The summit started with a welcoming note by TNW founder Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten and Accenture’s Senior Executive Digital Transformation Harald Timmer. During the four hour Summit I had the opportunity to interview four speakers asking what brought them to The Next Web Summit, the key takeaways of their presentation and what their advice is for enterprises to start doing tomorrow.

The rise of the Data Scientist
Hilary Mason – Chief scientist at Bit.ly discusses the rise of the Data Scientist, a new class of professionals integrated into large and small organizations enabling them to make sense out of the Big Data stored in their servers. Data scientists are building products and models out of data and explaining and visualizing it, turning that wealth of data into usable benchmarks for sound business decisions.

Tapping the minds of many
Looking to the future, crowds and crowd sourcing are the future of business, governments and social innovation, according to Ross Dawson. This futurist and author on how companies can leverage social networking for knowledge sharing – explained that looking at the future enables organizations to make better decisions. Innovation is at the heart of crowd sourcing and therefore it’s particularly important to look into the world of crowds to gain insights starting today. There is a blurring boundary between organizations and their surroundings, and by tapping the minds of many, organizations have the opportunity to reach out and gain the thoughts, insights and ideas of individuals. Tapping the minds of many people is a fundamental part of the future of organizations. By bringing a global talent pool into the organization they can out-compete the competition. Therefore innovation must go beyond the boundaries of organizations.

Not surprisingly, Andrew Keen has a different view and the discussion continues online.

The Lean Cloud
Well-known as one of the ‘cloud computing’ pioneers, Werner Vogels emphasized how cloud computing enables enterprises to succeed in an agile world. Key point in making your organization lean is removing all the waste, which is anything that does not lead to direct value for the customer. Although many organizations move to the cloud looking for availability, the cloud offers far more advantages for organizations. Besides agility and improving Time to Market, it enables organizations to drive down the cost of innovation due to the minimal expenses of investments and maintenance in hardware. With cloud computing to stay, it will change the way IT will be delivered in the enterprise.

The importance of Social Media
In May 2011, Royal Dutch Shell had it first page on Facebook because Herbert Heitmann – EVP External Communications of Royal Dutch Shell wanted Shell to open up and engage with their stakeholders. With the help of Facebook and other partners, Shell managed to engage 1 million fans in the first few months. Although Shell deals with the openness of social media and the more sensitive topics surrounding the organization, Heitmann explains that there is no such thing as control over social medial. What comes closest to control is engagement and taking advantage of the opportunities of social media, rather than worry about the risks and lack of control. Therefore there is no reason to be afraid or shy to engage. ”Social Media are for organizations a fantastic medium to engage with stakeholders, without any kind of mediator in between. That means you get real-time and first hand input, and you have the opportunity to tell your story without any kind of distortion”.

Accenture’s Harald Timmer concluded that the way organizations respond to the shift from information to interaction will be a major factor in their success or failure. Digital, social media and mobile are becoming dominant, and changes the way organizations are organized and operate. Customers are changing and telling their providers how they should understand their needs and tell them how to interact with the customers. Therefore organizations have to take on the digital revolution head on by integrating digital into their business model.

Lastly Harald leaves us with the key take-away of the day: “Embrace digital and engage with your customers by making them part of your community and organization. Let them do the talking for you”.

The PICNIC Innovation Mash Up will be a one-day, active learning event focused on how businesses in traditional sectors can successfully apply top innovation and creativity processes used by creative industry professionals to launch new products and services, connect with customers, and grow. With this year’s theme: “The rise of new ownership” PICNIC wants to inspire businesses and organizations to start developing ways to let go, share control, co-create, open up, and innovate with their customers and civilians in the driver’s seat.

