Excuse me, is this tweet taken?

When I re-started this blog 3 years ago, I made the comment that blogging was one thing, but life was too short to use Twitter.  See my post about 'Blogging into the darkness.'

Actually, what I said was that if I wanted to bark randomly into the darkness, I would use Twitter, instead of a 'real' blog.

But, a few weeks ago, I made the leap and signed up on Twitter.  So, has it changed my life?  Not really.  I mean yes, it provides another news stream, which I do look at every other day or so.  (I think it's fair to say I'm not a news addict.)  And, what about my tweeting? How's that going, you might ask.  Well, it turns out that as daunting as writing my first post, I have been wondering how to launch my twiterary career.

What pops into my head are throw away lines like the following:

Excuse me, is this tweet taken?

I'd love to tweet, but I've got nothing to say.

Twitter is a messiah maker.  I have followers and I haven't written a word!

Don't follow me, I may not tweet.

Don't follow me, I'm lost too.

On the other hand, should I follow or match the style of this blog and try to write intelligently about news and developments in the world of connectivity?

Sounds good, but I don't want to produce a string (thread) of sound bite cliches.

As I was deliberating, I thought I should wait and post my first tweet from Silicon Valley.  It seems fitting some how.  And, so here I sit in the Marriott in San Jose.

To see that first tweet, check out @DarlKolb on Twitter (sorry, I haven't figured out how to link to a specific tweet... so much to learn!).

Give a little, get a lot!

A month or so ago I needed some better graphics for a series of keynote talks that were coming up, so I asked Franziska Mueller, an intern who was working with our Media Flow project, if she would re-design and illustrate several of our key ideas -- and she did a great job!  I wanted to pay for her talent and time, but she insisted it was not a big deal.  When I later learned that she and her husband had rescued an abandoned dog in New Zealand and wanted to take Pai (the dog) with them when they return to Germany, my wife and I decided to help them out a little. Giving on-line was easy, thanks to an on-line giving service provided by a local telco.

On-line social giving sites are showing up all over the web, and by coincidence the day after giving on-line, the New Zealand Herald featured this TEDx Auckland talk by Dale Nirvani Pfeifer, explaining the Maori concept of 'utu' and the importance of reciprocity (give and take) in our indigenous Aotearoa (New Zealand) culture.  I met Dale a few years ago when she was visiting the New Zealand Leadership Institute at the Business School. She recently has started a social giving organisation, called Good World, based in Washington, DC.

Dale's talk is inspiring.  At a time when there is a lot of fear and loathing around the Internet, it is heartening to be reminded that technology-enabled platforms are just another way in which the 'good' elements of traditional cultures and societies can and are being replicated on-line.

When we give to someone in need, it takes us back to our cultural roots, where 'give and take' bond us together.  Some would argue that there are also moral benefits from caring and sharing.  When we give a little, we get a lot.

The future of Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple

The four major on-line brands--Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple--get a rapid fire, informative and funny review by Scott Galloway of the NYU Stern School of Business.

Even if you don't care about these brands, but want to understand premium brands (like Apple), this video is a must-see!

The Four Horsemen brand overview and predictions for the Apocalypse.

Enjoy!

Connectivity trends in Asia

Last week Mary Meeker released her latest 2015 KPCB Internet trends, a highly recommended report on the state of the connected world.

This week, as a presenter and stream chair at CommunicAsia, the largest ICT and media conference and trade show in the Pacific region, I have been noticing the trends for this part of the world.

Internet trends in Asia, which are consistent with the Meeker report are:
- the rise and rise of mobile connectivity, i.e., smartphones vs. 'feature' phones; content and messaging continuing to shift to mobile; mobile ads finally getting traction
-the power and potential of emerging markets, i.e., the fastest growing markets are BIG emerging markets--and there are a lot of emerging markets, not just China
-the impact of ubiquitous connectivity on the nature of work itself

In the Enterprise Mobility track I chaired, we heard some great case studies and industry perspectives on the technical advances and challenges of liberating the workforce from the desktop.  The discussion ranged from BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) issues to data security and the trade-offs of mobility in terms of cost and ROI, and the question of what work will be like in the future.  I am grateful to the presenters and discussants:

