Drupal (pronounced /ˈdruːpəl/) is a free and open source Content Management System (CMS) written in PHP and distributed under the GNU General Public License. It is used as a back-end system for many different types of websites, ranging from small personal blogs to Enterprise 2.0 collaboration and knowledge management uses to large corporate and political sites.

Dries Buytaert is an open-source software programmer and the founder and lead of the Drupal CMS.

Exerts from one his interview on how it started.

CC: Did you ever expect Drupal to get to the level of popularity it is at today?

DB: Not at all, I started all this as a hobby and quickly got out of hand. After I moved it to the public internet, I continued to build on it for over a year and added a lot of features. But, it continued to be an experimental platform to learn from and apply new web technologies such as RSS feeds and content and user rating.

I increased my experiments and development and drew the attention of an audience that was also interested in the future of the internet. This audience provided suggestions and was also active with state of the art web technologies and they increasingly began providing me with feedback. At a certain time the feedback took on such a level that I thought I should provide the engine to them so they could start there own experimenting and applying there own suggestions to it. This is how it got moved to Open Source, and also how the community started.

I must say though that I felt good making it available to the Open Source community. I had looked at other similar systems such as phpnuke but with my background in computer science I could really say that the architecture and design were much better. People were asking for modifications but I thought it was really well and worth of being seen, especially compared to other state of the art Content Management Systems written in PHP. So made available without too much expectations but it got the reputation after all. I of course continued to work hard on it.

Video interview of Dries Buytaert

I am very much impressed by their team efforts and determination to make a product available for free to everyone on the planet. I would ask you view Drier Buytaert's personal blog where he updates the companies that are adopting Drupal.

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CIMA, UK published a discussion paper on "Enterprise governance - Restoring boardroom leadership" in Jan 2010 which focusses on Corporate Leadership. This paper sets out how boards can be more effective and challenge management confidently.

The key conclusions in the report

• Boards need an integrated approach to effective leadership.
• Directors must incorporate behavioural and structural factors. 
• More attention must be paid to psychological factors contributing to board performance: creating a challenge culture, succession planning and effective risk governance.
• There must be rigorous, regular and systematic board evaluation.The model proposed by this report could provide a useful input to the board evaluation process.
• The board’s relationship with external stakeholders, particularly shareholders, is crucial. By focusing on its own effectiveness and contributions to the long-term sustainability of the organisation, a board will serve those stakeholders.

Read the full paper. Click here 

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The Audit Firm Governance Code applies to eight audit firms that together audit about 95% of the companies listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange.

The Audit Firm Governance Code, published in January 2010, applies to eight audit firms that together audit about 95% of the companies listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. For these firms, the code sets a benchmark for good governance which other audit firms may wish to voluntarily adopt in full or in part.

The reputations that the audit firms have built upon their licence to audit are of vital public interest. One way in which they can maintain public trust in their brands is by being seen as exemplars of best practice governance.In this context, it is however important to recognise that the governance challenges faced by audit firms are different from those faced by listed companies.

In drawing on aspects of the UK Corporate Governance Code such as the comply or explain approach, the Audit Firm Governance Code establishes the principle that audit firms should appoint independent non-executives within their governance structure.

It also codifies much existing good practice and links to matters that audit firms must comply with as regulated professional partnerships.

Full details on ICAEW, UK website.

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1. Canada CA offer guidance on IFRS changeover
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Canada’s Chartered Accountants are providing guidance to help public companies summarize for investors the effects of the changeover to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs).

Most Canadian public companies will commence reporting in accordance with IFRS  in 2011. At that time, the changeover will potentially result in numerous changes to an entity’s financial statements.

A new publication by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) titled “Transition to IFRSs – Communicating the Impact of the Changeover” focuses on using Management Discussion and Analysis (MD and A) to explain the effects of the move to international standards.

The MD and A is a filing required by securities regulators that accompanies quarterly and annual financial statements. A well-presented MD and A provides the context investors need to better understand the company’s performance and prospects as well as its financial statements.

“The publication provides examples of how to provide a succinct MD and A discussion of the impacts associated with the changeover,” said Chris Hicks, Principal, Knowledge Development, CICA. “Investors want to compare an entity’s performance from one period to the next. On the changeover to international standards, this comparison will become distorted because of the application of a new set of accounting rules.”

The publication, developed by the CICA’s Canadian Performance Reporting Board (CPRB), is available electronically (www.cica.ca/cpr). The Board focuses on guidance about the measurement and reporting of organizational performance outside of financial statements.

The document also is one of several resources available on a special CICA website dedicated to Canada’s transition to international standards (www.cica.ca/IFRS).

“Investors need to understand the extent to which prior reported performance has varied because of the changeover and the extent to which that change can be expected to affect future reporting,” noted Hicks. “The CICA publication is a resource public companies can turn to for assistance in effectively summarizing the financial reporting impacts of the changeover to investors.”

Source: CICA Website

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