This was our second day in Japan and I was very much looking forward to it. Today was going to be a day of going to various locations around Tokyo with Nobuyuki Hayashi, as my guide, that meant I wasn’t exactly sure where I was going and what I was going to be seeing – an interesting departure from our usual schedule. Nobuyuki insisted immediately that I call him Nobi and that, together with his instantly likable manner, made me take to him straight away. Nobi is a writer and lecturer of all things ICT and was the perfect person to be showing me around. First stop was an internet cafe, but this was unlike anything I have ever seen before. It was a cross between a hotel, a library and a net cafe. You can do everything thing here from stay the night, watch films, read Manga or eat and drink all the free stuff from the vending machines. Right next to the Custard Cream this cafe is one of the best ideas anyone has ever had, however, as I was attempting to make the most of the complimentary snack treats on offer, Nobi insisted that we leave to go to the next place. Later that day, using a GPS based application on his phone Nobi guided us to a great restaurant, where we cemented our friendship by cooking a meal together. Then after showing me how to pay for the Tube using his mobile, it was time to say goodbye. I wasn’t looking forward to this as I didn’t want our day to end, and when Nobi presented me with a business card holder with jewel encrusted surface depicting my face, I had to switch the cameras off and use a couple of minutes to compose myself. What a city, what a day, what a great guy!

Today we woke up in the very centre of Tokyo, the Shibuya district. It’s a huge mass of towering buildings, bustling crowds and unbelievable nose, and it felt very good to be here amongst the people who are leading the way with the mobile phone. We went straight to the Nokia Siemens Networks’ offices to meet with Mr Hiroshi Kojima, Senior Solution Sales Manager who I was interviewing to give me an overview of the Japanese Mobile phone market and to find out what role Nokia Siemens Networks is playing in that.

He told me that he agreed with the findings of the Waverman report that said at the moment Japanese business isn’t making the most of ICT but he was optimistic that that would change over time. He was also clearly very proud that Japan was leading the way in the development of the business both with networks and handsets and said that they weren’t just a model for their Pacific Asian neighbors but also for the rest of the world.

Afterwards we drove to the headquarters of NTT DoCoMo to take a look at the future of handsets and what the operator will be offering very soon. The showroom was an incredible spectacle and it was a great privilege to have my own guided tour by two very kind employees. They first showed me the bespoke ‘fashion’ handsets that you can customize to your own personal taste. I was then presented with the concierge service which is a phone and network especially set up to cater for your every need.

Then I played an online cabbage chopping game which has already been released and is one of 600 interactive games that are now available here on mobile networks. I was also taught how to pay for a taxi, a drink and a burger by simply swiping my phone over a sensor at the counter! This technology has been used in Japan for at least three years now but its presence is growing ever bigger. Finally I ended up in the living room of the future which is controlled entirely by a mobile wrist device that recognize sensors in the house and can open doors and unlock security systems. I was shown how already you can control mobile security devices in the house from your phone and also a remote control vacuum cleaner. However, the most intriguing part was the virtual screen where, after putting on a very special pair of glasses, a 3D screen appeared which I could interact with simply by touching arrows that appeared in mid air.

It was incredible and after a tour around a virtual museum my mind was spinning with what the future has in store for us. As we made our way back to the hotel we stopped to chat to some of the locals. I was surprised to learn that the younger generation don’t know what SMS is, they only communicate by email through their phones!

Beijing is an enormous sprawling city of futuristic buildings and ornate ancient temples. I liked it immediately and with a busy day ahead of us I knew that the energy of the place and the people we were going to meet was going to make it one of my favourite places. We travelled half an hour across the city to meet Keso, the most famous blogger in China. He welcomed me into his flat and we chatted about how the internet is being used in China. He told me that the vast majority of users were people below the age of 30 and usually they’re simply playing games on social networking sites. However, the interesting thing is that unlike the rest of the world, the Chinese are shunning the globally known sites for their own portals. Keso says this is because the local sites are quicker and easier to use as they are self regulated. He also thinks that as the people become more used to the internet and what it can offer, the social networking site will become much more than a place you visit to play games online.
We then made our way across the city again to visit a park where we took some incredible shots of the city with the immaculate rooftops of the Forbidden City amongst the gleaming glass office buildings. In the bustling streets I took the opportunity to chat to the locals about what they used their mobiles for and what they thought about the arrival of 3G – which had been launched that day. Many of them were still using their phones for the basics such as calling and texting but they were still interested in using them for other things although they didn’t seem too sure what 3G was all about. I think it’s only a short time before 3G makes a big impact here as they seemed very keen to learn more about it, and their interest in all things technological is well known.
Then we went to an internet café- the largest I’ve seen on my travels so far – where everyone was playing games online. When I talked to some of the people there they explained for them it was a really social thing to do and fitted in perfectly with how they like to socialise in their country, and I began to see online gaming in a whole new light. Afterwards it was a slow trek back to the hotel as we recorded some pieces to camera and took more shots of this stunning city.