Leon Jackson, Head, Healthcare IT, University of Malaysia
Arnaud Brolly, Mobility Portfolio Lead, SITA-Aero
Steve Nash, APAC Principal Mobility Specialist, Vodafone
Stuart King, Precision Workstation, Asia-Pacific, Dell
Shailendra Soni, Principal, ICT, Frost and Sullivan, Malaysia
Kristin Foss, Senior Director of International Product Management, ShoreTel, USA
Marie Petterson, Senior Product Manager, Symantec Asia Pacific

And, we heard some wild and clever advances in marketing, especially in terms of industry partnerships (Spotify), location-based marketing and how important it is for consumer businesses to have mobile-ready web presence, and hopefully a strategy for mobile media.  Ken Herron, digital start-up guru, hosted a lively and informative session with:

Joshua Steimle, Digital Marketing Guru and Forbes contributor
Sunita Kaur, Managing Director of Asia, Spotify
Asif Khan, Founder and President, Location Based Marketing Association

Media Flow Project
I shared our media analytics engine.  You can see a demo of our prototype at this address.
Or, paste this link into your browser:   http://mediaflow.ninja/#/home

Product launch - Huawei P8 
A good old product launch with thundering soundtrack, original graphics to highlight the great features of this new smartphone.  The challenge to other players is that Huawei represents the trend of customers being able to buy a good smartphone for the price of a 'dumb' phone.  Players like Huawei are not going to replace Apple at the top end, but they are going to challenge just about every other Android player (including Samsung).  Add to that, the fact that the Android business model is coming under significant price pressure.  To paraphrase Warren Buffett's observation on airlines, mobile is a great industry, but a tough business.

Google for Work
-Keynote address by Kevin Ackhurst, Managing Director, Google for Work, Asia Pacific
1. Mobile first
-restating the obvious
2. Reinvent the PC
-besides mobile, most of us have, on average, around 3 screens to work with at any time
3. Intelligent screens
-Google search and 'smart devices' will proactively provide information on our screens
4. Personalized collaboration
-easier collaboration through simple and affordable collaborative technologies
-collaboration platforms for a mobile first world
-team project management embedded in collaboration tools

Amazon 
-Keynote presentation by Peter Moore, Regional Managing Director, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
-102% increase year-on-year growth in data on Amazon Web Services in the past year
-Gartner ranks Amazon as the leader in Cloud infrastructure readiness
-Moore proposes that the Cloud is the 'new normal'
-Why?
-new businesses start in The Cloud, because of low cost and low legacy effects
-companies of all sizes need to move faster and the Cloud allows fast infrastructure expansion
And,
-companies will use data more than at any other time in history
-governments will likewise start focusing on using--not just controlling--data more effectively
-AWS has an education platform for schools
-'hybrid IT' involves local services coupled with the Cloud (off-premise storage)

Alongside the busy summit schedule, I managed to catch up and hang out with our digital partners, Unified Inbox.  CEO Toby Ruckert and Margit flew in from Germany, as did the design team from Flanke 7, Carsten Czech and Marcel Ronnfeldt.  Aby Varghese was there from the Bangalore team and Ken Herron made the trip from Florida.  And Camilla Urdahl was there from Auckland.  It was a chance to meet up face-to-face with folks we have been working with remotely--another not-so-new trend in global work, face-to-face 'meet-ups' to deepen working relationships.  It was fun!

Next month, Ananth Srinivasan and I will present our Media Flow work at a conference in San Jose, California in the heart of Silicon Valley, the epi-center for digital innovation.  The CommunicAsia conference, however, reminded me of the importance of this region in terms of ICT consumption and trend setting in our own right.  Moreover, it was a great opportunity to witness the state of the communications industry.

Watching those around me, I saw glimpses into the future, not just of Asia, but for all the world.

Michael Porter sees Connectivity as Strategic Enabler

Last week I gave a keynote address on the Internet of Things to a group of primary sector companies, such as farming, fishing, timber, wine, etc.  The theme of the talk was digital disruption and, in particular, the Internet of Things.