“Companies are racing to develop innovation processes which will create competitive advantage and new opportunities. The creative industries are a valuable source of inspiration and new ideas. PICNIC is bringing them together with other business professionals at the Mash Up to explore fresh strategies for product and service development and active engagement with clients and customers.”
- Marleen Stikker, PICNIC’s co-founder and Chair of the Board

Looking at how a company’s approach to innovation can be the difference between success and failure, most companies recognize that innovation is the lifeblood of long-term sustainable growth. With the different key ingredients for successful innovation, Accenture believes that those companies that take innovation seriously – and get it right – will be the main beneficiaries of the expected upturn.

With inspiring speakers, case studies and interactive workshops by among others Shell (scenario planning), Vodafone (crowdsourcing) and IDEO (design thinking) event participants coming from a wide range of fields (including technology, design, life sciences, financial services, media and communications and branding) will learn how business leaders have successfully applied innovation processes to achieve tangible results.

For more information about the PICNIC Innovation Mash Up, please visit http://www.picnicnetwork.org/picnic-mashup

Advances in sensor technologies and internet availability revolutionize the way in which we look and sense the world around us. Weather forecasts or stock prices can be checked anytime and everywhere by using smart phones. According to Gartner more than 50% of Internet connections are currently related to objects instead of PCs or mobile devices.

Although broader themes like Intelligent Infrastructure are attracting more and more attention, RFID is still considered a powerful technology allowing objects and sensors to communicate to each other. In both cases, our lives will keep on being changed by smart objects capable of measuring for example temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure, send this information through the internet, and enable bigger insights out of it.

Life-changing applications
This new trend is already known as the Internet of Things, a definition which represents more than just a technology advance, but it is probably destined to become associated to a cultural phenomenon like the Internet of Information or the Internet of People.

But what can we do with the Internet of Things? The Internet of Things will help reducing electrical power consumption and improving security and comfort in “intelligent houses”. For example, we can think about lights turning themselves on and off depending on network power availability, and user’s desired atmosphere. Media service providers, electric-utility companies and electronics companies need to find benefit from this scenario.

At larger scale, thousands of sensors monitoring local environmental conditions will be able to supply ad-hoc information to improve safety, optimize throughput and reduce emissions in urban environments. In fact, Smart Cities are gaining momentum, especially in Europe. Some of the parties benefiting from this applications are public or private transportation companies, as well as insurance and telecommunication companies. In the Mobile Health-Care sector, the major revolution would be for applications as Remote Patient Monitoring and Drug Delivery which will reduce the number of clinic recoveries.

Four challenges
Beyond  the availability of new ideas, challenges representing  barriers to an effective application of the Internet of Things are quite heterogeneous and correlated.

• Standards and Governance: For the traditional Internet, recognized standards like TCP/IP were vital to its adoption. Seemingly, the Internet of Things needs open standards.  Nowadays, communication standards for the Internet of Things differ depending on manufacturer and geographic region, whereas there is no global standard which responds to globally accepted level of privacy and security.
• Social impact: The level of automation achieved by applying the Internet of Things will probably have a big impact on society. Companies will be able to track all their products by means of RFID and sensor technologies. The required labor capacity dedicated to closely manage and control the production will be consequently reduced. Therefore, societal procedures at governmental and enterprise level will be needed to optimize employment of personnel by creating alternative job opportunities.
• A common operating system: Organizations are nowadays focused on creating their own implementation of Internet of Things dedicated to their specific business. The result is usually a software skeleton which is rigid and difficult to change. From a business perspective, this implies organizations to focus  more on technology development than business needs. Therefore a unified operating system, like iOS or Android for smart phones, is needed. A first step to fill up such a deficiency has been lately proposed by the European Lighthouse Integrated Project.
• A simplified provider’s landscape: Currently in order to benefit from landscape of current and future opportunities of the Internet of Things, enterprises will need to have good vendor relationship and a large offerings portfolio, spanning from Machine-to-Machine communication solutions to Service Oriented Architecture. Therefore, and again, partnership with systems integrators will be crucial to these enterprises.

