Trends to 2020

Saving lives

Adam Bates — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 16:54:36 GMT

Living in London I take quality healthcare as a given. A few weeks ago I was speaking at the TEDxKPMG DELHI conference in Delhi, India. Two of the speakers, Dr Amit Chatterjee & Rohit Bhasin, opened my eyes to another...

A retail revolution

Adam Bates — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 10:13:34 GMT

Growing up in Belfast in the 1960s I remember milkmen, bread vans, fishmongers and a butcher all delivering fresh produce to our home. Over the next 40 years these tradesmen virtually disappeared as the supermarket chains developed. But I believe...

Living in a box

Adam Bates — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 14:15:08 GMT

For me, watching the Olympic Games opening event was one of the most exciting TV experiences of my adult life. As the Queen turned to James Bond to say hello I was clapping and cheering. As Beckham smirked as he...

How a wedding sparked a data challenge?

Adam Bates — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 13:22:30 GMT

June was a pretty special month for me. I had a great holiday in Australia, which ended up with me getting married in a dried-up riverbed in place called Parachilna out in the middle of the outback. As I flew...

Blurring the digital divide

Adam Bates — Wed, 30 May 2012 10:06:15 GMT

I took delivery of a shiny new Samsung television last week. The helpful guy who installed it showed me how to turn it on and off and change channels by talking to it! Very impressive, I thought. But in reality...

Collaboration is critical

Adam Bates — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:56:00 GMT

I was recently fortunate enough to travel to New Zealand where I met a variety of people from the government and private sector. A couple of subjects dominated our discussions: agriculture and the role of government in supporting and indeed...

The changing face of the consumer

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 10:01:54 GMT

While all the focus currently is on the economic difficulties around the world, looking out to 2020 the clear pattern that companies need to be examining over the longer term is the rise of the middle class. The OECD defines...

2012: when 'real time' business comes of age?

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:32:25 GMT

In the 19th century, the introduction of the telegraph across the US provided businesses with the ability to have timely two way communications over vast distances. This allowed some businesses to coordinate more effectively, react to changes in demand and...

From baby boomers to Gen Z

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:14:26 GMT

My grandfather ran a chemist’s shop in Enniskillen in Northern Ireland for all his working life. Aside from service in the Second World War, my father was an academic all his working life. It looks like I will work at...

Transform or be transformed

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:51:47 GMT

In April 2011, the Economist indicated that in 1937 if you were a company on the S&P 500 index you remained there for 75 years, which in my world is forever.Today, companies last on the same index for 15 years....

Revolutionising manufacturing

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:17:17 GMT

“We should all be concerned about the future because we will have to spend the rest of our lives there” - Charles F. Kettering, American inventor, engineer and businessman.Today, many of us are transfixed by the uncertainty that the Euro...