Technology Revolution: The Future of Now

The buzz: "The global human resource management (HRM) sector is projected to reach $30 billion by 2025. in other words, the business of creating innovative HR solutions is booming" ?(learn.g2crowd.com/2019-hr-trends). In 2016 Dr. Steve Hunt created the "Wine Bottle Index" to categorize HCM forecasts, trends and predictions by whether they address well-established vs. novel challenges (old vs. new wine) and use familiar vs. innovative solutions (old vs. new bottles). What is truly new in HCM versus old stuff in new bottles? The experts speak. Dr. Steve Hunt, HR Consultant: "The future looks a lot like the past, but different" (NZ Philosopher). Stacia Sherman Garr, RedThread Research: "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever" (Mahatma Gandhi). David Youssefnia, Uplevel: "Entrepreneurship is at its best when it alters the future, and it alters the future when it jumps curves" (Guy Kawasaki). Join us for HCM Trends: The Wine Bottle Index.

The buzz: "Few business applications have attracted as much management attention over the years as ERP systems … the line between fact and fiction or myth and best practice can be difficult to discern."?(www.atkearney.cz) In IT, curiosity drives innovation, some of it pie-in-the-sky buzz and some essential to modern life and business. New ERP and intelligent technologies and systems promise breakthroughs in organizations focused on healthcare, finance, retail, manufacturing and consumer products. How to separate fiction from fact? The experts speak. David Lowson, Capgemini "A dream will not become an innovation if there is no realization" (Ciputra). Alex Bulat, Capgemini: "It's not a good idea if it has not been killed at least three times" (Safi Bahcall). Brad Borkan, SAP: "Science is a process of investigating … posing questions and coming up with a method. It's delving in" (Sally Ride). Join us for ERP and Beyond: From Techno Buzz to Value-Add Solutions.

The buzz: "We will design products differently if we knew that those products were going to come back to us…and we could extract value from them" (T. Domenech). 150 years of industrial evolution have been dominated by a one-way Linear Economy model of production and consumption. Goods are manufactured from raw materials, sold, used, discarded or incinerated. How to get past this unsustainable practice? Welcome to the circular economy model, which maintains products, extends their service life, and repurposes one product's waste to maintain another – reuse, repair, remanufacture. The experts speak. Dan Wellers: Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you cannot question" (Y.N. Harari). Christopher Koch: "There are no gray areas when it comes to survival. Either we go on as a civilization or we don't (Greta Thunberg). Will Ritzrau: "Action expresses priorities" (Gandhi). Join us for Circular Economy: Radical and Unproven or Saving the Planet? Part 3.

The buzz: "The fourth revolution brought by digital is a turning point for the fashion industry"?(Hasna Kourda, Save Your Wardrobe). Technology has infused itself across how consumers expect to engage with retailers and vice versa – in Fashion more than other industries. Why? Fashion retailers need technology to achieve creation-to-reuse sustainability; hyper-personalization; responsive manufacturing; just-in-time delivery; and instant inventory insight. For up-and-coming design houses and legacy design brands alike, nano seasons have no respect for laggards. The experts speak. Oliver Stocks, SAP: "Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on the unreasonable people" (George Bernard Shaw). Rick Barber, SAP: "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever" (Mahatma Gandhi). Join us for Dress for Success: The Future of Fashion Is Here! – Part 2.

The buzz: "Most people that I know are interested in on-demand stuff. Podcasts are essentially audio Netflix" (Jordan Harbinger). In our current digital renaissance, with disruptive breakthrough technologies maturing, an old-school yet cutting-edge marketing tactic is resurging: audio. From podcasts to audio whitepapers, apps to smart speakers, the world of sound is immediate, portable, affordable, customizable, and wherever you go. Are you on-board with audio yet? The experts speak. Pam Didner, Consultant and Author: "The word 'listen' contains the same letters as the word 'silent'" (Alfred Brendel). Kenneth Kinney, AI Media Group: "The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus" (Bruce Lee). Ginger Shimp, SAP: "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can" (Arthur Ashe). Jeff Janiszewski, SAP: "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing" (Walt Disney). Join us for Hear and Now: Audio Content in Digital Marketing – Part 2.

