"Hacker insurance.....is expected to explode from a $100 million sideshow into a $2.5 billion behemoth by 2005" - Yahoo article
"The computer worm that clogged Internet traffic and shut down vulnerable corporate networks this weekend also provided another boost to the emerging market for hacker insurance....also known as 'network risk insurance.'" [ link to Yahoo article ]
I've spent quite some time within the corporate sector alerting them to the issues with my "Business Network and Infrastructure Security" topic, coining the phrase "electronic joyriding" to describe what is going on. [ link ]
Insurance companies would find a presentation that melds insurance issues with network security issues to be of particular value. Here's a document that outlines how I'd approach this area.[ 
brochure ]
There are a number of older articles I've written over the years that can be of use to those trying to figure out what is going on. [ link ]
The key thing is that if the Yahoo! article is true, then insurance companies need to step up to the plate to understand the market; the types of customers that are being impacted; how to sell into those markets (how many insurance companies have direct experience with I/T departments?) and other issues. I've spent quite some time in the insurance industry [ link ] so it would make for a perfect marriage of topics.
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"It’s lonely being a visionary"
While cleaning up the office today, I came across a book that I contributed the Foreword to a few years back. The book was "e-Work Architect: How HR Leads the Way Using the Internet." The foreword still makes for interesting reading today. [ link to the book ]
Foreword for "e-Work Architect: How HR Leads the Way Using the Internet"
Back in 1987, I was busy working within the world’s largest international accounting firm. I spent my time with senior executives of the firm around the world, trying to convince them that we should be investing in technology systems that would let us capture and harness the human assets of the firm.
Knowledge was paramount, I was pleading, and we should be ensuring that we implement technologies that would help us harness and grab this intellectual capital before it was lost. If we could do that, I suggested, we would be able to better serve our clients, and increase our bottom line.
The fact was, I was talking about e-mail, knowledge management, and the Internet, some ten years or so before they became mainstream.
And you know what? It’s lonely being a visionary.
By 1990, the firm finally admitted to me that they didn’t understand what I was doing, what I was talking about, and what I was suggesting. It was said to me, in rather diplomatic terms, that I’d probably never make it to partnership. Not only that, but the professional body of which I was a member also seemed to be sending signals that a guy like me was on the wrong track, and that I’d better come back to my senses.
Tired of swimming against the tide, I quit the company, established my own consulting firm, and began writing.
Fast-forward ten years to the year 2000. By that point, I’d established an international reputation as a keynote speaker and seminar leader, had authored some 30 books about e-biz and the Internet, and was a busy media personality. Some called me a “guru,” while I just kept referring to myself as a nice guy.
And in a time of sweet vindication, my old firm called me back, asking me to to provide a keynote address for their annual partner’s conference. They wanted me to explain the future to them ; they were now prepared to listen. Knowledge management? Intellectual capital? The things I was talking about ten years before were now mainstream.
The profession of which I am a member? They had come full circle -- in 2000 they honored me by naming me an FCA – a Fellow Chartered Accountant. To put that distinction into perspective, only 90 of 33,000 accountants were honored that year, meaning that I am one of a unique group considered to be a leader among my peers.
My, how times change.
There is invaluable lesson in all of this: as we careen towards a future that is full of surprises, all of us would do well to keep an open mind.
As you will see in this book, there are many who believe that there will be dramatic change to the workplace, the nature of the organization, and the very essence of a job and career. Technology, the wired world, the Internet – we are in the midst of a period of time that is probably going to see the greatest change to have ever occurred.
And there are a lot of lonely visionaries out there.
They’re working in their own specialties, their own areas of concentration, their own technology systems that they will believe will shape the world. And often, they are ignored. Battered and bruised. Advised they are on the wrong track. Told in no uncertain terms that they are, well, not quite with it.
Just like I was ten years ago.
What a dangerous state of affairs we place ourselves in, when we don’t listen to those who dare to predict where our future might take us! It is a sad fact that it is a natural human trait to dismiss those who are brave enough to think about how our future might unfold.
