Image via Flickr

By Thornton May
Futurist, Senior Advisor with GP, Executive Director & Dean - IT Leadership Academy

I think we can all agree that our world is becoming increasingly digitized. Most executives will admit that just about everyone expected some bumps along the way. Even Internet pioneers, a breed of cat known for periodic fits of megalomaniacal delusion have been surprised at how digital everything has become. Marc Andreessen, popular culture’s pudgy face of the future admits:

“If you had told me 10 years ago that we would be living in a time when  A] the president of the United States apologizes in the Rose Garden for a web site that doesn’t work and cost $600 million; B] that the major Democratic candidate for President is in serious trouble for running her own e-mail server; or C] that a major Japanese-American corporation would be brought to its knees by nation-state hacking…”

Working with the folks at the College of Engineering at THE Ohio State University and the Olin College of Engineering we have teased out nine insights regarding being digital.

Point One – digital is different. Point Two – digital is everywhere. Digital impacts every aspect of our lives. Thanks to digital “there is an Uber for everything.” Which is to say no task, desire or aspiration cannot be processed via a smart phone and a credit card. One can have one’s clothes washed, hunger sated, packages shipped, back massaged, disease diagnosed, clothes packed or car parked with one click simplicity.

Point Three – digital is fast. From 2015 on we will experience 100+ years of change every five years. Point Four - digital is personalized. We are no longer strangers to our suppliers. This personalization arises from the amount of data about us floating freely. From the start of time till 2003 humanity had created approximately 5 Exabytes of data [i.e., 50,000 Libraries of Congress worth of information]. In 2015 we will create that amount of information EVERY 120 seconds!

Point Five – digital is existential. Without good WiFi people would not go to sporting events. Without affordable connectivity customers will refuse to get on cruise ships. At a recent TED talk in Berlin the normally level-headed Germans were warned that Digital and the disruption associated therein “is going to have a life and death impact on the world’s largest and best companies – the companies that drive our economies and fund our pensions. “ The speaker used the metaphor of digital [irresistible force] slamming into the immovable object [inability of large companies to change quickly].

Point Six – digital introduces new competitors. Airbnb market valuation now approximates $10 billion which is more than that of traditional hospitality giant Hilton.

Point Seven – digital changes expectations.  Point Eight – digital is multifaceted. We all know that with services like Yelp and Trip Advisors customers rate service suppliers. Some may be surprised to learn that service suppliers – like Uber – rate customers as well.

Point Nine – digital is a huge opportunity. What is your organization doing to prepare for it?