Hagel III et al. (2011) attempt to find a way to measure the way
technology, and in particular digital technology, transforms business and
the economy. They describe the effect of digital technology as the "Big
Shift" and develop a "Shift Index" to measure it. This index is intended
to measure longer term trends than is usual with most short term
business metrics. The authors make the point that the digital
adoption rate for is "two to five times faster than previous infrastructures, such as electricity and telephone networks" (2011, p.21). Their "shift index" measures the effect of three waves of this adoption:
- Foundation Index: "... reflects new possibilities and
challenges for business as a result of new technology
capability and public policy shifts."
- Flow Index: " is characterized by the increasing flows of capital, talent, and knowledge across geographic and institutional boundaries"
- Impact Index:
"reflects how well companies are exploiting foundational improvements
in the digital infrastructure by creating and sharing knowledge"
As
might be expected for a report from a management consulting
company, Hagel III et al. (2011, p. 24) suggest that "unless firms take
radical action, the gap between their potential and their realized opportunities will likely grow wider". However,
the authors seem to be working from a very limited view of what a firm
is and how it can work, they say "Until now, companies were designed to
become more efficient by growing ever larger ..." (Hagel III et al., 2011, p. 24). That may be the way Deloitte
's clients like to see the world, but there is considerable research to show that larger firms are not necessarily more efficient.
Hagel
III et al. seem to want to replace a romantic notion of the efficiency of
large 20th century firms with an equally unrealistic view of 21st century
ones: "largely propelled by individuals, especially the younger workers, who put digital technologies, such as social media, to their most
effective use" (Hagel III et al.,
2011, p. 24). In this new age firm, management is to play a supporting
role, finding "passionate employees" and "providing them with
platforms and tools". Stripped of the new age language, this sounds
like the traditional role of management: to identify staff with
potential and give the the tools to apply their skills. Also the idea of staff having to step outside the boundaries of the organization in order to get the job done is hardly a new one.
Hagel
III et al.'s message about productivity seems to become a little confused when discussing "creative cities" (2011, p. 24). They comment
that "Talent is migrating to the most vibrant geographies and institutions because that is where individuals can improve
their
performance more rapidly by learning faster." which is hard to argue
with (but has been the case for thousands of years). They have
identified the top and bottom ten creative cities (but only in the USA) and point out that the top
ones outpaced the bottom for population growth, as if this is a good thing. The authors seem to
think that bigger cities are in some way better. But the
ADC Cities Report: Enhancing Liveability (
Report part 1 &
Report part 2, 22 October 2010), sets the optimal size for a city at 250,000 to 300,000 people.
References
Hagel III, J., Brown, J. S., Kulasooriya, D., Bhatia, S., Lally, M.,
Wong, J., ... & Lu, S. J. (2011). The 2011 Shift Index Measuring the
forces of long-term change.
Deloitte Center for the Edge,
1(2011), 17.
Available online at http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/nl/Documents/center-for-the-edge/deloitte-nl-center-for-the-edge-shift-index.pdf
As David points out small Personal Locator Beacons
(PLBs) are available for about $400. These are robust and waterproof. They transmit a signal to a special network of satellites (not the GPS satellites as David suggests). The PLB's location is estimated by the satellites to within a few km and the rescue services notified (if equipped with GPS the PLBs give a more accurate fix). To activate the unit you simply flip up the antenna and press a button.
If hiking alone, there are also Satellite Communicators
A useful gadget I purchased recently is a keyring multitool
