New discoveries and innovation continue to create a cascade of remarkable advances in computation and communication technologies. IBM has just revealed a new design for cooling computers that could lead to the development of a super computer the size of a sugar cube within 10 to 15 years. New networks being deployed are delivering speeds of 1 gigabit per second or 500 times the highest speed available in Barbados today. Increasingly the personal computer of choice is a hand held device that is either an Ipad or smart phone.
Radio Frequency Identification chips, RFID’s, continue to drop in price and to be deployed in an ever widening range of consumer products. New developments in chip design continue to revolutionize digital photography.
Sadly, we seem to have difficulty in coming to grips with the use of technology tools to improve efficiency and quality in both products and the delivery of services and to cut cost. It seems as though our ability to discover and invent has outstripped our ability to develop the cultural change necessary to use these tools to change our business processes in a way that would make us all more competitive and greatly improve the quality of life.
The reluctance of senior executives and middle managers to develop a hands on feel for the use of information and communication technologies and the stove pipe organizational structures in both government and the business community is largely responsible for this state of affairs. Far too often the IT staff and the business process management seem to operate in two separate or parallel universes when they should be in close collaboration from the strategic planning to the implementation phase of the business process.
Far too often computerization is seen as transferring a paper based system to a digital environment; a sure recipe for disaster.
There are some companies or departments that have overcome this challenge and have developed a close working relationship between the business process managers and the technical staff. They have achieved remarkable pockets of success by involving all the employees in the development and implementation of new business processes. But these are far too few.
What is needed is the development of a national dialogue that involves a new generation of technically proficient individuals mixed with senior executives to brain storm new concepts for the delivery of services and goods and the creation of new business opportunities. It calls for a cultural change that is open to new ideas and capitalizing on the practical experience of those that have been in business for decades. This will challenge the hierarchical structures and knowledge based power enclaves that have developed over years, but this is necessary if we are to continue to improve the services delivered to the consumer.
The time has long passed for us to continue to use the 19th Century tools in the 21st Century and the only hurdle is a rigid mind set and a reluctance to change.
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