital in Zhongshan City Hospital System (City, Town, and Village as mentioned above).

Zhongshan City Hospital demonstrated the best of how information technology and streamlined process could achieve miraculous results in a city hospital that served over 2.17 million out-patients per year in 2007 with a professional staff of only 2000 people.  In a country of 1.3 Billion people, such efficiency and scale is a matter of life and death.  Operational processes used in this hospital are very similar to a good manufacturing process where everyone input and output are monitored and orchestrated to run in optimum efficiency.  We can learn a lot from this way of thinking in applications to all that we do.