In a few years the world won’t be so much populated by humanoid robots as by intelligent objects capable of communicating to each other and organize themselves through the internet. Our lives will be changed by applications ranging from smart houses to remote patient monitoring. But in order to fully exploit the benefits of the Internet of Things, a few challenges are on the way and Accenture Innovative Solutions can have a crucial role.

Dit keer gingen we direct met elkaar de strijd aan middels een wedstrijdje Sales en door met elkaar in debat te gaan over controversiële stellingen (bijvoorbeeld: “het geven van bonussen is de prikkel om mensen te motiveren”). Altijd leuk om een gegeven standpunt (“jij bent voor, succes.”) te verdedigen…. Maar het hoogtepunt was toch wel een klassiek ‘prisonners dilema’: er werden 5 groepen gemaakt die met een onduidelijke instructie een gemeenschappelijk doel moest bereiken. Ik laat maar even in het midden of dat door de hele groep ‘young professionals’ is bereikt…;)

Daarnaast heb ik een pitch gegeven over mijn visie op een fictief partnership tussen Accenture en en een grote energieleverancier over de aanleg van kleine elektriciteitsnetwerken in 3^e wereldlanden waarbij lokale energieopwekking een belangrijke rol speelt (zonne-energie, windenergie etc). De pitch werd door een vakjury goed ontvangen en er volgde een leuke discussie! Het is een stretch, maar misschien is het toch haalbaar….!

Wat vooral leuk is aan de deelname aan de wedstrijd is de interactie met de andere deelnemers. Meer dan op de andere dagen kon je nu in gesprek gaan met de andere deelnemers. De verschillen tussen de bedrijven (Wat is de cultuur? Wat zijn hun grootste uitdagingen? Hoe gaan ze om met de crisis? Hoe stimuleren bedrijven talent?) zijn toch wel heel groot. Ik merk dat we bijvoorbeeld bij Accenture heel veel aandacht hebben voor talentontwikkeling! Maar in de samenwerking tijdens spelelementen merk je wel dat de andere kandidaten niet zo maar willekeurige mensen zijn, ze zijn allemaal slim, durven risico te nemen en…. het zijn leuke mensen om mee samen te werken (ze zouden zo bij Accenture kunnen werken… J)

Het gedeelte dat gejureerd wordt zit er nu op, nu komt het aan op webverkiezing via de Young Professional of the Year pagina op Nuzakelijk.nl kan er gestemd worden op de kandidaten, hoewel er natuurlijk 1 kandidaat voor de hand ligt…. ;)

Op uiteenlopende manieren krijgen veel mensen in hun werk met computers en informatiesystemen te maken. Nadat een automatiseringsproject eenmaal zijn beslag heeft gekregen is de invloed hiervan op de organisatie, de inhoud van het werk en de werksfeer onmiskenbaar. Nieuwe technologieën bieden vele nieuwe mogelijkheden tot product- en procesvernieuwing. Door deze mogelijkheden te benutten kunnen taken worden gecreëerd die voorheen niet bestonden: technologie wordt hierdoor niet alleen benut om het oude effectiever en efficiënter te maken, maar ook om nieuwe mogelijkheden te realiseren.

De voordelen van gegevensbestanden koppelen
In het afgelopen decennium zijn steeds meer gegevens over mensen in databanken opgeslagen geraakt. Niet alleen krijgen steeds meer publieke en private instanties of individuele personen toegang tot deze gegevens, maar ook worden beslissingen over mensen genomen op basis van informatie uit deze databanken. Deze beslissingen kunnen relatief onschuldig zijn (zoals het toezenden van ‘direct mail’) maar ook veel ingrijpender (zoals het instellen van strafrechtelijk onderzoek). Een onderwerp dat in dit kader veel in de belangstelling staat, is het koppelen van gegevensbestanden. Deze koppeling kan voor de gebruiker duidelijk voordelen hebben. Naast een groter informatieaanbod kan het geautomatiseerd overnemen van gegevens tijdwinst opleveren en de kans op fouten verminderen. Aan de andere kant kan het koppelen van gegevensbestanden ook nieuwe problemen ten aanzien van correctheid opleveren. Het juist interpreteren van gegevens die door één dienst, voor één doel in één bestand zijn verzameld, is soms al niet eenvoudig. Wanneer een aantal van zulke bestanden worden gekoppeld is het gevaar van onjuiste interpretatie van gegevens niet ondenkbeeldig.

