IT is the future

"IT is the future." This catchy phrase is Number 10 on the list of business cultural ideals to live by that our advisory board drafted for students a few years ago. Recently that phrase was extensively explored in a July 8 Wall Street Journal special section entitled, “The Future of Everything.” What’s amazing is that for most, if not all of the visions that guest writers tackled, IT is front and center. Students will be moving into their ASU dorm rooms very soon. Our industry advisors’ ideal number 10 reminds us all how important our role is in preparing the next generation of information management professionals.

By Michael Goul  |  Chairman, Department of Information Systems

July 31, 2014 - The W. P. Carey School’s Department of Information Systems Executive Advisory Board does more than recruit students and guide curriculum improvement. These accomplished business professionals know that it is important to help establish cultural ideals; ideals that students must learn to embody from their first-year student beginnings through their senior year. A few years ago, the board and faculty codified these ideals and posted strategically on the department’s walls where they can impact everyday thinking and action.

Their imprint on these ideas reminds everyone, from faculty to students to visitors, of the important influence of our industry partners. Number 10 on the list of our advisory board’s student cultural ideals to live by is: “IT is the future.” This catchy phrase was recently turned up in a July 8 Wall Street Journal special section titled, “The Future of Everything.” What’s amazing is that for most, if not all of the visions that guest writers tackled, IT is front and center.

Take singer songwriter Taylor Swift. Autographs are a relic of the past, she says. Today’s autograph seekers prefer selfies that can be posted to one’s favorite cloud-based service for friends to see. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words. Carter Cleveland says that thanks to the Internet, tomorrow’s artists will become as well known as musicians are today.

Tyra Banks predicts that robot/avatar models will sell products worldwide because beauty will be easily attainable, and everyday people won’t have unique enough good looks.

Robert A. Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company asserts that “events,” managed and designed to create treasured memories, will strengthen personal connections for those “immersed in the moment.” He envisions technology as the tool to break us away from our historical cocoons. There are other opinions.

Helen Fisher says that Internet dating sites are simply introducing services. She claims that once a couple meets in a physical setting, prehistoric and ancient rituals automatically kick in to guide the brain’s courting tactics. But getting together in the first place is fundamentally different with IT-enabled introducing services. Some predictions are a bit dire.

Take Clare Hasler-Lewis who explains that the Earth’s population is projected to grow to 10 billion by 2050, and 40 percent of that population will live in areas where there will be major water shortages. But Hasler-Lewis sees a silver lining in big data and drone technologies. In agriculture, moisture sensors will network with drones to more precisely deliver precious water resources exactly where and when they are needed. Similarly, regulators will have improved capability to manage public water supplies; more precise and smart metering can help to minimize water losses due to leaks and they enable the rewarding of incentives to those who make the most efficient use of this essential resource.

Margaret Spellings, former Secretary of Education, encourages us to get ready for a la carte education. She predicts platforms like TripAdvisor (but with consumer ratings on education options) will help students and parents navigate a growing array of choices. She envisions that higher education will be even more important because of the skills required for workplace success, and that the corporate world will care a great deal more about the skills required to do a job and less focused on “a piece of paper that signifies completion.” As for assessing potential employee skills, recruiters will look to “badging” mechanisms — especially in the STEM fields. Like in agriculture, Big Data will play a major role in improving best practices and outcomes — Spellings calls it data-driven education.

Like campuses across the country, students will be moving into their ASU dorm rooms very soon. There will be many new faces navigating the corridors and making new friends. Our industry advisors’ ideal number 10 reminds us all how important our role is in preparing the next generation.