From a business strategy perspective, Michael Porter and James Heppelmann's recent Harvard Business Review article provides a thorough and substantial argument for how the Internet of Things ('IoT') is already a disruptive force in many industries. Primary industries, such as farming, feature heavily throughout the Porter and Heppelman article. For example, GPS-enabled devices use and record field locations to more accurately help farmers understand inputs and outputs in agriculture production.

Manufacturing is likewise no longer just about producing the physical product as 'smart' products communicate data to the user or back to the manufacturer, or both.  Smart products provide value by linking to databases and 'big data' analytics in what can be called the 'service cloud,' a space that reaches far beyond traditional manufacturing plants.  As such, connectivity adds value.  As Porter and Heppelman put it,

"Smart components amplify the capabilities and value of the physical components, while connectivity amplifies the capabilities and value of the smart components and enables some of them to exist outside the physical product itself.  The result is a virtuous cycle of value improvement.”

Not surprisingly, Michael Porter interprets the strategic implications of the Internet of Things through his famous '5 Forces' model of industrial competition. Each of the five forces can be extended or undermined by machine-to-machine connectivity.  And, not surprisingly, the authors remind us that, just as technology in general is an enabler, not a strategic advantage in and of itself, so too, the Internet of Things will favor those with a strong, clear strategic platform to take advantage of machine-to-machine connectivity.

“What makes smart, connected products fundamentally different is not the Internet, but the changing nature of ‘things.’  It is the expanded capabilities of smart, connected products and the data they generate that are ushering in a new era of competition.  Companies must look beyond the technologies themselves to the competitive transformation taking place.”

Connectivity is central to Porter and Heppelman's new work.  Indeed, the term is used frequently in the article, especially early on as they paint a picture of the current competitive and technological landscape.  Moreover, in their new model of the 'technology stack' the central element--right in the middle of the model--is 'connectivity,' enabling smart products to provide additional value and serve old and new customer needs, which in turn provides value to firms who can create and/or harness the Internet of Things and other connective technologies.

The authors suggest that, “the third wave of IT-driven transformation thus has the potential to be the biggest yet, triggering even more innovation, productivity gains, and economic growth than the previous two (automation and the rise of the Internet).”

Not only does Porter see increased connectivity as a new source of competitive advantage,  he also sees the potential of the Internet of Things to solve important human problems and make life better.  Smart products have the potential of helping manufacturers make better products, but also empowering individuals with useful personal data, for example health data from bio-sensors in wearable devices.

Whether or not you share Porter and Heppelmann's optimism for the Internet of Things, if your company is stalled in the headlights when it comes to digital strategy, put this article on your boss's desk!

For more on the Internet of Things, see my post called the Internet of Everything, when MIT's Technology Review's proclaimed 2013 as the "Year of the Internet of Things."

Reference

Michael Porter and James Heppelmann, Harvard Business Review, November, 2014.

10 ways to find 'connective flow'

Our ability to connect with others is phenomenal.  People need that connection and we want information. Near-constant availability offers unprecedented opportunities to do so anytime, anywhere. 

Too much information, however, can cause digital distraction and keep us from getting important things done. We now know humans are pretty terrible at multi-tasking and, once distracted, they take a long time to get back on track. 

My colleagues and I are applying the notion of ‘flow’, a concept identified by renowned psychology professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, to the digital world. Csikszentmihalyi says ‘flow’ is a psychological state in which a person is completely focused and absorbed by a task, unencumbered by distractions. Elite runners, for example, often report losing track of time while covering miles effortlessly.  

So how do we achieve ‘flow’ in a digital world where the ever-growing clamour of technology never lets us rest?

My colleagues from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Boston, the University of Sydney and I discovered bankers with BlackBerrys were able to adapt and change their behaviour over time to avoid the dreaded ‘CrackBerry’ syndrome.  Overall, we are finding technologies themselves are not the problem but individual and social learning are necessary to find the right balance.  See article.

Currently a team of researchers at the University of Auckland and a Singapore-based technology partner, Unified Inbox, with software architects and developers in India, are monitoring user data (with permission) from smartphones to analyse patterns of media use, such as the proportion of email versus other social media.  The aim is to help people monitor their media use patterns to make choices to improve their performance and well-being. 

