A while ago I mentioned that in my group, called Risk and Information Management , the cooperation between the ’information’ people and ‘risk’ people was practically nonexistent. It was quite peculiar, considering the obvious link between information and risk.
I had always been wondering when the situation would change. But the change happened sooner than I thought–well, I initiated it. It took just a small talk during a coffee break to join one of our largest research programmes concerning Future Internet and Agri-food, SmartAgriFood. I was quite excited about it: besides the content that seems attractive to a heavy internet user like me, it seems to me a great opportunity to get acquainted with the ins and outs of European projects.
My first assignment was to prepare for a TelCo for which a Doodle call was published on the WebDav of the project. Meeting documents were also put in the DropBox of my colleague. My first project meeting was to attend the work shop on ‘Lauching a Coalition for Action on ICT in regional programmes’ at the Commission in Brussels. It felt a bit strange for someone with an Asian face to talk about Smart Specialisation in Europe, but I felt quite comfortable with terms like Ex ante conditionalities and ex post conditionalities. Europe is not just about the races. Above all, I enjoyed the faultless English from the British, and couldn’t help falling for the charm of the Spanish. It was a nice trip…even just to get used to all the project lingo.
Things don’t always work out the way we would like them to, but sometimes they deviate for the better. I came across the word ‘serendipity’ while browsing a list of movies a few years ago and picked the movie out of curiosity. The movie sucked and was soon forgotten, but the concept of serendipity keeps lingering in my mind.
Well, I had no intention to read my horoscope today– I merely intended to quickly look something up before I continue with my nearly finished paper. But I hit the wrong place and was instantly struck by the words there:
Learning about diverse topics is usually fun for you, but today is a day to focus on one thing. Instead of continuing to expand your knowledge on this, that and the other thing, pick one area and stick with it! Too much movement back and forth between topics is diluting any educational value you think you are gaining. Right now you need to finish something. Once you put the period at the end of the final sentence, you can feel free to move on — but not until then!
Wow, the big universe is watching me???
After a year of stress and fatigue, I made up my mind to be positive and focused in 2012. My new year’s resolution: use my talent and energy wisely.
While waiting for 2012 to arrive, I asked my now 13-year-old son about his new year’s resolution. After much delibration, he said that he would help me clean up our dinner table everyday after dinner.
At first I was a bit disappointed: cleaning up the table? There is nothing challenging about it. I had expected something more ambitious, and perhaps more intellectual, like reading a book. But then I realized what a great commitment it means: it is easy to help once in a while, but to do it every single day would require a great amount of discipline. I hope we both stick to our new year’s resolutions.
