institute of directors future of technology report

Future of Technology

Future Of Technology

In March 2000, about 304 million, or 5 percentof the then global population had access to theinternet. By June 2012, about 2.4 billion userswere recorded, or 34.3 percent of the globalpopulation i. Concurrent with this growth, wehave become more avid consumers oftechnology – both to that allied to the internet insome way, and stand alone devices. The socialcomponent of the technological revolutioncannot be underestimated. Indeed, the plethoraof communication methods that are now sowidely available and accessible have helpedredraw social norms. We rarely go more than 5 or6 hours without some form of communicationwith those who are central to our lives, whetherit be family or work colleagues ii.

However 65 percent of the world isn’t evenonline yet. In essence, we are only at thebeginning of a radical shift in society and in thetechnologies themselves, in terms of diffusion,utility and impactiii. The pace of change shouldnot be underestimated. The ITU estimates that2.7 billion people, or 39 percent of the world’spopulation (41 percent of households), will beusing the internet by end 2013 iv.

The evolution of technology has undoubtedlybrought many benefits to consumers andcompanies, with radical redesigning of processes,work styles and industries not only possible, butprobable. The capacity of humankind to adapt atan ever shortening interval to technology is alsobeing tested. Forms of technological addictionhave been documented in many countries and84 percent worldwide say they couldn’t go asingle day without their mobile device in theirhand v. On a greater, meta-scale, there’... is notso much a concern about the nature of thetechnologies themselves, but rather abouthumans’ continuing ability to influence how theyoperate to the benefit of the organisation, itscustomers and other stakeholders,’ notes theEconomist Intelligence Unit vi. An EIU report alsosuggested that nearly four in ten worry that‘...their organisations will be unable to keep upwith technology change and will lose theircompetitive edge.’ On the other handtechnology has the potential to usher in ahappier, more prosperous world. Ultimately, asstated by theorist Richard Florida ‘...it won’t betechnology that defines our future. It will be ourability to mold it. vii’

What’s driving changeEvolving Internet

l Prosaic though it may now seem with theplethora of emerging technologies on thehorizon, yet the internet is far fromcompleting its evolution – both in terms ofits reach and its inherent nature.

l It has fast become a key platform fortransacting business globally and hassignificantly reduced the ‘knowledge gap’between organisations and the customers, aswell as potential competitors.

l It is estimated that by 2016 viii there will be 10billion mobile internet devices in use globallyby a forecast population of 7.3 billion.

l Growth in mobile devices is expected to drivesmartphone traffic by 2016 to 50 times thesize it was in 2012.

l There will be so much traffic generatedbetween 2015 and 2016 by smartphones,tablets, and laptops that the amount ofinternet data movement added for that yearalone will be three times the estimated size ofthe entire mobile internet in 2012.

l For those without a robust internet presence– including accessible mobile sites, growthmay be extremely hard to generate.

Emerging technology

Never before in history have we seen so muchnew technology emerging and maturing all atonce. Innovative technology is redefining everyindustry at both strategic and operational levels.The impact of consumer technology combinedwith technology that is helping to redraw supplychains and optimise business procedures isredrawing the landscape at an ever faster rate.Against this backdrop of flux, four main pillars oftomorrow’s technological ecosystem stand out.The evolution of the internet, ‘social’, big dataand an increasingly mobile digitalism will all helpshape the contours of our future technologyengagement.

“The ITUestimates that2.7 billionpeople, or 39percent of theworld’spopulation (41percent ofhouseholds),will be usingthe internet byend 2013”

Where we are now


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Social

A lack of understanding, poorly designedcampaigns and a hitherto dearth of ROI metricshave combined to create an image amongstsome organisations that social simply isn’t worthit. Statistics seem to back up this ambivalence.

l 70 percent of global brands don’t engagewith consumers on social media.

l One quarter of global companies go as far asclosing their wall on Facebook to prevent fansfrom asking any questions at all ix.

As can be seen, even in the narrowly definedsense of social being a marketing extension,many organisations are struggling tomeaningfully engage with the medium.

l ‘The more significant value proposition ofsocial requires business transformation.

l Maintaining a Facebook page and Twitteraccount is relatively straightforward andnecessary, but it usually won’t generatesignificant growth, revenue, or profits byitself either.

l The more profound and higher order aspectsof social media including peer production ofproduct development, customer care, andmarketing require deeper rethinking ofbusiness processes x.’

l In other words, businesses need to becomesocial, rather than just using social channels.

l Becoming truly social may yield significantvalue. McKinsey estimates that widespreaduse of social technologies could yield $1.3trillion per year of new value into theeconomy xi.

l Two-thirds of that value would come fromimproved social collaboration within orbetween companies, which could translateinto a 20 to 25 percent improvement in theproductivity of knowledge workers.

l 98 percent of the value for professionalservices could be derived from improvedsocial collaboration within or betweencompanies. ‘The industries with the highestpercentage of interactions workers have thehighest spread of profits per employee,’notes Michael Chui, one of the authors of thereport.

l Forrester Research says the sales of softwareto run corporate social networks will grow 61percent a year and be a $6.4 billion businessby 2016 xii.

l Despite this growth Gartner estimates that ‘…only 25 percent of businesses will routinelyuse social network analysis to improveperformance and productivity through 2015xiii.’

l The ROI of social technology becomespositive when 15 to 20 percent of workers areusing it notes Harvard Business Review xiv.

Mobile

l Ciscoxv estimates that by 2016 there will be10 billion mobile internet devices in useglobally by a forecast population of 7.3billion.

l Growth in mobile devices is expected to drivesmartphone traffic to 50 times the size it is in2012 by 2016.

l Mobile network capacity will need to increase20 to 25 times to handle the growing load.

l Chinese telecom, Huawei, predicts theirtraffic levels will rise 500-fold by 2020 xvi.

l M-Commerce would appear to be oneparticularly fruitful area, with more than $10billion forecast to be spent on non-digitalgoods via mobile phones in 2012, and $31billion by 2016.

The whole notion of mobile is set to changehowever, and this change has the potential toradically increase the type of numbers seenabove.

l In the future we will have screens not just inthe palm of our hands, but all around us,according to Matias Duarte, Google’s Directorof Android User Experience xvii.

l He suggests that ‘...in the future, we will lookat the gestures of your entire body, facialexpressions, arms, all of the fingers that youhave, and you’re going to have screens notjust in the palm of your hand, but all aroundyou.’

l IDATE, a consultancy, believes that thenumber of people accessing the internet via

“Growth inmobile devicesis expected todrivesmartphonetraffic to 50times the sizeit is in 2012 by2016”


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mobile devices will overtake the numberusing fixed-line connections in mid-2014 xviii.

l The Economist suggests that the shifttowards a more mobile internet could breakdown the assumption of the internet as ‘...aseparate place, accessed through the portal ofa PC screen, the internet is fast becoming anextra layer overlaid on reality, accessed by adevice that is always with you (and mayeventually be part of you). In the comingyears that will be the most profound changeof all. xix’

l 1.3 billion people are forecast to workremotely using mobile technology by 2015.That’s 37 percent of the entire workforce xx.

Big Data

‘I think creativity, especially business creativity,comes out of great insight. And obtaining adifferent level of insights (from data) will be oneof the truly powerful opportunities of the nextfew years.’

