Live from KANZ 2011 – Peter James and Andrew Wilshire #kanz2011

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The opening address of the second session for the day was given by Peter Harris, secretary for the Department of Broadband Communications and the Digital Economy, who discussed the new Convergence Review. He talked about how the NBN will change the paradigm of media delivery in Australia.

“The time has come to examine the regulartory structures that underpin the businesses that deliver services over these networks,” Mr Harris said.

To paraphrase, the impact of technology on the media sector has been stark. We are moving away from the age of the television and towards the  age of the intelligent screen. About 20 percent of TVs sold in the US last year were Internet-connected, and a third of US households will have Internet-connected televisions by 2015.

He also talked about the changes in content, and the desire of Telstra and others to get more access to live sports and other big-audience events. Netflix is taking on original content, telstra wants Internet AFL rights, and Hulu is looking at coming into Australia. There are now over 45 million IPTV subscribers in the world, and growth rates of more than 60 percent are being reported in some parts of Asia. He showed Nielsen figures that showed that Internet-connected Australians are watching 1.5 hours of video on mobiles, 2.7 hours of IPTV and 4.2 hours of ‘catch-up’ TV, and 5.5 hours of downloads.

The second presentation was given by Andrew Wilshire, the managing director of consulting company Tomorrow, who talked about convergence as being like a Swiss Army knife that is changing the way that businesses are operating adn allowing the reinvention of business.

He also talked about how the world is being indexed, with the data used to sell value-added services, such as by the website Foodspotting. Abstract business models are emerging that are creating new forms of monetising services. The changes are widespread – price comparison applications and bar-code readers make it easy for consumers to compare retail prices, classified advertising in print has been almost wiped out, and dozens of other industries face similar issues. Other trends include the better use of customer data and the need to stop thinking about owning the supply chain from end to end. Often it is the largest companies that have the greatest resources but have the most trouble with changing – all of this means looking outside for expertise.

 

 

Live blog at #V21 Melbourne – Robbee Minicola from Hybrid TV

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The second presentation for the day was delivered by Robbee Minicola, the chief executive of Hybrid TV, the company behind the introduction of TiVo into Australia. Minicola started by talking about the evolution of YouTube into professional activities – longer form content, live streaming, professionally-produced content, and so on, and encouraged the audience to learn more about the professional side.

“YouTube is embedded in tens of millions of devices,” Minicola said. “LG have a suite of 140 devices – YouTube is embedded in those, YouTube is embedded in the iPhone. I’m talking ubiquity.”

She also talked about how 90 percent of televisions sold this coming Christmas will feature Internet connectivity, and you can be sure that YouTube will be a featured app. The big message was that people need to be thinking about the implications now – before they get squished by the elephants of the industry. She also talked about the great capacity for contextual advertising through new formats with advertising becoming more bespoke.

“You have to coalesce – the big brands are the ones that survive,” Minicola said. “Create a consortium – a consortium is going to make it work for you. You need to unite and fight. Come together and create a brand. If it is just you on your own it won’t work.”

Live blog at #V21 Melbourne – Geof Heydon from Alcatel-Lucent

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Am currently at the V21 conference, an initiatve of AIMIA being held today in Melbourne. After a brief welcome from organiser Debra Allanson the opening address was given by AIMIA national president and managing director of Portable,  Simon Goodrich, who talked about the evolution of AIMIA and of people’s awareness of digital media generally.

The first presentation was given by Geof Heydon, the vice president for the digital economy at Alcatel-Lucent in Australia (and also quoted in A Faster Future). He talked about how it is the digital content innovation that needs to occur to take initiatives like the National Broadband Network, because a lot of the technology of the networks themselves have already been developed. He also talked about the power of faster networks and compression, using the example of how our ability to download a movie that has come down from 800,000 hours to an expected 30 seconds by 2012. He also pointed to how less money is being spent on advertising as digital media allows the spend to be more targeted – we can stop s[ending the half of the advertising budget that is traditionally wasted.

He also talked about the future of applications will be all about hiding the complexity that lies behind them. For instance, the browser will become less important, and phone numbers will become irrelevant – we will just connect as people to other people. He also suggested that the operating systems that are on phones will become the operating systems that will run on televisions. He also talked about the possibility for new business models that are barely being thought of today (one of the main themes of A Faster Future) and the need for people to be thinking about these possibilities in the future. He also talked about how there will be no one big killer application – instead there will be a killer environment made up with many smaller important applications.

Finally, he talked about the architecture of the NBN and its importance in terms of underpinning the development of the digital economy. Industries must learn to deal with many business models, and the devices and applications will hide the complexity. He also stressed that these changes will creep across every sector (another theme that we explore in A Faster Future in great depth) – indeed, everywhere apart from the telecommunications technology sector.

