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INTO THE CRYSTAL BALL
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As technology evolves and rapidly progresses over
the next decade, the way we implement and use technology will
change. Government's role in the transformation should be one of
leader, says Microsoft's Jonathan Murray.
 Technology
plays a central role in modern society and impacts on almost
every aspect of our daily lives. It has transformed the way we
do things and continues to challenge our conventions. But
technology is still young in its development and there is still
much room for growth. When one places the current capability of
technologies in the context of its rapid improvements, the
possibilities for the future look overwhelming.
Jonathan Murray, vice president of public sector for the WW
Technology Office at Microsoft presented a talk at SITA's
GovTech 2009 conference that focused on technology innovation
and the changes it is bringing.
"As technology professionals, we sometimes get concerned about
the world in which we live. Is technology really having the
impact we hoped it would?" asked Murray.
"I want us to realise the huge transformation in the world we
live in over the last ten years before considering the next ten.
You cannot escape the fact that technology has changed society
in the last decade," he said.
Murray said that the economy of 'things' has become the economy
of 'ideas' - that businesses now make money from ideas that
underpin everything else.
"This has been a major driver of productivity improvement in the
last ten years and has created entirely new and novel service
sectors," he said.
According to Murray, services - not manufacturing - has become
the driver of economic value creation.
"The largest economy sector in the world today is services. And
services are enabled by technology," he stated.
Murray said that Moore's Law in computing, which some hold to
govern the potential growth of processing power, can be seen in
different ways. He suggested that Moore's Law predicts another
ten years of rapid progress.
"Ten years of exponential growth in computing lie before us.
Think about it - your computer in ten years' time will be more
than 200 times more powerful than the devices we are now
carrying," he said.
Murray identified five areas of progress including processing
power, storage capacity, networking, power technology and sensor
devices. The combination of these technologies will underpin new
technologies over the next ten years.
According to Murray, cloud computing is currently another hot
technology with massive opportunities.
"It provides instant global scale for service creation," he
said.
"This creates major opportunity for start-ups and adds value to
all existing platforms."
Murray predicted that substantial skills will be required to
leverage the opportunities presented by new technologies,
however. He said workers will need to add value to increasingly
automated processes and knowledge networks, adding that
creative, abstract, strategic thinking and empathetic skills
will command a premium.
"Education systems will also need to transform in order to
produce economically viable talent," he said.
For government, a changing technology environment and required
skills will have certain implications, explained Murray.
He said that national strategies for developing, retaining and
attracting value will have to be devised. Government will also
have to find ways to stimulate demand in small and medium-sized
enterprises for digital tools and processes.
Finally, government will have to improve citizen services
through service delivery innovation and make efficient and
effective use of IT within government.
Murray insisted that government must play the role of leader,
since it is the largest and most sophisticated user of
technology in most countries. But, he reminded delegates, it is
not about technology alone - government must manage its use of
IT well in order to be effective.
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