The day in Chengdu started early and it looked like it was going to be a warm day despite the cloudy weather. We made our way through the Friday morning traffic for the first interview at the Nokia Siemens Networks office. China’s love affair with the mobile phone is no secret but the reason we were in Chengdu was not to talk about the developing market but to find out more about the role mobile networks played in aftermath of last year’s earthquake in the Sichuan region. The destruction and death toll has been immense but I wanted to discover just how the mobile phone has helped the local community to recover.
Mr. Xianlin Zeng told me just how badly the networks were damaged, and how the engineers at Nokia Siemens Networks went to work immediately after the earthquake struck to try and restore communications to the region. Working around the clock they successfully recovered the networks and I found out just how the communications helped the homeless and bereaved. He described that by having instant communications with the affected areas they could identify, and therefore provide, exactly what aid was needed in specific villages. It was a sobering and at the same time uplifting talk about a level of communication that so many of us take for granted.
Afterwards we went to one of the operators and the engineer there talked me through the details of just how they rebuilt the networks and left me in no doubt as to how hard all these people worked in order to help and save others. Then we travelled two hours outside Chengdu to visit the area which had been devastated by the disaster. It was amazing to see how resilient the people there were, and equally incredible to see just how quickly they’re rebuilding things. We went to a school which was being visited by volunteers from Nokia Siemens Networks who were bringing much needed computer supplies as a gift. It gave me the chance to chat to some of them who actually worked on the networks in those difficult times to find out what they went through. The people I spoke to had been so dedicated, working continuously for up to 72 hours without any sleep. They had some amazing personal stories of how mobiles had helped to rescue trapped victims. With all the talk on my travels so far of advanced mobile applications and the future it was interesting to hear how invaluable the good ‘old fashioned’ mobile had been.

Today was the assignment that I had been looking forward to the most during our stay in Delhi. It was to go and see one of the early morning cricket games, which is a ritual part of life here. Every weekend in Delhi and across India, men and boys gather from about five o’clock in the morning to spend their days off playing the game that defines the nation. To say they are passionate is nowhere near the mark – it’s what they live and breath everyday. We went to see one of these games and talk to the players about how they’re embracing the connected world. What was really interesting was that now they’re all using applications on their phones to keep up to date with all the cricket news and scores – for them it’s almost on a par with radio coverage!

After a really enjoyable and informative couple of hours we went in search of an internet café, which is part of a group of around 160 that have been set up in and around Delhi. These cafes are run by a group called Sifi who are aiming to provide some of the poorer people here with access to the internet and they also run skills courses to teach things such as the use of accounting software. I chatted to some of the people using the café and it was obvious that for so many of them it was a real life line where they could check emails, search for jobs or keep up to date with the news in a way that just wouldn’t be possible before. I also spoke to a student who was taking an accounting software course and she told me that having a facility like this around the corner from her house had saved her the expense and hassle of having to trek across Delhi every day.

Finally we went to meet Raj Kumar who is one of India’s new wave of online entrepreneurs. He started collecting stamps and selling them about 20 years ago but because the type of stamps he was dealing in had only a limited market, his business was always quite slow. However, nine years ago he discovered the internet and soon his business was unleashed to a global market. He started trading online and found overheads cut and profits increase as he sold around the world. For Raj the internet has given him a business model that has changed his life. One day left in India and with elections, schools, cricket and stamps it’s been a whirlwind of a trip so far.

This was an early start, we were in the van and off to our first destination by 7:00am. We arrived at a lovely park in Delhi which was where campaigning politician, Sangeeta Tomar was starting her day’s work, talking to the many locals who had come there to make the most of the morning sunshine. Admist the laughter clubs, the badminton and the tea drinking we followed her chatting to potential voters as to why she was the right woman for the job. Later I got the chance to talk to Sangeeta about the way she is pioneering the use of mobile and internet technology to get her message across. As she meets the people of Delhi her assistants collect mobile numbers and email addresses and use them to keep voters up to date on the campaign.

Then we drove into a bustling market area to meet up with Varun who runs a thriving sari business with his father. He has been working alongside his dad for four years and has been using the internet and his mobile phone to push the business forward. Now he sends pattern ideas straight to his manufacturer by taking a picture on his mobile. What would have taken days to achieve now takes seconds.

The we stopped off at ‘the hole in the wall’ project where amongst the temples and shops there are two computers embedded into a concrete wall, allowing local kids to get to grips with using technology absolutely free. After lunch we visited a local school where kids come along in their free time to learn how to use computers and find out more about the Internet, where Nokia Siemens Networks have donated a computer and organised for volunteers to teach them. The enthusiasm from the kids was fantastic and the dedication the teachers displayed was incredible. All they need is a few more computers and the whole scheme would see exponential results. Talking to the people who set up the scheme, Swechha, I understood just how beneficial it was for the development of the pupils I met and also for the future of India as a country.

