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War rooms create disruptive innovation

By Jacqueline e'Silva
Johannesburg, 29 Jun 2017
Matthew Griffin, futurist and founder of the 311 Institute.
Matthew Griffin, futurist and founder of the 311 Institute.

ITWeb Events spoke to Matthew Griffin, an international keynote speaker and disruption expert, about his trip to SA in August and the message he would like to leave the audience with.

He will present at the ITWeb Enterprise Mobility 2017 event on 30 August, at Summer Place, Hyde Park, on the use of war rooms to provide insight into a competitor's strategy and an organisation's weaknesses.

Griffin believes that a prepared army with a strong strategy has a greater chance of winning.

ITWeb: Have you visited SA before? If so, what did you enjoy most about your visit? What are you looking forward to most about your visit in August?

Griffin: Yes, I have visited SA several times over the past couple of years and what stands out most to me is the sense of spirit and entrepreneurship. I have travelled around the world, from China to the US, and these traits are unrivalled. As for what I'm looking forward to experiencing most, it is the culture and the people.

ITWeb: What key ideas would you like to leave the South African enterprise mobility market with?

Griffin: We live in a world where one person working from home alone can increasingly access more computing power, and more powerful technologies, such as artificial intelligence, than even the US president had access to just a few years ago. As a result, it is easier and more cost-effective than ever before to create and build a company that touches a billion people. As companies such as Google, Facebook, Qualcomm, SpaceX and Virgin try to connect the last 3.5 billion people on the planet within the next 10 years, there is a huge opportunity for Africans of all backgrounds and abilities to rise up, embrace entrepreneurship and generate prosperity and wealth for their families and communities.

ITWeb: Why are you considered the 'advisor to the advisors'?

Griffin: It's a nickname I was given a number of years ago by one of the directors at one of the world's largest consulting and technology companies because increasingly I advise the advisors the multi-nationals turn to in order to understand the future. It seems to have stuck ever since.

ITWeb: What key points will your topic cover at ITWeb's enterprise mobility event?

Griffin: There's only one thing I will do at the event, and that is change your audience's perception of everything. We'll race though the technology landscape of the future and dive into how it will affect culture, industry and society, and then I will arm the audience with new ways to think. They can take this new way of thinking back home and back into their businesses so that, hopefully, they can be the individuals that shape and lead the future.

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