Brian Millar, director of strategy, SenseWorldwide xxi

l IDC xxii estimates that the amount of datamanaged by enterprises will grow by a factorof 50 percent over the next decade. 95percent of this data is multi-structured innature and is increasing at an exponentialrate that far outpaces the growth ofstructured data.

l Gartner is predicting total data growth of800 percent to 2018 xxiii.

l 80 percent of this data will bemultistructured -emails, texts, pictures, logdata, social media data, XML files, videos,audio. Integration will require increasedcollaboration within the business andbetween vendor and business.

l From 130 billion gigabytes in 2005, the sizeof the digital universe could reach 40 trilliongigabytes by 2020 xxiv

l Despite this increase in data, the number ofpeople available to manage this growth isexpected to increase 1.4 fold xxv.

l A 2011 report from McKinsey & Company’s

Business Technology Office predicted thatdemand for analytical talent in the U.S. wouldexceed supply by 50 to 60 percent by 2018.

l The United States alone faces a shortage of140,000 to 190,000 people with deepanalytical skills as well as 1.5 millionmanagers and analysts to analyse big dataand make decisions based on their findings.

l The growth of internet connected devicesand sensors, projected to reach 50 billion by2020, will have a huge impact on availabilityof real-time information xxvi.

l McKinsey xxvii identifies five broad ways inwhich big data can create value.

l By making information transparent andusable at a much higher frequency.

l Allowing organisations to collect moreaccurate and detailed performanceinformation on everything from productinventories to sick days, and therefore exposevariability and boost performance.

l Allowing ever-narrower segmentation ofcustomers.

l Sophisticated analytics can substantiallyimprove decision-making.

l Used to improve the development of the nextgeneration of products and services.

l It is also estimated that users of servicesenabled by personal-location data couldcapture $600 billion in consumer surplusalone thanks to big data.

l The opportunities are so significant that theEIU suggests that ‘...for those who can masterit, big data will become a business of its ownxxviii.’

l New business models based on specialistanalytics services are likely to emerge as aresult.

l Indeed Hal Varian, chief economist at Googlebelieves that big data could revolutionisepublic-private partnerships. He states that ‘…nearly every large company has a real-timedata warehouse and has more timely data onthe economy than our government agencies.In the next decade we will see a public/private


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“Sophisticatedanalytics cansubstantiallyimprovedecision-making.”

partnership that allows the government totake advantage of some of these private-sector data stores. This is likely to lead to abetter informed, more pro-active fiscal andmonetary policy xxix.’

l The European Commission estimates thatgovernment data alone could add €40bn($55bn) a year to the European economy bystimulating the growth of new informationservices xxx.

l The sheer number of devices, the falling costof sensors and evolution of the Internet ofThings could bring up a scenario of‘infinite data xxxi.’Our available computationalpower and budget for acquiring new datasources and analysing existing ones is farfrom infinite however. Rapid identificationand acting upon the most relevant andsignificant features obtainable in a given setof data will become a core competency inmany organisations.

An example of how Big Data might empower agiven organisation lies in the ability of HR todeliver a robust set of predictive analytics. It ispossible that future data sets might be able topredict xxxii:

l Future turnover within an organisation oreven within certain geographies ordepartments of an organisation.

l Which groups of employees or individualemployees or job candidates are a higherthan average ‘turnover’ risk.

l Which candidates and new hires are likely tobe ‘top performers’ based on their profile.

l It could also predict which hiring channels arelikely to yield the best results for a givenorganisation.

As with other technologies that were supposedto empower the organisation and individualusers, such as email, there is a need toimplement such structures with care. JakePorway, the founder of DataKind suggests thathis ‘...biggest fear is that data science is used as ablunt tool and that people don’t understand thecultural implications of quantifying our worldxxxiii.’

The Confluence of the Big Four

The confluence of the evolving internet, mobile,social and big data ultimately means that ‘...atthe heart of this change, a business must makesure its processes connect people withinformation, enable greater collaboration andencourage knowledge sharing. Business leadersneed to choose partners that will help them toimplement the changes effectively over time. Itis no longer viable to implement newtechnologies simply to benefit from short termefficiency gains xxxiv.’

Other emerging technology

Gaming dynamics

The potential for gaming dynamics, orgamification as some have termed it, to optimisebusiness processes is being explored by manyorganisations, with many emerging uses.

l Perhaps one of the most significant usesrelates to training and work based learning.‘Serious gaming simulations are the richestenvironments that you can imagine andprovide all kinds of mechanisms foroptimising learning,’ says Wim Westera,professor, Open Universiteit.

l According to 47 percent of Media andEntertainment executives polled byMcKinsey, gamification will be the best wayto engage with consumers in by 2015.

l Gartner suggests that 50 percent ofcompanies involved in innovation and newproduct development will ‘gamify’ thoseprocesses by 2015 xxxv.

l As a key tenet of the engagement economy,Deloitte states that ‘…gamification canprovide a reason for a customer to visit awebsite or a store more often. It could giveemployees a new way to obtain the feedbackthey desire on job performance. It couldconnect customers in a way that makes themfeel rewarded and respected for theiropinions and support of your business orproduct xxxvi.’

l An estimated 70 percent of the top 2,000public companies in the world will have atleast one gamified application by 2014 xxxvii.


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“According to47 percent ofMedia andEntertainmentexecutivespolled byMcKinsey,gamificationwill be the bestway to engagewithconsumers inby 2015.”


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l For industries that have traditionally beenslow on the uptake of newly availabletechnology, the impact could be pronounced.For example, Gartner xxxviii believes that ‘...theapplication of game mechanics will give P&Cand life insurers a new tool to change agentbehaviours, create stronger partnerships withagents and generate new sales. Insurers thatfail to develop competencies will struggle tocompete in this new environment.’

NFC

Near Field Communication (NFC) and mobilepayments are often grouped together byanalysts, and given how the technology was firstimplemented in the early 2000’s this seemssensible.

l More than 10 percent of mobile phoneowners have already made payments usingtheir phones, according to ComScore dataxxxix.

l According to Pew, NFC smartphonepayments will overtake cash and credit cardtransactions by 2020 xl.

l 65 percent of the Pew panel agree that NFCwould be widespread by 2020.

l 100 million NFC-enabled mobile devices wereshipped in 2012

However, the technology has a wider utility andwe may see implementations along other linesbefore we see a truly flourishing mobile paymentsystem.

l Forrester suggests that NFC won’t reachcritical mass, or be used by 15 percent to 25percent of the global population, until 2015-2017.

l There are, however, numerous areas in whichNFC could be used by organisations in theinterim, as noted by CIO magazine xli.

l NFC is currently being tested by avariety of organisations who want touse smartphones as next-generationaccess cards.

l The technology also holds countless

opportunities for improving publicservices and transit systems.

l The modern retail experience could beenhanced through the combination ofwireless coupons, loyalty cards andpayment options.

l For marketing, NFC offers a way ofquickly accessing NFC-enabled material,such as advertisements, and collectadditional information on products orservices.

l Perhaps more pertinently for themajority of organisations, NFC can alsobe used as a short-range technology toexchange files and content betweentwo or more devices. This functionalitycould engender easier collaboration incorporate environments.