De door de informatisering opgeroepen veranderingsprocessen hebben directe impact op onze sociaal culturele uitingen. Zo worden bijvoorbeeld intelligentie, know-how, management, ontwerp en communicatie geautomatiseerd of worden computers ingezet als ondersteunende middelen. De hiermee gepaard gaande rationalisering (onder andere modellering en mathematisering) heeft echter ook een schaduwzijde: automatiseren is pas mogelijk als we een helder beeld, een goed model, hebben van het voor een automatiseringsproject relevant deel van de werkelijkheid. Bovendien blijkt de verkregen helderheid soms niet alleen voor het automatiseringsproject een voordeel, maar werpt het model ook elders vruchten af.

Voor tal van toepassingen, zeker de toepassingen in een meer technisch gebied, betekent deze technische (kennis)modellering een verrijking. Het gevaar is echter dat onze kijk op de wereld steeds meer wordt gereduceerd tot een strikt technologische. De werkelijkheid laat zich echter niet reduceren tot mathematische denkmodellen. Werkelijke informatie is vaak breder dan de pure opsomming van feiten. Geldt dit vaak al voor technische toepassingsgebieden, veel sterker geldt dit voor intermenselijke communicatie en vraagstukken van bijvoorbeeld sociale of ethische aard. Menselijke relaties omvatten meer dan een afgesloten stelsel van functionele relaties binnen een systeem van informatiestromen. Systemen mogen geen keurslijf worden, de menselijke spontane interactie dient authentiek te blijven. Altijd en overal.

During this three day event Accenture hosted a client dinner and networking event which included a
short demonstration of our mobile Integrated Oilfield Solutions (IOS) application for a selected group of
industry executives.

Following the introduction of the event, Accenture’s Integrated Oilfield Solutions Lead, Dean Forrester
demonstrated the mobile IOS application showing how the latest technology capabilities, such as
Cloud, Mobility and Data Management can be used to enable Production Optimization issues and
opportunities. This demo scenario highlighted the challenge that operator’s optimization teams are
lacking time and resources to manually monitor and operate every oil or gas well from their internal
staffing pool, causing optimization opportunities to be missed. To let the audience experience the
functionalities of the application themselves a number of iPads were handed out during the dinner.
As stated by one of the participants: “This IOS user-friendly and intuitive app, provides both the
information and mobility features to enable production optimization opportunities within the oil and
gas industry.”

The plenary session on the second day of the SPE event focused on the emerging need for a new type of
engineer called the “Digital Engineer”. As the industry changes the way it operates, new competencies
(a mix of technical and IT skills) are required. One of the important developments in the upstream Oil
and Gas industry is the shrinking knowledge base. Often referred to as the “Big Crew” change, the “Baby
Boom” generation is retiring and the next generation of engineers are taking over.

In order to capitalize on all the new digital capabilities it is essential to build a collaborative digital
culture to transfer knowledge and effectively use the new digital capabilities and legacy data with past
experience to make the right decisions.

