Versatile Amphibian

One of the problems we've found with digital strategy thus far is how to get organisations started. There are so many ways in which digital can transform a business, from radically transforming sales and service to automating a swathe of back office tasks that it can be overwhelming and doing nothing or something too small is tempting. To us as well, at times. So I've been thinking about the best way of biting off a meaningful chunk - these are thoughts in progress so comments are even more appreciated than usual! The first question I came to was whether to start at the value generating centre of the business or in a costly but unsexy back office area. My conclusion is the former. Why? Because energy and momentum is a crucial part of the journey to a digital culture and it's easier to advertise that direction somewhere visible. It's also arguably easier to make a conventional (basic ROI) business case in these areas - the cost of back office functions is often very murk...

The last couple of days have seen two remarkable developments in digital that I thought were worth covering. First, Google announced that it would be making 200 prototype self-driving city cars to its own design. Second, Microsoft revealed its plans to put he natty instant translation tech it showed off in China a couple of years back into Skype. Why were these titbits of news worth interrupting my holiday for? I've long been an advocate of self-driving vehicles and Google have long been the visible face of the technology. Their announcement will undoubtedly spur others to launch their own vehicles, most likely including Tesla, who have done for propulsion what Google have done for guidance. I would be now very surprised if a fully self-driving car was not available for purchase at an electric-sized price premium (c. 50%) vs the equivalent conventional car before 2020. Microsoft's translation announcement is also significant as it shows how quickly natural language algorithms h...

You might remember that we've been doing a series of consumer research pieces with the Associated Press on the future of news in various regions. This leg of the journey took us to the Middle East, where we covered three markets: UAE, KSA and Egypt. I presented this at the Arab Media Forum this afternoon. Major findings: Middle Eastern residents are avid consumers of the news - on average they'll take in 72 minutes a day, which is the same as their counterparts in Europe Trust is the most important driver for selecting a news channel. Interestingly, speed is almost irrelevant - only six percent of respondents said that it mattered, which goes against traditional thinking... ...and probably reflects the fact that social currency from news is gained by depth of understanding rather than being the first person to hear about it Half of online news users discover stories on social media and 45 percent of users share a story at least once a day This reflects the importance o...