And it is dangerous, for so many of us can miss the boat by not having an open mind. Ask yourself this question: ten years ago, were you thinking that something like the Internet would exist? Did you think that companies would actually have difficulty recruiting and retaining hi-tech staff? Did you think that e-biz would come to reshape the economy? Had you considered how much outsourcing t might occur in the economy, fuelled by the connectivity of the wired world?
No? Well, then, you weren’t listening.
You have to listen – and you must have an open mind. Yet far too many HR executives are overwhelmed by the rate of technological change around them, and can all too often become complacent about its potential to wreak havoc on their business organizations.
That’s why 21 Tomorrow’s is such an important book – for it will help you to realize that complacency towards change is no longer an option – in fact, it is a death sentence.
It was physicist Neils Bohr who once stated that “prediction is difficult, especially when it involves the future.” Yes, it might be difficult, but it needs to be done, and you need to listen.
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A serious look at e-government issues
"I think the biggest problem is that we still need a tremendous amount of education throughout the civil service as to what this is all about....it's fundamentally changing the way we do business in order to achieve costs savings in the way we do business." Jim in Summit Magazine: The Business of Public Sector Procurement. Read the full article online.
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10 predictions business people can't avoid
The Hamilton Spectator ran a short column on my list of issues for the coming years. You can read it online here. You can also read my Adobe Acrobat column, which goes into a bit more depth on these issues, here.
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Can you sell information online?
It's the holy-grail for many companies. Lots have tried, few have succeeded, since I've long argued that people have a relatively small "informatiion budget." Too many people are used to information that is free. But is there still a market?
But having said that, I just signed up for Accuweather Professional, which involves a monthly/annual fee. As a weather junkie, I've long been a fan of the columns by a fellow named Joe Bastardi. His long range predictions are usually spot on.
He has something like 100,000 loyal readers of his daily column. They decided to move him off to a pay site, along with a lot of other specialized information for weather junkies and amateur meteorologists.
And the thing is, it seems to be working. I just signed up. I tried to go a week without, but just couldn't do it.
Maybe there is a small information budget out there. The information has to be a) extremely popular, b) niche oriented c) unavailable anywhere else d) be very specific in terms of the type of content.
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The culture of innovation
I put up a new video yesterday from a recent keynote that focusses on the issue of innovation in the workplace. You can get to it here -- from the pull down menu in the "broadcast center", choose the Innovation item.
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MPI Keynote - "Live & Online Partnerships in Today's Workplace"
I've just been booked by a chapter of Meeting Professionals International, to provide a closing keynote on the theme, "Business to Business - Live & Online Partnerships in Today's Workplace."
I'll be doing the keynote in early April '03. The session description follows.
"Today, in the era of global business, hyper-connectivity, supply chain initiatives, knowledge networks and just-in-time innovation, meeting planner and supplier organizations have learned they have to continually morph into something new -- the collaborative organizations of the future. In this keynote, Jim Carroll takes us on a tour of the world of the new organization of today -- and puts into perspective the challenges, opportunities and risks of a new world of business that is unlike anything we've seen before."
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Things businesses should think about
From The Observer (Sarnia), Jan 17/2003 -- they picked up on my "predictions for the future article:" "1. The return of the future - for some: We will see a big disconnect between organizations, as some charge ahead, while their competition remains mired in the mud of their inaction, and the economic impacts of the last few year's.
The full article follows
Jim Carroll lives five, 10, even 20 years into the future. A leading strategic futurist by trade, Carroll has provided 10 predictions of what every businessperson needs to be thinking about in 2003 and beyond.
"1. The return of the future - for some: We will see a big disconnect between organizations, as some charge ahead, while their competition remains mired in the mud of their inaction, and the economic impacts of the last few year#s.
2. The skills exodus: As baby boomers retire, companies must aggressively pursue knowledge transfer and retention to succeed.
3. Generational dysfunction: The first generation of kids to be nurtured on technology from birth are now of an age that allows them to become active politicians. Smart organizations must understand the political and moral views and perspectives of this generation in order to thrive.
