Technology opportunities 28-10-2011

A high school in NZ is requiring students to be network enabled. That means teachers and students can interact more effectively but also remotely. For example a student sitting in the library struggling with a concept could ask a tutor by chat to help and if need be share their screen so that the tutor and the student are looking at the same thing chatting. That is one on one and self directed learning all in the same place. Wow.

It also means we can export education to the world - and our NCEA becomes a yard stick in the world.

The international consulting firm McKinsey have recently issued an article that suggests more jobs have been lost in the USA due to automation of administration processes than have been lost to cheap labour in Asia and Mexico.

Two opportunities sit inside this change for agile businesses - providing automation and providing the back office. Both of these can be done from far far away (NZ).

The computing power and content on mobile phones is awesome. I can read the paper, check exchange rates, write emails, watch TV and even talk to somebody else. What an amazing bit of technology. Used well there are opportunities to redevelop many business process (reduce time or cost) so that they operate off a relatively cheap and ubiquitous devices.

All of these changes suggest that the way most businesses deploy their technology needs a radical rethink.  Many businesses are trying to create an environment where a highly secure server interacts with identified, owned and controlled devices.  In today's technology environment such an environment could well prevent a business from keeping up with their market.  So it is time to ask if your technology strategy is ensuring your business is ready for the future that is here?