WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation

Robots have entered the operating room. These ones are performing stitches as well, or better, than humans. Surgeons will see their field impacted by robots in the next few years.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

There is parallel to be made between the rise of autonomous vehicles and surgical robots - any robots for that matter. What sounded impossible a few years ago - a self driving car - has now been made possible and tens of models are driving the roads of California and Nevada, soon others. Robots will not replace doctors anytime soon but you should expect to see them augment their skills and delegate certain less value adding task - such as closing a patient with stitches - to robots very soon. 

Anyone working in fields where there are lots of manual, delicate, precise tasks to be performed by humans should put in their strategic plans experiments regarding robots and automation in the coming years.

Image aesthetics is difficult to quantify adn thus difficult for computers to do: how can a digital system determine what makes a photograph "good"? This paper describes how one company has used deep learning techniques to do so.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

With results like this one, we must all question what is possible and open our strategies to include things that in the past have proven difficult or impossible to do. To be successful, strategist must however ensure that they have at their disposal the raw materials required to train computer systems. In the past this would not have been as important but today's new algorithm require massive amounts of data and the resources to train machine intelligence in a good way.

For s shorter, less technical version of this article, go to https://medium.com/stories-from-eyeem/how-we-trained-an-algorithm-to-predict-what-makes-a-beautiful-photo-e8de8bccd642#.f6u7gxxwx 

My friend PL Bisaillon raises a very good point: your digital product or services must be differentiated from that of the large established players. PLB highlights different ways that the cloud services industry providers can differentiate themselves from the large players like Amazon, Google and Microsoft.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Cloud solutions in particular and digital solutions in general will be dominated by large global organizations. For digital transformation, large consulting firms such as McKinsey, Capgemini or the big4 will certainly offer services and solutions that appeal to a large audience and global organizations. However, this leaves room for regional providers - french speaking ones in Quebec province for examples - or niche players that focus on specific industries or verticals - eCommerce as is the case for my organization FMCS.digital for example. Always good to be reminded that the world will not be a monolithic one composed solely of large players.

218 slides of jammed packed information. Soon I will be able to blog one slide of this Mary Meeker State of the Internet annual presentation per day for the whole year. Wow...

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

This is an annual event for digital experts: the state of the Internet. This year, it focusses on deep learning (think voice+image recognition) and cars. Because really the Internet growth is slowing down. So is mobile phone usage. The trend thus appears to be what we build on top of the Internet and not the Internet itself. Finally.

Every company executive and board member should listen to this talk. Even if you don't understand everything you should ask yourself: how is our company positioned to address those trends? In most cases I assume the answer will be: we are not. This should be cause for concern and action.

For previous year presentations, go to http://www.scoop.it/t/digital-transformation-of-businesses/?q=meeker 

An 8 minute video that will make you rethink your hunt for free wifi in public spaces...

Presenation of viv, a personal assistant technology from the makers of iPhone siri. But much better. Listen to the 15min video to see what is possible and a glympse into how it can be developed. You'll feel like you've peeked into the future...

One of the most interesting demo is what they call voice commerce, where you can order very easily flowers or hotel room. I can only imagine what I will be able to do with this technology to create grocery shopping lists!

Amazing reference of over 800 companies that deliver solutions for marketing automation and other marketing activities.

If anyone still doubts mobile is a revolution and is everywhere then this 76 slide presentation should convince you. For others like me, this is chock full of amazing insight and data. Make every manager and executive you know read this.

Google acquired Nest, the manufacturer of smart thermostats. Its "Works with Nest" initiative has defined a solution that can soon see Google in charge of your whole home automation.

This is a good thing as smart devices should be connected and the possibilities that this networking offers are amazing (see the other articles for certain use cases that will soon be possible).

As with other Internet of Things improvements, security and information privacy must be front and center.

See also

http://www.appcessories.co.uk/works-with-nest-best-compatible-devices/

http://www.wired.com/2015/10/nest-embraces-good-ol-yale-locks-make-smart-homes-smarter/

More information about blockchain, which now appears to be a revolution in many fields including Finance. With IBM open sourcing code that provides the raw ingredient for any company to create its own solution. This is something we should all become aware of and know as it will most likely be at the heart of many transactions in the future, not just monetary ones.