The technology industry has a tendency to create brilliant innovation out of hardship.
This was the overarching theme of Internet Solutions (IS) MD Saki Missaikos' address at the brand's annual Internetix conference, held in Sandton yesterday.
"As human beings, we have an incredible ability to adapt when we are challenged," he said. "We take hardship and flourish by developing stuff that takes care of the problems the world is facing."
According to Missaikos, companies like HP and Skype, and platforms like the Internet, were borne out of tough times. "All these trying times and recessions have forced humans to adapt and move on."
Traditional barriers to commerce and business are being broken every day by collaboration and the entrepreneurial spirit, said Missaikos, adding that much of this innovation is spurred on by the connected age we live in. "Innovation, collaboration and new products change our thinking."
Missaikos outlined various collaborative success stories that have used the ideas of many to come up with innovative concepts. These included Ford Motor Company's move away from traditional barriers to transform its cars into "sophisticated computers on wheels", or Australian daredevil Felix Baumgartner's world-record skydive from space. "It really is about the collective, and how the collective creates some really smart and great ideas."
This sentiment was echoed by Greg de Chasteauneuf, innovation and technology manager for enterprise mobility at IS, who stressed that none of these advances represent a "silver bullet". According to De Chasteauneuf, there is a movement towards sharing and collaboration, and this has enormous potential for both users and enterprises.
"In an era of information, evolution and revolution, normal people will become the idea factory," Missaikos concluded. "Technology is touching every human being on the planet. This innovation has the potential to make the future a lot brighter for our country and for the world."
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