“The technology is advancing quicker than the consumers can consume it from a network infrastructure point of view,” Heydon said. “Every major department and industry sector must find ways to innovate. And we have done a lousy job of teaching people what megabits per second means … and see the excitement on how it’s being used.”

 

 

Responses to questions from last week’s Innovation Series lunch #iveseries

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The Innovation Series lunch forum held last Friday in Brisbane saw myself, QUT’s Prof Simon Kaplan and CSIRO’s Dr Cecile Paris discuss a range of topics relating to social media and its rise through online channels around the world.

My presentation focused on many of the themes contained within A Faster Future, and sought to remind the audience that while technology moves quickly, it is important to consider the fundamentals of the business before making any decisions regarding emerging fields such as social media. The session generated a lot of questions from the audience, some via Twitter, of which many couldn’t be answered in the time allotted.

Hence the organisers asked me to respond to those unanswered questions, and I have attempted to do so below:

Q:Why did you publish a book rather than via an online channel?

A: My co-author and I were keen to write something at the length of a book, to capture a large swathe of ideas and string them together around themes. The intention was that it be read in a short period of time rather than as an evolving work over many months. Many of the people that we want to reach with A Faster Future are not those that currently use e-reader devices, hence the decision to go with a paperback book. Rest assured, an ebook version is currently being prepared and will be announced soon. We are also considering using online channels to further the book’s evolution over the next year, but no firm decisions have been made.

Q: Do you think journalists have become lazier since the start of social media and why?

A: That presupposes that journalists were lazy to begin with, which I don’t agree with. If anything, the rise of online media and the need for journalists to produce stories for immediate publication online (often creating multiple versions) has made them busier than ever. What social media has done is augment the news-gathering work of journalists with a plethora of (often gifted) amateurs, leading some publishers to take on a role that curates external content as well as generating their own. Social media has also provided a direct response mechanism whereby those who wish to comment on a story can do so immediately. This tears down some of the barriers that have existed between journalists and their audiences, making them more accountable.

Q: To generalise… journalists seek truth, marketers seek to resonate – is there a book in that?

A: There is a book in anything, although some books are more interesting then others. From my experience journalists seek two things – accuracy and a good story. Marketers have a very different remit, which is to drive sales (or some other result), and many of the best do so in an accurate and compelling way. That said, the two professions are often poles apart, if not directly at odds. Whereas a journalist does not care of a story boosts or denigrates a brand, a marketer certainly does.

Q: Do you agree with Simon Kaplan’s view that it’s a social media evolution rather than revolution? and Why?

A: Social media existed before the Internet, we just didn’t call it that. Talkback radio is one version of an old-style social media mechanism. People have always talked about brands amongst their peerrs, and word-of-mouth marketing is considered one of the most powerful forms of marketing. I think Simon also pointed to the coffee houses of 100 years ago. There are dozens of variations in between. Hence I agree that online social media is an evolution of something that had already occured, albeit it a radical step forward in that evolution. But as social media already had foundations offline, I don’t see it as a revolution.

Live from the Global Retail Insights 2011 report release #ACRS

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I spent the first part of this morning in the audience of the Australian Centre for Retail Studies (ACRS) Global Retail Insights report. The event started with a presentation from Dr Sean Sands from the ACRS, who discussed cross-channel activity and how spending and customer behaviour are moving from traditional channels to newer media channels. He also highlighted the propensity for consumers to undertake online research before making a purchase, using online services such as websites and search engines, particularly through mobile, before heading out to a shopping mall. In terms of purchasing, the physical store still reigns supreme, with retailer and manufacturer websites ranked third and fourth.

He also talked about mobile and the way that it was changing the game once more, such as through enabling consumers to do on-the-spot price comparisons in-store. The number of consumers who access retail websites through their mobile phone has grown from 24 percent last year to 33 percent now. He also talked about social media, and the fact that 40 percent of people who “like” a Facebook page do so to seek discounts and promotions, but many do so to learn more, stay informed, and get access to entertainment and exclusive content. Dr Sands also discussed location-based services, specifically Facebook’s check-in facility that enables people to redeem coupoons through their mobile phone.

Looking forward, he said trditional retailers saw integration of online systems with existing business models as being the biggest challenge, particularly for franchise operators. While 45 percent of investment will be in advertising and promotion, 41 percent of investment will go into enabling online selling. He also highlighted the use of video, particularly at Marks & Spencer, that has created videos about both its products but also the stories behind them, and French Connection’s Youtique video site. And he showed the Lego augmented reality experience, which uses AR to show what a toy looks like once its assembled.

