Archive | February, 2015

Brick Walls Crumble as Digital Realisations Dawn

23 Feb

Brick WallMost Groupe Intellex writing appears first on our old home site which is long overdue for redesign.  The shorter postings here are often brief summaries that link back to the full story – but flagging them here has two advantages – firstly the auto-tweet mechanism works more reliably and secondly this site enables comments and feedback from readers.

Today’s post is about two recent writings that really need to be read together.

As ever at this time of year, the FTTH Council Europe Annual Conference (this year in Warsaw) brings an intense focus on the reality of fibre technologies, new understandings of user experiences, the surprising impacts on network revenues and cost-reductions  in network deployments – particularly in construction costs.  More than that, the longer-term implications beyond 2022 get the attention of analysts and provide a useful context for current policy debate – especially in the UK and Germany where long-standing addictions to short-term goals (under cover of investment caution) seem increasingly out of kilter with demand and long-term economic health.

Then, coming back to the UK, one cannot help but notice that, remarkably, there is a sea change in the awareness of private and public policy influencers evident in multiple reports – the painstaking work of committees, commissions and consultations that has moved beyond acceptance of legacy constraints.  Even in the House of Lords they have noticed that ‘We are facing a tsunami of technological change, driven by the digital revolution, affecting virtually all areas of our lives.’  Pushing against the wall, the muscle of  ‘something must‘ now has the strength and determination to become ‘something can and will‘.

Cynics may say that this is but advanced wishful thinking – too early to call.  But the wall is beyond patching.  The weather has set in.  The mortar mix (equal parts,  fear, ego and greed) is crumbling.  Time to take it apart and build something sustainable.

 

 

Three (UK) substitutes for five minutes thought

12 Feb

220px-levin-bbcWhen the late, great, Bernard Levin was writing in the 1970’s for The Times, he dismissed repeated calls for the return of capital punishment as just ‘one of the popular substitutes for five minutes thought’.  That phrase suggests he had in mind plenty of other substitutes worthy of his ire.

Now, more than two decades on from his passing, the death penalty that he might have raged against is the likely death of an economy where governance has lost its bearings.

There’s no knowing, of course, what ‘popular substitutes’ he would nowadays have selected for his brilliant brand of incisive criticism, but current fascinations with all things digital suggest at least three – these being prompted by the growing evidence of the economic impacts of infrastructure investment and the impending tsunami of data being unleashed by video technologies.

Read the full story

Written from #FTTH2015 Warsaw and informed by presentations from VentureTeam and Diffraction Analysis.

Presentation Press Conference FTTH Conference 11 February 2015

Graphic credit: BBC

By The Way: the unexpected bonuses of business travel

9 Feb

So you’re off again – hoping to sell, buy, learn or teach – flights and hotel booked, appointments scheduled, presentations prepped, agendas agreed.

So far, so rational. But does it ever turn out like that?

If it did you might just as well have done the business by email and Skype.  No, the real value of business trips lies in the unexpected, the chance encounters, the rare perspectives that only come along the way.  You can never know exactly how things will turn out for you or for the folks you’ll chance to meet.

Marit HendriksFor fine examples of unexpected bonuses read my colleague Marit’s accounts from our 2014 trip to New York or her visit to India.

As we head off today to Warsaw for the FTTH conference we may think that the script is predictable, but the memories that survive will surely be unscripted.

 

 

OPEN CALL – NextGen Digital Challenge 2015

1 Feb

NextGenAwards2015600

 

The NextGen Digital Challenge Awards programme is back for a 5th year.

Launched today, the Open Call for nominations from across the UK and the Republic of Ireland seeks great examples of digital endeavour.

Whilst mainstream media focus on big names and even bigger numbers, the real impacts of  increasingly digitalised economies are often found at a more local level.  In 2015 the Awards categories will now include the ‘Sharing Economy’ and ‘Municipal Enterprise’ – arenas where direct impacts for people and enterprises are massively transformative.

Join us on this journey of digital discovery by nominating projects and achievements that deserve recognition. Nomination is free of charge.

Full details at http://www.nextgenevents.co.uk/awards

See also ‘And your point is?

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