The buzz: "If we have data, let's look at data. If all we have are opinions, let's go with mine!" (Jim Barksdale). Machine Learning is impacting core business processes, but many companies are struggling with how to operationalize it. The key – and what data scientists spend 80% of their efforts on – is having the right data. What is good data? The experts speak. Ginger Gatling, SAP: "Chemistry is the study of matter, but I prefer to see it as the study of change" (Walter White, Breaking Bad). Blake Howitt, SAP: "If everyone is thinking alike, then someone isn't thinking" (Gen. George S. Patton). David Quirk, SAP: "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now" (Chinese Proverb). John Schitka, SAP: "We classify things for the purpose of doing something to them. Any classification which does not assist manipulation is worse than useless" (Randolph Bourne). Join us for Can't Live Without You: Predictive Machine Learning Needs Data Management – Part 2.

The buzz: "The test for whether or not you can hold a job should not be the arrangement of your chromosomes (Bella Abzug). Organizations from the UN to university clubs have been trying to secure a world of equality in business for years. Initiatives like the UN Women Global Innovation Coalition for Change (GICC), WiDS and FQ (Female Quotient) have created a vast ecosystem matrix focused on creating change. But how and where is it happening? In honor of International Women's Day, our panel will discuss where things stand and what is needed to accelerate change. The experts speak. Anita Varshney, SAP: "Making money is no fun. Contributing to and changing the world is a lot more fun (Muhammed Yunus). Shelley Zalis, The Female Quotient: "Trying to be a man is a waste of a woman" (Coco Chanel). Judy Logan, Women In Data Science, Stanford Univ.: "Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames" (Rumi). Join us for The Future of Equality in Business, Technology and Innovation.

The buzz: "In coming years, the most intelligent organizations…will have an advantage over their rivals" (sloanreview.mit.edu). Companies are trying to cope with the volume and velocity of change, as political turmoil, climate change, supply chain globalization, rise and fall of economies converge into a perfect storm of business disruption. Will becoming an Intelligent Enterprise solve these challenges? If yes, is it enough to embrace Machine Learning, Blockchain and IoT or is more needed? The experts speak. Chris Beiswenger, PwC: "I guess it comes down to a simple choice really. Get busy living or get busy dying!'' (Shawshank Redemption). Scott Feldman, SAP: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles..." (Theodore Roosevelt). Sameer Padhye, SAP: ""Everyone here has the sense that right now is one of those moments when we are influencing the future" (Steve Jobs). Join us for Do Intelligent Technologies Make The Intelligent Enterprise?

The buzz: "A techno-philanthropist can be 'a young, idealistic iPad jet setter who cares about the world–the whole world–in a new way' (Peter Diamandis). Technology has created techno-philanthropists who use their money to try to solve seemingly unsolvable problems such as hunger and disease, by driving acceleration across the Sciences and Technology. For example, Bill Gates's brainchild Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) investment fund aims to accelerate energy innovation via high-profile investors Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Jack Ma, and Michael Bloomberg. Why and what would you give? The experts speak. Frank Diana, TCS: "On the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world'' (Jack Welch). Gray Scott, Futuristic Now: "Right now, and for the first time ever, a passionate and committed individual has access to the technology, minds, and capital required to take on any challenge" (Peter Diamandis). Join us for Digital Giving: Will You Be A Techno-Philanthropist?

The buzz: "…Smart Cities will vacuum up data — and attempt to protect it" (cbinsights.com). The data revolution and the competition to become the smart city of the future are combining to exponentially transform our cities. Visionary city leaders are embracing business model innovation to re-imagine public services, urban sustainability?and economic growth – all powered by data. Is your city in the running? The experts speak.Harald Wouters, City of Den Bosch: "… our personal data is probably the most valuable resource most humans still have to offer, and we are giving it to the tech giants in exchange for email services and funny cat videos (Yuval Noah Harari). Ivan Caballero, Citibeats: "When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills" (Chinese Proverb). Max Claps, SAP: "Do not go where the path may lead you; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail" (Ralph Waldo Emerson). Join us for Data-Driven Cities of the Future – Part 2.