The second presentation was from Andrew Eckford from Google Australia, who talked about the recent move by many Australian retailers to get online in a serious way. The growth of shopping related search queries hit 35 percent last year, and is much higher in some categories. On mobile devices the number of shopping-related queries as a percentage of the total searches grew from 2.5 percent in January 2009 to around 17.5 percent by December, and 50 percent of Australians will have access to a smartphone by the end of 2011. Mobile devices can bring consumers closer to retail content and services when they need them.

ACRS’ Carla Ferraro discussed specific research around green consumers, while Salmat’s Sean McDonell discussed multichannel strategies, and the fact that things are only going to get faster. He also touched on how traditional retailers can balance their new investment in multichannel strategies against their existing investment in bricks-and-mortar retailing. He said the first step was to recognise that there was a change, and some retailers contended that they would reduce their retail space, or re-dedicate it to collection facilities or other ways of supporting their online activity. Once again however, the key theme was the rise of mobile and its importance as both a mechanism for building a connection to customers and driving transactions.

Live from Cisco Live Melbourne 2011 #clmel11

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Am currently attending Cisco Live, a gathering of 2600 partners and customers being hosted by the giant network equipment maker Cisco. The event kicked off today with a keynote presentation from Padmasree Warrior,

Warrior talked about a number of technology trends, focusing on collaboration and use of video on the Internet, along with the architectural shift that we are seeing technology models brought on by virtualisation and cloud computing. Many of her comments echoed themes that are discussed in A Faster Future, particularly in how we work.

“In the future, people will not be going to work, they will simply do work,” Warrior said.

She also talked about the merger of the Internet and mobile technology. She said the network is no longer about data transport, it is about enabling compelling experiences, and hence requires a lot of technological transformation as it moves from being a messaging platform to a real-time collaboration platform. Amongst the areas that Cisco is focusing on are enabling connectivity between data centres and other infrastructure resources, providing awareness of the context of end users, driving resource awareness within networks and better providing and managing service level agreements. Much of this supports the drive to cloud computing and is designed to help organisations innovate at the top layer rather than worrying about the infrastructure.

There was also a demonstration of the Cius, Cisco’s entry into the tablet computing marketplace. including a demonstration of how the device might be used in a hospital situation.

The most interesting comments however related to Cisco’s evolution from a products companny to an ‘architecture’ company focused on delivering complete outcomes for companies. It’s a big shift for an organisation whose considerations used to be about building faster and more powerful devices. Now it is more focued on how customers use these devices, lookingless  at the outcome of the device’s implementation and more at what the business was trying to achieve in the first place. She said the company is experiencing strong growth for this concept in the small business arena, where businesses don’t want to worry about architectures themselves, but just want to get on with the job.

 

ZDNet Patch Monday podcast – Trends for a broadband-enabled future #AFasterFuture

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The article I penned for SmartCompany (below) on technology trends identified in A Faster Future caught the eye of a few folk, including prominent Australian writer and podacster Stilgherrian. Hence this week I was the subject of his weekly Patch Monday podcast for ZDNet, talking in more detail about some of those trends – particularly the rise of video and the need to equip both business and society with the tools to take advantage of the changes that are coming. Anyway, you can listen to the interview by clicking here or downloading it into iTunes.

SmartCompany – Brave new tech: the next 10 trends for SMEs

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While researching A Faster Future Janelle and I uncovered a great number of technology-driven trends that are sure to impact business in the coming years. Some are obvious, such as the rise of collaboration tools and video, others are more subtle, such as the increasing desire of consumers for instant gratification.

In this article for SmartCompany I highlighted ten of the trends that business needs to be thinking about, illustrated with quotes from some of the many speakers in the book.

Me featured as Australian Business Traveller’s Frequent Flyer

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In the space of just a few months Australian Business Traveller has become an indispensable resource for many regular travellers, myself included. David Flynn and his team do an excellent job of pulling together useful and timely information relating to business travel, from news of service changes and safety advisories through to useful advice for seasoned road warriors.

Hence it was a great honour to be asked to feature in the site’s Frequent Flyer column, talking about my own life on the road. You can read more by clicking here.

A Faster Future featured on iTnews.com.au #AFasterFuture

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For anyone not lucky enough to have seen Robert Tercek at Digital Dirctions 2011 or X Media Lab, you’ve missed hearing from one of the world’s leading thinkers on digital media. Tercek’s career includes being involved in numerous ‘firsts’ when it comes to creating interactive entertainment, as well as a stint as president of digital media at the Oprah Winfrey Network, and in 2008 he was named a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts in recognition of his achievements in social media for the benefit of society.

That list barely does him justice.

Tercek was one of the key speakers in A Faster Future, providing insights into both the digital entertainment industry and the changes being wrought by digital commerce generally. In this extact published on iTnews.com.au, he talks about how the Internet has made certain products such as music and filmed entertainment ‘weighless’ by reducing them to just information, and warns that many other industries face this same fate.