Cloud computing

Although distinct from big data, there can littleargument that they, together with mobilecomputing, display a significantsymbiosis. Sanjay Poonen, writing in GigaOM(2013), believes that ‘...the interdependence ofmobile, big data and cloud is undeniable, and willonly multiply as data growth and mobile usecontinue. Yet our strategic thinking lags behindthe evidence xlii.’

l Given the computing bandwidth andresource needed to accommodate andprocess big data, it could even be argued thatthe exponential growth in data is one of thefirst major pull factors of the cloud.

l Synchronisation between devices gives rise tothe notion of personal clouds.

l An example of how the cloud aligns withother technologies is through data analytics.The cloud based business analytics marketcould be worth $16.52 billion by 2018, whichis more than triple its 2013 size xliii.

l The overall revenue from total sales of cloudcomputing is forecast to increase fromaround $20bn in 2012 to almost $150bn by2020. This represents 8 percent of allcorporate technology spend xliv.

l Gartner’s Ed Anderson suggests growth may

“65 percent ofthe Pew panelagree that NFCwould bewidespread by2020.”


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be more dramatic. By 2016, he says that it’sexpected to be a $207 billion industry xlv.

l Reasons for such growth include theperception of increased business agility,vendor choice, and access to next-generationarchitectures xlvi.

l Indeed, a 2012 ZdNet survey xlvii found thatefficiency is the main driver of cloudadoption.

l At 43 percent, backup and archiving was thenumber one use case, followed by:

l Business continuity (25 percent),

l Collaboration tools (22 percent) and;

l Big data processing (19 percent).

l Customised clouds, integrated hybrid cloudsand on-premise cloud installations could allcontinue grow in significance as cloudadoption continues.

The benefits of the cloud may also diffuse moregenerally, and accrue to functions beyond thosewhich it was implemented in the hope ofalleviating stresses and inefficiencies.

l A 2012 Microsoft-funded IDC study showsbusinesses that move to the cloud are freeingup time and money to invest in innovationand job creation.

l It predicts that cloud computing will createnearly 14 million new jobs between 2011 and2015 and that by as early as 2015, businessrevenues from IT innovation enabled by thecloud could reach $1.1 trillion a year xlviii.

l It is estimated that by 2020, one third of alldata will live in or pass through the cloud xlix.

l Accenture suggests that the cloud ‘...supportsoperational and technological innovation bymoving an organisation more briskly throughthe experimental or prototyping. In a cloudmodel, companies acquire processing,storage or services when they need them,then can quickly decommission thoseresources when they are not needed. Such amodel supports ‘seed and grow’ activitiesand faster prototyping of ideas l.’

Consumerisation of IT

l One of the most significant technologicaltrends of our time results from the massadoption of consumer IT in our daily lives.

l This trend is as socially driven in its nature asmuch as it is technological.

l The emergent Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)movement demonstrates the interplaybetween the cloud and mobile technologies.

l Forward thinking organisations are takingadvantage of this synchronicity and definingstrategies for it.

l In 2010, Gartner claimed thatconsumerisation of IT would be the mostsignificant trend affecting IT during the nextten years li.

l Easy to use, accessible, and pervasivetechnology has the ability to enable trulyflexible working and new configurations ofemployees as well as enabling (and perhapsnecessitating) new forms of operating andbusiness models.

l Employees will increasingly seek solutionsthat work for them rather than ensure theirwork and processes conform totechnologically bound rules.

l Technology (info, cogno, bio, nano) willcontinue to introduce changes in personalcapacity and lifestyles, while ICT will underpinmuch of society as well as commerce lii.

l Depending on the framework and strategicalignment of an organisation, BYOD has thepotential of reducing organisationalcomplexity. Conversely, it also complicatesissues surrounding privacy and security ofinformation.

l As a result, consumerisation of IT ‘...requires astrategic approach that reduces security risks,financial exposure, and management chaosliii.’

l As recently as 2001, technology spendingoutside the IT budget averaged 20 percent liv.

l PwC estimates that somewhere between 15percent up to 30 percent of IT spending nowoccurs outside the standard consolidated

“The emergentBring YourOwn Device(BYOD)movementdemonstratesthe interplaybetween thecloud andmobiletechnologies.”


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budget of the IT department lv.

l 40 percent of devices used to access businessapplications in August 2011 were personallyowned lvi.

l By 2020, the total technology spend outsidethe consolidated IT department could reach90 percent lvii.

The cultural and organisational implications ofthis are significant, as JP Rangaswami, chiefscientist at BT Group suggests, ‘...the enterprisehas to learn to design for loss of control lviii.’

There is emerging evidence of this happening.

l 25 percent of enterprises are forecast to usecorporate app stores by 2017 lix.

l 50 percent of businesses will have their ownapp stores by 2020 lx.

l Whilst permitting multiple device access,these hubs will provide companies withgreater control over the software their staffuse.

l By 2016, more than 50 percent of mobileapps deployed will be hybrid lxi. Organisationsare increasingly realising that BYOD is theiremployees’ way of using technology moreefficiently, and that they need to supportmultiple platforms as the BYOD trend gainsmomentum.

l By 2015 mobile app development projectsare forecast to outnumber native PC projectsby a ratio of 4-to-1 lxii.

3D Printing

3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is anobject creation technology where the shape ofthe objects are formed through a process ofbuilding up layers of material until all of thedetails are in place. 3D printing is estimated togrow to a $3 billion industry by 2018. Its longerterm growth is more contentious, withadvocates seeing it as a paradigm changingtechnology whilst others claim its impact willremain localised. ‘Some people think additivemanufacturing will overturn many of theeconomics of production because it pays noheed to unit labour costs or traditionaleconomies of scale. Designs can be quickly

changed, so the technology enables flexibleproduction and mass customisation,’ notes theEconomist lxiii Certainly as the technologyevolves, so does its scope and possible impact.

l Sainsbury’s IT department is currentlypreparing its strategy for 3D printing, whichit predicts will make a radical change to thesupermarket business lxiv.

l Sainsbury’s IT director, Rob Fraser, suggeststhat he is ‘…prepar(ing) for the fact thatconsumers may soon not want to buy pre-packaged iPhone cases of the shelf, but buildand design their own.’

l Ford Motor now puts 3D printers atworkstations for its engineers. Furthermore,the car company plans to put the smallerMakerBot replicators at every engineer’s deskin the coming months lxv.

Chris Dibona, Open Source Programs Manager atGoogle states that ‘…you’d better see 3D printeras China on your desk lxvi.’ Indeed themanufacturing, as opposed to prototyping,capacity looks set to grow.

l Wohlers Associates states that more than 20percent of the output of 3D printers is nowfinal products rather than prototypes (2012)lxvii.

l It predicts this figure will rise to 50 percent by2020.

l The price of 3D printers could fall to €300 by2015.

l Beyond 2018 it is possible that we could printcertain metals or replacement parts for use inthe medical sector.

l Airbus has announced plans for 3D printedcommercial planes by 2050 lxviii.

l Danish architects Eentileen have used acomputer, a printer and 820 sheets ofplywood to build a 125 square meter (1,345square foot) ‘printable’ home in four weeks.The designers and fabricators are touting theprocess of mass-customising houses andresponsibly producing them on site lxix.

l It is possible that a construction boom, usingthese principles, will occur in the not toodistant future.

“The price of3D printerscould fall to€300 by2015.”