We arrived in Delhi very late and after only a few hours of sleep it was time to get up and head for the Global networks solutions centre in Noida. This is a key nerve centre in the whole Nokia Siemens Networks empire and it was where I’d come to learn more about Global Service Delivery, which is the way networks are run remotely from one central base. My first interview was with Ayon Banerjee. I wanted to know how the shift towards Global Service Delivery was progressing and what it meant for the future of networks. He was able to tell me in detail the success with which Nokia Siemens Networks was managing networks not only in India from this Delhi office but also around the world.

Then I had a really interesting chat to Gayatri Rajagpolan, a software engineer who has been helping to look after Nokia Siemens Networks’ networks from their southern office in India. She demonstrated how network faults are displayed on her computer and explained how she solves the problems, clearing up a few questions I had about what exactly a network is comprised of.

Our last interview of the day was with John Helstowski. He was the man responsible for setting up the centre in Delhi, which took him only three weeks from start to finish. He told me that it was the quality of the staff which had made that possible and it was also that same factor which is going to make this centre a really important part of Nokia Siemens Networks’ future.

Today was our first proper sunny day in New York and we decided to do what many of the locals do on a Sunday – go to Central Park.

On the way we did a bit of filming with a New York cab and before long found ourselves outside the great park with runners, cyclists and dog walkers buzzing past. After we’ve taken shots to set the scene it was my job to find some willing people to talk to and this was no easy task because they’d all come there to exercise and many were too busy. However, I did meet some fantastic people and soon realised that New Yorkers are using their mobiles to their capacity – it’s their diary, their organiser, their first port of call to the internet and their primary means of communication.

We then piled all our kit back into the van and drove to the Nokia shop to meet Jason, to talk to him about OVI by Nokia. Not only will it become the main way users will organise their entire lives, it was already the main way Jason organised his. It was an enlightening chat about just where the future is going and what we’ll be able to do with our mobile. After this we jumped in the van to meet with Andrew Zolli, an expert in future business predictions. He told me just where the connectivity business world is heading and what it’d got to do in order to deliver what the customers are demanding.

Next it was back across to the other side of the city to meet Mark and Sarah of The Wooster Collective. They started taking pictures of street art several years ago and posting them online and now they have a very successful website with a global following. What was interesting was how the process has changed for them, 8 years ago it was people taking pictures on their digital cameras and then going home and sending them. Now they’re snapping them on their mobiles and sending them straight away – all adding to the immediacy of the art. Finally we finished up in Times Square – tired but enlightened.

New York looked pretty sleepy still when we piled in to our van just after breakfast at 8:15am. It was a great time to catch some shots of the big city slowly unfolding into life – with little traffic around, steam billowing from the manhole covers and shopworkers trudging off to work.

After driving around the city for an hour we packed up our gear and headed out to one of the two big events of the day: meeting Gary Vaynerchuck, who took his parent’s wine shop business and turned it into a multi million dollar enterprise with the help of the internet.

Gary lives about an hour outside New York so I had plenty of time to go through questions and his background on the trip out there. The Wine Library, as it’s called, is a huge import/export wine business. Chatting with Gary I discovered just how much of that success he owes is down to ploughing time and effort into online strategies.

We couldn’t hang around too long because we had another very important appointment to make – The world’s largest pillow fight. Organised by students, mobile phones played a vital part in communicating the event details. A few years ago people would have relied on newspapers and magazines to bring this together. When I got there and ploughed my way through the crowds I managed to speak to one of the organisers who told me that it’s now pretty much all down to accessing social networking sites through the mobile handset. What followed was a cross between a rugby scrum, a concert and a pillow fight involving a thousand people – fantastic fun and a sharp reminder of just how powerful and effective our means of communication are becoming.

Our final day in Mexico started very early as we had to meet up with independent journalist, Deborah Bonello, before she headed off to her first assignment of the day. Deborah is a fellow Brit who has been living in Mexico for the last four years writing about cultural and political issues right across Mexico.

We talked about the fact that being a journalist in Mexico is a very risky occupation as there are plenty of contentious topics that affect the country and that’s at least part of the reason that Deborah has set up her own news website to report without restraint the current affairs as she sees them. The website is called mexicoreporter.com and has a growing following around the world.

She works as a fully independent one woman team also using a video camera to conduct interviews which she then posts on her site. With more freedom and less expense this surely is a revolution in the way people will focus on news reporting.

Then we popped in to a local internet cafe and chatted with the owner about just what his customers are using the computers for. He was saying that the government website has become very popular and he’s been busy with people coming in to pay their taxes online. After that it was straight to the Inapam run computer course at the Centro Cultural Cuauhtemoc.

Senior citizens can come to this college and learn how to use computers and how to surf the internet. They were an amazing group of ladies with so much spirit and a real desire to learn. Acquiring this knowledge had really set them free – some had got jobs because of it, some were researching and others were using it to keep in touch with their far flung families. We were all really taken with their enthusiasm and in truth they’re like a lot of Mexicans we have been speaking to – hungry for technology and knowledge.

Then we spent the rest of the afternoon chatting to passers by about what being connected means to them. Nearly all were committed users of handsets and most said the only thing holding them back was the expense of 3G based applications. It seems that business has to trust the technology more and follow the lead of the public who just need it to be cheaper before they can take full advantage.