The advance and spread of new enabling technologies across a diverse range of information-driven businesses around the world exerts powerful pressures not just on existing markets, but on the very business models that underpin some of the world's most dynamic markets.

The key to India's success in the IT industry most certainly lies in 'building a knowledge economy for growth', which was the theme of this afternoon's India at 60: session at the India Leadership Forum in Mumbai. As noted in my last post, that goal has India on a trajectory seeking a 'third wave' and a complete economic and technological overhaul over the next two decades which would boost its IT industry from tens of billions in the $100-$200 billion range.

India's ambition to catch the 'third wave' of growth in its IT industry emerged as a key theme at the Nasscom India Leadership Forum here in Mumbai this morning. And it will be Europe, less so than the U.S., that will help India ride that wave, according to a number of panelists at a pre-conference session entitled: Changing Focus: Shifting sights from America to Europe.

What's the most global, digital, knowledge-driven, innovative, interconnected, competitive industry in the world?

If you said consumer electronics, you get it. And if you are a stakeholder in this industry you are probably already at the Consumer Electronics Show, out wandering the aisles in search of the connections, insights, information, and the challenges this year's event will yield.

With the U.S. dollar plunging to new lows, credit and housing markets in turmoil and a U.S. recession all but a forgone conclusion, the outlook for electronics and other technology driven investments is taking on a distinctly global perspective.

Below is my list of seven random predictions, gleaned from multiple sources, for the global electronics and technology investment community to watch for in 2008.

Amazing.
Earlier this week in my AMD, Islam and the "Fujitsu Factor" posting I had a humorous link to the Fox News flub that erroneously reported, at first, that it was Apple Computer and not Abu Dhabi that had bought an 8% stake in AMD.

Right wing whacko groups in the U.S. wasted no time in venting their outrage with Abu Dhabi's 8% purchase of AMD stock earlier this week. One AMD investor, said in a blog posting that he will be making "his anger known to AMD this coming week in a couple of personal emails and if I sense that even more of AMD will be going to Muslim interests, I will be selling my stock and submitting AMD to the boycott Islam company list."

In my last post I said that India's rising profile as a global, market-driven economy with an evolving culture of engineering innovation will tip the scales, long term, in favor of India in the ongoing "China v. India" debate.

My conviction is reinforced by laughable reports like this one from China's Xinhua news agency, one of the many state-run, government media outlets:

Don't look now, but venture capital inflow from the U.S. to India in the third quarter edged ahead of China, a significant shift that I expect will continue into next year.

The surge in VC funding, underscored in recent weeks by some very high profile India VC funding from the likes of Google, Cisco, and other corporate VC investments, just may portend an early deflating of the China investment bubble.

James J. Lydon, longtime editor of Electronic News and mentor and editorial role model for many of the most influential people in high technology business journalism, died due to complications from bone marrow cancer on July 27th. He was 76 years old.