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The future impact beyond strictly manufacturingindustries will be uneven, but all industries willneed to be aware of how the technology couldimpact the competitive landscape.

l Marc Andreessen suggests that due toleverage, few retailers can survive a decline of20 to 30 percent in revenues lxx. If this holdstrue then 3D printing could plausibly be thevector by which this scenario is manifested.

l In November 2012 Dave Evans, Chief Futuristfor computer giant Cisco, predicted thatconsumers would be able to download‘recipes’ for 3D printed food products‘roughly 15 years’ from now lxxi. This couldhelp mitigate the entrance of contaminantsinto the final product.

l Widespread use of 3D printers ‘...could signala fundamental change in the distribution ofphysical goods, much as the development ofthe Web was a fundamental change in thedelivery of digital content,’ says StaceyHigginbotham of GigaOM lxxii.

l Professor Neil Gershenfeld of MIT states thatin the future ‘…digital fabrication will allowindividuals to design and produce tangibleobjects on demand, wherever and wheneverthey need them lxxiii.’

l Professor Gershenfeld suggests 3D printingmay already be passé. ‘The revolution is theability to turn data into things and thingsinto data.’

l Unlike 3-D printers today, these will be ableto build complete functional systems at once,with no need for parts to be assembled. Forexample, today’s printers can print parts of adrone. Tomorrow’s, posits ProfessorGershenfeld, could print the whole drone,ready to fly.

l ‘Today’s digital manufacturing machines arestill in their infancy, but tomorrow they couldbe used to make (almost) anything,anywhere. ‘

Augmented reality

l Augmented Reality (AR) is defined by Frost &Sullivan as ‘... a real-time augmented view ofthe environment through digital data such astext, sound, graphics, video and navigation

systems that increase users’ interactivity withthe local environment lxxiv.’

l Current mediums include smartphones butbionic lenses and Google Glass type productsare all emerging.

l Semico forecasts that revenues related to thistechnology will approach $600 billion by2016 lxxv.

l Michell Prunty, Consumer Analyst at Semicolxxvi suggests that ‘...augmented reality isn’tjust a new fad that will only impactmarketing firms. It’s a new way to see andinteract with technology that everyoneshould be aware of.’

l ‘There is going to be an increased need fornew software platforms, video and audioprocessors, NAND and mobile DRAM. Ifyou’re developing for the consumer orautomotive industries, you must be involvedwith this market early on.’

l By 2020 103 million automobiles couldcontain AR technology.

l Tomi Ahonen suggested in a TEDxpresentation that by 2020 there will be onebillion AR users lxxvii.

l Other studies suggest that nearly three billionAR apps are expected to be downloaded by2020 lxxviii.

l AR is poised to radically redefine and evenextend our business and mobility options,social interactions and experiences in thefuture.

l If the noted projections above prove correct,this technology could shift human behaviourin quite profound ways.

l ‘The ease of accessing a constant rich streamof data related to one’s immediateenvironment will change our relationship totechnology and to each other lxxix.’

Virtual reality

l Virtual reality (VR) is already established asan effective and widely implemented trainingtool on military bases, within architecturefirms, and in medical schools.

“Currentmediumsincludesmartphonesbut bioniclenses andGoogle Glasstype productsare allemerging.”


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l Academics have also begun to use it in aquest to solve some fundamental questionsabout the mind relating to perception.

l It has been noted that VR headsets have beenaround for decades, but mass adoption hasbeen hindered by their bulky size and cost.

l More recent iterations such as the Oculus Riftis pioneering development of a potentialwhole new medium for the gaming industrylxxx.

l Indeed, Valve’s Chet Faliszek believes thatvirtual reality could soon become a focus forthe gaming industry lxxxi.

l However important gaming is intrinsically(for fun) and with regards to simulation andtraining for a multitude of industries (seriousgaming), this is only one example of thepotential impact VR could have on humanbehaviour.

Jeremy Bailenson is the founding director ofStanford University’s Virtual Human InteractionLab and an associate professor in theDepartment of Communication at Stanford lxxxii.His research goes beyond how we use VR tounderstand human functioning (as in a medicallab) to assess how VR could be used to inducechange in human actions themselves.

Research has shown that Americans, in commonwith many nationalities, save insufficiently forretirement, in part because they feel littleconnection to their future selves. Bailensonfound, however, that college students who wereintroduced to avatars of themselves morphed tolook like senior citizens were motivated to putaside twice as much money for retirement.

In other studies out of Bailenson’s lab, subjectswho were shown recognisable avatars ofthemselves exercising and rapidly losing weightlater voluntarily exercised more; subjects whosaw themselves being sedentary and steadilygaining weight were also motivated to hit thegym.

Similarly studies show that subjects who cutdown a tree in virtual reality - who felt thechainsaw buzz in their hands, watched the trunkfall, and felt the vibrations of its collapse on theforest floor - later used 20 percent fewer papernapkins.

In one experiment conducted with anotherscholar, Sun Joo Anh, Bailenson explored whatwould happen if companies started grabbingimages of consumers and incorporating theminto tailored advertisements. ‘When you seeyourself in advertising using a product you’venever touched, and loving it - we call this ‘self-endorsing’ - does that make you like the productlater on?,’ Bailenson asks. ‘We found the answerto be yes.’

Holograms

l PFSK describes holograms as ‘...essentiallyrecorded moving images that are etched intoa medium with lasers split by mirrors, thenprojected onto a special transparent filmangled such that it appears to the audiencethat the image is floating on its own, andcreating the effect of a person standing infront of them lxxxiii.’

l Although highly visual, the true valueperhaps lies in the technology as acommunications medium.

l The International Olympic Committee hasalready commissioned a report lxxxiv on howholograms of events could be projected fromone stadium to another at the 2024 OlympicGames.

l The report ‘...predict(s) that it will be possibleto show holograms in a stadium within 10 to15 years and the concept of a ‘live’ eventbeing projected via holograms into otherstadiums filled with spectators to be arealistic prediction.’

l According to the report, if a viewer iswatching a running final at home, they willsee a speedometer on the screen showinghow fast the athletes are running.

l Scientists at HP’s Large-Scale IntegratedPhotonics lab have demonstrated (March2012) a cheap way to project colourful, no-glasses-required 3D images and video onsmall screens.

l HP’s prototype works from a variety ofangles, using so-called directional pixels thatoffer different views as you move. Project aglobe on this screen, for example, and newcontinents will come into view as you circleit. It’s a full-motion hologram effect.

“It has beennoted that VRheadsets havebeen aroundfor decades,but massadoption hasbeen hinderedby their bulkysize and cost.”


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l HP lab head Raymond Beausoleil,emphasizing that the technology is still in theprototype stage suggests that applicationscould be wide ranging. ‘We envision peopleusing it for new graphical user interfaces,interactive visualizations, mapping, andpharmaceutical models lxxxv.’

l Research suggests that by 2025‘...holographic teleconferencing and virtual‘dry runs’ of projects will consign old officetemplates to the dustbin lxxxvi.’

l ‘In their place, multiple surfaces in the home,or shared work hub, will be coated withdigitally enabled smart paint that will project3D avatars of colleagues at a single touch.’

