Posts Tagged ‘technology’

Change2010_01: From paper to the cloud and beyond

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

Defining information technology today

In the second article in the series, I will discuss change in the field that touches the life of everyone of us: Information technology (computer and Internet- but also other active and passive telecommunication media).

When I say “everybody” I am not forgetting the Low Income Countries (LICs), or the non- connected (over 30% in the EU): in one way or another, e.g. also via radio or TV, everybody is touched by information technology.

And, since over the last 20 years gradually each information channel migrated to the digital platform, it is quite easy to see how, eventually, it will be the form and shape at the receiving end (TV, radio, text messages, voice, etc) that will be seen as differentiating the different channels.

The evolution on the transmission of information has been also mirrored by a parallel evolution in its storage: where you information resides started being irrelevant.

2015

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

First and foremost: why the title?
Since 2009 I posted few (ok- well over 100) articles.
Eventually, technologies and political options intertwined.
But each bit of technology, and each political development require a couple of interpretation keys: experience in relevant activities, and plenty of readings to update experience.
In the end, each article is semi-self-contained, as there is, [...]

Biometrics and you

Saturday, January 2nd, 2010

After the Millennium Bug, a side-effect of 9/11 was the quest for a “silver bullet” in global and personal security.
Biometrics (see the article on Wikipedia to start your quest on what it means).
Pardon my over-simplification: I will consider biometrics, be it the actual measurement of physical, unchangeable characteristics of a human individual, or the profiling [...]

2009TAX: technological infrastructure

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

No taxation without representation.

But is our tax system really complying with that basic right?

Or are we taxing people who have no voice into how the money is spent?

Of course, I am referring to transnational taxation, a.k.a. pollution and other physical/financial practices, but also to the debt burden that we are bestowing on future generations to pay for our current needs.

The articles in this series, 2009TAX (either 500 or 1000 words long), will start with some “what if” brainstorming around the consequences of current technological and social trends, and then use the same prism to analyse current events.

In December 2009, the articles will be mainly of the “what if”/brainstorming variety.

As usual: if you have any comments, contact me on Twitter or on Facebook.

Enjoy!

This article: how technology could affect our taxation system

The Future of IT – 04/04 Itinerary

Friday, November 13th, 2009

Few weeks ago, when I published the article “The Future of IT”, I was planning to write something about technology.

But, as most bookworms turned practitioners, I know that a white page is tempting.

Most writings about the future are actually the typical side-effect of an attempt to find order within chaos- notably when it is an unknown chaos that you are trying to describe.

This article is published in four parts (no more than 1000 words each).

Of course, I tried to keep it readable- no more than 150 to 250 words per section.

This is the fourth article: itinerary.

You have read about my target future and the present. How do we move from the present to the future? It depends from where you are now. Therefore, I will outline an example, i.e. monitoring online positioning, that could inspire other applications.

The Future of IT – 03/04 Starting

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

Few weeks ago, when I published the article “The Future of IT”, I was planning to write something about technology.

But, as most bookworms turned practitioners, I know that a white page is tempting.

Most writings about the future are actually the typical side-effect of an attempt to find order within chaos- notably when it is an unknown chaos that you are trying to describe.

This article is published in four parts (no more than 1000 words each).

Of course, I tried to keep it readable- no more than 150 to 250 words per section.

This is the third article: starting.

IT systems are obviously not a one-size-fits-all. The current trend is toward standardization, and this chapter will summarize some current trends and issues. The common thread? Tailoring the response to the needs (and budgets), while allowing future expansion.

The Future of IT – 02/04 Destination

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Few weeks ago, when I published the article “The Future of IT”, I was planning to write something about technology.

But, as most bookworms turned practitioners, I know that a white page is tempting.

Most writings about the future are actually the typical side-effect of an attempt to find order within chaos- notably when it is an unknown chaos that you are trying to describe.

This article is published in four parts (no more than 1000 words each).

Of course, I tried to keep it readable- no more than 150 to 250 words per section.

This is the second article: destination.

My approach to change is: ask what the customers aim to achieve, understand where they are, assess the resources available, propose an itinerary, and, if needed (e.g. due to lack of resources), identify a realistic alternative target.

The Future of IT – 01/04 Introduction

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

Few weeks ago, when I published the article “The Future of IT”, I was planning to write something about technology.

But, as most bookworms turned practitioners, I know that a white page is tempting.

Most writings about the future are actually the typical side-effect of an attempt to find order within chaos- moreover, when it is an unknown chaos that you are trying to describe.

This article is published in four parts (no more than 1000 words each).

Of course, I tried to keep it readable- no more than 150 to 250 words per section.

This is the first, introductory article.

I will start with the concept of forecasting, then the logic of building forecasting models, to finally land on the key issues: the experience I used to develop the forecasting framework, and the conceptual model.

AGB2009: the future of IT

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

This part of the AGB2009 series (see the presentation)
AGB2009: THE FUTURE OF IT

BACKGROUND

It has been a long time since IBM supposedly said that few computers would be enough to forever satisfy all the computing needs of humanity.

Do not worry: this is not a technical article.

ABSTRACT

My suggestion? Well, I still hold an Italian passport.

Therefore, I suggested an idea inspired by another industry: segmenting the market by building standardized elements, and then offering different levels of “tailoring”, but with an option to then re-insert, after sometime, the custom-designed services into the basic portfolio.

But, in my view, the issue is becoming even more nuanced. And more complex. And still actual.

AGB2009: technological disintermediation

Monday, October 19th, 2009

This part of the AGB2009 series (see the presentation)
AGB2009: technological disintermediation

BACKGROUND

Technology and tecnological innovation are not anymore what they used to be.

ABSTRACT

Most of the publications on the “new” or “soft” economy talk only about the positive side-effects of this “crowdsourcing” of innovation, but..

In the past, user-generated innovations required skills, or money, or both, e.g. in “tuning” the engine of you car.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

For this article, not really a bibliography, but a “mini-library”.