Time to push the reset button

When I wrote my first blog about the "Sharing Economy" and how we needed to approach service delivery differently, I was certainly not expecting the  global reset button to be pressed so firmly or so quickly or for that matter on such a scale.

Still in business we must always play the hand we are dealt, not the hand we want. Many businesses will be scratching their heads through this time thinking about were to next, and what innovation can I turn to to re create my business.

In my last blog, I talked about how the way the services of tomorrow would be consumed differently and that we had to undergo fundamental mind shifts in what and how we deliver them. The decimation of global tourism is a great example, New Zealand has been world leading in tourism with a clean green image and adventure toursim options that were unrivalled anywhere in the world. Then overnight, the borders came down and business are now either sitting in idle, hoping that we can share our bubble with Australia, or have simply closed.

As humans we are very good at talking about what's next, but not so good at acting decisively to deliver it. Technologies and platforms like Augemented Reality, Virtual Reality and Mirror World, are going to collide head on with the real world, and the information from both will be available to the other through end user consumer devices. Various companies, including Apple, Google and Samsung have dabbled in this space, but the heat is being turned up as we speak. Companies like BMW are integrating the virtual world into their cars. The humble HUD is set to be the new battle ground of vehicle connectivity and integration, with AR, the real world and the internet all colliding head on.

I was fortunate enough to listen to Leslie Shannon, Nokia' Network's Head of Ecosystem and Trend Scouting present in Wellington earlier this year. Leslie shared with us just what a difference 5G will make to our world. I had not been a believer till then, mainly because I didnt buy the popular use cases of "driverless cars" and "dog surgery from Japan" that were being proposed and the huge number of AP's we woud need to deliver it.

Leslie talked of the global rise of gaming and how there are over 2.5 billion gamers worldwide, generating over 1.5 billion dollars annually and the impact of 5G specifically on mobile gaming and how that was probably the most realistic commercial trigger for 5G networks.  That's an entirely new industry right there.

Then she talked of the real time services and process automation that then become available. If we are talking high performance then we also incude new experiences and applications like Augmented Reality.

Now we are talking, innovation that affects everyone, not just a few. Innovation that re-writes economic models for communites and businesses. Innovation that leapfrogs buinesses, who were destined to follow the likes of Kodak, but will instead chart a new course.

With new technology comes new business models, new methods of monetisation and new opportunities to drive value. 5G in particular generates interesting opportunities for holders of real estate to consider new monetisation models. It will require significant numbers of access points or base stations to be effective, and high performance backhaul, all of which have a monetary value. It also opens up some interesting discussions around how this can be leveraged for new community based services.

Business on the other hand can embrace AR and go virtual with their advertising. Imagine being able to sell "side of building advertising" to multiple businesses at the same time. User profiles and preferences will determine what advertising message they see and restaurants can have their yelp or trip advisor ratings, specials of the day and diner feedback, virtually presented in their windows to people as they walk past.

Google can give us turn by turn directions in your AR glasses, to your restaurant, meeting or game, with live updates on traffic, gate queue lengths etc, all in real time.

Imagine customised greetings and messages at airports to VIP travellers, while others see normal flight departure information, or having automated retail advertising, catered to shoppers based on preferences, flight destimation or what they have in their shopping basket.

You may not think thats much of step foward, but all of that will exist in a single device and a single application. Multiple data sources, all sharing in an open format for the benefit of the consumer. Technically speaking thats "nirvana". Augmented reality will change this landscape forever.

Tourism businesses, espacially those whose existence was based around visiting and or touring historical sites, will have a whole new market opened up. Not only for those who cant get to you due to the current conditions, but imagine integrating AR into your tour.  You could add a whole third dimension to your experience. Imagine being in the middle of the NZ Maori Land Wars, or sitting on the Treaty Grounds as the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, or even being aboard Endeavour with Cook as he landed in Poverty Bay in beautiful Gisborne or in Botany Bay's, New South Wales.

Now take that one step further and integrate a walking game like say Poekmon Go or Minecraft Earth using "virtual anchors" to trigger an action. Geographical points and historical events, can then be integrated to both the virtual and real worlds. A mix of gaming and tourism if you like in an Augmented Reality "third dimension".

There are some great examples of businesses doing and or trialling this tech now, the consumer devices and chipsets are being produced and its only a matter of when, not if, that this becomes mainstream. Early adopters will always have the advantage, and what better time than now to be exploring new business models.

This will require some creative thinking and its going to require underlying technical investment in AR devices and  high performance connectivity like 5G and Wifi 6 with Passive Optical LAN as the backhaul. But Councils, Museums, Art Galleries, Walking and Cycling Tour Operators, anyone that bases their business around an experience, or a historcial event, can beneft from this change. So too can retailers, manufacturing businesses and anyone else that sees an opportunity.

The clincher will be the cost to service, if you are thinking I will just take a telco service and launch my service, the business model will likley fail. The cost of service around 5G and Wifi 6 is still far too high and early adopters will not benefit from the lack of scale an operator will face. But thats another blog altogether.

We all need to get together and share the investment. Councils need to reprioritise their thinking around sharing their data and their capital budgets, businesses need to supply the know how to connect the information to the outside world and the tour operators, the most important of all, need to embrace this change and get involved.

If we ever hope to restore our industries, and our economy, we will need to turn to new and innovative ideas to succeed.

THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A BETTER EXAMPLE OF THE SHARING ECONOMY....

For those who want to understand the technical capabiity of Passive Optical LAN, I suggest a read of Peter Vandaele's blog https://poldigitaltransformation.blogspot.com/ . He does a wonderful job of explaining the detail.