Essay About Electronic Appointments Calendar And Near Future

Insight
Join now to read essay Insight
ness partners,most ofwhich is trapped in data warehouses.They seek to harness it and
use it to inform better decision making,financial management and customer service.
What they do not realize is that,even ifthey were able to meet this goal,they would
merely have caught up with yesterday.The information frontier is moving forward
quickly,opening up incredibly rich streams ofnew information sources
and formats and dramatically increasing the technical ability to man-
age them.Forward-looking companies must stay ahead ofthat curve.
Consider an everyday example.More than 30 million packages are
delivered globally by courier services every business day.All too often,the recipient
isnнt there to receive the package when it arrives,which is frustrating for him,the
sender and the courier.The problem is that packages are directed to a physical loca-
tion,which is static,but the intended recipient is mobile.Yet with information and
technology available today,the delivery мaddressоcould be a person who could be
found in real time,anywhere.
How would that work? Imagine that a delivery company had access to your
electronic appointments calendar and could locate you using the Global
Positioning System via your vehicle or cell phone у with your permis-
sion,ofcourse.The company could notify you ofan imminent delivery
and ask ifa courier should bring your package directly to you right away,leave it at
Organizations are
another location,or reschedule delivery for a more convenient time and place.
Depending on your choice,you might мsignоfor the package,by verifying your iden-
increasingly able to
tity through a smart card or a thumbprint.This kind ofdelivery would be a highly per-
gather and process
sonalized service,made possible by combining several different types ofinformation
not commonly or economically available until recently.
information from a
So far none ofthe major package delivery services has adopted usercentric
variety of new sources.
addressing.But the technical capabilities do exist.
In the near future,leaders in any
industry will be able to draw on not only enterprise data but also information from a
But competitive
wealth ofnew sources that will create a richer,real-time picture ofthe world.And
advantage will still
those leaders will be able to use that information not just to understand the past,but
belong to those who
also to anticipate the future,gleaning novel insights and innovative products,services
and business models.To understand this assertion,it first is important to look at what
know how to use it.
is happening in the realm ofinformation.(See мAbout the Research.о)
Glover Ferguson is chief scientist at Accenture. Sanjay Mathur leads Accenture Technology
Glover Ferguson,
Baiju Shah directs Accentureнs Predictive Insight practice
LabsнInformation Insight R&D area.
area. Contact them at [email protected], [email protected] and
Sanjay Mathur and
[email protected].
Baiju Shah
WINTER