4. Time shifting: Organizations will have to deal with an increase in altered work days due to a greater demand for work/life balance, and the cultural challenges presented.
5. "Normal" is "quaint": There is no such thing as normal anymore. To deal with the unexpected, companies must plan for multiple scenarios with multiple contingency plans.
6. Hyperconnectivity and uber-computing: Organizations will be able to monitor and control from afar any aspect of their infrastructure. This trend will cause dramatic change, and present unprecedented opportunity for manufacturers and others.
7. Collaborative community control: Organizations that take the time to learn from online communities will discover how their markets, industry and future will evolve through the next five to 10 years.
8. Innovation driven by hyperfeedback: The evolution of knowledge is occurring at an unprecedented pace. By learning to plug into hyperfeedback networks, organizations can prepare for future developments, before these developments come to surprise them.
9. Aggressive indecision - decide later, not now! Uncertainty has created massive indecision for companies, leading to last minute, instant decisions. Organizations must shift their culture to deal with this future in which "just in time decision making" will be the rule.
10. Transaction re-engineering: Organizations will aggressively streamline business transactions to the extent that they cause sweeping job and career change. As a result, managing the cultural aspects of workplace change will be an important focus."
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Techno-rage revisited....
"Fight with computer brings SWAT team - No charges filed after isunderstanding cleared up" - January 9, 2003, Daily Camera, Boulder, CO
Read on -- this is quite fascinating!
I often incorporate in my keynotes a bit of discussion on how there are many people who just can't seem to cope with technology -- and often get a good chuckle from the audience when doing so. I call it my Surviving The Information Age topic, based on a book I did of the same title. [ topic page ] [ book ] And I've written about the issue extensively over the years -- for example, in this article, Tech Stress [ article ]
But this really takes the cake!
A 32-year-old Boulder man who had opened his apartment's patio door to enjoy Wednesday's unusually warm weather was later overheard screaming threats and seen waving what appeared to be a handgun, prompting a maintenance worker to call police.
Officers, as a precaution, evacuated the man's apartment building and called SWAT officers to assist in defusing the situation.
It turned out that the man was simply upset at his computer — which he had called a "bitch" he "wanted to kill," police said — and the gun was a plastic pellet gun, not the .45-caliber automatic handgun it was made to resemble.
Read the full article at the Daily Camera news site.
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Wireless in the sky......
Cool article over at ITWorld -- Lufthansa has implemented a wireless LAN in the sky. Soon to be available on most long distance flights. [ article ]
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Microsoft books me for 10 client events
I'll be doing a series of events in 10-cities; a morning workshop on business strategy for CEO/CIO/CFO, and an afternoon session on business intelligence and corporate portals, through February into early March.......
[ Acrobat pdf ]
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The future of online shopping
I'm speaking at a VISA event today about the future of online shopping and security. Two key points -- online shopping was up significantly this Christmas compared to last. Yet there are still many people who hold themselves back due to security concerns. VISA's introducing a new technology -- VbV or Verified-By-VISA, which in essence places a secure password over every transaction, which should go a long way to helping improve consumer confidence.
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"An Odyssey in Ice"
The odd of one man's (me!) valiant struggle to go for a swim, at a time when he shouldn't be doing so. here.
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Motivating the Middleman
"...any organization can do a few simple things to spur along the adoption of new technology in its sales or distribution channel." My January 2003 CAMagazine article is now online. [ link to article ]
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My book "Get a (Digital) Life" published in India -- and I just found out....!
I awoke this morning to an item from my newsclipping service -- seems that my book "Get a (Digital) Life" just got a glowing review in the Financial Express.
Problem is, I'd never heard of the publication. Turns out it is based in India. Turns out they were reviewing the Indian edition of my book. Turns out that this is one of a few reviews done of the book in India.
Turns out I never even knew that it has been published in India!
