Communications and convenience giant (Nasdaq: RIMM) RIM, maker of the ubiquitous Blackberry, sees a number of defining trends ahead. These reflect the themes of my own research and are the cornerstones of the MIT AgeLab.
Motley Fool’s Dan Dzombak’s January 26 article, “4 Key Trends RIM’s Futurist Foresees,” reports on a talk given by RIM’s Futurist Technology and Innovation Manager Joseph Dvorak, PhD. Dr. Dvorak identifies four trends affecting the future of smartphones:
(1) The world is ageing: the average age of the planet in 2000 was 26 years old, by mid-century it will be 36 and the number of people over 60 years old will triple, to almost two billion people;
(2) Connectivity: Smartphones, other devices, and wireless carriers will blur activity, locate, and drive the trends we already see in social media and interaction;
(3) Empowered consumers: Consumers will continue to embrace tools that help them monitor and manage their relationship with businesses, for example, social networks that provide advice on everything from restaurant choices to financial services to ‘hey, where are you? is my package?’
(4) Purchase of ‘values’ (eg green consumers). Buying securities is not just for children. Where there is a rise in ‘color causes’ (my phrase) — buy green, support pink and help red — aging baby boomers are increasingly interested in their social impact and legacy. That is, ‘what am I contributing and what will I leave behind?’
Perspectives and innovations
On their own, these trends are interesting and both business and government need to be aware of their potential impact in the future. However, the future of aging and innovation is a combination of these trends, not an extension of either.
What happens when older consumers are pervasively connected, empowered, and make purchasing decisions about values beyond cost and quality? For example, what might wireless healthcare or health services look like in the pocket of an aging boomer? Will ubiquitous computing power, social networking, and value buying create collaborative virtual networks of service providers for interleaved boomers today and fragile boomers tomorrow? Can you imagine the rise of a 24/7 green transportation service, always ‘visible’ on your smartphone, to a social network of ‘friends’?
The business opportunity is not simply being aware of these trends, but rather combining them, envisioning conflicting realities, and seeing these alternative futures as drivers of product and service innovation.