Author Archives: Tracey Keys

It’s been an unsettled and unsettling year around the world – with more of the same on the horizon.

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Oil prices remain low, creating economic and social challenges for oil exporters, many of whom are in geopolitically volatile parts of the world. At the same time consumers are benefitting but not always demonstrating the responsible behaviors that they are calling on businesses to implement, with American consumers for example buying record numbers of gas-guzzling SUVs this year. Whether we are on the tipping point of a new energy landscape remains to be seen. Financial markets were thrown into turmoil as the Swiss National Bank pulled its Euro peg – and are playing catch-up with crypto currencies on deploying blockchain technologies which could be massively disruptive to financial services, particularly as the sector continues to face multiple new challengers from P2P lending to technology companies' new payment systems. 

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August 2015: In our June and July briefings took the perspectives of businesses and consumers respectively in exploring the opportunities and challenges of navigating tomorrow’s digital landscape. This third and last part in our trilogy focuses on what digitalization and digital transformation means for governments.

Ongoing technology changes are yielding productivity gains and driving innovation in the private sector, enhancing value and choice for the consumer. These consumers are citizens too – and as they become more digitally proficient and aware, it is critical that governments respond to the growing demand for innovative, convenient and cost-effective public services. Heavy, and often costly, government organizations need a new approach to delivering their services in a connected world, services that not only offer time and cost-saving alternatives to citizens but also make the public sector more efficient and agile. Digital technologies are a transformational force which if harnessed effectively can provide “game-changing” opportunities for governments. At the same, digitalization brings with it significant challenges that may make governments more vulnerable and complex to manage, whether guarding against an exponentially rising array of cyber attacks or developing new legislation fit for a connected world where borders are increasingly irrelevant and the ownership of personal digital information is unclear.

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July 2015: In our June briefing we focused on the opportunities and challenges of navigating tomorrow’s digital landscape and digital transformation for businesses. This month our perspective shifts to the consumer, while in August we will put the spotlight on governments.

Transformative digital technologies are changing life around the globe at an unprecedented speed. New products, services and platforms are giving people more choices than ever before. With more choices comes more power and freedom to take control of our personal lives, work, political, religious and social affiliations, and consumption patterns. However, it also means figuring out how to use all these choices in an effective and progressive way – the world and each of us as individuals are only at the start of this process.

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June 2015: To go digital or not to go digital? Perhaps the better question, that seems to be on everyone’s mind, is how to go digital? There is such a deluge of opinions, advice, forecasts, predictions and stories available that it would be impossible to do the subject justice in a short monthly briefing. Instead, we are being only slightly less ambitious, offering this first of a three-part briefing on navigating tomorrow’s digital landscape, looking at the challenge from the perspective of businesses. In July and August we will take a look at navigating the digital landscape from a consumer and a government point of view, respectively.

Digitalization (click here to read about the difference between digitalization and digitization) is no longer in its infancy. The adoption of digital technologies, channels and tools is rapidly transforming businesses, industries, communities, governments and consumer lifestyles around the globe. And tech giants, worried that “only” 3.2 billion people are using the internet today (according to latest figures from the ITU), are seeking to bring connectivity to every corner of Earth, via an intriguing mix of balloons, cables and mobile devices. In 2025 we can expect be nearly 5 billion people to be connected to the internet via more than 50 billion connected devices (Source: Microsoft). Digital disruption and transformation is high up the boardroom agenda as it is getting harder to escape technology advancement and the associated data bombardment.

Navigating the digital landscape can be a bumpy and intense ride, but it should also be seen as an opportunity to create advantage. Today’s consumers are so digitally connected and informed that choices can sometimes be overwhelming and opaque. However, more choice means greater power and freedom to influence your life and environment than ever before. For often heavy and bureaucratic governments, digital transformation enables them to make radical steps towards more innovative, agile, cost-effective and citizen-centric systems as well as offering new ways to deliver public services. For businesses, navigating the digital landscape is a race, a race to win in new markets and disrupt existing ones.

Disruption points can be hard to identify. However, analysing macro and micro trends, as well as observing changes in other industries can give business leaders a sense of what’s next. Let’s take a look at what is going on in the landscape of digital business.

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December 2014: It’s been a turbulent year, with geopolitical crises dominating world headlines. Rising nationalism and separatism has created power vacuums in the developed world; power plays in Ukraine, the Middle East and the South China Sea have threatened broader conflicts while the possibility of a new era of religious crusades is daunting. The issue for the year ahead is whether global leaders will step up to collaborate on real, lasting solutions.

