"There is a lot of 'binary thinking' going on right now about what all this technology will mean for us - talk about cognitive computing, drones, analytics, and so on and many folks picture a future where technology replaces human beings - making us all redundant and where current jobs don't exist - much like what happened to those who crafted the best wagon wheels when the steam locomotive was invented.
"This is not a surprising or uncommon reaction to technological innovation - similar thinking was quite prevalent at the start of the Industrial Revolution when many technological changes and innovations began impacting on the world. And what happened then is what we will see happening again. Human beings now, like we did then, will find ingenious ways to integrate with all this new technology to create something truly wonderful and unlock amazing value for society in general," said Naeem Seedat, of Accenture Strategy.
Seedat will be facilitating a half-day workshop on digital governance at the ITWeb's Governance, Risk and Compliance Summit in February.
"What we saw back in the Industrial Revolution was new technologies and innovations triggering a wave of growth and development - both average income and population numbers began to exhibit unprecedented, sustained levels of growth never before seen in our history. The legacy of the Industrial Revolution was that the standard of living for people in general began to increase consistently for the first time in history. It was in no uncertain terms, a catalyst for significant economic transformation and development," added Seedat.
"Looking at where we are today, we find ourselves at the beginning of a new Digital Revolution. New innovations and new technologies are again sweeping the globe at pace - rapidly disrupting and changing the way we all behave, how we all live and how we all work and like the Industrial Revolution will bring with it another step change in our collective growth and development and another significant period of economic transformation and development," he continued.
The half-day workshop Seedat will be facilitating will focus on how the digital technology has affected business. "As we enter the digital business era, organisations are being disrupted across all industries through the immense power of digital technology. Digital is fundamentally changing the game for many organisations, and it has become a question of when rather than if your business will be disrupted - either by competitors or through your own efforts," Seedat pointed out.
"The future is thus not 'binary' after all, rather the future is 'integrated' and will be driven predominantly by technological innovations in the human-machine interface, a collaborative partnership which will help us to transcend current barriers to reach new heights as a species," he concluded.
Share