We have a new essay published in Deloitte Insights, A moral license for AI: Ethics as a dialogue between firms and communities. This collaboration with CSIRO’s Data61 looks into the challenge of creating ethical AI, picking apart the problems and proposing a way forward. There’s a launch event on the 2nd of September, 2020, which you can register for via Zoom.
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Innovating your way out of the crisis
We have a new blog post up on the Deloitte blog, Innovating our way out of the crisis.
In the past few weeks we’ve written about need for management to get out of the bunker mentality that uncertainty and a rapidly unfolding crisis had pushed us into, and how we have a perfect storm for innovation with demand collapsing for the old thing while new demand is popping up as we adapt, and the government is (effectively) subsidising innovation by providing unsecured loans and underwriting payroll (via JobKeeper). Put these together and you have the potential for (some) firms to emerge from the crisis stronger and more capable than they went in. New winners and losers will be created, and so on. That leaves one question unanswered: Where should a firm look for these new opportunities?
Now we’ve had a go at creating an innovation mud map to help find where a firm might innovate. Our hope is for this to be a conversation starter inside firms.
Published on the Deloitte Risk Advisory blog as Innovating our way out of the crisis.
Continue readingThe government is paying you to innovate
We have a new blog post up on the Deloitte blog, The government is paying you to innovate. The post points out that, due to a number of factors, now might be the perfect time to innovate.
There is a few reasons for this.
First is that we seem to have a perfect storm for innovation. The pandemic means that doing the old thing is not an option for many firms, with many of us stuck at home and the government restricting how businesses operate. At the same time, new demand is appearing and we all learn how to live in the new normal.
Second, and as we pointed out in Getting out of the crisis, the business environment post shutdown is unlikely to be the same as pre shutdown. The best way to prepare is to experiment now, to learn how consumer behaviour is changing, and start building the assets and services that will you’ll use in the new normal.
Third, and finally, the government is providing unsecured loans and is even willing to underwrite payroll. The government is effectively paying you to innovate.
There’s already early evidence that firms who are experimenting and adapting will emerge from this shutdown more efficient and effective than they went in. Now would appear to be the perfect time to innovate.
Published on the Deloitte Innovation blog, 20th of May 2020, as The government is paying you to innovate.
Continue readingGetting out of the crisis: Learning now for the future
We have a new blog posts up on the Deloitte C19 blog, Getting out of the crisis. the post makes the point that:
The middle of a crisis might not seem to be the best time to think about the longer term. It can be important though, once immediate problems are dealt with, for management teams to consider how their firm will trade its way out of the crisis, rather than just reacting to events as they unfold.
The common assumption of a “V”-shaped economic contraction is unlikely to be true as when restrictions are lifted they’re likely to be lifted incrementally. The more a firm can do to innovation and keep the business running—rather than putting it into hibernation—the more likely the firm is to emerge from the other side. This means that:
An optimist would consider this a great time for experiment, to look for new opportunities, to find new ways to do old things, and to find new things to do.
You can find the post on the Deloitte C19 blog.
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Your next future
I and a coauthor have a new report out on DU Press: Your next future: Capitalising on disruptive change. Disruption is something we’d been puzzling for […]
Continue readingDigital is the new ERP
The problem digital is creating is similar to that due to spreadsheets, the cause if different and consequently our solution must also be different. Indeed, one might see business processes as part of the problem rather than as part of the solution.
Continue readingThe future of retail: The need for a new trust architecture
Deloitte ran a series of breakfasts recently for the retail community, and they kindly asked C4tE to participate. My contribution, which you can find at Scribd or embedded below, […]
Continue readingThe Future of Exchanging Value: Cryptocurrencies and the trust economy
Our latest piece at Centre for the Edge is out: The Future of Exchanging Value. This report started life as a followup to a report […]
Continue readingThe problem with platforms in the sharing economy
I have a new post up on the Deloitte Strategy blog.It’s the result of a chat I was having the other day with an economist colleague who opined that […]
Continue readingPlatforms are the new fool’s gold
I have a new post up on the Deloitte Strategy blog, which I wrote with Richard Millar. Platforms are all the rage. In the modern […]
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