2009 Horizon Report Economic Development Edition

Critical Challenges

Likewise, the Advisory Board noted many challenges facing small and medium-sized businesses. The five listed below are those selected as most likely to impact business and industry over the next five years. Although it is not explicitly named below, one challenge that was present as an undercurrent in every dialog among the Advisory Board has been the effect of recent events in the global financial markets. While these events and their continuing consequences are not discussed here, they remain in the background as the challenges and trends noted here unfold.

• Students are not being educated in a culture of innovation and creativity. Today’s workers are expected to be problem solvers, to tackle challenges proactively, and to think creatively, but these skills are not taught in schools. The culture in most schools still reflects values that were key in the industrial age — values that prepared students for jobs on the assembly line. Innovation and creativity are skills that can, and should, be cultivated while students are still in school.
• There is a growing need for formal instruction in key new skills, including information literacy, visual literacy, and technological literacy. We live in a media-rich world; young people, especially, are surrounded by stimuli in a variety of formats. It is often wrongly assumed that the skills for interpreting and creating media-rich messages come naturally to students simply because they encounter such content so frequently. In order for young people to become fluent in the language of media — a skill that is vital for many careers, and one that will enhance the quality of life no matter what occupation is chosen — these new skills must be formally taught alongside written, spoken, and information literacy skills.
• Small companies are not embracing technologies that could give them a real competitive advantage. Even though it is often easier for small to medium-sized businesses to adopt and implement new technologies than for larger companies, many have not yet embraced technologies that could give them an edge. Smaller companies appear to have more difficulty researching and evaluating technology solutions than larger companies or individuals do. Ironically, the need for small businesses to focus on customer service and the bottom line may be getting in the way of adopting emerging technologies that could help them do so more effectively.
• Boundaries are disappearing between work, play and general living. Workplaces have become mutable spaces. Whether an employee works at home, on the road, or in an office, the boundaries between work, life, and play are very fuzzy. It is no longer possible, as it once was, to completely separate family life, social life, and work life: our relationships and activities are mediated by technology to such an extent that they overlap and coincide in countless ways. The challenge is to establish and maintain satisfying, successful relationships in all our spheres, while still keeping the commitments that come with each.
• Traditional intellectual property laws and practices are increasingly irrelevant in today’s world. The failure of copyright and patent law to reflect current realities of media capture and transfer, and the failure of business to develop successful new models for maintaining the value of intellectual property threaten the success of the creative industries. Technology often blurs the boundaries between the owner, the producer, and the consumer of content, causing a shift in who controls the content. This is especially true in the music, motion picture, and publishing industries.

The trends and challenges noted here frame any discussion of the six technologies described below. They surround and infuse the environment in which these technologies exist and are put to use, and they inform the way we pursue activities related to business and industry. The Advisory Board acknowledges that understanding is only the first step toward incorporating any emerging technology into practice and recognizes that the factors described here influence our decisions and actions on a daily basis.