I had a fascinating chat last night with the CEO of a fairly large financial services organisation. He is in the process of assessing a few startups who are taking part in an accelerator programme. One of the startups is pushing "Blockchain", but it wasn't entirely clear for what end. There were a couple of … Continue reading A corporate guide to distributed ledgers
Category: Technology
Twice today I've referred people to an article I wrote back in 2014 entitled "Is it really happening so quickly?". The gist of the piece was a retort to the often-heard claim that things these days are happening ever so much faster than they ever have done. In the article I resorted to using actual … Continue reading The Long Nose
It feels to me like attitudes towards technology are beginning to change at senior levels. There are undoubtedly a fair few senior executives who wear technological unawareness as a badge of honour in exactly the way they wouldn't if it was finance. But they are becoming rarer; most execs now understand that technology is important … Continue reading Connecting the Boardroom
There is a thought experiment that I picked up a year or so ago, and the origins are sadly forgotten. It goes a little something like this: You have found out that the world is in mortal danger. Aliens are coming. They land in 60 minutes. When they land, they will take over the planet … Continue reading The Rumsfeld Paradox
I had a great hour or so earlier this week listening to Rowland Manthorpe from Wired talking about the future of money at the inaugural The New Normal session. Rather than the a la mode of talking about distributed ledgers and crypto currencies, Rowland focused instead on data - at the core of his argument … Continue reading The future of money
This week I have learned: delaying contact with the people you're trying to get to work differently is always a bad idea. faced with a choice when not used to it, people will panic. That's a reason to help them to choose, not to remove the choice. this Freerange working lark can at times feel … Continue reading Weeknote 362: winter arrives
It's been a while since I sat down and worked out what tools I use on a day-to-day basis. It's useful to take stock once in a while. So here goes... Devices: Samsung Galaxy S7 The second-most expensive device I have ever purchased and the one with which I've probably been least satisfied. Yesterday morning … Continue reading 2017 Colophon
An interesting workshop yesterday with a group of end users at one of my clients. The project is looking to modernise key IT services - replacing clunky laptops and desktop thin client terminals and on premise productivity tools with sleek and light ultrabooks and Cloud-based collaborative places. The sort of thing in one way or … Continue reading Couldn’t live without it
Out of idle curiosity yesterday I spent a bit of time asking the internet the question "What do I need to know to start exploring the world of Artificial Intelligence?" The answers that I received from those nice Mr Brin & Page's marvellous machine were illuminating. There was a lot about mathematics. Statistics in particular. … Continue reading A limited interpretation
So according to extensive research published yesterday by Microsoft as part of their annual Future Decoded jamboree, digital transformation is a matter of changing people and behaviours rather than merely technology. Wow. Who knew? But here, it seems to me, is the rub. The sort of decision making in organisations that chooses Microsoft to provide … Continue reading It’s all about the people
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