Posts Tagged ‘technology’

Since enterprise technology became an accepted part of business infrastructure there has been a language barrier between those that use the technology and those that create and install it. So significant has been the divide that it spawned a whole new industry – IT consultancy – effectively a middleman between business and technology.

This divide is set to become even more of an issue now that Cloud has become part of the conversation. In many larger organisations there is a place for the CIO at board level, which meant the responsibility for understanding the business need and translating that into a technical requirement sat mainly with one person. Cloud however has brought a whole new set of decision-makers into the mix.

Some software providers are better placed to take advantage of these changes than others. For companies like SAP, Oracle and Microsoft there has always been a focus on lines of business because of the nature of what it sells. HR, finance, procurement and customer service systems exist to support particular lines of business so the heads of these divisions have always had a say in what is delivered. Translating technology into business benefits has therefore had to be at the heart of the message that SAP delivers.

Up until now the onus has always been on the IT people to understand better what the business needs. Now however the businesses are trying to understand better what technology can do for them. Cloud is seen as something that can not only save money but can also make the business more agile, more flexible and more dynamic. From a PR perspective this means that the approach is sometimes the reverse of what we have traditionally seen. It’s about showing real understanding of the technology and showing what it can deliver.

This change in the way technology is viewed is a huge opportunity for the company that understands it. The impact of consumerisation, Cloud and the way social media has changed the media environment so radically over the last 12 months demands a fresh approach not only to the way IT companies speak to their customers but to the influencers on those customers too – be it traditional media, bloggers, analysts or industry influencers. Businesses now actively want to know how technology can benefit them and its time for the geeks to step into the limelight and take centre stage.

So for many of the uninitiated, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 was released this week. This has been the most anticipated video game since GTA IV which came out in 2008. CoD MF2 is already a record breaker with over 1 million copies being sold in day one, analysts expect 10 million sales in the run up to Christmas.

That’s mental! Record companies would bite your hand off for those figures especially when the game costs around £50 a pop.

The reason this is relevant to the PR industry is the buzz around this game this week has been incredible, it has secured coverage across not only in the traditional gaming press and blogs but also mainstream broadcast and national press with MP’s debating the games’ release in Parliament. Shouldn’t they be sorting the country out rather than discussing a piece of entertainment that has already been classified and approved by the British Board of Film Classification?

I have no doubt that the game is a great piece of workmanship and entertainment and I am looking forward to playing it. What I was impressed with was the PR launch of the game. Many shops were breaking sales embargoes and there were large queues of fans waiting to get their hands on it. The most impressive aspect of the launch was the permission to use Leicester Sq in London as the site to unveil the game. This is predominately reserved for Hollywood movies, so the fact that there was a massive scale PR event with full military occupation including camo vehicles and personnel added to the drama and event. The launch also had the red carpet feel with a number of celebrities attending, proving that gaming is part of our modern culture just as music, art and movies are.

The revenues of the gaming industry worldwide are overtaking the movie industry very quickly due to huge sales and high prices for games. The scope for executing well planned and large PR campaigns for games has arrived and will be a major aspect of the PR business sector in the years to come. Expect a lot of big agencies to be pitching for software houses such as Activision, EA, Epic, Rockstar, Eidos and Ubisoft as well as crazier and bigger PR launches.

Game on!

‘Has anyone got a Nokia charger?’

‘Has anyone got a Sony Ericsson charger?’

There is nothing more annoying than trying to find a charger when your phone is on its last legs and nobody around has the one that you need, but wouldn’t it be nice if there was one charger that worked with all models of mobile devices so you could always have a way of topping up your battery life?

Well over the next year or so the majority of mobile manufacturers will be introducing the micro-USB connection as the standard means of charging your mobile phone. Nice one mobile phone companies, you have just solved one of life’s little problems.

The benefits of having an universal standard means that most people will be able to charge-up wherever they want through a micro-USB cable. It is also said to be beneficial for the environment as the GSMA estimates that the new standard will prevent 51,000 tonnes of redundant chargers per year and will reduce carbon emissions annually by 13.6m tonnes.

The new standard charger was approved by the International Telecommunication Union, a branch of the United Nations after input from the industry body GSMA recommended that there should be an universal standard for charging mobile phones.

Although this new standard will not be mandatory to all manufacturers it is expected that the majority of mobile phone manufacturers will sign up to the standard as many companies are already using the micro-USB connection including, HTC and Blackberry.

Sony Ericsson has said that they will adopting the new standard on their new products, however other manufacturers such as Apple, may be reluctant to do so due to patents on their connections.

It is nice to see technology companies agreeing on a mutual way of working together for the benefit of consumers as well as a way of helping to reduce carbon emissions.

It will be interesting to see if the other manufacturers follow Sony Ericsson’s lead……. no pun intended!

Jason Stamper wrote a great piece this morning about what Obama’s presidency means for the science and technology world. For anyone working in these industries, these are exciting times. As Barack Obama himself says:

“America risks being left behind in the global economy: Revolutionary advances in information technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology and other fields are reshaping the global economy. Without renewed efforts, the United States risks losing leadership in science, technology and innovation.”

And what of his plans to hire a CTO of the U.S.A?

That’s quite a job title and one that is going to actually be filled early next year, if Obama’s election pledges are to be believed.

To quote the man of the moment, he plans to appoint America’s first CTO to “ensure that our government and all its agencies have the right infrastructure, policies and services for the 21st century. The CTO will ensure the safety of our networks and will lead an interagency effort, working with chief technology and chief information officers of each of the federal agencies, to ensure that they use best-in-class technologies and share best practices.”

Worthy sentiments I’m sure you’ll agree and probably not that much of a surprise. Of the two main presidential candidates, Obama was far more tech-savvy than McCain, even going so far as to use Twitter, the micro-blogging service to reach out to potential voters, whilst McCain was virtually tech-illiterate, confessing to not even using email and barely being online. I’m certainly not going to claim ‘it was tech wot won it’ but the difference between the two men on that issue was stark and only served to highlight Obama’s youth, freshness and enthusiasm.

Obama has said that ‘the Bush Administration has been one of the most secretive, closed administrations in American history’ and the appointment of a CTO will certainly help to address that. Transparency in government and policy is always welcome and Obama plans to use technology ‘to reform government and improve the exchange of information between the federal government and citizens.’

We’ll have to watch this space to see exactly how the CTO and tech-friendly approach works out but the early signs are encouraging and it can only be a good thing for the whole industry to have a US President as savvy and pro-tech as Barack Obama. If you’re interested in hearing what he is up to why not follow him on Twitter? He can be found here @BarackObama