Interfaces

It has been remarked that the future is alreadyhere, but is not evenly distributed. One possiblereading of this is that developments in the labwill take several years to hit commercial maturity.

l The advent of graphene brings forth thepremise of folding flexible screens on ourdevices lxxxvii.

l The MIT Media Lab’s Recompose project isalready looking at how a physical surface canchange in response to gesture-basedcommands lxxxviii.

l Daniel Burrus a leading futurist on techtrends and innovation suggests that suchinterfaces will appear on smartphones as amatter of course. ‘Your smartphone will havea 3D display and a 3D web browser, and youwon’t need special glasses to view it. Soinstead of just viewing web pages on yoursmart phone, you’ll be able to go intoenvironments (or stores or showrooms) andmanoeuvre around in them, just as you do ondevices like the Xbox lxxxix.’

l Mr Burrus also believes that somesmartphones will be screen-less. Not onlydoes it have utility in reducing the need for abattery, but advances in voice activationmake it a potentially user friendlier interface.

l With Apple’s Siri and Google Voice Actionsand Voice Search, early versions of voice-

controlled devices are already here.

l The screen-less smartphone will be touch andvoice activated, with a connection to apersonalised ultra intelligent agent, able toverbally give you the information, such asturn-by-turn directions, reading your email toyou and so on.

l The repercussions of a screen-lesssmartphone would be considerable,especially for app developers xc.

l Future smartphones may have the ability tobe used in biometric security.

l Future smartphones may also have the abilityto ‘...link with smart surfaces just by puttingthem beside each other. The smartphone willbe able to connect with voice operated, touchscreen devices like desktop computers,allowing you to control the device using yourphone xci.’

Immersive technologies

A panel representing Imperial College London,the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),the University of Washington, and the UKgovernment, concluded that by 2025,technology will allow us to conjure workspacesout of thin air by using interactive surfaces xcii.

l Leah Buechley, a professor at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology’sMedia Lab suggests that within a decade ortwo, interfaces will be ubiquitous andincreasingly immersive xciii.

l One example is her team’s 2010 project,electronic wallpaper. The wallpaper’selectronic components are painted on, sothey look and feel like wallpaper, but they areactually giant interactive screens.

l Putting a hand on a papered wall will send awireless signal to a computer, tablet orsmartphone, which can then play bird soundsor dim or brighten lights on the wall.

Indeed, our wired environment is set to becomeboth more interactive and more immersive. IBM,in its annual 5 in 5 technology forecast, predictsthat by 2018 we will see computers with xciv:

“With Apple’sSiri and GoogleVoice Actionsand VoiceSearch, earlyversions ofvoice-controlleddevices arealready here.”


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l A sense of touch

l ‘Texture data fed into a machine’spiezoelectric drivers can re-createvibrations and temperature on a touchscreen can simulate that feel.’ Some ofthis capability is available now inrudimentary form in computer gameswhere the controller shakes to indicatean on-screen car collision.

l A sense of contextual awareness

l If a computer can instead really see andunderstand a given image for what itrepresents, it can accelerate the wholeprocess of analysis, which could be ofvalue to the medical industry, securityand marketing.

l Audible capabilities

l Just as computers need to see images aswhole entities, IBM thinks they alsoneed to hear total sounds includingambient noise, words, or music to getthe full story. ‘It’s not necessarily justhearing words, hearing is alsobackground noise …If a cell phone calleris in a car with an engine running at2,000 rpm, you might even be able totell if the driver is stuck in traffic ormoving smoothly,’ notes IBM.

l Digitised taste buds

l An understanding of the chemicalelements of food could help peopleimprove their health outlook bysubstituting in healthier options withsimilar flavour and texture profiles topopular but unhealthy foods.

l A sense of smell

l IBM believes it possible that computerswill be able to tell from your breath yourhealth situation, and whether, forexample, you are likely to get a cold.Likewise, this technology could detectcontaminants and toxins before theyhit unacceptable levels, potentiallyreconfiguring elements of public healthinto prevention rather than cure.

Robotics

Robots have the curious distinction, along withflying cars, as being consigned to a ‘history of thefuture’ in many people’s imaginations. That is tosay that they have remained, prediction afterfailed prediction as something for the future.Although our current reality may not match ourpreconceived ideas, the industry has beengrowing exponentially, ‘...with numerousendeavours focused on integrating robots intothe home. Future robots will assist with chores,provide entertainment, enhance telepresence,become companions, and assist with health andelder care xcv.’

l Roboticist Hans Moravec believes that bymid-2020s, we will create humanoid robotsthat can express reasoning, emotion, and areeager to perform household tasks xcvi.

l Experts predict computer power could matchthe ability of human brains by 2029; andthen surpass us during the 2030s xcvii.

l The South Korean Ministry of Informationand Communication has predicted that everyhousehold will have a robot by 2020 xcviii.

l According to the U.S. Department of Labor,robotics are the future, and will comprise 60percent of all science, mathematics, andengineering jobs by 2018 xcix.

l A review of news headlines from 2012 revealseditorials concerning a robot stand-upcomedian, robot prison guards in SouthKorea, and even robot sex workers. Thesestories tend to suggest that robots areperhaps evolving into what we had originallyconceived them asc.

l During a TED conference, Baxter (a robotaimed to assist, rather than replace humanworkers) was cited as a leading indicator ofthe potential for machine learning toaugment the human experience ci.

l Launched in 2012 and priced at $22,000,Baxter can be trained to do assembly-linetasks without programming. It’s animatedeyes reveal where its attention is focussed, soas not to surprise humans with its movementand it is also spatially aware cii.

“Expertspredictcomputerpower couldmatch theability ofhuman brainsby 2029; andthen surpassus during the2030s xcvii.”

Batteries

l Jeff Chamberlain of the Joint Center forEnergy Storage Research believes it may stillbe possible to double the amount of energy aregular lithium-ion battery of given weightcan store, and also reduce its cost by 30-40percent ciii.

l McKinsey estimates that lithium-ionbatteries might be competitive in electric cars(vs conventional internal-combustionengines) by 2020 civ.

l Waste sulphur, common at oil sandsextraction sites, is being transformed intolightweight plastic for use in electricbatteries. The plastic created is used tomanufacture lithium-sulphur (Li-S) batteriescv.

l Li-S batteries are lighter than current lithium-ion batteries used in electric and hybridvehicles today making them an attractiveoption for the transportation industry toconsider.

l Prof Donald Sadoway, from theMassachusetts Institute of Technology, hasbeen working on one technology designed tosequester electricity and then releasing it ondemand (something the Grid does not dowell). This technology is in the form of liquidmetal batteries cvi.

l A commercial prototype should be ready by2014.

l Liquid metal batteries could find uses withina variety of electricity markets. Grid storagecould be to help make renewables such aswind, wave and solar power competitive withtraditional energy sources.

l The BBC reports that ‘...Sadoway’s group hasalso looked at one model in which liquidmetal batteries are installed in the basementsof skyscrapers in Manhattan. Expertsestimate that within three years (by 2015),the ability to get electricity in Manhattan isgoing to be exceeded by demand from theislandcvii.’

l In addition to liquid metal, other batterytechnologies for grid-scale storage includeredox flow, lithium-ion and sodium-ionbatteries.

What could be the impactEvolution of the internet

Whilst an ‘end point’ for the ongoing evolutionof the internet is impossible to predict, Cisco cviii(2013) proffers that ‘The Internet of Everything’,a term it uses to describe the confluence ofpeople, processes, data and physical things,could be an intermediate platform.

l Cisco believes the IoE could create $14.4trillion of value for companies and industriesover the next 10 years.

l Even if this forecast proves to even only halfaccurate, the impact would still be profound.

l $14.4 trillion represents 21 percent ofaggregate growth in the profits of all thecompanies in the world.

