Analysts Explore Next Phases of Digital Business at Gartner
Symposium/ITxpo 2015, October 4-8 in Orlando
Gartner's Maverick Research Sparks New, Unconventional Insights
The far-reaching technology-driven transformation that Gartner, Inc.
defines as the "programmable economy" has the potential to disrupt
virtually every facet of the global economy. The programmable economy
represents a massive technology-enabled transformation of traditional
concepts of value exchange, empowering individuals and smart machines to
both define value and determine how it is exchanged.
Gartner analysts unveiled these Maverick
research findings at the sold-out Gartner
Symposium/ITxpo, which is taking place here through today. Gartner's
Maverick research is designed to spark new, unconventional insights. It
is unconstrained by Gartner's typical broad consensus-formation process
to deliver breakthrough, innovative and disruptive ideas from the
company's research incubator to help organizations get ahead of the
mainstream and take advantage of trends and insights that could impact
IT strategy and the wider organization.
"The global economy is accelerating down a path of massive
technology-driven change," said David
Furlonger, vice president and Gartner Fellow. "As the move toward digital
business gathers momentum, we can already see the emergence of the
next phase — autonomous business. However, these phases still rely on
20th century economic models and Gartner's Maverick research anticipates
that beyond autonomous business lies an era of more radical
technology-enabled transformation that will eventually have an impact
equivalent to that of the Internet."
Gartner created the term programmable economy in 2014 to refer to this
emerging phenomenon. The programmable economy is a natively "smart"
economic system that supports and/or manages the production and
consumption of goods and services, enabling diverse scenarios of
exchange of value — both monetary and non-monetary.
"In the Internet
of Things (IoT), 'things' are becoming smarter, more connected and
more relied upon to augment everyone's life. However, there is a
critical missing component to the IoT, and that is monetization," said
Mr. Furlonger. "Success or failure with IoT will only be achieved via
the development of a new economic platform and monetary operating model.
Monetized 'things' will therefore redefine the economy."
The programmable economy, enabled by metacoin platforms and smart
technologies, will support new forms of value exchange, new kinds of
markets (including dynamically defined on-demand markets), and new kinds
of economies such as the attention economy, the reputation economy, the
on-demand economy and the resource optimization economy.
New forms of commerce and economic activity, new programmable business
models, and new modes of social interaction are already starting to
evolve and, eventually, new legal and societal structures will be
required.
"The impact of these changes will not, of course, be uniformly
positive," said Mr. Furlonger. "Every major new technological
development has brought with it unfortunate and even dangerous
consequences, and the programmable economy will be no exception. The
adverse impacts of the programmable economy will, for example, include
the ethical challenges associated with machines making autonomous
decisions, and the potential for illegal financing activities."
The most technology-aware and aggressive organizations, and those that
strive to be leaders in their industries, should move more swiftly to
investigate the current state of the technologies which will enable the
programmable economy and think deeply about the disruptions to current
business models, principles and practices to better prepare for a
radically different future. The information about, and digital
representation of, business and societal context that flows across the
pipes will be active and monetizable, equivalent to cash (digital
currency). It will also have its own programmable rules, resulting in
new concepts including "smart property," "smart contracts," "dynamic
digital personas," smart business models and distributed autonomous
organizations.
"These fundamental changes represent nothing less than the future of
business, and will have sweeping consequences that extend far beyond
business, to society as a whole. Enterprises and governments must
immediately begin preparing for this transformation. They will
unquestionably need to rethink their technology portfolios,
organizational structures, personnel and skills and vendor
relationships," said Mr. Furlonger.
"They will also need to consider much larger issues, including business
models, target markets, product and service portfolios, reward
mechanisms, intellectual property rights, legal contracts, accounting
and taxation treatments, and customer relationships — in fact, every way
in which they conduct business or interact with individuals and society.
This transformation will, however, take more than a decade, giving
enterprises and government's time to prepare and respond — if they act
now."
About Gartner Symposium/ITxpo
Gartner Symposium/ITxpo is the world's most important gathering of CIOs
and senior IT executives. This event delivers independent and objective
content with the authority and weight of the world's leading IT research
and advisory organization, and provides access to the latest solutions
from key technology providers. Gartner's annual Symposium/ITxpo events
are key components of attendees' annual planning efforts. IT executives
rely on Gartner Symposium/ITxpo to gain insight into how their
organizations can use IT to address business challenges and improve
operational efficiency.
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Upcoming dates and locations for Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2015 include:
October
19-22, Sao Paulo, Brazil
October
26-29, Gold Coast, Australia
October
28-30, Tokyo, Japan
November
2-5, Goa, India
November
8-12, Barcelona, Spain
About Gartner
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading information technology
research and advisory company. The company delivers the
technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right
decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations
and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom
enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors,
Gartner is the valuable partner to clients in approximately 10,000
distinct enterprises worldwide. Through the resources of Gartner
Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner
Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and
interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual
role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford,
Connecticut, USA, and has 7,100 associates, including more than 1,500
research analysts and consultants, and clients in 90 countries. For more
information, visit www.gartner.com.
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