Jonathan Mitchener is BT's resident gadget expert, and contributes a video to every issue of Upload Innovate ezine. He's also constantly in touch with small business, as he reveals here...
Recently I was invited to speak to the Business Café group of small businesses which meets regularly at Great Tey in North East Essex for a breakfast meeting for networking and local mutual support.
I began by illustrating technology change and its impact over the last decade and stressed the importance for all organisations to take occasional time to think of future possible disruptions outside their normal business context.
Then I went on to discuss a number of changes that I see coming over the next few years including the new ways that customers are using social media to interact with organisations, the increasing pervasiveness of computing and networks of sensors all around us, and the eventual use of machines including robots to do tasks which we have always associated with what people do.
I concluded the short talk by looking at the changes I expect to see in devices and gadgets in the future, since these are the means by which everyone interacts with the online world. Some of these developments will provide for a much more immersive online experience and hence enable new activities and possibilities as yet impossible or impracticable.
It was a really nice opportunity to meet a diverse audience of business people from all different sectors and I very much enjoyed the event.