During the afternoon a technical session on “People & Process” was chaired by Accenture’s Global
Upstream Lead, Johan Nell. The session started off with a wakeup call on “a brewing manpower storm”.
Factors underlying this “perfect storm” are: the increased demand for people (because of increased
spending in the industry); the retiring technical employee base; and the emergence of the shale oil &
gas sector requiring more engineers. Historically the pace of change has been low in the industry but
in order to avoid a potential crisis, companies should aggressively implement a multitude of solutions.
Two of the key solutions are the further investment in technology and knowledge management within
the organization. By investing in field instrumentation to gather data along with capacity and expertise
to analyze the field data, companies can move towards more integrated operations. The need to
effectively share knowledge across the whole organization to make sure no critical knowledge is lost with the transition to a new generation of engineers.

Martin Leach, Accenture’s Production Optimisation expert, presented a framework to describe
the “People Effect” in digital oilfield programs and promote best practices. The presentation was
based on previous experience across a wide range of barriers to the implementation of digital oilfield
campaigns. In general success starts long before the deployment process. The framework developed by
Accenture consists of 4 main elements namely: Navigation, Leadership, Ownership, and Enablement. A
correct application of the framework means that all four areas should be implemented. Throughout the
different program stages the elements vary in importance but should all be present.

Overall the Intelligent Energy conference showcased a lot of technologically advanced solutions for the
Energy industry with Accenture’s mobile Integrated Oilfield Solutions app as a good example. These
solutions have great potential to tackle some of the big challenges in the Energy industry but can only be
successful when the “people effect” is carefully taken into account.

Coming from the 75th position in 2010, in 2011 we climbed 21 positions to number 44. Following last year’s great result we are more than proud to announce that Accenture managed to reach the top 50 for the second time ranking #35 on this year’s MT 500.

In its write-up, MT expects Accenture to rise even further in the future. For the full article, see below (in Dutch).

At Accenture we believe the future of the digital revolution will be about the interaction. Organizations will be challenged to design and deliver personalized interactions between themselves and their (potential) customers. Customers demand that suppliers understand their needs and they expect a tailored experience. Therefore organizations need to take an active step to make use of the available data and continue to enrich the customer profile with new data obtained during the interactions or via external sources. In addition organizations also need to take note of the customers increasing willingness to interact with their peers through social platforms. Enabling these peer to peer interactions is vital to create brand awareness and market penetration of organizations products and services.

Shifting from information to interaction
How organizations respond to this shift from information to interaction will be a major factor in their success or failure. An important element in the creation of the new business model is designing processes and implementing supporting tools to allow employees to also embrace ‘digital’. But to ensure any new business model is sustainable, there are two key threats which need to be address:.

Threat 1: The Need for Speed
To stay competitive or get ahead of the game companies need to shorten the time-to-market for new products and services from months to days. Innovation centers and IT departments need to work with new agile product and system development technologies to keep the pace high while ensuring maximum flexibility. Next to focusing on the people and the processes new services as cloud computing will play a key role in delivering speed and flexibility to the infrastructure and data storage and processing requirements. These new technology developments are paving the way to a more even playing field and increasing competition as smaller scale organizations are able to make quicker improvements to the pace of change than larger organizations.

Threat 2: The Need for Accessibility
Today’s customers expect organizations to offer multiple interaction channels from which they are in control of the channel choice. But aconsistent and transparent end to end multi-channel experience is not easy to neither create nor maintain. Many organizations today are unable to deliver this due to legacy systems and a heavily product driven organization. A key success element for organizations when defining ‘accessibility’ is to ensure not to limit the strategy based on what the direct competition is offering. Customers today are comparing the services and accessibility of organizations,expecting the same accessibility from their telecommunications provider as from their bank. The threat of accessibility is an area where we are seeing some major shakeups -take for example Google – who is talking about starting an online bank.

We believe that organizations have to take on the digital revolution head on by integrating digital into their business model. To ensure success leadership is needed from the entire C-suite to ensure alignment of the business and IT priorities and to allow for one clear vision and strategic delivery path for the organization. Employees themselves will need to be retrained for the required digital skills and competencies to ensure excellence in the delivery towards the customers.

I am looking forward to lively debates on these and many other topics during The Next Web conference and I look forward to seeing you there.