Mobile networks have been around in Europe for more than 20 years now, and with today’s coverage, capacity and complementary Wi-Fi, you can expect to be connected basically all the time when in major European cities. As a result, patterns tend to change both for permanent residents and visitors.

Let me give you a few examples I’m sure you recognize:

• I have an appointment at 4pm at a location I have never been to before. At 3pm at the earliest, I start checking the route, using a map app, public-transport route planner, or maybe a taxi app to book a cab.
• Nothing planned for the evening and time on my hands. Check relevant tip-of-the-day sites, post a question to friends on Facebook or Kik, call the restaurant if a booking is needed, book a cinema ticket online, and the evening is planned. (If we’d like to meet other friends later, there will surely be more tips online.)
• I am driving in an unfamiliar neighborhood, and have no clue where to find a parking lot. My GPS tells me both where I am and where to find parking.

Discussing these experiences with my travel company as well as friends in Stockholm, I realized that surprisingly few of my friends use these sorts of services regularly while on the go. Most said they use their stationary computers at home for such services, but when out and about in the city it seems many are reluctant to use their phones. Some say they don’t feel comfortable using apps, some say it’s too expensive, and some say they’ve never really thought about it, because they are comfortable doing it the old non-digital way and they like talking to human beings.

I see the variety of my friends’ reactions as a fascinating reflection of the overall status of society and city life that we often talk about in this column. On the brink of the Networked Society, some are convinced and expect mobility, broadband and the cloud to be there for them all the time; some have started and do use the services when relevant but do not depend on them; and some are a bit more reluctant and want to see a clear benefit before joining in. A joint expectation, though, is that when we want the service – whether we are lost in the city, need ideas on what to do, or want to chat with a friend – we expect it to be there and to work.

Modern city life may not be entirely dependent on a good connection, and many mobile phone owners may not be advanced mobile data users yet, but we do expect connectivity to be there.
And going back to my own experience over the past few weeks, I can tell you that traveling is a lot easier with a connected smartphone in your hand.

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What’s my favorite #hashtag? I really couldn’t say. It varies with my mood – news, marketing, technology, cooking but rarely TV shows despite the fact that it’s the broadcast medium I enjoy the most.

Broadcasting short bursts of text to anyone who’d like to follow them is relatively unique to Twitter and presents interesting opportunities. It’s already used as an effective customer-management tool by businesses. But Twitter could also be employed to steer companies’ production assets across a broad geographic area. This is because followers don’t have to be human beings but could be things as well. In fact, neither the sender nor the follower need to be human beings. Both could be connected things. Things broadcasting to things or to humans. This is a very exciting proposition.

Twitter is a platform built to broadcast short, ‘bursty’ messages – just the type of information that connected things are well adapted to send and receive. There are already examples of how this can serve the needs of people and business. Mashable published a very interesting article providing a few cases. I can only agree with the author, Christopher Mim’s conclusion:

“..As hobbyists build and connect more to the Internet — from devices that broadcast air quality in pollution-choked Beijing to ones that keep tabs on our pets — the status of Twitter as a “universal API” alongside email will mean more traffic — and utility — for the service than ever.”

At Ericsson, we’ve used our Connected Tree as an example of this same, simple idea: one thing using Twitter to tell the world its status. You can take this further too. Plants could tell the sprinkler that they need water. The sprinkler could use a sensor to understand the current weather conditions and then tell the faucet to distribute water that is exactly 20 degrees – all while minimizing energy consumption.

Or why not a bus? It could broadcast to mobile devices close to the bus stop that it’s 2 min late because of traffic. This message could then be picked up and displayed by the bus stop’s digital info board while offering the soon-to-be passengers alerts on their mobile phones (and even to late comers so they wouldn’t have to run).

We’ve only seen the first, early steps of this evolution. It’s hard to imagine all the possibilities and I think, just like Mr Mim, that one of the important factors is in the creative minds of hobbyists. In addition, we need brave investors who dare to invest in ideas that take us closer to the future.

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In Sweden, where I live, women in the mid 1800’s went from being part of the household’s production to becoming the household’s director. She became the organizer and developer of the world she knew so well. As far as I know, this is still the situation for many women, not only in Sweden but in other parts of the world as well. My own experience from trying to master the challenges of modern life, is that my smartphone is the cornerstone of my life, and internet access is a prized asset.

A recent ConsumerLab report that studied consumers in Tanzania, Ghana, and South Africa indicates a similar pattern: “Both men and women work. However, in the cases where men and women share a household, men are generally expected to be breadwinners and women responsible for household finances.” Here, m-Commerce has the potential to make all the difference in keeping control over both weekly spending and women’s savings for demanding days.

