Is Healthcare IT in Need of a Health Check? →
There can be no question that 2012 was a bumper year for healthcare IT. The sheer volume and size of investments was enormous. Fast-forward a few months and the pace doesn’t seem to be slowing. In February alone, there were over 30 deals closed for a total of $107.95 million invested. This represents twice the deal volume of the same time last year.
Examining information from InterWest Partners, there’s clearly one big driver for this spending and that’s Big Data/Analytics. As you may expect, the healthcare industry has enormous hopes for this area and is more than willing to invest. In fact, one of the hot startups of the moment is xG Health Solutions and this is backed by industry stalwart Geisinger Health System.
Is the Industrial Internet a Threat, an Opportunity Or Both? →
A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post on the coming era of the Industrial Internet. This is a fascinating topic with profound implications for manufacturing, the network and employment. It’s the latter that I’ve been thinking about this morning, specifically, how does an even more automated and connected manufacturing process impact on the size of our global workforce.
I read an interesting article in the Harvard Business Review recently that suggested manufacturing jobs will continue to diminish as machines become increasingly intelligent and able to communicate on a mass scale. Figures seem to confirm this. Between 1995 and 2002, 22 million manufacturing jobs were lost on a global scale. 16 million of these jobs were in China. What’s amazing is that industrial output during this period soared by 30%.
What most schools don’t teach
Code touches almost every aspect our lives. It’s in our work. It’s in our friendships. It’s ever present. Yet how many of us know how to code? How many of us understand the incredible language used to build the applications that we’ve come to depend upon? More and more people believe that coding should now be part of our children’s curriculum. It should be taught alongside maths and literature. If you don’t agree, check out this video. It makes a compelling case.
The trust revolution
I continue to be amazed at how Salesforce is driving enterprises to embrace a new era of customer relationships, a new era of customer engagement, a new era of customer connectivity. Yes, I appreciate that this is the core of Salesforce’s business but they take it further than any other company. They are customer evangelists. They are helping to drive companies to new heights of customer satisfaction and in today’s social economy that’s vital for any organisation that wants to succeed.
Has the Industrial Internet Arrived? →
It was a late summer’s afternoon in San Francisco and I’d just finished a long day of talking technology at Dreamforce 12 when I was introduced to the term the ‘Industrial Internet.’ I was listening to guys from GE discuss how they were connecting their jet engines to Chatter. How they were using this social media tool to monitor, test and maintain millions of dollars of engineering investment. How they were embedding their technology with Internet devices that ensured direct communication.
Sure, I’ve read a lot about the Internet of Things and even blogged about it, but there was something about this discussion that made me sit up and take note. Perhaps it was the engineers’ enthusiasm or perhaps it was seeing the technology demonstrated but I was hooked. I started to wonder how other companies could apply this technology, not only to foster more social means of communication but to make their technology more interactive. What happens when you bring your manufacturing process online? What happens when you embrace the Industrial Internet?
Let’s talk products
We launched the first in a new range of product videos a few weeks ago and had some great fun developing their look and feel. The sound really helps to evoke the tone and accentuate the visuals. Looking forward to sharing more of these in a few weeks.
A mindful approach to life
A few months ago I was introduced to the practice of mindfulness and the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn. Since this time I’ve been exploring ways to develop a more mindful approach to my life, to my work and to who I am. If you’re not familiar with mindfulness, take a few minutes from your schedule and check out this TED talk from Andy Puddicombe. It’s a great introduction to the concept.
The success indicator
I continually find myself examining the qualities and characteristics of people whom I admire. What is it about them that I find appealing? What is it about them that drives their success? While there’s no clearly defined list, I was intrigued by this infographic. Now, which side are you?
Connecting: A film on Interaction Design and User Experience
It’s fascinating to see how technology is evolving, how it’s increasingly becoming a seamless extension of our lives. As software continues to advance and network access becomes evermore ubiquitous, the relationship between humans and technology is rapidly intertwining. This video explores the importance of interaction design in this development and casts a tantalising glance at the coming era of the Internet of Things.
Education, Networks and the Future of Learning →
My four-year-old son arrived home from school yesterday and asked me if he could do some homework before dinner. While I struggled to reclaim my breath, he swept my iPad and stylus from my desk and opened up the Paper app. He told me he had to draw a picture of Father Christmas for a group project and would need to use my printer a little later. I have to confess that this isn’t a rare occurrence. Even my 9-month-old daughter is starting to use basic apps on my iPhone.
Seeing how young children interact with technology amazes me. It’s simply a media to be used, like a colouring book or a whiteboard. Fast forward a few years and you find teenagers using the same technology as a means of communication, consumption and productivity. Yet while children are quick to adopt to this new technology and the new opportunities it presents, others are not.
Elsewhere