Other major factors that will shape the world in 2015 are the sluggish global economy – hardly news at this stage, but still relevant – crashing oil prices, and climate change’s return to the agenda. Technology has its part to play, of course, and there are plenty of exciting developments on the horizon, although in the past twelve months it has been security breaches and cyber-criminals’ apparent ability to hack every aspect of the connected world.

Against this backdrop we see 10 key trends to watch in the next year.

 

Also see our slideshow presentation of 10 Trends to Watch for 2015

 

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September 2014: Rapid advancement in technology is one of the greatest forces reshaping the world. Nanotechnology, biotechnology, neuroscience, genomics, clean technologies, space sciences, smart materials, ubiquitous computers and sensors, artificial intelligence, geoengineering, and information technology are driving innovations that help the world address critical issues such as resource constraints, food security, water access, pandemics, infant mortality, and climate change. They are also the fuel igniting changes in the way we live, work and organize our societies.

Robotics and automation, including use of smart machines and the rise of the internet of things, is entering a new phase as these technologies advance. In its initial stages, this emerging industry of the future has been largely built on passionate researcher and visionary advocates. However, it has become obvious that robotics technology is no longer for the few but a technology permeating our world.

One important reason is changes in global demographics, which are creating imbalances in the global workforce. Despite the fact that the global population projected to grow to 7.6 billion by 2020, many countries are expected to see a decline in the working-age population. In Japan more people are already leaving the labor force than there are people prepared to take over, a challenge that is shared with countries such as the U.S., Russia, Canada, South Korea, China, and many European countries. The healthcare industry, for instance, is already experiencing a lack of healthcare professionals and, according to the WHO, the world will be short of 12.9 million health-care workers by 2035; today, that figure stands at 7.2 million. The need for more workers in some industries is critical and may be alleviated by technological advances in automation and robotics.

Even though these new technologies can empower individuals, businesses and societies there are fears that the human race, in the long term, will be outnumbered, outdated, and outthought by the next generation of robots and smart machines. In this briefing, based on our forthcoming report, “Industries of the Future: Robotics,” we consider:

• How robotic technology is impacting existing industries and markets.
• How innovative robotic technologies could impact jobs and skills required for the future.

How is your organization preparing for an age of robotic workers and smart machines?

NEW: Also see our slideshow presentation of The Robots are Coming

NEW: See the report Industries of the Future: Robotics which takes a deeper look at how the robotics industry is evolving and impacting sectors including agriculture, healthcare, defense and logistics, as well as our lives and work more broadly.

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June 2014: Though it feels like the information economy has only just begun, there’s another type of economy emerging. This new economy – the purpose-driven economy – is changing what we do in and with our professional lives. It is being also increasingly highlighted in events such as the Inclusive Capitalism Conference in London.

The purpose-driven economy has its roots in both corporate purpose statements and the non-profit sector. But it is not about fighting for a certain cause but more about finding a way of living and working where the purpose of what you are doing is an important driver shaping your decisions, actions and ways of working. It is evident that an increasing number of people and organizations are following this path, developing new business models that reflect the shift in mindset from pure profit to profit and purpose, or even the 3Ps (people, profit, planet). Examples include the rise of B Corporations, hybrid non-profit and for-profit organizations, philanthrocapitalism, social entrepreneurship, and crowd-driven philanthropy. Collaboration and innovation are at the heart of many of these business models, allowing ordinary people to do “big things” while also making money.

Driven by trends including increasing globalization, new technologies, geopolitical events, cross-industry competition, and new generational mindsets, expect more individuals, businesses and organizations to jump on the bandwagon and join the purpose-driven economy.

In the newly released book The purpose economy: How desire for impact, personal growth and community is changing the world Aron Hurst, who is a globally recognized entrepreneur, founder of Taproot Foundation and CEO of Imperative, describes the purpose economy as an economy that “…is defined by the quest for people to have more purpose in their lives. It is an economy where value lies in establishing purpose for employees and customers – through serving needs greater than their own, enabling personal growth, and building community.”

In this briefing we take a look at how this new mindset is changing our future economies. How are businesses and organizations using purpose to create value? Which markets do they impact? What is driving this emerging economy? Are these changes for real?

 

NEW: Also see our slideshow presentation of The purpose-driven economy here

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