3 Disruptive Technologies Gaining Speed

Vehicles Become A Platform

The mobile environment has became a lot more interesting and a great deal larger as a result of the onboard technology commonly found on a growing number of automobiles and trucks. Vehicles are the emerging technology platform that is about to enter the rapid evolution stage in the technology lifecycle of evolution.

Vehicles will take full advantage of 4G LTE mobile broadband to enable this industry-changing movement. The vehicle platform developer programs and an online app store are both in development at this time. Apps will focus primarily on three areas: the vehicle, who's in the vehicle and what's around the vehicle. Content will be delivered based on location and circumstance, as well as the system's awareness of who is driving and possibly who else is in the vehicle.

Once again, ambient intelligence will play an important role here. If automakers do this right, the results are likely to mean new revenue sources and increased profit margins not only for automakers, but a host of new players.

The Content Economy

Content is exploding and as a result we spend more than seven hours per week hunting for the content we want. That is about to change. Some refer to this change as the movement to social content, but it is far bigger than that.

Huge data combined with proper analytics resulting in actionable intelligence will not just provide insight into those we do business and interact with. It will also bring about a degree of foresight with a high degree of confidence and greatly enhance the understanding of the information and application needs of organizations and individuals.

A major source of content will be supplied by applications used in smart cities and the vehicle platform coupled with their interaction with social media. The accumulation of this data and the information derived from its analysis will evolve to the point where it is a company's most valuable asset. This digital information will augment individual experiences with the products and services anticipated for that particular user at that specific point in time.

These three areas will result in the closely coupled link between digital and physical experiences resulting in new ways for businesses to interact with each other, employees and customers. This is not the old machine learning; it is system-wide learning put into the location and identity context.

I am sure you can readily see how all three of these interact and feed off each other. As I look back on my time as chief strategist at Netscape and our role at the time in the rapid evolution of the Internet, it became difficult to accept the fact that the technological advancement enabled by the Internet will soon seem minuscule when compared to what is just around the corner.

If you think you are on technology overload now, just wait. The coming technology wave will be much larger and much more impactful than the tech boom of the 90s. Let's all hope the security for these new platforms and applications will be designed and built in from the beginning.

Based on what I envision, IT professionals better get ready and brace themselves. It promises to be one hell of a ride! You will either lead the charge within your industry segment, rapidly follow the movement, or get pushed aside. Organizations must position themselves now and create compelling applications and content to exploit these three technology trends. At this point the choice is up to you and your organization.