Joséphine Kotei
We often hear people talk about the number of years of experience they have acquired over the years, their travelling experiences, the people they have met and so on and so on, that sounds so amazing. As students we always pray that we also get the opportunity to work, travel and do the things we hear about from these people. But the question is are these experiences really relevant in this trend. Don’t get me wrong. I am not in any way saying that you do not need some level experience to work in a company but the experience you are acquiring now should still have and an impact 10/20 years to come.
UNLEARNING AND LEARNING RELEVANT SKILLS
Some managers still micromanage their business and are still not very open to changes and new ideas. Some have certain funny beliefs about new trends and they outrightly refuse to have anything to do with anything that has to do with learning new skills to be in the current trend. I remember discussing with my mother about getting my little niece a laptop and she screamed and said « the internet is diabolic, it came to destroy the morals of people especially children » so we should stay away from it and forget about buying a computer for the children. I mean we cant blame her that much, from where she is coming from ,with very little education and exposure she has ,she is allowed to say that. she can actually be pardoned. I mean she is not entirely wrong. Everything that has an advantage also has a disadvantage. But it will still surprise you that we have people who are learned with different degrees from the best schools you can think of ,with a high level of exposure and experience try to brush of the idea of how technologies is evolving and how the world is being run now.
The world is changing so rapidly. And with the relentless parade of new technologies unfolding on many fronts. Disruptive technologies is explained by McKinsey as « Advances that will transform life, business, and the global economy » and we can attest to this.These technologies play a role in every aspect of our lives.Some of these disruptive technologies are Businesses should inculcate agility into their business.That way they can easily build on their skills or change certain technologies as and when it is needed to be able to stay in the trend. We can take the evolution of smartphones for example. Companies such as Nokia who were not curious, innovative and agile suffered a lot, they practically went out of business.This brings us to the first statement I made in the first graph about experience. We can understand that regardless of how experienced you are if you do not become curious, innovative and in in tune with the trend the experience you have will be of no use.Managers have to learn and unlearn certain skills to be able to adapt to new trends. We have to embrace the new era.
DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES
- The major technological trends for 2020 are ; Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT),Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality,Cyber security,Edge Computing, machine learning,Robotic Process Automation process. We will talk about Artificial Intelligence, blockchain and IOT in regard to this article.
- Artificial Intelligence : AI refers to computers systems built to mimic human intelligence and perform tasks such as recognition of images, speech or patterns and decision making. AI can do these tasks faster and more accurately than humans.AI continues to be a trend to watch because of its effects on how we live, work and play are only in the early stages. These computer systems are built on good data collected from different sources that is related to the specific activity that the Artificial intelligence is going to be developed on.the artificial intelligence on.
- Blockchain : My lecturer once said he will trust lots unknown persons validating his transaction than just one trusted entity validating his transaction. in blockchain everyone on the chain sees every transaction that is being made on the blockchain and validates it when it is accurate so it is highly impossible for a transaction to be validated if its not accurate. Blockchain can be described as data you can only add to, not take away from or change. It is called a chain because you are making a chain of data Hence the term “chain” because you’re making a chain of data. Not being able to change the previous blocks is what makes it so secure.Blockchain cannot be controlled by any an entity, it is consensus driven thus you do not any trusted intermediary to validate your transaction. We will give more details on Blockchain in our subsequent post.
- Internet of Things(IoT): Many items that are produced now are built with wifi connectivity thus they can be connected to the internet and also be connected to other items. Internet of Things(IoT) has enabled us to connect our appliances to other appliances and we exchange data over these appliances or gadgets. We can now with the help of IOT know what is going on in our house on our phones by connecting the CCTV cameras to our mobile phones through the internet.
DATA
Business are now established with one of these technologies in mind. Whether to provide services with these technologies, or to provide that technology as a service(SAaS). Having a good technology that is easily accessible and easier to use plus good data will enable businesses generate powerful insights on issues that were on their blindside which will lead to growth. Data is a very powerful tool now in this world of business as it can help you know the type of business companies should or should not engage in. If a company wants to be classified a high performance company they need to make use of their data. Certain businesses are failing because they are not making decisions that generate profits and support growth of businesses. They have ignored the importance of data in business so they sit down and watch while their competitors make good decisions, take over the market just with their data. When I say data i mean GOOD data.
Good data is data that the company needs basically. Data can be easily analysed when we know the type of data we are collecting and our sources from data and how these data are managed and then analysed to give an understanding.
It is very important to track your data directly from the source such as websites, business software, social networks etc to a data management platform that will enable you to monitor all actions that are ongoing externally and internally, manage it and make decisions.
This is an illustration of how we can acquire data, manage and use data and then analyse it to make decisions. At https://www.nexties.fr/ we help you through all these stages. Acquiring the data from all the sources you require directly to a data management platform and help you analyse it.
Let’s overcome our fears of having to work with data. These disruptive technologies are here to stay and we have to face it one way or the other. We just need to concentrate on learning and equipping themselves with skills that are relevant in this era. Businesses can adapt to these technological trends with the use of good DATA. High performing companies such as APPLE, AMAZON, ZARA, IKEA etc are using their data to generate insights which in turn helps them to meet the needs of customers whiles making huge profits. LETS TAKE A CUE FROM THEM.
PEACE!
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