Connectivity also has proven to help entrepreneurs make their business dreams a reality, and not only in highly mature ICT markets. One of my favorite examples is the Imasirire cooperative in Rwanda, where 200 women weave and sell baskets. There, mobile broadband has facilitated their ways of working and allowed the business to develop thanks to better contact with their customers.

One of the top-10 trends for 2013, identified by Ericsson ConsumerLab, is that women will drive broad, mass-market adoption of smartphones. I believe this no coincidence. The smartphone is an ingenious tool for anyone who’s charged with organizing herself, her household, her business, or her community.

The report indicates that female smartphone owners are more active than men when using SMS. It also shows that 77 percent of women send and receive photos, 59 percent use social networking, 24 percent use apps to check in at physical locations and 17 percent redeem coupons with their smartphones. The report concludes: “By integrating communication and daily activities with their smartphone usage, women continue to drive broad mass market smartphone adoption.”

So yes, there is nothing wrong with diamonds. But for a woman who wants to build her future in the Networked Society, a smartphone is a girl’s best friend!

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A step in this direction, is when operators and public services (governments) partner to deliver a new set of services based on citizens’ needs. We can call it “m-government”. In China for example, an operator is providing centralized management platforms that enable municipalities to offer cloud-based mobile services e.g. for public transport. There is an app which apparently has cut people’s waiting times by more than 60% and another one which has helped reduce traffic congestion considerably. Brilliant solutions to facilitate people’s lives and put us – the citizens – in the centre.

In parallel, society becomes increasingly dependent on mobile broadband to execute some of its most critical processes to serve us well. Think about an ambulance wirelessly transmitting urgent medical data, or a news reporter streaming live HD video from the site of a breaking event. Or businesses, for that matter, relying more and more on connectivity to support both their business-critical processes and their mobile workforce. In modern society, we simply can’t afford connectivity to let us down. It has to work.

So, connectivity is very powerful.
We’re becoming dependent but also stronger, as the access to information-at-speed provides us as citizens, as people, with the power to act. It makes us m-powered! Individual citizens around the world are now using mobile broadband both to simplify their lives and to influence the societies around them.

Feeling empowered?
It’s probably your phone.

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So, will companies become more efficient and more profitable if employees are encouraged to telework from anywhere? At least Australia thinks so…. In fact, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy on announcing their – very innovative and progressive! – Telework Week last year said:

“An increase in telework can lead to benefits across the economy and community, from big business through to individual workers and families as well as the environment.

These benefits include cost-savings and productivity gains, increased workforce flexibility, expanded supply of skilled labour, reduced impact on the environment, reduced stress from traffic congestion and increased time available to spend with family and the community.”

So it’s time for companies to take this seriously and to evaluate teleworking as an opportunity. Naturally, it will depend on the type of industry and on the type of job. For some teleworking will be more relevant, while for some the face-to-face contact is a key part of the job or the service provided. Either way, I do believe companies need to take new mobile habits, and thereby the expectations of their employees, seriously from now on for the benefit of their business.

And for what it’s worth, the coffee was lovely.

The post Mobile working as a lifestyle appeared first on The Networked Society Blog.

I recently had an interesting discussion about these issues with Eva Sparr, Head of Marketing at our Business Unit Networks. Eva started talking about the ‘Flow’ business logic – one of the so-called Square Logics. To share these ideas with you, I invited Eva as a guest blogger:

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We don’t need to look far to see that mobile broadband is changing our lives. Think about the smartphones in our pockets – they connect us with each other and, to an increasing extent, to the infrastructure around us, from power grids to warning systems and more. In many ways, mobile broadband networks have become the nervous system of society. Every connected device acts like a node in this system and helps to generate enormous data flows that we can use to sense, analyze and respond to real-world events or flows.

There are already some great examples of how this connectivity is helping to create more efficient, livable and ultimately more sustainable societies. A dam utility in India is now measuring water and soil pressure wirelessly, allowing warnings of potential landslides to be given up to 24 hours in advance. In Norway, wireless roadside monitoring means traffic flow management is now possible in real time. A French water company is using mobile broadband networks to read water meters remotely and collect data from environmental sensors that measure noise and pollution.

These illustrate what we can call the ‘Flow’ logic – where we connect devices and use data from mobile broadband networks to deliver social and business benefits. Flow is one of our three business logics – the other two are Pro and Citizen – that describe innovative business models for mobile broadband and show how operators and other players are already rethinking their mobile broadband businesses to find new opportunities.

By incorporating logics such as this into their strategic thinking, operators, industries and public institutions can be inspired to rethink what is possible with superior performing mobile broadband networks. Less traffic congestion, safer societies and more accurate environmental monitoring are just the tip of what is possible if we start thinking in terms of the Flow logic. Of course, making sure that data is handled securely and that individuals’ privacy and integrity are always protected is of critical importance.

