Massimo Canducci

Smart Working, with the right tools and target-oriented work

One of the things that have undergone a sudden acceleration due to the pandemic is undoubtedly the adoption of smart working by companies, for all professional figures compatible with this way of working.

Smart working does not mean, however, continuing to do the same things as before, with the same methods as previously, in a different place. Instead, it is a complete change of perspective in the employment relationship, which has an impact on the methods, times, internal processes of the organizations and on the tools that these make available to employees and collaborators.

From Innovation to Wennovation

In a society that tries to emerge from the extremely serious crisis triggered by the pandemic as quickly as possible and in the best way possible, despite several uncertainty indicators the most important analysts worldwide agree that in the medium term the crisis will push companies to increasingly invest in innovation and digital transformation, processes and aptitudes which will quickly become a priority for all those organizations that decide to react strongly to the crisis by trying to grasp the opportunities which this can generate.

The key to restarting the economy in the post-covid phase therefore is the implementation of a complete industrial and economic strategy centered on people, based on ecosystems, activated by innovation and enabled by new technologies.

Innovation calls for Innovators

We live in a world in which speed linked to innovation is increasingly marked. This does not apply exclusively to the so-called “enabling technologies”, i.e. those which allow activating technological innovation, but it is also and mainly true because of the effects that these have on people’s lives.

According to an article published by Visual Capitalist in 2018, the main technological innovations in human history took many years to reach the threshold of 50 million users. We begin with the 64 years which were necessary for aviation, then the 62 years for cars, up to the 14 years required for computers and the 4 years for the spread of Facebook.

Last of the list in this special ranking is the time required for the spread of Pokemon Go, a specific video game to be used on smartphones, equipped with innovative features such as the use of Augmented Reality and of geo-location and made by Niantic, where 19 days were sufficient to reach the threshold of 50 million users.

Trigger innovation for a better world

One of the clear-cut things in the world around us is that innovation is a priority, and it is so for companies, for the world of work, for people, for social policies and for the very concept of State. In every organization you can’t help but innovate because today’s revenues are made with today’s boring main-stream activities, but tomorrow’s revenues will be generated thanks to today’s concrete innovation policies.

The interesting thing is that in some industrial sectors the concept of innovation can simply mean a few adjustments to the brand, to production or to distribution, but in other cases it can mean having to completely rethink the offer, redesign products and services or even completely change the business model in directions which may have seemed unthinkable just a few months ago.

However you look at it, innovation is the process which generates value starting from ideas, therefore there is no innovation if you do not create a concrete and tangible value for the players who take part in the process itself, whether they be companies or the public administration, without ever forgetting, however, that the actual and true recipient of the value which will be produced will be the final consumer, who will be able to enjoy better products, lower-priced business models or more efficient services from the public administration.

Digital Twin

Emerging technologies such as IoT, AI and advanced modeling techniques are enabling an intelligent, connected and digitally empowered mesh of people, things and services which outline a definitive concept, Digital Twin, for today’s business.

Digital Twin has moved beyond manufacturing sector, its traditional ecosystem, into all sorts of service and goods-based businesses ranging from automotive to healthcare. And, it is so imperative to business today, it has continuously named within Gartner’s top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for the past couple of years.

It’s important to remove some myths spread about Digital Twin and answer the biggest questions: What is it? Why does it matter? What are the benefits and the challenges? Which are the building blocks?

Download a public and free complete White Paper on Digital Twin

How to bring out our innovativeness

You probably all know how an iceberg – a huge block of ice floating in the coldest seas – is made. Given that the density of ice is around 920 kg/m3 and the density of sea water is around 1025 kg/m3, approximately 90% of the volume of an iceberg remains hidden under the surface of the water, while the other 10% remains visible as it hasemerged.

Now, bending the laws of physics using imagination, let’s imagine that this iceberg can be overturned, with the smallest part below water level and the largest part completely emerged and visible.

Let’s now try to make a further effort of imagination and associate the concepts of “innovativeness” and “reliability” respectively to the immersed part – remember that it is the smallest one because in our exercise the iceberg is overturned – and to the emerged part, the largest, of our strange iceberg.

Now it should all be a little clearer, it’s a question of Innovation Management, physics has nothing to do with it, not even ice.

Open Data are not enough

Open Data is increasingly talked about as a central element for guiding innovation and transparency in Public Administration.

It’s very true: Open Data is a formidable tool for allowing citizens to access public information in a new way and through apps and software platforms created by third parties. They are an exceptional tool, certainly necessary for achieving such a goal but, unfortunately, not sufficient.

Open Data are not enough, and that has to be accepted

The future awaiting us

What can we expect in terms of technology in the next few years, giving ourselves 2030 as the horizon?

The Future of Jobs report from the World Economic Forum contains an interesting and slightly disturbing figure: 65% of children currently in primary schools will enter completely new jobs, jobs that do not yet exist. On second thought this is not so strange; in fact, if we try to look back ten years, many jobs that we consider normal today did not exist at all. In the sphere of technology alone, we can cite the app developer, the social media manager, the seller of advertising on social networks, and the certified pilot of drones and multi-rotors, to name just a few.

In all likelihood, we ourselves have had to change our professionalism and increase our skills to cope with the technological and social changes that have occurred in recent years. Moreover, those who work in the field of technology and innovation must be as prepared as possible not only to take care of their professionalism but also to help their customers face their positioning in a rapidly transforming market in the best possible way, from both the technological point of view and from that of the new business models that will appear.

So let us see what we can expect in terms of technology in the next few years, giving ourselves 2030 as the horizon.

Continues on Ingenium …

Innovate by developing the data culture

Carlo and Paola have been living together for several years; they seem a perfect couple. No one knows that their union is soon destined to end, not even them. Yet within their “family organization” all the elements indicating unequivocally that they are heading in that direction, can already be seen. It is, for example, the use of a credit card in a restaurant for an amount that is not compatible with someone dining alone.

Benjen Stark’s WiFi

Maybe not everybody knows that, during the journey Benjen Stark had to come back to the Wall, carrying a cage of ravens donated by Maester Luwin, he remained one night in a hotel he found on TripAdvisor.

After getting the formalities (documents, breakfast from 6:30 to 10:00, room number, etc.), Benjen poses the question: “In this hotel do you have the free WiFi service in the rooms?”.