September 1, 2016 | By Bob Beth | One Comment
The futurist, Don Tapscott, brings both great insights and an ability to communicate clearly in accessible language that is understandable by a broad group of people. In this 19 minute TEDTalk filmed in June 2016 he explains Blockchain technology and previews potential applications.
October 18, 2015 | By Bob Beth | No Comments
Again so soon on the subject of blockchain technologies – on October 13, 2015, Fast Company, in a great article by Steven Melendez, headlined the following:
“THE FUTURE OF BITCOIN ISN’T BITCOIN—IT’S BIGGER THAN THAT …
THE SHARED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY, OR BLOCKCHAIN, INTRODUCED IN BITCOIN COULD UPEND THE FINANCIAL INDUSTRY. AND STARTUPS ARE GETTING IN LINE.”
Please see:
This article features several proof-of-concept cases of blockchain technology being implemented by early adopters. Wall Street itself, at least the one currently familiar to us, is likely to experience being disrupted, although the forward looking players, such as R3 CEV mentioned in my recent Sep 18 blog posts, seem to recognize this and are re-inventing their own position and may just thrive on this disruption. Stay tuned, Bob.
October 14, 2015 | By Bob Beth | No Comments
The Tech Sector is inherently focused on the future, on technological advances in their own right, and on the changes to society and organizations that these advances enable. One example, tech firms were the first to embrace email and to adapt to flatter organizational structures which email communication enabled.
There are many learnings from tech that can be useful in other sectors, particularly around thriving in a world of accelerating change and supplanting hierarchical structures with network structures. The Internet is of course a network structure that radically altered all previous communication structures.
The conversation and imperatives around Net Neutrality have been explored and evaluated for around two decades. The excellent two articles below highlight how the electric grid has been hierarchical or flowing in one direction, and yet how it will necessarily be supplanted by a network electric grid more similar to the Internet than today’s electric grid. The articles further point out how the principles of Net Neutrality have their equivalent principles in Grid Neutrality to guide the supplanting of the grid.
September 18, 2015 | By Bob Beth | 2 Comments
Just last month, in early August I blogged about the business potential for one instance of blockchain technology called Ethereum. On Sep 15, 2015, Business Insider UK reported that R3 CEV, an “Innovation Firm” lead by David Rutter announced that “Nine of the world’s biggest banks on Tuesday threw their weight behind blockchain, the technology that powers bitcoin.” Please see:
I had the pleasure of working closely with David Rutter in the late 1980’s developing a trade accounting system for derivates. David is a great guy, smart as can be, and forward looking. Clearly R3 and their partners see the potential of blockchain technologies. I reiterate my comments from August: I believe blockchain technology, properly designed and implemented, can fulfill the promise of a trusted cyber experience. Stay tuned, I’ll be tracking and sharing key progress. Bob.
September 17, 2015 | By Bob Beth | No Comments
This compelling blog briefing on Sidecar Deliveries from the brilliant Jahan Khanna, co-founder and CTO of Sidecar, posted on September 15, 2015, describes an unfolding transformation in local deliveries or local logistics. Jahan cuts through the complexity of one of the most challenging algorithmic problems in computer science – “the traveling salesman problem”, and communicates with a simplicity that makes this problem understandable to a generalist. Please see:
https://www.side.cr/under-the-hood-a-look-at-sidecars-on-demand-logistics-infrastructure/
What really gets me excited about this briefing is one of its conclusions – MORE EFFICIENTLY THAN WAS PREVIOUSLY IMAGINABLE. This is made possible for deliveries or logistics to quote Jahan: “When everyone is connected to the Internet all the time, people can work together in shockingly more efficient ways than was previously possible.”
This observation is true for Mobility on Demand and for deliveries and it’s also true for many other contexts. “Resource Efficiency” or using all of our resources more efficiently will dramatically lower how much we consume, how much we extract from Nature, and enable us to live sustainably while also living well. We live in times where the only true limit to solving our problems is our imagination and the resistance of those afraid of what they may personally lose as we move beyond “business as usual”. It’s better to get on the right side of the inevitable than to resist and lose. Bob.