A Smarter Planet
One Planet, One People, One Grid?
In the tech section of the BBC news online, I found this interesting article by Brendon Riley, the CEO of IBM in the UK. In it, he makes the point that we can now “infuse intelligence into the way the world works.” He cites a case study from Malta and observes that their energy grid looks more like the internet.
Here’s an excerpt: “Critically, the digital and physical infrastructures of the world are converging. Computational power is being put into things we wouldn’t recognise as computers. It’s easy to embed sensors in all sorts of ecosystems, from hospitals to supply chains to natural systems like rivers. Almost anything can have a digital presence in a networked world.
“All of this instrumentation generates new data, which advanced analytics can turn into insight – so better decisions can be made in real time.
“This in turn leads to increased effectiveness – simply doing what works, faster.”
Writing Prompts:
Financial Services:
- What companies do you or your firm believe will lead the way in this green revolution? Does IBM have what it takes?
- Do you believe the claims Mr Riley makes about a smarter planet or is this just corporate boosterism?
- What public-private partnership models for the green revolution deserve emulation?
- Do you know of any studies estimating ROI for this type of initiative?
Environmental & Services:
- What other case studies deserve attention? IBM promotes the Maltese study because they know it best.
- Is there a downside to the approach being taken in Malta?
- Do you know of any studies estimating ROI for this type of initiative?
- Is it possible that less-developed countries have an advantage on, say, the G20 in implementing initiatives like this?
“Global Financial Hissy Fit”
One Planet, One People
A fellow Twitter-er sent a link to the best thing I’ve read all day: a blog called “Creative Spark” by Marc Garnault. In it, he perpetuates the term “Global Financial Hissy Fit” with proper attribution to its originator, Kim Sbarcea .
I selected just ONE extraordinary insight from this posting for writing prompts.
Marc’s Insight
“Everyone knows what everyone is doing now. There are no secrets, so if you’re doing evil you can expect to face some bad publicity. There’s also been a significant movement by us, the consumer, towards companies that have a compassionate backstory. We want sustainable materials, low carbon footprints and community involvement. It’s a major selling point. And, finally, you need good, creative, smart employees, and believe me, they’re not thick on the ground. It’s going to be a seller’s market on those skills, and these people are going to want their skills to go to worthy employers. If they feel like they’re going to be a cog in a corporate money making machine, well, there are nicer machines to be a cog in.
“It’s be wrong to be writing all this in the future tense, because if you look around you’ll see it happening right now. Newspapers are falling through the floor, but the online Huffington Post recently had a record valuation, online shopping is remaining steady but bricks-and-mortar retail is having it’s worst year since 1970, restaurant seating is going through the floor but sales of local organic produce are booming, no-one is buying DVDs but you’re sharing the average torrent you download with 30,000 other people, sales of premium priced Macs are doing fine, but all the generic PCs around them are feeling the pinch.”
Writing Prompts:
Consultants: What are your most progressive clients doing to take advantage of the rise of global inter-connectedness? What are they doing with their brands to connect with the “green” consciousness? For those not on board, what holds them back?
Environmental: Reflect on the state of greenwashing. Out the evildoers.
Services: What are you/your clients doing to retain and nurture the best and brightest? Are you holding on to talent that isn’t fully billable for the sake of the future of your business? How are you coping with a great talent pool in this time of retraction?
Financial: What companies will you encourage clients to buy because of their alignment with this new ethos?
No Green from the G20 (yet)
G20 Host Gordon Brown
LONDON (Reuters) – World leaders at the G20 summit disappointed environmental groups on Thursday who said their commitment to fight climate change had been vague.
The leaders reaffirmed a previous commitment to sign a U.N. climate deal this year, a step the U.N. climate-change chief said was useful, though action would be better.
“In mobilizing the world’s economies to fight back against recession we are resolved to … promote low-carbon growth and to create the green jobs on which our future prosperity depends,” said summit host British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
“We are committed to … working together to seek agreement on a post-2012 climate change regime at the UN conference in Copenhagen in December.”
Writing Prompts
- Did the G20 get their priorities mostly right or mostly wrong?
- How do you respond to this quote by M.J. Mace, legal advisor to the Federated States of Micronesia? “If they can mobilize trillions of dollars to create jobs why can’t they do more to stop climate change?”
- A report for WWF and environment think-tank E3G published on Thursday said Britain’s and Italy’s recovery plans did more climate harm than good when road-building was included. Are other countries “under-accounting” for the full environmental impact of their financial recovery plans?
- Why do you agree or disagree with Steve Howard, chief executive of the Climate Group, (an international environment and business group) when he says ”I have no doubt that by Copenhagen or shortly after we’ll have some sort of broad, global framework. My only question mark is whether we set a high enough level of ambition”?
