Horizon Report 2009

One of the key trends identified is 'Increasing globalization continues to affect the way we work, collaborate, and communicate.' Many of the recent years in career have required the ability to work globally. Tools often used are web and phone conferences, VoIP and video conferencing. Once you start using these tools you begin to forget that the people are not right there with you. I do not mean that it takes the place of face-to-face meetings but tools certainly have evolved to the point of making these meetings fairly seemless. My current position only operates with one state but there are three main locations and the use of video conferencing is used daily. It is nice to see the people on the screen so that you can get a real feel of their topics. I think that as we continue to advance and utilize tools like these the way people use them will become second nature and improve the way teams and companies work.

Smart Objects have a time-to-adopt of four to five years and this technology is very interesting. Some people may view some applications of smart objects as intrusive while others can see the benefits. Recently at my current office a co-worker asked me if I noticed the round RFID device on the wall next to the coffee maker. I had not noticed it but she told me the security guard had a hand held device that he waved over it and when she asked him what it was he side stepped the question and moved on. She was sure they were monitoring our time in the break room with our company badges. I did not really give it much more thought until I read this report and now I wonder! If companies do start using this type of technology what kind of controls will be put in place to make sure employee rights are not affected. I can see reasons why companies would want to use this to track the people in the build and where but would it go so far as to build a case for employee disciplinary actions? My co-worker is already worried that this might be the case but as I told her if she is worried maybe she should think about what she is doing that could get her in trouble :)