One CEO who takes this seriously is Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, who schedules up to two hours each day of blank space in his calendar.  As Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism: The disciplined pursuit of less, puts it: “For Jeff, creating space is more than just a practice.  It is part of a broader philosophy. He has seen the effects of the undisciplined pursuit of more in organisations and in the lives of executives.  So, for him, it’s not a slogan or a buzz phrase.  It’s a philosophy.” 

Another strong advocate of connecting with oneself in a world that demands we stay connected to everyone and everything else is Arianna Huffington, author of Thrive: The third metric to redefining success and creating a happier life. She strongly encourages successful people at all levels of the organisation to disconnect to make better decisions.  Huffington notes: “Wherever we look around the world, we see smart leaders—in politics, in business, in media—making terrible decisions.  What they’re lacking is not IQ, but wisdom…Being connected in a shallow way to the entire world can prevent us from being deeply connected to those closest to us—including ourselves.  And that is where wisdom is found.”

So, how does one find Zen-like ‘flow’ in a world of email obsession, multiple streams of social media and other digital demands for our attention?  How does one disconnect, or turn down the running tap?  Here are a few ideas:

1.      First, develop a personal philosophy of connectivity.  What does the ‘good life’ look like to you?  Is it constantly surfing a surge of information or sitting quietly sometimes and watching the stream flow by?

2.      Once you have a philosophy, set some simple rules.  For example, no ‘screens’ (smartphones, TV or tablets) one (or two) hours before sleeping.  No work emails on the weekend.  Take digital holidays.  No phones at the dinner table, etc.

3.      Conquer FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). Think of no news or updates as a chance to relax, rather than worry about what you’re missing.  The world revolves just fine without you at the centre.

4.      Remember, email is a social thing.  Your inbox is full (or not) because of how you and others interact together.  You cannot solve email overload unless others are also moderate in their use of the medium. 

5.      You first.  Think about the example you are setting for others who report to you.  Do you email mindless requests, copy everyone on everything and then wonder why your inbox is over the top?

6.      Write fewer, better messages.  Sending messages of higher quality buys you some time.  Your thoughts are worth waiting for.

7.      If three emails can’t solve a problem, pick up the phone!

8.      If something’s really important, get on a plane.  I once met a project manager in Boston, who said if he didn’t have a reason to visit his team members in Seattle every three months, he would make up an excuse and go see them anyway.

9.      Only ‘follow’ people you really care about.  How many food pictures do you really need?

10.   Don’t treat your phone like a rosary or worry beads.  If you’re nervous, smile at people instead of looking down. Make eye contact and see how much more interesting life can be.  Plus, you may live longer by not stepping in front of a bus.

 

This post was previously published in the NZ Herald on 9 April 2015

 

Click to see article.

Smartphones as research assistants

My colleagues and I are developing an analytics 'engine' based on data collected from smartphones to help users monitor and modify their media use for optimal performance and well-being.  (More about our research later after our pilot studies are completed later this year).

So I was interested to see how medical researchers are also using smartphones to gather data from patients in what will no doubt become a standard research platform of the future.  Apple featured several such applications in a recent company presentation.  See the Apple release video. The section on research applications is about 10 minutes into the presentation.

Smartphones can perform the tasks of research assistants, like explaining the research, getting written (sign with your finger) consent and gathering data.   But, they (smartphones)--unlike human research assistants--can more accurately time stamp data input and include highly accurate geographical location and other contextual data.

More importantly, unlike surveys, which most of us delete before opening opening in our email, downloading and responding to smartphone apps can be done almost anywhere anytime, in those moments of micro-boredom, when we might be very happy to do a quick agility test for Parkinson's disease, for example, with the data sent automatically to the research team (but not to Apple). In the examples in the videos, one medical researcher explains how she used to send out thousands of letters to get a few dozen participants in her studies.  Now, she can get hundreds of interested folks downloading the app and participating in her research.  The implications of such improvements in sample size are significant.

I have always imagined that the Baby Boomer generation will be heavy consumers of distributed medical services and, as these developments demonstrate, there can be a two-way exchange between medical patients (consumers) and medical care providers (doctors and medical researchers).  Individual data is given in exchange for collective analysis and ultimately, better understanding.

This may be one way that smartphones are good for our health.