Challenges of technology for theorganisation

l McKinsey suggests that, as with earlier wavesof IT innovation, it could take years for thebenefits to be realised as management andorganisational innovation must accompanytechnological innovation cix.

l Bain acknowledges that many organisationspossess ‘...an IT environment that is apatchwork of legacy systems and ill-suitedtechnologies.’

l It continues by noting that ‘...in mostcompanies, the pressure to create new IT-enabled functionality usually takesprecedence over fixing what’s broken orunderperforming.’

l ‘The perverse result of piling new capabilitieson top of an increasingly rickety foundationis to add unnecessary complexity and drive upcosts, making it harder for IT to serve evenbasic business requests in a timely manner.’

l As a result of this unnecessary complexity, 85percent or more of total IT outlays arefocused on maintaining existing systems,leaving just 15 percent for new initiatives.


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“$14.4 trillionrepresents 21percent ofaggregategrowth in theprofits of allthe companiesin the world.”


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l There can be little doubt that such anapproach not only makes work more difficultto complete effectively, but also constrictsinnovation and leaves value locked away andunrealised.

l There also remains the possibility that a newbig bang style implementation meant to ridthe old complexity and replace with a singlenew version of the truth becomes increasinglyalluring.

l In some cases this could have a catastrophiceffect. Bent Flyvbjerg and Alexander Budzierat the University of Oxford believe that abotched IT project will destroy a majorcorporation in the near future cx.

l They suggest that calculating the riskassociated with an IT project using the averagecost overrun is like creating building standardsusing the average size of earthquakes in thatboth are bound to be inadequate.

l ‘IT projects are now so big, and they touch somany aspects of an organization, that theypose a singular new risk….They have sunkwhole corporations. Even cities and nationsare in peril,’ state the academics.

l IT problems with Hong Kong’s new airport inthe late 1990s reportedly cost the localeconomy some $600 million.

l They conclude that it’s only a matter of timebefore something much more dramatic occurs.‘It will be no surprise if a large, establishedcompany fails in the coming years because ofan out-of-control IT project. In fact, the datasuggest that one or more will.’

l Perhaps the biggest area of concern liesbetween ‘...disconnected systems (forexample, between front and back-officefunctions), and technologies evolving fasterthan the processes developed to use them cxi.’

l As a result of these technological changes,workforces will probably become far moredispersed. Workers will have diverse careers inmany different locations, working for shorterperiods on projects.

l PwC even predicts that the number of hostlocations a company uses will increase 50% by2020 cxii.

Challenges of technology forindividuals

l 82 percent of respondents to an EIU survey cxiii

suggest that the time they spend using e-mailhas increased in the past three years, and overhalf say the increase has been substantial.

l ‘While acknowledging the hugely beneficialeffects technology has had on their employees’productivity, efficiency and communication,little more than one-third say it’s freed upemployees’ time to be more innovative.’

l ‘The concerns also extend to a broader plane:while eight in ten believe that human-technology interaction will prove hugelyproductive for society, about the same numberalso insist that it will also pose profoundsocietal questions about their respective rolesin the workplace.’

Ubiquity

l John Villasenorcxiv, an electrical engineer atthe University of California has studied theplummeting cost of computer data storageand concluded that ‘...it will soon betechnically feasible and affordable to recordand store everything that can be recordedabout what everyone in a country says ordoes.’

l Mr. Villasenor estimates that to store the audiofrom telephone calls made by an averageperson in the course of a year would requireabout 3.3 gigabytes and cost just 17 cents tostore, a price that is expected to fall to 2 centsby 2015.

l Storing video takes far more space, but theprice is dropping steadily.

l With costs dropping and data volumesincreasing, implicit opportunities arise fororganisations but also a significant challengein organising sufficient analytical talent toextract value from this data and doing so in acooperative way with consumers.

l A pilot project by the Chinese municipality ofChongqing to blanket the city of 12 millionwith 500,000 video cameras currently costs$300 million in annual storage, but this priceis forecast drop to $3 million by 2020 cxv.

“IT problemswith HongKong’s newairport in thelate 1990sreportedly costthe localeconomy some$600 million.”


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Evolving role of IT

l Gartner analyst Laura McLellan predicts that‘...by 2017 the CMO will spend more on ITthan the CIO cxvi.’

l The emergence of an increasinglydemocratised technology infrastructure is adirect response to technological maturity‘...and the emergence of solutions designedfor functional managers without ITdependencies cxvii.’

l ‘Today, non-IT people, including businessexecutives and consumers, are either makingdecisions or involved in the decision-makingprocess,’ says Didier Bonnet, senior vicepresident for Capgemini Consulting cxviii.

l It is likely that increasing numbers of currentIT roles, systems and services will migrate off-premises such as cloud service providers.

l The demand for data analysts and theirstrategic use is likely to form the core futurefunction of IT. Also likely to be important isthe servicing of existing on-premiseinfrastructure and the strategic demarcationof core technological projects, which may initself necessitate a new set of skills for theCIO and those immediately below in theorganisation.

A new business paradigm

l PwC says the days of just ‘keeping up’ withadvances in mobile technology are over forfirms cxix.

l As our environment becomes increasinglydigital, and 50 billion devices are connectedto the internet, billions of cognitiveassistants will be collecting information,monitoring people’s behaviour and takingpredictive actions based on their preferencescxx. Like never before there is an opportunityto make technology work for humans,although the danger remains, and is perhapsaccentuated, that the reverse will be true.

l McKinsey suggests that closely aligningtechnological choices with structural andorganisational forms will have the greatestimpact on the future of work. ‘The next leapforward in the productivity of knowledgeworkers will come from interactive

technologies combined with complementaryinvestments in process innovations andtraining. Strategic choices, such as whetherto extend collaboration networks tocustomers and suppliers, will be importantcxxi.’

l In essence ‘...the change will be more aboutthe business model, and how technology isused to change an organisation and itsinteraction with customers, rather than somemajor technology change on its own cxxii.’ JackBergstrand, the founder of Brand Velocity(consultancy) and the former CIO of Coca-Cola

Leadership

l The Future of Work Research Consortium’sLynda Gratton suggests that, somewhatparadoxically, the rise of technology willaccentuate the human dimension ofbusiness.

l She believes that full transparency and therevealing of information that is todayconsidered sensitive is a logical progressionof using the array of technologies open toorganisations.

l As a result ‘...there will be no place for leadersto hide, so their authenticity and capacity tobe themselves will be crucial. This demand forauthenticity is new, and our top leaders willneed coaching to learn to be comfortablewith being themselves cxxiii.’

The impact on the SME

l Business insurers Hiscox reports that ‘...89percent of SMEs have mastered the use oftechnology cxxiv.’

l However it found that, whether due topreference or capital constraints, only10percent of SMEs were found to relish newtechnology and generally upgrade equipmentas soon as it becomes available.

l In an Australian survey conducted by SmallBusiness Technology Institute (SBTI)and Small Business Technology Magazine,managers from more than 3,000 companiesreported that after health care, managing theevolving technologies available is proving tobe a major concern cxxv.

“It is likely thatincreasingnumbers ofcurrent ITroles, systemsand serviceswill migrateoff-premisessuch as cloudserviceproviders.”


