What will be the Mega Trends that will shape and influence
the world by the end of this decade? Frost & Sullivan which has has
launched a Visionary Innovation Research Programme has identified several
interest trends: development of Mega
cities, regions and corridors, "Smart" emerging as the new Green, Geo
Socialization, Innovating to Zero, Beyond BRIC: The Next Game Changers, Space
Jam, Personal Robots, e-Mobility and New Business Models, to name a few.
The objective of Frost & Sullivan research is to provide companies with special reports
to focus on the evolution of these global trends to help them drive growth and
innovation in a rapidly changing environment, a press release said.
A brave new world emerges from Frost & Sullivan's recent
research, "World's Top Global Mega Trends to 2020 and Implications to
Business, Society and Cultures." According to the analysis, sustainability
was one of the major Mega Trends that shaped human, organisation and government
behavior in the last decade. The study forecasts health, wellness and
well-being with a much wider definition than mere healthcare, which will
include body, mind and soul as the most important factor of discussion and
differentiation in this decade. It reveals that women empowerment will reach
new heights, with one in three workers being a woman and up to 40 percent of
boardrooms in some nations comprising women by 2020. The world will also
witness reverse brain drain, wherein the vast vacancies for CXOs in countries
like India will be filled not only by returning Indians, but also by Americans
and Europeans seeking better prospects.
Frost & Sullivan Partner, Sarwant Singh explains:
"Frost & Sullivan defines Mega Trends as global, sustained and
macroeconomic forces of development that impact business, economy, cultures,
careers and personal lives, thereby defining our future world and its
increasing pace of change."
Mr Singh adds: "The unique feature of this Visionary
Innovation Research Programme, compared to other predictive programmes out
there, lies in its ability to not only identify and evaluate emerging Mega
Trends, but to also to translate those opportunities to everyday business and
personal life -- the macro to micro approach. In other words, we are not just
throwing out forecasts for the future, but showing organizations immediate
opportunities and threats in the here and now."
There will be many interesting Mega Trends to watch out for.
First, future urbanization will drive integration of core city centres or
downtowns with suburbs and satellite cities, resulting in expanding boundaries
from the current average of 25 miles (40 km) to around 40 miles (64 km). We
will witness the emergence of 30 Mega-cities, 15 Mega-regions and at least 10
Mega-corridors with over 20 million people by 2020. Urbanization will lead to
new hub and spoke business models for healthcare, logistics, retailing and many
other functions, forcing organizations to re-think their 'Urban' business
model.
Second, e-Mobility will redefine personal mobility in the
future. Over 40 million electric vehicles, including electric pedal cycles,
scooters, four-wheelers and buses will be sold annually around the globe in
2020. The opportunity in the e-Mobility market is not in making cars but in its
value chain, batteries (including second life and recycling), charging stations
and packaging innovative mobility solutions such as 'pay by electrons.'
The next level of social networking will focus on geographic
services and capabilities such as geocoding and geotagging to enable additional
social dynamics. User-submitted data with profiles and interests will be matched
with location-based services to connect and co-ordinate with surrounding people
or events. This type of geo-networking will drive markets, businesses and
individuals to interact, advertise and promote in real time.
Another trend identified by Frost & Sullivan is
Innovating to Zero. This trend examines a world of zero emissions, zero
accidents, zero fatalities, zero defects, zero breaches of security and
carbon-neutral factories.
Geo-Socialization
In the year 2020 at the busiest street in town, imagine yourself walking down the street one afternoon and
your mobile phone gives you the following alerts:
- Your buddy is at a bar nearby
- Your favorite restaurant down the street is offering a special on your favorite food
- A shop around the corner is offering a discount sale on your preferred clothing line
Welcome to the future of social networking: Geo
Socialization. While you might be conflicted in choosing the best option from
these different alerts, this next generation of socialization will work on
geographic services and capabilities, such as geocoding and geotagging, to
enable additional social dynamics. In simple terms, your profile and interests
and other user-submitted data will be matched with location-based services to
connect and coordinate with surrounding people or events (such as meet-ups,
concerts, or nightclub and restaurant reviews).
The possibilities and opportunities of geo socialization are
endless; we are talking about a world where markets, businesses and individuals
are driven by the need to interact, advertise and promote in real time. This
will result in new trends of digital marketing, socializing and networking,
furthering the evolution of interaction between individuals and organizations.
Business will now thrive on new digital marketing tools, promotions and offers.
For example, real estate agents will advertise properties on sale and provide
specs on value/price and address. An information bar with contact numbers will
enable such businesses to capitalize on opportunities and potential contacts on
a real-time basis. This would imply that businesses will soon need to be
equipped with the infrastructure and resources to respond to real-time demand
to cater to a whole new spectrum of customers who react to geographically
tagged services. Additionally, this trend will also force investments from the
retail, entertainment and hospitality industries to upgrade their systems with
new IT software to enable these services, thereby bringing a new source of
revenue to mobile operators and IT software and system houses. It will allow
these industries to manage their inventory in real time and push promotions
when inventory piles up or to fill capacity, as in empty restaurants.
Meeting potential customers can be extended to various
scenarios. A series of alerts about different users in a business conference
would help a user network with potential clients and probably on a job prospect
as well! Background information on different users about their interests or
business domain will enhance networking skills and broaden the list of
contacts.
Layar, the world’s first mobile augmented reality browser
now available in the market, is a step toward this vision. Layar operates using
a combination of GPS, mobile phone camera and compass to identify a user’s
location and retrieve information on geographical coordinates that can be seen
through the camera view. By simply pointing the visual search engine in any
direction, Layar gives information on exciting places, clubs, bars, cash
machines, restaurants, shops and theaters. However, Frost & Sullivan
envisions a more sophisticated and real-time location mapping system to develop
and evolve, furthering the dimensions of social networking and collaboration
from that which Layar currently offers. Geo socialization will not only point
out exciting places but will match interests with services, location and people
around the user, resulting in a more customized way of networking.
Technologies and software are currently being developed
toward this MegaTrend. Geo socialization will change the way we think, move,
interact, communicate, do business and capitalize on opportunities in the
future. So while we are busy Twittering and using Facebook in 2010, let us
welcome this new technology and geographical-based type of socialization that
will influence our social lives for years to come.
References:
1. Mega Trends 2020: Suburban growth, Geo socialization,
e-mobility
2. Geo Socialization: The Next Trend in Social Networking
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