I’m blogging from the World Innovation Forum and just listened to two very interesting speakers: Paul Saffo of Stanford, and innovation author CK Prahalad.
Note to self: bring a headlamp next time. I’m on the hook to blog and tweet the whole event and when they lowered the lights I couldn’t see my keyboard. I believe my issues are age-related!
I was looking for a common theme to take back with me from this first morning, and both speakers emphasized that future innovation will likely (actually already does) involve the use of sensors.
Paul Saffo talked about three “technology indicators” that precede extensive innovation:
- 70s-80s: cheap PCs set the stage for entrepreneurial activity by providing processing power
- 80s-90s: cheap lasers and cheap bandwidth enabled a decade of access (connecting all of us to the web)
- Now: cheap sensors (cameras, accelerometers) will result in innovation in the form of robotics
Sensors embedded in sneakers that send messages to your iPod to change the “music mood” of your jog is an example of this.
CK Prahalad, in his talk, built upon Paul’s message. CK believes all product innovation must eventually include the ability for customers to co-create an experience with a given vendor’s product. What were some of the key examples that CK gave?
- sensors in a pacemaker that allow multiple businesses (hospitals, hotels, phone companies) to dynamically “take care” of the patient by monitoring the sensors in the device
- sensors in a tire that “bill for usage”, and “recommend better driving habits” to drivers that might result in “lower insurance rates” based on this sensor data.
- sensors in a woman’s foot that allows them to pick the appropriate shoe for the activities they are involved in.
Bottom line: sensors should be built into all products for the purpose of allowing multiple vendors to provide an enhanced user experience that the customer creates.
Being a software engineer in the information storage industry, it’s an excellent thought exercise to imagine what uses sensors may have in the products that we build, and how companies like EMC can join with other service providers to allow customers to “create their own experience” based on this input.
Any thoughts?
Steve
http://stevetodd.typepad.com
Twitter: @stevetodd
Sensors in clothing to tell you when you really need a shower. Sensors in Italian soccer players to differentiate fouls from dives. Sensors in cats to tell you when they are going to start being naughty. Sensors in fishing lures that tell you when fish are totally not intereted.
Marc,
Clearly you get the drift. Start filing patents dude.
Steve
P.S. Thanks for keeping it clean, there are many directions you could have taken this. I’m glad I didn’t have to censor your sensors.
Steve —
I’m enjoying your tweets from the conf.
Loved this one, “#wif09 @Padmasree Cisco believes that management models should move from “rigid silos to self-forming teams”
(The bloggers are EMC are certainly a self-formed team! … as is a certain crew that puts together the EMC Visual Talk Radio show)
BTW, EMC does the sensor thing for hypertension. Employees volunteer to wear a sensor which does intra-day, real-time blood pressure readings and sends the result to the employees’ email addresses. They can then be smarter about what they were doing at the time and doctors and can monitor progress and trends. I believe it was a program we piloted here with Partners Health back in 2007.
** Bring home some ideas for own Innovation Conference **
Don’t drink too much milk with that pizza tonight. 😉
Cheers, Polly