It appears that somewhere along the way, my now bankrupt publisher Stoddart did a foreign-rights sale to MacMillan UK, who then licenced it to MacMillan India. Of course, no one ever thought to tell us (nor will we ever see a dime due to the Stoddart bankruptcy... see this item for that story!)
But hey -- at least I can now honestly say that I'm a published author in India.....
681 words
4 January 2003
Financial Express
English
Financial Times Information Ltd - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire, All
Material Subject to Copyright Financial Express (c) 2003 : All Rights
Reserved
The Internet hype is dead, long live the Internet. That seems to be
the message that keeps flashing through Get A Digital Life: An
Internet Reality Check, like popup windows that keep re-appearing on your
screen as soon as you close them down. But whether you are a retailer,
manufacturer or in the service industry, ignore this message at your own
peril. For, far from running down the power of the World Wide Web, authors
Jim Carroll and Rick Broadhead are passionate believers in the power it
holds to transform your world. After all, the passion that went out of
fashion after the dotcom disaster (that made megabillions look like small
change and actually turned them into it), the pendulum swung to the other
extreme. The same media that had made heroes out of idea-millionaires who
"created" virtual wealth and destroyed real money in "Internet time"
(another concept that the authors delight in debunking), were now
declaring that the Internet was finished.
What makes the book an interesting read is the clinically
dispassionate manner in which the duo conduct the post-mortem of the boom
and doom years of the Net without making villains or heroes out of the
characters that played questionable roles in pumping up the bubble.
Clearly a product of long hours of painstaking research spread over more
than a year, the book is liberally peppered with interesting statistics,
facts and samples of fiction that were taken for fact while the "idea
virus" was on a rampage. The authors also conferenced with groups of
businessmen most likely to have been impacted by online businesses. An
interesting illustration comes from their meeting with a bunch of marina
operators. "These are folks who manage small-to large-scale marinas on
lakes in Canada, many of which could be characterised as 'mom-and- pop'
operations. Some of their income is derived from renting or leasing marina
slips to boat owners and from winter storage of boats, but most of their
profit comes from the sale of boats, boating equipment and supplies... One
marina operator stood up and told us he was quite experienced with the
Internet... He knew there were plenty of threats to his business on the
horizon-particularly when it comes to product sales-because of e-
commerce..." The authors write of how the marina operator was familiar
with his web-based competitors, online boating supply sites and the
potential threat of his own suppliers deciding to compete directly against
him in the new world of "disintermediation". "In other words, he had
plenty of reasons to be worried. But then he told us that in spite of such
threats, he had seen barely any impact." Beyond analysing what went wrong
and how, the utility of the book lies in the strategy it offers to
businesses that seek to leverage the edge of the Internet. Both Canadian
writers are authorities in their fields. Mr Carroll is a chartered
accountant, who offers consultancy to Fortune 500 clients on doing
business in the new economy. Mr Broadhead is considered a leading
e-commerce expert and has co-authored 30 books on the Internet, e-
commerce and e-business. Apart from strategy, what the book offers is hope
for those who have come to believe that the Net was only about hype. The
authors say the Net and what it can do is very real. Only the pace of
change will be gradual and the road ahead not predictable. If you overlook
the occasional, banal sound byte they borrow, ostensibly in a needless
attempt to spice up their effort (Sample this: "Never look back-the road
is forward. If you spend too much time reflecting on what's been done,
you're not spending enough time on what could be done..."), the book is
well worth the "Internet time" you will invest in it. Get A Digital Life-
An Internet Reality Check by Jim Carrol & Rick Broadhead; Macmillan India;
Rs 198; Pp 221.
Financial Times Information Ltd - Asia Africa Intelligence Wire
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My article in Jan 2003 Successful Meetings Magazine
"If you think about what we've witnessed in the last 10 years, technology has brought us an economy in which the pace of innovation has increased dramatically.....That's why we're seeing a new industry, one in which clients are organizing off-site events with just a few months' notice, rather than a year or so...." In the article, I outline how various technologies, including wireless and weblogs, will come to change the meeting and conference industry. [ read the article ]
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