Networked Readiness Means More than Technology

The business section of today’s New York Times features a story that is no doubt raising some eyebrows. It reports findings from the annual Global Information Technology Report, which was published by Insead in conjunction with the World Economic Forum and — although it’s not mentioned in the story — sponsored by Cisco Executive Thought Leadership.

Here’s the gist: the Interet infrastructure of the United States is among the strongest in the world and getting stronger… In the Networked Readiness Index, which is included in the Global Information Technology Report, the United States comes in at No. 4, up from No. 7 last year. Huh? The U.S. infrastructure is often cited as lagging behind in this department, often to much less developed countries. So what’s gives?

According to Insead’s Soumitra Dutta, many of the indicators that lead people to believe the U.S. infrastructure is lagging, not leading, are too narrow in scope, usually focusing primarily on the technology itself. And, the report suggests, while the United States may indeed have work to do in terms of augmenting its technical capabilities, it has a wide variety of strengths in its favor as well when it comes to political and regulatory environments, market factors, and others.

The underlying message of the report is that effectively getting a nation connected takes more than technology infrastructure — it also takes things like fair business practices, an appropriate regulatory environment and government support, a thriving small and medium-sized business community, education, and other elements that provide a favorable ecosystem in which the network can flourish.

Ewan Morrison

 

Don’t Lose Sight of the End User

 

While much attention is directed to advocating the benefits of massively collaborative tools or debating the merits of technical architectures, little attention is devoted to end users and their perception.  A Typology of Information and Communication Users in America, a Pew Internet report, reveals that 49% of Americans only occasionally use ICT.  End users’s degree of adoption of collaborative tools will, ultimately, seal the fate of these environments.

The difficulty surrounding the propagation of massively collaborative spaces should not be overlooked because, in most cases, they demand that people change the way in which they communicate, or they compete with existing channels.  How many IM accounts do you want open on your desktop 24/7?  

Today, media have to compete for user preference. More often than not, their overlapping features make them good substitutes for each other. Consequently, user discretion is almighty — and yet, our process for choosing tools is not fully understood. What would you call a producer putting on a $50-million show without paying attention to what is appealing to audiences, and anticipating a sold-out house just because the show is playing on Broadway? Pioneering Artist or Optimistic Gambler?

Gladys Priso

 

Report From the Front Lines of the Digital Entertainment Revolution

The revolution continues unabated, and technology innovation’s tireless march forward proves to be as big a test as the traditional media and entertainment industry has faced to date.

It’s a love-hate thing, this going digital… they hate the rampant piracy, and deservedly so. They love the opportunities technology offers too, though, and now understand full well the inevitability of the shift.

The transition hurts, at least for those in the business of selling content. Ultimately, too much pain for them does consumers no good. But their resolve is building to adapt to the new reality: digital content creation and distribution just plain makes sense.

At least that’s the impression I get after reading this report from the front of the digital revolution written by Nate Anderson on Ars Technica. It’s emblematic that while NBC Universal — like its peers — is naturally committed to fighting P2P-based piracy, it’s doing some interesting things at the same time with the launch of Hulu.

It’s likely much of the revolution will unfold similarly, with multiple fronts raging in a complex ad hoc fabric of innovation, negotiation, compromise and evolution. Traditional content providers are on one side, aiming to protect and foster revenue opportunities, court audiences and advertisers, and capture the new opportunities innovation continually creates. Consumers are on the other side. They want what they want, and often today can find it for free with little or no trouble at all.

I wonder what would happen if it wasn’t so darn easy to download unauthorized content? I reckon many would-be pirates would hang up their eye patches. To quote another battled-shocked character, “So it goes.”

Ewan Morrison

Generation Collaboration

The world in which our kids are growing up is different than the one we experienced. Our kids themselves are different. They’ve grown up using technology, aware of a larger connectedness. They way they play is different, the way they learn is different.

Employers should recognize  that this means the way they’ll work will likely be different as well. What will inspire and motivate tomorrow’s workers? What does this mean for tomorrow’s workplace?

Cisco Executive Thought Leadership’s own Roger Farnsworth provides his thoughts in this personal perspective on bmighty.com.

Ewan Morrison