Up till ten years ago I maintained this blog with commentary on how technology continues to shape the world we live in. It’s something I enjoyed writing on a regular basis and I loved the positive engagement with people that it was able to generate.
So why did I stop writing? I didn’t really stop writing at all. It’s just that a corporate job got in the way and instead of writing my own material I needed to focus on writing for others as part of a large corporation. I was able to help raise the profile of a number of senior executives and subject matter experts by helping them to improve their social profile, and help them to communicate with their stakeholders and influencers.
But now I have a bit more time it’s time to start writing again for myself.
It’s interesting to look back at when I stopped writing the blog. It’s a bit like opening a time capsule that was sealed in 2010. I will write more on the subject shortly but here are a few initial observations:
Digital transformation wasn’t a thing yet. In the last decade one of the most over-used terminologies was ‘digital transformation’. We have seen it move from a very fashionable concept in 2013 through to a terminology that makes us cringe in 2020. With the assistance of COVID-19, digital transformation has rapidly moved from something we used to talk about, to something we actually do. The whole world digitally transformed overnight without realising it. We easily slipped into the routine of working remotely and continuing our daily activity with technologies such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Back in 2010 although those of us in the IT industry had been doing it for years there were a lot of industries where working from home would have been a totally alien concept.
Social media was still a relatively new concept for business. Back in those days everyone still needed business cards. While we all had LinkedIn profiles we still needed the tacticle feeling of being able to hand over and receive a business card. These days it’s been a while since I handed over a card or even received one. It’s also a bit hard to receive one over Zoom! Social was an ‘add on’ rather than an integrated part of what we do. It’s funny that I still remember having to put a business case forward for a large corporation to get permission to start a LinkedIn page – now it is the first port of call for anyone wanting to engage!
Many of the things we fantasised about have become real. Technologies such as AI and automation have moved into the mainstream in the last 10 years. We are now taking this for granted with AI being applied to speed up research activity and playing a role in consumer technology.
Infrastructure has enabled this to happen. Back in 2010 we had a lot of what we have today, but it was limited to large-scale corporate use. If I wanted to have a video call I had a to book a telepresence room with two weeks’ notice. It was much harder to complete an expense claim without going into the office. Increased availability of broadband internet has certainly help to accelerate our adoption of technology.
So I think that’s enough of looking back. I’m looking forward to a new start and seeding some active discussions on what the future holds.
Technology for life, work and play 