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l The report also indicated that smallbusinesses tend to allocate very limitedhuman and financial resources and that smallbusinesses approach IT support on a reactivebasis and reply heavily on tactical support byproduct lenders.

l The combination of falling costs andincreasing democratisation of technologymeans that many small businesses have, forthe first time, the opportunity to implementbusiness technology and level the playingfield with larger organisations. Benefitsinclude:

l Reducing business costs

l Improving communication

l Potential increase in business

l Analysts have suggested that the Cloud is agreat match for small business owners. ’Doneright, it brings speed, convenience, ease ofaccess, collaborative qualities, low costs, andscalability. Firms that are already 100% Cloudinvested have a competitive advantage overtheir more traditional competitors cxxvi.’

l Mobile technologies, used correctly, hold theprospect of allowing small business owners tosignificantly streamline their work flow andwork smarter.

l SaaS sometimes referred to as on-demandsoftware, is a software delivery model inwhich software and associated data arecentrally hosted on the Cloud. SaaS istypically accessed by users using a thin clientvia a web browser. SaaS has become acommon delivery model for many businessapplications, with one of the biggest sellingpoints being the reduction of necessary in-house IT costs.

l Gartner estimates that SaaS revenue will bemore than double its 2010 numbers by 2015and will reach a projected $21.3 billion cxxvii.

An interesting proposition for leveragingtechnology to redraw a shifting businesslandscape that favours SME’s is also emerging

l Some 37 percent of UK SMEs ‘...believe that in50 years, traditional business centres will

disappear and advanced telepresence couldreplicate many of the benefits of walking intoa traditional shop cxxviii.’

l ‘Indeed, robotics and augmented reality mayopen the possibility for hybrid High Streets,which exist in both physical and digitalspaces simultaneously.

l A small business operating without a fixedlocation could rent empty property on astreet that it then occupies with virtualproducts and services.

What does this meanfor youTechnology will enable and indeed enforceorganisations to reassess their business modelsas well as initiate the appearance of truly radicaltechnologically grounded organisations. Theubiquity and scope of emerging technologies willdemand a greater attention to the strategic useof technologies in their implementation foremployees, for and to customers and ultimatelyin how they align to the goals and visions of anorganisation.

l IT’s talent needs – especially relating to dataanalysis, need to be developed with a longterm view and in collaboration with keyplayers within the organisation.

l Technology, in the abstract sense, is at theheart of complexity, but severaldevelopments hold the promise ofsignificantly reducing it within organisations.

l Technology will necessitate a shift in how weview work and will validate (and perhapseven demand) several alternative ways ofworking.

l Data will enable ever greater microsegmentation of customers, increasedpersonalisation for customers and a moreeffective search for new customers.

l Data will have a transformational role to playwithin HR assuming its broad use is seen tobenefit employees in their efforts to reachtheir goals, both professional and personal.

l Radically and rapidly redrawing business

“Gartnerestimates thatSaaS revenuewill be morethan double its2010 numbersby 2015 andwill reach aprojected$21.3 billioncxxvii.”


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models, purpose and organisationalstructures on an ongoing basis will bepossible for those with the greatest access todata, the ability to analyse it, and integratethe outcomes into actionable insights.

l Several technologies, from social networks todata analytics promise to form the basicinfrastructure on which successful futureorganisations are based.

l Choosing the right technology at the righttime will increasingly become a criticaldifferentiator for organisations.

Specifically, Forbes suggests the followingpossible impacts from implementing varioustechnologies cxxix:

l Leaders may profit from ubiquitousworkplace data by opting to rebalance thework environment to support greatercollaboration and informal knowledge flows.

l Ambient technology and big data may enablethe discovery of optimal, and perhaps evenpersonalised, working patterns.

l Using smart data analytics, digital screensand surfaces in the work environment willautomatically display updates, goals andcontextual information, whether it be in ameeting or in the middle of a project.

l Social platforms could enable employees areal time feedback mechanism. Alternativelythis may be gathered by their digitalfootprint, or behaviour or else their mobiledevices.

l Mobile devices will interact with our physicalenvironments, allowing far greatercollaboration and information capture forboth managers and employees.

l ‘Organisations will learn at a faster rate associal platforms will be querying andaggregating social information from ERPsystems, CRM solutions, enterprise apps, andmobile devices to provide employees withrelevant information.’

l Companies are beginning to understand thepower to solve a variety of business problemsby using gamification principles.

l Technologies that automatically introduce

employees to employees, partners andsuppliers and help build relationships willappear.

l The future workplace will feature flexiblespaces. Such adaptive work spaces will adjustto its intended purpose.

It should be noted, above all, that the keyrequirement for the successful implementationand realisation of these technologies and theirbenefits, flows from cultural and structuralchange within an organisation.

What can you doabout this todayl Invest in researching emerging technologies –

both those that impact internal operationsand those that could impact and redraw thewider business environment.

l Identify the gaps in your current IT andtechnology provision for both youremployees and customers. How far from bestpractice are you, both within your industryand in relation to pacesetters in otherindustries?

l Develop metrics to measure the impact oftechnology implementations.

l Develop the capability of IT personnel (andeven those who perform their roles but areexternal to the department) to enablestrategic views and a greater sense of how,where, when and why certain technologiescan be used and to what effect.

l Develop a radar for scanning the widerexternal environment – including analystreports, whitepapers and thought leadershippieces. Watch for so called ‘break’technologies – ones that break supply chainsand value networks in at least one industry.

l Develop policies, frameworks and strategiesfor dealing with the four core technologies aswell as BYOD and the cloud.

l Integrate the goals and visions of IT with thegreater organisational view.

l Develop a culture open to new ideas,

“The futureworkplace willfeature flexiblespaces. Suchadaptive workspaces willadjust to itsintendedpurpose.”


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practices and an organisation wide view ofchange.

l Assess your value chain, and attempt to mapit out. Harvard Business Review notes that‘...your value chain is big and it’s complex. It’sbeen developed to satisfy your customersgiven the technological landscape of the day.But the technological landscape is constantlychanging cxxx.’

l HBR also suggests that you ‘...outline, indetail, how you create and deliver theproducts and services your customers value.Know each step up the value chain distinctlyand understand that the chain will have toevolve over time.’

l Lastly, be prepared to deal with the prospectof deciding how and when to disrupt yourown business. New technologies will usher insuccessful new business models andbackcasting from your envisaged future tothe present may help in taking the first step.

Questionsl What is the state of your current

technological infrastructure, or ecosystem?

l Is it aligned and does it deliver results foryour customers and employees?

l Have you identified technological trends thatmay soon present challenges for yourorganisation? Conversely, have you exploredhow you could turn these challenges intoopportunities?

l Do you have policies for planning,software/systems acquisition,software/systems maintenance, disposal,systems management, data management,operations, support, monitoring andevaluation cxxxi?

l Is your organisation well versed intechnology, especially at C-suite levels?

l Does your organisation have an IT/Businessaligned strategic plan?

l Does IT have the potential or the currentability to act as a strategic partner?

l What are the roadblocks in your organisationto successfully implementing technologiesthat may benefit you.

l Do you have an agile organisational culturethat can handle rapid change?

