Title: IBM Reveals Five Innovations that Will Change Our Lives Over the Next Five Years
Source: IBM
Abstract:  Knowing what exactly we are eating, making payments via cell phones, watching tennis matches at home as if we were at the stadium thanks to 3-D technology, ensuring that grandpa doesn't mix up his medication by means of an automatic pill dispenser, finding out the results of a medical exam without having to get out of our easy chair… According to a study by IBM, this and whole lot more is right around the corner, thanks to five technologies to be released in the coming five years. These innovations will also allow a Japanese doctor to communicate with a Spanish patient by using the simultaneous interpretation feature to be offered by PDAs. People’s medical records will not be lost in the event of an environmental catastrophe or fire, as they will be stored in a database that can be accessed from anywhere in the world. Industries will contaminate less thanks to nanotechnology, and cell phones will be adapted to suit our needs and preferences. Within five years.

 

 

In 2008, the IT market will see less growth than in 2007. Consulting firms already predicted this slowdown at the end of last year but have now upgraded its status, basically due to the fear of a possible market recession in the US, the world's top IT consumer.
IDC downgrades that figure to 5% from the initial forecasts of 5.5 to 6%. Forrester, which had anticipated a 9% increase, has bumped that number down to 6%, adding that those affected most will be desktop computers, laptops, servers, and storage hardware, whereas software and services will not be as affected. Another consulting firm, Gartner, goes even further by recommending a six-step plan to “prepare for the cost-cutting that IT departments will likely have to face as a result of the current economic situation.” A study by ChangeWave Research, cited in CIO Magazine, validates that assessment and adds that American companies will reduce their IT spending in the second quarter. It seems that telecommunications will not go unscathed. In a recent study, Gartner stated that while 2007 saw a 16% rise in device sales from the previous year, growth will be limited to 10% in 2008.

 

Articles in ComputerWorld,  CIO, Le Monde and Guardian

Winds of crisis are wreaking havoc on the IT market. In our January Newsletter, IESE professor Pinar Ozcan analyzed the possible consequences of an economic slowdown on software demand, predicting a restructuring of the market. The Inquirer has cited Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell and others as part of the ICT vanguard that are seeing their fortunes shrink due to their companies’ respective drops in share prices. The repercussions will be even worse for the thousand or so employees about to be axed by Yahoo!, which is trimming its staff by 7% as part of a restructuring plan that, according to El País, has already hit the company’s Spanish division. Meanwhile, German operator Deutsche Telekom, following its layoff of several thousand employees last summer, has decided to cut another 32,000 jobs due to its progressive loss of customers. Another German company, Siemens, will dismiss 6,800 employees in its telecommunications division as part of an operation that, according to the Spanish daily El Mundo, seeks to reposition the company for a move towards software development. Nortel will also be making more personnel cuts, with 2.100 casualties this time. Nokia has a different motivation, citing an outsourcing program as the reason behind its closure of a cell phone plant in Bochum and resulting layoff of 2,300 employees. This decision, which comes in a context of rising market share and profits, has caused a major uproar in Germany. If the trend continues, 2008 will not be as kind to ICT professionals as previously expected.

 

Newsletter e-Business Center PwC&IESE, January 31, 2008
Articles in El País, El Mundo, Ft.com and Silicon News

To find out how Spanish executives view the changes ICTs are producing in companies, the PwC&IESE ebCenter carries out a biannual survey for the BIT(Business and Information Technologies), a project spearheaded by the Anderson School of Management at UCLA. Most of those surveyed feel that managers’ IT demands are on the rise, given their necessity for having access to information so that they can make decisions with greater assurance. Another consensus was that employees must be given better training resources in order for them to get more out of those tools and that technology has thus far been unable to alter the vertical structure of their companies.