Happy 25th! Happy 50th!
Posted: May 14, 2014 Filed under: Technology | Tags: ARPANET, CERN, Tim Berners-Lee, World Wide Web Leave a comment
Image courtesy of mrsiraphol / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
The World Wide Web has been around for 50% of my years. Yes, happy 50th birthday to me as the Web turns 25. How crazy is that thought?
Let me digress and explain the difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web. In 1969, ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) was launched to facilitate communications between military installations. The infrastructure consisted of mainframe computers at major universities around the country and included both the hardware and software components. This “network of networks” is the Internet.
In a separate initiative, British scientist Tim Berners-Lee wanted a system to connect scientists at universities and institutes throughout the world. He developed a method for transmitting data across the Internet via browsing and hypertext links between nodes of information. Thus, the World Wide Web was launched in 1989 with the first website at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research). It later became available to the public in 1993.
Berners-Lee’s original proposal is a fascinating read. His describes his initial goal as looking for a future-proof system that is: “portable, or supported on many platforms” and “extendible to new data formats.” To say that he met this goal would be a gross understatement. He also says, “I imagine that two people for 6 to 12 months would be sufficient for this phase of the project.” That calls to mind the Margaret Mitchell quote, “”Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Happy birthday, World Wide Web. Here’s to many more.
Weekly Download 14.6
Posted: May 12, 2014 Filed under: Business, Change, Demographics | Tags: Berkshire Hathaway, change, diversity, leadership, McKinsey & Company, Millenials, National Geographic, Pew Research, The Economist, Warren Buffet Leave a comment
Here’s a recap of news and notes from around the Web that caught my attention over the past week or so.
Berkshire Hathaway. Warrant Buffet is 83. His partner Charlie Munger is 90. Berkshire Hathaway has a market value of over $300B. They have a succession plan, but very much still run this holding company. With their recent annual meeting (attended by over 30,000 people in Omaha), there has been some interesting recent reading.
It also reminds me that many of us will continue to work later in life—regardless of our financial situation.
Change leader, change thyself. How we examine our own “profile” and understand our modes of operating to help effect larger change.
Millennials in Adulthood. What a fascinating generation. Detached, yet networked. Distrustful, yet optimistic. Disaffiliated and digital. And more racially diverse than any previous generation.
The Changing Face of America. A visual depiction of how the U.S. population is broadening from its original European roots.
Expectations of Information Technology Leadership
Posted: May 7, 2014 Filed under: Service, Technology Leave a comment
Image courtesy of KROMKRATHOG / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Consumerization of technology has been well documented. Technology users now expect “easy, fast, and friendly” and “when I want it, where I want it, how I want it.” With technology increasingly affordable and accessible, many casual users have become equally (or more) savvy than their IT counterparts. Since IT professionals no longer have the upper hand in managing technology, where does that leave us?
IT must transform itself from being infrastructure-centric to increasingly service oriented. There will always be a key component of infrastructure, but by necessity its scope will go beyond procuring and installing hardware and software. An evolved IT department may also be the pivot point for:
- Knowledge management. Developing the taxonomy, practices and policies in managing organizational data, information and knowledge.
- Brokering other business services. Vendor management and purchasing, facility management.
- Service request brokering/fulfillment. Creation and process for standard service catalog items.
- Digital property development. External, internal and collaborative digital or web-based properties.
- People and process consulting. Applying proven improvement disciplines, with or without a technology wrapper.
- Workflow design. Improving and enabling work processes with technology to drive consistency and efficiency.
- Security consulting. Working with vendors, clients, and partners to ensure the web of solutions appropriately incorporates risk mitigation strategies.
- Business capability planning and technology platform. Proactive business consulting to support strategic plans with evolving capabilities (e.g. communication & collaboration, workflow, digital service delivery, etc) and the underlying technology required.
- Data analytics. Leverage data sources, internal and external, to provide new insights and services.
- Innovation and product development. Pursuing opportunities for digital offerings and augmentation of existing products and services.
Carving out a niche as a consultative partner and leveraging information resources will increase the value of the IT department organization-wide.
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