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ii Source: Anson Alex, 2012 http://ansonalex.com/technology/modern-communications-good-bad-society/

iii Source: MIT Technology Review, 2013http://www.technologyreview.com/businessreport/making-money-in-mobile/

iv Source: International Telecommunication Union, 2013https://www.itu.int/net/pressoffice/press_releases/2013/05.aspx

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vii Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2013https://chronicle.com/article/Robots-Arent-the-Problem-/138007/?cid=cr

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xi Source: McKinsey Global Institute pdf, July 2012, ‘The SocialEconomy: Unlocking value and productivity through socialtechnologies.’

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xiii Source: Computing, February 2010

“Developpolicies,frameworksand strategiesfor dealingwith the fourcoretechnologiesas well asBYOD and thecloud.”


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http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/1840835/social-networking-replace-email-2014

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xxxv Source: Marketing Mag (Australia)2013http://www.marketingmag.com.au/news/50-of-companies-will-gamify-innovation-by-2015-36581/#.UW8SXLXh0qN

xxxvi Source: Deloitte, 2013http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Insights/Browse-by-Content-Type/deloitte-review/c7cee86d96498310VgnVCM1000001956f00aRCRD.htm

xxxvii Source: Entrepreneur, 2012http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/223039

xxxviii Source: Gartner, 2012 http://www.gartner.com/id=2164215

xxxix Source: Computer World UK, 2012http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/mobile-wireless/3351690/smartphone-nfc-payments-to-outpace-credit-cards-by-2020/

xl Source: Computer World UK, 2012http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/mobile-wireless/3351690/smartphone-nfc-payments-to-outpace-credit-cards-by-2020/

xli Source: CIO magazine, 2012http://www.cio.com/article/713618/NFC_Not_Just_for_Mobile_Payments_Six_Future_Uses?page=3&taxonomyId=3045


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xlii Source: GigaOM, 2013 http://pro.gigaom.com/blog/understanding-the-symbiosis-of-cloud-computing-big-data-and-mobile/

xliii Source: Lang Tech News, 2013http://langtechnews.hivefire.com/articles/share/278608/?sf10453403=1

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xlv Source: CIO, 2012 http://www.cio.in/news/gartner-cloud-putting-crimp-traditional-software-hardware-sales-284692012

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xlvii Source: Zdnet, June 2012 http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/the-future-of-cloud-computing-9-trends-for-2012/80511

xlviii Source: Microsoft, March 2012 http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/features/2012/mar12/03-05CloudComputingJobs.aspx

xlix Source: CSC, 2012 http://www.csc.com/insights/flxwd/78931-big_data_growth_just_beginning_to_explode

l Source: Accenture, 2011 http://www.accenture.com/us-en/outlook/pages/outlook-online-2011-new-era-innovation-cloud-future-business.aspx

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lv Source: Network World, August 2012http://www.networkworld.com/news/2012/080812-shadow-it-261502.html

lvi Source: Computer World, 2011http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9219149/Consumerization_of_IT_Lessons_for_enterprise_applications

lvii Source: ZdNet, 2012 http://www.zdnet.com/eventually-90-of-tech-budgets-will-be-outside-it-departments-7000006577/

lviii Source: Internet Evolution, June 2010http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=466&doc_id=193218

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lxx Source: Impact Lab, 2013http://www.impactlab.net/2013/02/12/the-future-of-3d-printing-and-the-retail-business/

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lxxii Source: Business Week, 2012http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-12-21/fords-gift-to-engineers-makerbot-3d-printers


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lxxix Source: Digitizd, 2013 http://www.digitizd.com/2012/08/15/why-augmented-reality-will-be-the-next-great-media-format/

lxxx Source: Christian Science Monitor, 2013http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Horizons/2013/0319/The-Oculus-Rift-aims-to-make-virtual-reality-gaming-viable

lxxxi Source: Escapist Magazine,2012http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/119858-Valve-Preparing-for-the-Future-With-Virtual-Reality#K1zBJBRR0KY1hCOK.99

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lxxxv Source: Business Week, 2013http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-03-21/3d-holograms-on-your-phone-coming-not-so-soon

lxxxvi Source: BBC, 2012 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19639048

lxxxvii Source: BBC, 2013 http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130306-bend-and-flex-for-mobile-phones

lxxxviii Source: BBC, 2012 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19639048

lxxxix Source: CNN, 2013http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/21/tech/mobile/smartphone-

developments-mobile-strategy

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xcii Source: BBC, 2012 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19639048

xciii Source: Tech News Daily, 2012http://www.technewsdaily.com/5575-touch-screen-future-computer-control.html

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xcv Source: Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, 2012

http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/pelletier201208181

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xcix Source: Web Pro News, 2012 http://www.webpronews.com/robots-on-the-rise-an-infographic-guide-2012-05

c Source: Web Pro News, 2012 http://www.webpronews.com/robots-on-the-rise-an-infographic-guide-2012-05

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civ Source: Economist, 2013 http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21571117-search-better-ways-storing-electricity-hotting-up-batteries

cv Source: Economist, 2013 http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21571117-search-better-ways-storing-electricity-hotting-up-batteries

cvi Source: Tech Smurf, 2013 http://www.techsmurf.com/energy-update-lithium-sulfur-batteries-from-waste/

cvii Source: BBC, 2012 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20420557

cviii Source: BBC, 2012 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-


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environment-20420557

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cx Source: McKinsey, 2012http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/high_tech_telecoms_internet/the_social_economy

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cxiv Source: Economist Intelligence Unit, Management Thinking 2013http://www.managementthinking.eiu.com/sites/default/files/downloads/EIU_Humans%20&%20machines_FINAL_WEB.pdf

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cxvi Source: Fast Company, 2011http://www.fastcompany.com/1802688/future-internets-here-and-its-creepy

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cxviii Source: The Higher Ed CIO (blog) 2012http://blog.thehigheredcio.com/2012/01/09/future-of-it-departments-reflects-a-new-role-of-it/

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cxx Source: PwC. 2012 http://www.pwc.com/us/en/advisory/customer-impact/publications/seizing-mobility-moment-employee-part-2.jhtml

cxxi Source: Lynda Gratton, 2012http://www.lyndagratton.com/uploads/BSR%20-%20LG%20investigates%20the%20FOW.pdf

cxxii Source: McKinsey, 2012https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/High_Tech/Strategy_Analysis/Clouds_big_data_and_smart_assets_Ten_tech-enabled_business_trends_to_watch_2647

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cxxv Source: Technorati, 2013 http://technorati.com/business/small-business/article/89-of-smes-have-mastered-use/

cxxvi Source: Business Review Australia, 2012http://www.businessreviewaustralia.com/technology/the-impact-of-technology-in-business

cxxvii Source: Business Review Australia, 2012http://www.businessreviewaustralia.com/technology/the-impact-of-technology-in-business

cxxviii Source: PR Web, 2012http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/10/prweb9974206.htm

cxxix Source: BBC, 2013 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20792047

cxxx Source: Forbes, 2012http://www.forbes.com/sites/markfidelman/2012/05/24/microsofts-view-of-the-future-workplace-is-brilliant-heres-why-2/2/

cxxxi Source: Harvard Business Review, 2012http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/01/why_break_technologies_will_ch.html

cxxxii Source: CIPA (Canada’s Association of IT Professionals), 2012http://www.cips.ca/How-well-is-your-IT-department-positioned-for-the-future-Nov2012

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