with the strongest teams will win this game, and the game is not technology — it is inno-
vation, so we must train to that goal.
5. Flexible organizations will widen their gaps on the
competition
One of the chief indicators of a successful transformation is the speed at which organi-
zations release maintenance or new feature upgrades of software. Those who have fig-
ured out how to do this quickly are beating their competitors. In 2019, these innovators
will start to create such a gap that competitors will be overwhelmed, and essentially left
behind. We are already seeing this in transportation, where Uber and Lyft are crushing
cab companies with a superior user experience. Soon, we will see this everywhere. Old-
line companies that acquire new technologies in an attempt to become innovative, will
be so locked into their “permafrost” methodologies, they will have trouble crossing the
chasms.
6. Technologists will engage in more protests
Tech protests made the news in 2018 when 4,000 Google employees signed a petition
to protest the use of AI tools for drone strikes. Expect to see more of these events in
2019. After years of relative inaction on the ethics front, a movement will take hold
within the technology world. Much like in the political world, it will divide the technology
space. Technologists will start to question more openly where their innovations are
being applied, and when they disagree with the goals, they are going to wield their
power in an effort to bring about change.
7. Calls for more security technology fines will increase
People are fed up with data breaches. Companies are too, but, as of today, the penalties
for losing people’s data are not stiff enough for the broader industry to take strong
action. We have seen governments respond in the past to similar conditions – such as
creating the EPA because polluters were not taking environmental risks seriously. Con-
sidering today’s political climate in the U.S., we probably will not see new regulations
with stiffer fines for data breaches, but security will be a persistent topic of discussion,
as identity theft, credit card fraud and general data hacks proliferate.
Look for the formation of a central identity data store provided by cloud platforms. A
central store is a repository of personal information, controlled by the individual. Much
like personal medical records, the central identity repository is long overdue and will
reduce breaches.
WINTER 2019 | THE DOPPLER | 9