As a first post this year, thought I will reproduce a list of articles that talk about areas in digital technology or digitization which we can expect to see more of in the years to come.
In no particular order, here they are!
1. Unseen operation behind the accuracy of Google Maps
Wired (@Wired) article on the mix of technology, algorithms and manual labour that go into providing mapping services that so many of us depend on. There is a sophisticated backend of operations, processes and data management that goes into providing many internet and web services. Google Maps is a good example of this. #google
Great LinkedIn post by the CEO of Xapo to explain what is Bitcoin. The potency of Bitcoin is not in the (flunctuating) value of Bitcoin by itself but the promise of a new financial architecture that will enable us to manage peer to peer financial transactions without the need for a traditional banking institution as the trusted 3rd party. Ok, we are very far from that but how the concept of Bitcoin diffuses into our banking system will be one to watch in the years to come. #bitcoin
3. Five Forces Competitive Analysis on the Internet of Things
Michael Porter applies the 5 Forces analysis framework to look at the Internet of Things industry. This Harvard Business Review (@HarvardBiz) article is extremely long and completely worth your time to systematically look at how the trend of Internet of Things may unfold and change product development, competition and a company’s business strategy. #IoT
4. Will Your Next Best Friend be a Robot?
This Popular Science (@PopSci) article looks at developments in robotics, specifically social robots that are designed to work, support and live with humans. How can a robot has sonzai-kan and how can we as humans coexist with robots in the future as they play the role of companions and helper. #robots
5. Journalism’s biggest compeitition doesnt look like journalism
Traditional models of publishing, media and journalism continues to struggle to adjust to digital disruption. This Gigaom (@Gigaom) article looks at the types of content, site, services that compete with the value traditional journalism offers and show how complicated the competitive landscape is and why traditional media struggles to develop the right competitive response. #media
6. Two Worlds Colliding: How LinkedIn Could Take On Salesforce
This TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) article looks at how LinkedIn is evolving and may end up competing with the likes of Salesforce.com. The two worlds colliding are much larger than LinkedIn and Salesforce per se. The world of enterprise software is a fierce battleground for the heart and mind of businesses as digital, cloud and web services create new opportunities and threaten every traditional business model. #cloud
7. How the Department of Defence is Using Big Data to Combat Sex Trafficking
Nice Salon (@Salon) article that looks at how data analytics is being used to identify relationships and trends in different pools of data – in an area other than in companies. In this case, applying big data analytics to target the issue of sex trafficking. #bigdata
8. Baidu’s Deep Learning Project
A Fast Company (@FastCompany) interview with Andrew Ng on Baidu’s Deep Learning initiatives. The future of search will not be as text based as it is today. Its interesting to read about what the Internet giants at both ends of the world are doing to define the future of search. #search
9. Everyone Wants to Rule the World
Economist (@TheEconomist) article that looks at the types of monopolies held by the large Internet companies, the nature of the competition and the underlying network effects that contribute to their success and a question that is on the minds of regulators … should these internet monopolies be broken up? #monopoly
10. Disney CEO takes a CTO mindset towards technology
Fortune (@FortuneMagazine) article that looks at Disney’s embrace of technology and digital experimentation, and the wide ranging avenues they are testing new digital offerings throughout their business empire. Imagine if more companies big and small take a similar attitude towards digital to embrace and experiment with the support of their top management. #digital
I reached 10! and realized I had to add two more!
11. The Difference Between a Traditional Bank and a Digital Bank
Blog post on SCN by Chris Skinner (@Chris_Skinner) on the difference between a traditional and digital bank in terms of how they use digital and how they engage with their customers. He has written extensively on this. Fundamentally a true digital bank is about redesigning the business of banking from customer engagement to process to architecture – there are no channels. All banks need to start becoming a digital bank but not all will make it to the finish line. Banking is an industry that touches us all and the digitization of banking is a big trend that will deliver better banking services to us. #digitalbanking
12. The Google Self Driving Car may never happen
There are many articles about driverless cars and various models of what “driverless” means. This Slate (@Slate) article however questions whether the technology is really ready for prime time. It asks good questions that highlight the various aspects of technology, data processing and “intelligence” that need to be in place before a true driverless transportation future is possible. #driverless
Digital Optimist 