- Ten Trends from the Real World
- The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same
- The New Economic Environment
- A New Internet-Enabled World
- Customers Rule
- Better, Faster, and Maybe Cheaper
- Business Models and Value Webs
- New Standards and Rules Create Opportunity
- Evolving Infrastructure and Tools
- The New Face of Marketing
- New Dimensions for Growth and Evolution
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10. New Dimensions for Growth and Evolution
As today's leaders make decisions about tomorrow's growth, there are many factors at work in this new environment that will make a huge impact. Technologies such as wireless and portable computing will provide more ways to access the Internet, and require companies to provide content accordingly. The world marketplace means greater demand for products and services, and companies need to figure out how to build businesses across geographic boundaries. We are faced with much growth in the next few years. Whether it happens slowly or quickly, we all need to be armed with the lessons we have learned so far to be better prepared to meet all the challenges of the brave new world.
Anwar Akel, Alexandria, Egypt
"To die is losing the ability to change—not the loss of breath."
Mark Resch, President and CEO, CommerceNet
"Adoption of the Internet will continue to rise—with or without the speculative enthusiasm of Wall Street. There is surprising vigor around the world, and much enthusiasm for e-commerce. Clearly, these are the early days—even in North America only about 10 percent of the manufacturers have true e-commerce presence on the Internet.
E-commerce will continue to behave like a complex, adaptive system. There will be no single global control point or mechanism; the tangle of nonhierarchical interaction will continue. The sophistication of global electronic commerce presences will increase, and companies' behavior will change with experience. The dynamics of the system make it unlikely that optimum equilibrium will occur in the near future."
Bill Daniel, Senior Vice-President of Products, Vignette
"There will be an increase in the number of people who interact with the Internet and conduct e-commerce using wireless devices."
Jorden Woods, Chairman and CTO, Global Sight
"Mobile, wireless access to the Internet will be commonplace; that will greatly accelerate globalization (no wait to get wired). And with that, global standards for the wireless Internet will emerge."
I want to thank all of the people who made predictions and contributed quotes for this article. These people from the "real world" will help shape our Internet-enabled future in the next few years, and I am looking forward to sharing the experience with them.