Nice interview with Carsten Schuerhoff from Iskander Business Partner on what it takes to build successful digital products in an ever-changing world.
Check it out here (crisp theses): https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7001087540153700352/
Or, here (long version): https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7000357463791181824/
Thank you CGI for having me @Insights22 in Helsinki. Great opportunity to talk about and discuss the Hospitality Digital (HD) success story and how HD creates value for restaurateurs and Metro. Nice recording, give it a look:
Ilona Kestler, VP at internet service provider CGI, invited me to an interview at Dusseldorf Startup Week in Juni this year. We had a lively chat on the status quo of Digital in the HORECA industry, restaurateurs and their digital needs, on how the industry changes because of ever more demanding customers – and much more. Nice result, I think! Thanks for having me, Ilona. Please, give the recording a look (in German though):
After more than a year of partly working from remote locations, the entire Hospitality Digital (HD) team took the opportunity to come together at Gut Hoehne close to Dusseldorf, strictly following the 3G rule and adhering to further safety measures. As a team, we are grateful we could meet in person again, work together – and lay out the strategy for the upcoming months. HD will be stronger than ever before, even more creative and focussed. The independent restaurateur is who we get up for every morning, and HD will deliver great products and help the industry thrive.
Happy to contribute to Marc Baumann’s Podcast “Der Digitale Tsunami” (currently in German language, only). Nice chat with Andres Hannemann, founder and managing partner of Datalogue. This was our first one … well, lots of improvement potential, and we are committed to making this podcast a great channel discussing the era of digital transformation, the power of data, the impact of WFH (WorkFromHome), and other key future topics with doers from the digital industry. On to the next one! Check things out on Spotifiy: https://spoti.fi/2ZLR7jF
2016, an incredible year, is coming to an end. We have seen stunning developments in AI, IoT, and in other battlegrounds of the Knowledge Age. When I tried to forecast 2016, in terms of progress in innovation, last year around this time, I may have been a bit too bullish: great things are happening – we are all seeing this every day – but sometimes groundbreaking change takes time. Why? Because humans need to change and adapt to new environments, first. This time-consuming process is the foundation for progress and change. Change is uncomfortable, though. So, let us be willing to be uncomfortable in 2017!
Together with my team, I will be focussing on change management tools, methodologies and innovative ways of making things happen in 2017. For the sake of our clients. Happy New Year of Change!
Much has been publicized on the innovations likely to gain traction and transform traditional businesses in 2016. Some meticulously researched technology reports are available, also touching upon market dynamics as well as key skills required in the digital age. In the following, I have tried to summarize some main findings, complementing them with my personal view on 2016 as a year of digital transformation.
One can argue there are four major categories to talk about when it comes to progress in digital industries this year: geographies and their specific market dynamics; key technologies; priorities for leaders in technology; and key employee skills required around the globe.
Geographies / Market dynamics
India and China are gaining in technology innovation. Companies there – more than ever before – are reacting to specific needs within their local markets, delivering bespoke products, product features and, overall, services. Manufacturers such as Xiaomi, building on customer feedback from Asia, are interestingly starting to grow their popularity with international customers.
Of course, Silicon Valley will remain the world’s leading economic hotspot. And we can expect further waves of technology disruption emanating from there in 2016. More than any other technology cluster or hub on the Planet, the Valley today stands for incubators, accelerators, and further key approaches to innovation and quick execution.
At the same time, hubs like Shanghai, Bangalore or Tel Aviv, to name a few, are successfully attracting digital talent, startup-entrepreneurs and – foremost – VC and private equity money. The same is true for Southeast Asian markets like Indonesia or Thailand.
Key technologies
IDC, a leading global provider of market intelligence, have published ten projections for 2016 with „Third Platform“ ranked high on the list. The term „Third Platform“, according to IDC, is to encompasses technologies such as Cloud, Mobile, Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT), Cognitive Computing, Robotics, Augmented Reality, 3D Printing, and Next-generation Security.
I would agree with the pick as the technologies are enablers or drivers of digital transformation. How powerful and transformative a combination of some of those technologies may be, is simply stunning. In an interview with ZDNet, Ralph de la Vega, CEO and president for AT&T’s mobile and business units, told the following story: „I was in London two months ago. When I opened the Financial Times, the cover story was that black cabbies – the famous black cabs – were shutting down their training school. It takes three years for a cabbie in London to go through that school. They told me an unbelievable figure that in average, they fail the test 12 times before they pass it. They were shutting the school because of Uber. Now, Uber is our customer. It’s Uber’s use of the smartphone, applications, mobile broadband and the cloud built into the smartphone and smart enough apps that they may not be able to do it exactly as good as a cabbie does, but good enough that people are using Uber. So for an institution like that for it to close its doors, it highlights the point that either you accept and embrace these technologies and disrupt yourself – or you will be disrupted by people who use them.“
What Ralph de la Vega is actually talking about is the transformative power of the Internet of Things (IoT). 2016 will be the year revealing what IoT really means to traditional businesses. It will be eye-opening and mind-blowing. For De la Vega IoT is he „next Industrial Revolution“. I could not agree more.
Priorities for leaders in technology
So how do leaders in technology adapt to the challenges triggered by recent developments in digital industries? Gartner have published this year’s list of ten priorities („Technology Priorities for CIOs in 2016“) which I find interesting as it reflects the disruption to come. Certainly, one can discuss the ranking of the topics, one can discuss the topics as such, one can ask the question if this list really reflects the needs in 2016 (which may be different across industries and companies). At least, I haven’t yet found a better one:
Key skills
Finally, how about individual skills required to master the challenges of a digital corporate environment that is constantly changing, at ever faster pace? Here, I wanted to take a different angle. I spotted a report of the „most coveted certificates“, published by Coursera, a leading educational technology company that offers massive open online courses (MOOCs). Coursera works with universities and organizations to make information and courses available online and to offer certifications. The following list from Coursera I found definitely worth sharing:
This list reflects that change is coming. Ready, steady, go.
I was quite impressed with this year’s #tools15 fair in Berlin. Nice presentations of future trends and how processes and infrastructure are more and more moving to the cloud. Also, felt honored to hold the closing keynote (nice tweet from the tools team below). Fingers crossed tools is growing even faster. Very happy to come back next year.
At Twice Reply, we are happy to support the Global Digital Leaders conference in Berlin this year. Highlights of the gathering are presentations from key people from across the industry, like Perry Hewitt, Chief Digital Officer, Harvard University, or Townsend Feehan, CEO IAB Europe. Give it a look: https://lnkd.in/e4pmqnH. And join us in Berlin (15-16 June)!
US retail magazines are still publishing reports on the outstanding omnichannel programme we launched at E-Plus group. Amazing. Give the latest one a look: http://risnews.edgl.com/retail-news/Digitizing-the-Enterprise97353
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