Monthly Archives: December 2013

The all-encompassing cloud will come of age in 2014 – The age of the consumer

Cloud Thinking

The idea of life, the universe and everything being in one place… the cloud is here to stay – shadows and all.

It’s a bold statement. Let me explain…

Back in 1999 a theory emerged that suggested in the future everything would connect. The future is here.

This is a notion we are going to hear more and more about in the coming year… This is the idea of ‘IoT’.  The Internet of Everything. There is an excellent explanation on Wikipedia, but in a nutshell, IoT says everything we do at work, at play and in our sleep; All the organisations we sign-up to, the clubs we join, the places we shop, the things we consume, the websites we visit etc. etc. etc. are all joined-up because they are all identifiable and recognised by a huge central computer. All this data being drawn into a black hole and then blasted out again in a billion different directions. Continue reading →

How the BBC managed to rain the Mandela’s parade

Cloud Thinking,

Technology is shrinking the globe and flooding us with information. Technology enriches our lives. But we are all still at the mercy of human error.

I was moved by the Ceremony to celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela.  I watched the build-up to the celebration of Mandela’s life and the unfolding ceremony held in that rain drenched stadium whilst sitting at my desk at work on my Mac. As I watched the BBC coverage, the twitter feeds and social media responses which accompanied it I was reminded of the first time I had watched such an event in this way… and how far we have come in cyberspace. Continue reading →

Chancellor needs to stay on track in the autumn statement

Business Buzz,

Being bullish in the China shop, being restrained at the dispatch box and opening up the market to ‘peer to peer’ investment models… All eyes on Osborne.

Remember, remember the 5th of December. We maybe in the depths of winter and the leaves have all fallen off the trees but this Thursday is a golden opportunity for the UK economy when the Chancellor delivers his Autumn Statement – hopefully something UK business will find memorable for all the right reasons. Business needs the Chancellor to make it feel warm with confidence not dazzled with fireworks.

I urge the chancellor to avoid using the time on his feet in the house to crow about the economic upside of the past few months. True, he has more money to spend than he did at this time last year but this is not the time for lighting the blue touch paper and standing back. He needs to be measured and in some ways restrained. Continue reading →