Just imagine if we could scale this. The infrastructure is already in place and is constantly evolving to meet customer demands. Today’s networks, customer contact systems and billing solutions form the foundations for similar services, so it’s time for the industry to come together and actively start exploring and developing solutions. Put simply, go with the Flow! We are only at the beginning.

Eva Sparr
Head of Marketing, Business Unit Networks

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Listening to Eva, what’s your take on this? Can our connected devices really deliver social benefits?

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And because it’s so easy once the connectivity is there. Easy to spread the word, easy to access Avicii’s instructions and original sound, easy to upload the own creation, and easy to collaborate to select the best pieces. The voting starts today for the first part, i.e. the melody. Bass-line submission period will succeed.

I think this is one of the best examples so far of what a Networked Society can bring. A true piece of evidence that connectivity can make people come together in creativity.

So let’s join!
www.aviciixyou.com

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I use my mobile to check out bar-code based offerings and product information while shopping for groceries in the supermarket. I do quite extensive market research online before I invest in household white goods, such as a dishwasher or a vacuum cleaner; however, I tend to make the actual purchase in a physical store. When it comes to clothes and shoes I tend to choose outlets – online or traditional – based on the time available, rather than the quality. The online and offline worlds are obviously merging and it feels perfectly natural.

So how will this affect businesses? The shopping ecosystem is a big one and includes designers, producers, distribution companies, retail stores and banks among other players. Most of these will be affected by changing consumer behavior. Better-informed customers will place pressure on vendors to learn more about their rivals in order to deliver that little bit extra. Secure sales will also be expected. Similarly, internal competition may arise inside major brands that add online stores to their distribution channels. These online stores, which won’t be wedded to any particular location, may draw sales away from the physical stores owned by the same brand. The company as a whole might not be affected, but the internal structure – and some of the people working within it – will be. Engaging customers online will expose brands to criticism with global reach. This means even small companies will need to dedicate time to online tracking. Transparency in both quality and price has certainly already affected the price levels and packaging of offerings and I’m sure we’ll see price plans, bundling and packaging which are even more creative. Clearly, In-Liners are putting new requirements on the ecosystem of shopping and it will affect businesses in both positive and negative ways.

I wouldn’t dare forecast how shopping business models will develop over time – I’m sure we’ll see changes far more radical than the ones we have experienced so far. One thing is clear though, players who would like to win had better prepare for an In-Line world. To quote the ConsumerLab study: “It no longer makes sense to talk about online versus offline, because we are constantly switching between the two”.

The post The future of shopping: an In-Liner’s view appeared first on The Networked Society Blog.

And this is where HR comes into the picture. Ericsson’s Head of HR Bina Chaurasia talked a lot in her interview this morning about the need for companies – big and small – to master today’s multigenerational situation, where younger employees know all about the new media landscape and gather information in a completely different way than their older colleagues. The challenge and the opportunity for company management is to lead in an environment where you cannot control. The clue, Bina said, is to give a clear direction and then let people find their ways together, across generations and competences. This is how the company and its offering will become relevant and succeed in the market.

So then we’re left with the question: Being relevant in this networked environment, how does a company make sure that its business stays profitable? With global access to information and the constant ability to compare, what is a viable business model? The ability to perform transactions online, e-commerce, is essentially one of the most disruptive things that have happened in terms of business models. Sure postal order has been around for ages, but with e-commerce, demand can find its supply so much easier, bypassing a lot of middlemen. The distribution chain will be shorter, the price reduced. In this type of environment it comes down to what you’re offering to the market. Your offering has to be relevant. You have to be relevant. And you need to dare to do things in a different way.

Gathering my thoughts after two days at SIME I conclude there is a simple way of stating it:
Dare to be disruptive!

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This morning, we heard from some of the entrepreneurs whose companies, both big and small, are driving this evolution. They said that while scale is important, scale and growth present challenges. Facebook said they’ve only made 1 percent of their journey so far. Microsoft confirmed they’re in a process of change, but agreed with Facebook: Microsoft, too, have only made 1 percent of their journey despite their size. In addition, Google told us that today, 40 percent of YouTube uses are mobile.

Reading the news these days, we are aware that the economy is slowing down and industries are shaky. Digital communication, however, is still on its way up. In fact, the journey of digital transformation has only just begun. It’s important that companies – large and small – keep investing in digital opportunities, and that governments and communities support this track.

From this morning’s impressions, I say gatherings like SIME are extremely important to allow industries to come together to drive and build the Networked Society.

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