At the most recent Think IT Quarterly Event we had a futuristic and educational discussion on how technology influences our working lives. I want to take a minute to thank Tasker Generes for leading the meeting, and McDonald’s for hosting.
We began the discussion on digital trends and transformation. Digital transformation reshapes every aspect of a business. As digital technology continues to evolve, a successful digital transformation will require careful collaboration, thoughtful planning, and the inclusion of every department. What’s driving this digital transformation? Processes such as; AR (Augmented Reality) & VR (Virtual Reality), API (Application Program Interfaces), Big Data, IoT (Internet of Things), and AI (Artificial Intelligence). Companies are reinventing the core through commercial, operation and back office processes. Leading the way to innovate the future through new channels, products, and business models.
We defined digital innovation as “radical disruption of government and enterprise advanced technology.” Tasker then discussed one of the main disrupters to digital transformation and what we, as consumers and business professionals, need to watch out for. We dove right into a discussion on IoT, including physical devices, vehicles, home appliances, and other items embedded in our electronics and software that helps all these things to connect, collect and exchange data. The problem is, nobody knows what to expect in terms of security. This puts a potential risk on our daily lives. Are we being spied on, is it compromising personal data, or attacking the internet.
Next, we discussed the importance of Block Chain and the three processes: Robotic, Intelligent and Cognitive/Artificial Intelligence. Automations will become expected functionality and enable better decisions around structured and unstructured data. So where does this leave us in the future? The next generation will have unlimited access to data, media, never played a DVD or bought a song. They have always been connected and have never heard about bandwidth. We are talking about a generation that will never write a check, never write cursive and may never need to know how to drive. Digital innovation is happening before our eyes.
While digital innovation is on the top of minds and conversations in the boardroom we reviled that many organizations are just scratching the surface. When we polled the room only two executives believed their organization was ahead of the curve. Most companies are still trying to figure out their own path and no one has a clear answer to the correct path for each organization. It seemed that each team is going to have to understand and go on their own journey of digital innovation.
If you are interested in learning more about what was discussed, please check out our slide deck here. Thank you to those that attended the meeting and we hope to see all of you at our next Think IT Leadership Group Meeting on November 7th.