WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation

WHY IT MATTERS: this list of technology questions for 2022 feels like an answer to the question "what is digital disruption?".

We have reached a moment in time where old technologies - eCommerce or videoconferencing for example - are finally breaking into established industries. And the impact, at scale, cannot be found in technology but rather in every single industry it disrupts.

Very thoughtful piece, very good questions.

WHY IT MATTERS: a long read about tens of new developments in the works at Apple from a long time AR-VR industry watcher (he was very bullish about Google glasses back in the day). Nevertheless, the article is a good rundown of what the future of 3D in AR and VR may be. 

What I find great is that it goes beyond the classic AR-VR use cases and into a more fundamental trend of embedding digital into the real world in 3D. The examples of what is being developed in the labs is eye opening. But remember, this is R&D and will take years to become ubiquitous. 

WHY IT MATTERS: this long read from Facebook Tech provides insights into the potential of augmented reality.

WHY IT MATTERS: this post is a bit theoretical for someone not bathing in digital transformation all day as I do (mostly). It explores what could come next but more importantly stresses an important fact: we now have a new platform - the mobile phone - in our pockets that has the potential to transform our world. We have started to see this with eCommerce - physical retail stores become irrelevant and we can price compare from anywhere - but we have yet to see the real impact of eCommerce+mobile+cloud+5G. THIS is what I think about most days...

WHY IT MATTERS: biggest hyped product in Apple glass. No one knows when they come out but they may represent as big a leap as iPone was in 2007. This article provides some good insights in future possibilities of an augmented reality world - as different from today as nokia phone vs. iPhones. Great read to see the potential. But be careful, this remains very visionary and many solutions (hardware, software, ecosystem, etc.) need to be in place for this to become reality... Hype ahead!

WHY IT MATTERS: 360 pages of reference material for any strategic planning exercice.

WHY IT MATTERS: the world economic forum keeps putting out great reports on the impact of digital transformation. I love the illustrations, great summary of key trends and their adoption. Must read.

WHY IT MATTERS: AR is one of those technologies that have been discussed for so many years and that will explode into the scene with a plethora of consumer and business applications in the coming years. An overnight success story that has been 10 years in the making (if not more). This paper helps managers see business applications for this technology.

What makes it so compelling in the fact that mobile devices (2B+ and counting) all have support for this technology builtin. Just checkout the video I made using my Google Pixel 2 phone camera this morning. It just works!

https://www.facebook.com/fmheir/posts/10155798075150309

And Apple iOS users have the equivalent.

WHY THIS MATTERS

I find most of my clients struggling to find time and money to implement technologies that have been around for more than 10 years: Internet, Big Data, mobility, cloud computing, etc. When they do make it to implement them in their organizations, it is often too little too late to make a difference with their competition. As Wayne Gretsky famously said, you should "skate to where the puck will be, not where it is". Thus, every company's strategy should have a clear view on AI, blockchain, robots, 3D printing, Internet of Things, etc. Does your strat plan include them?

WHY IT MATTERS

Forrester has recently produced a matrix of disruptive technologies that is worth sharing. More important is the article conclusion where Forrester recommends that cIO act as Venture Capitalists to actively scout new technologies and companies to leverage this innovation for improved competitiveness. This is a radical departure form traditional IT roles and responsibilities which I believe has important benefits in large organizations where All eyes are on the CIO to lead the digital transformation. Unfortunately we are a long way away from this in most organizations.