Disruption, for the most part, always used to be seen as a negative term, but there has been a dramatic shift. When we hear about disruption now, whether, in the technological field or political arena, it is received with excitement and the thrill of what the future could be like.
Promoted as the New Industrial Revolution, disruption is changing the way businesses operate and how governments are administered due to the impact of technology. In this way, data is playing a key part in shaping this New Industrial Revolution, as industry and government alike are employing data to streamline their positions to win customers and votes.
According to the Age of Disruption report by Deloitte, advancements in Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Manufacturing, Advanced Robotics, Internet of Things, and Collaborative Connected Platforms are all contributing to the evolution of disruption. These technologies will play a vital role in the future, but are we prepared for such a future? That’s the question that Deloitte posed to over 700 Canadian business leaders. And they found that businesses in Canada are not prepared for the disruption challenges to come. To get ready for such a disruptive future, businesses, governments and academia must all collaborate to ensure a smooth transition in the adoption of disruptive technologies.
Lori Turnbull, Deputy Editor of CGE, highlights this in her Last Word column in this issue. To fully realize the potential for growth that disruptive technologies bring, she points out that governments and educational institutions need to play a role. It is about rethinking our approach to education, training, and retraining so that disruptions to industries can be empowering to all, including employees.
The Dashboard in this issue gives a snapshot of disruptive technologies and innovations and what needs to be done by governments and businesses to prepare for such a future.
Ed Greenspon and Drew Fagan write about the introduction of Canada Next, an organization that works to propel technology adoption. They talk about how getting ahead of disruption is the key to the future. As decision makers face intense challenges to even keep up with disruptions, they not only need to anticipate disruption and respond on time, but also need to get ahead of those changes and shape the future.
Jarett Hailes writes about how business analysts can play an essential function in aiding government transformational process. They have the capabilities needed to ensure that transformations realize their objectives. But to help us understand the potential of business analysts, Hailes makes the point that we need to understand what business analysis actually is.
Jeffrey Roy addresses the disruption that blockchain is causing in industry and government. Blockchain has been in the news for a few years now. Some say this disruptive technology is overhyped, yet blockchain enthusiasts are pushing for it to become more ingrained into the financial system. So which path should governments take? Roy points out in his piece that avoiding blockchain is simply not an option for governments, both from a regulatory standpoint and the inevitable future usage by public sector organizations.
Other articles rounding out this issue include: Stumbling our Way to Build a Public Sector Innovation Ecosystem, Vulnerability and Voting, Thinking Differently about Black History Month, Mastering Change and Harvey Schachter’s Bookshelf on a review of The Next Level by Scott Eblin.
We hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as we enjoyed putting it together. If you would like to submit articles to be published on our website or become a regular blogger on CGE, please reach out to me.
