Peter Schwartz, the mind behind Minority Report, War Games, and Sneakers; spoke on five emerging trends. He is also Saleforce SVP Strategic Planning. His opening statement pushes, “Tomorrow looks nothing like today.”
The world of hyper connectivity is bringing every thing together in a new ecosystem. We are creating a new world that is connected in ways we’ve never seen before.
The Process
Printing press, telephone, and television represent the natural trend of technologies. Today, there are 1.5 billion smart phones. Soon we will have 5 billion smart phones. Uber is one example where the digital world meets the physical world.
There is also a growing trend of connected things: toothbrush, wrist watch, automobile, kitchen stove, etc. Now your dentist, doctor, and grocery store will know what you are doing. Don’t forget the video cameras that are everywhere. On averages, you will be on a video camera 38 times a day.
This is happening everywhere. A small village in India uses smartphones to track where they can and cannot harvest wood, evading park rangers, and to track firewood prices. The transformation is well underway.
Quote: The inherent value of networks is generosity. (e.g. you only gain value out of what someone has contributed.)
We are both consumers and creators. Power and creativity moves into the hands of individuals.
Business Transformation
AirBnB and Uber enable individual to individual business transactions. Buyers are getting used to this. 21% of B2B buyers use social rating tools before buying.
Gamification
“Applying the principles we’ve learned in the world of gaming to achieve business transformation, behavior change, retention, and financial results.” Most importantly, gamification is about behavior change.
Open Innovation
Closed innovation comes from corporate funded R&D. Today, there is a huge amount of information and knowledge held by a wide range of people. An open platform allows people to more easily innovate. Wiki Speed is one example. You can design a car collaboratively and much faster.
We are moving towards a world where the organization is changing and the economy with it. Look at niche operations like Maker Faire.
Threat: Regulation can stop this cold. Peter mentioned this several times.
Speed: Really fast. In five years, it’s the world we are in today. The speed of change is greater than anything we’ve seen before.
Trends
Trends drive many of the sessions at Dreamforce.
- Internet of things. It’s a focused track. You want to see an example, look at the shuttle app with up to the second updates on where shuttles are in the 16 different routes.
- Gamification. They have 16 sessions this week on this topic.
- Work.com is now part of the gamification track.
- Open Innovation
- Socializing the Supply Chain. The chain has been very sequential. How do you turn it into a more innovative platform and break down barriers.
