Bern and Copenhagen top global liveability rankings for European expatriates

Bern and Copenhagen are the most liveable locations in the world for European expatriates. This was one of the conclusions of the latest Location Ratings survey for expatriate living conditions published by ECA International, the world’s leading provider of knowledge, information and software for the management and assignment of employees around the world. “Excellent medical facilities, low crime, good educational institutions, decent air quality and solid infrastructure have contributed to Bern and Copenhagen topping our global rankings for quality of living for European assignees,” said Neil Ashman, Senior Location Ratings Analyst, ECA International. Updated annually, ECA’s Location Ratings system objectively evaluates a host of factors to form an assessment of the overall quality of living in over 470 locations worldwide. The system helps companies establish appropriate allowances to compensate employees for the adjustment required when going on international assignment. Factors assessed include climate; availability of health services; housing and utilities; isolation; access to a social network and leisure facilities; infrastructure; personal safety; political tensions; and air quality.The impact of some of the factors assessed will vary according to where someone comes from.“The significance of some of the factors assessed, such as distance from home and differences in culture, language and climate, will vary according to where someone originates from,” explained Ashman. “For this reason, our analysis considers both the home and destination countries. So, while Copenhagen and Bern rank at the top for Europeans they fall to ninth and 13th respectively for someone coming from Asia. For Asian expatriates, Singapore is the most liveable location. It ranks 95th globally from the perspective of a European assignee.” (font: ECA International)

Kartel Signs with Sicap to set up Beeline Mobiles in Kazakhstan

Bern, Switzerland (PRNewswire) Sicap’s new Device Management Centre, DMC4 has only just gone live in Kazakhstan, yet it already serves 10 million Beeline subscribers. Kartel is gaining significant efficiency and can anticipate the exponential growth of Device Management needs as subscribers become immersed in their usage of mobile applications and the mobile Internet. Kartel, the Vimpelcom subsidiary which operates under the brand name of Beeline, has chosen to upgrade its sicap DMC platform in order to ensure faultless service availability for its subscribers. DMC4 allows the operator to meet the growing demands for Internet settings delivery witnessed since its rapid extension of 3G coverage and will also allow Kartel to gain control of smartphones entering the network. Kartel plans for example to roll out a full Android OS and application management service from the sicap platform. Sicap DMC4 ensures that end-users benefit from plug and play data services, whatever device they are using. The platform automatically detects devices in the network and sends them settings for immediate and continued usability. The process is fully automated, keeps history of used devices and sends setting only to subscriber devices which were not previously set. DMC4 achieves this by filtering IMEI/ IMSI pairs, which results in a streamlined configuration process with an average of 50 over-the-air settings update files sent per second. Kartel does however have the possibility of deploying DMC4 for bulk settings campaigns, in order to update the entire fleet of 10 million mobile devices within a short time frame.
Kartel also plans to open up the self-care interface of DMC4 to allow its subscribers to check their settings, manage their applications and troubleshoot common usability issues by themselves on the Beeline website.
Sicap software solutions empower mobile operators to deliver a superior subscriber experience, create new revenue streams and reduce operating costs. Sicap develops and implements solutions across the value chain, including DM, billing and loyalty, m-money, and USSD solutions. Present in 120 networks, serving 835 million subscribers in 75 countries worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.sicap.com

Wilfred Moser

Bern, Kunstmuseum BernThe exhibition presents the development of the work of artist, a pioneer figure in the development of post-war art in Europe and a main representative of the gestural abstract in Switzerland from his early work in the 1930s to his final pastels in 1997. Here the focus is on his artistic innovation, which has received too little attention so far, such as the ‘Paysages de Metro’ from the 1960s which represent a new type of iconography of the metropolis in twentieth-century painting. Fino al 14/6/2009