| | Estimated reading time: 2 minutes | IFS Labs
The Promise of Computers – 2012

When I was a kid, I used to dream about what I would be able to do if only my parents had the sense to buy me a Commodore 64; the computer of choice when I was growing up.

Not only would I get an A in every subject in school, but I would automate every tedious task in both my life as well as the lives of those around me. We would never have to do anything boring or repetitive ever again. It was going to be a perfect life.

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| | Estimated reading time: 3 minutes | Creativity & Innovation
Tip for 2012: Be Specialized—It has worked the last 10,000 years

What happens when you cut off the ability for people to specialize and exchange? The answer is that you slow down technology progress—or even regress. There are studies to prove this, e.g. what happened Tasmania 10 000 years ago when it was isolated as the waters rose. But we don’t have to look back some 10 000 years. Look what has happened with societies such as North Korea or some of the Arab countries when people have been cut off from the ability to specialize and trade.

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| | Estimated reading time: 4 minutes | IFS Labs
Twitter – Yes it’s powerful
Twitter - Why it actually matters, to all of us

Twitter – once thought of only as a vanity exercise for the uber-geeks and the Hollywood socialites – is actually a really powerful tool. Not only for marketing and gossip but for instant polling, news commentary and history lessons.

I’m the first one to admit it. I didn’t see how big Twitter was going to be. Sure enough, I was early on the band wagon when it got started, following Steve Jobs and Al Gore and others that I thought was of interest, but I failed to see just how huge it would become.

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| | Estimated reading time: 4 minutes | Business Technology
Be Agile When You Go Agile

There are two aspects of business travel, especially on the long haul flights, I still enjoy. One is the hours without any inflow of e-mails or other communication. The second is the chance encounter with an interesting person. On my way to IFS development center in Colombo, Sri Lanka the other week I ended up next to bald middle aged lady wearing a turban. This will make for an interesting few hours I thought, and sure it did.

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| | Estimated reading time: 5 minutes | IFS Labs
2012 – What’s hot, what’s not?
Hot or not in 2012

It’s that time of the year again; prediction time.

With every year end we like to look forward into the next year and try to see what it holds for us. This year is no exception. So what will 2012 be like in the software industry? What will be hot and what will not? We have the list of predictions just waiting for you, right here.

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| | Estimated reading time: 1 minute | Creativity & Innovation
The Tiny but Brutal Difference Between a Ta-Da and Oh-Oh

For some strange reason, kids (again) solve this creativity process so much better than both CEOs and business students.

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| | Estimated reading time: 2 minutes | Creativity & Innovation
Communicate the Future to Drive the Present

Being creative and coming up with ideas is important, but having the skill to communicate ideas or a vision is business critical too. Being able to describe the future in rational terms (numbers or products) is just as important as describing the future in emotional terms (how it will feel for all concerned).

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| | Estimated reading time: 2 minutes | Creativity & Innovation
How to Revive Commodity Products and Make More Profit

As a marketer you have a few parameters to differentiate your product against the competition. Take a scale for example. Some people might prefer a digital display and some prefer a retro analog style. Some people might want a black descret scale and someone else wants one in a strong and personal color – maybe purple. But does it really stop here?

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| | Estimated reading time: 5 minutes | Business Technology
Apps for the Enterprise – The Super Obvious and the Generic-Specific

Yesterday I commented on the fact that the first thing I have realized in recent months discussions with customers and colleagues about what apps we should build for our enterprise applications suite, is what apps we should NOT build.

In all fairness I guess I should also explain what I have realized that customers DO want and what I think we should build.

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| | Estimated reading time: 4 minutes | Business Technology
Apps for the Enterprise – Blame iPad for the Confusion

Before the iPad when there was just the iPhone, BlackBerry and various Android smartphones, things were a lot easier. The phone was (and still is) the thing you always carried with you. In business it was used for sending messages and checking e-mails. On the phone we had apps, and these apps were designed for tasks you could do in a short space of time. For business use we were discussing apps to quickly review and approve purchases, to have a quick look at some KPI:s. Then came the iPad and confused us all.

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| | Estimated reading time: 1 minute | Creativity & Innovation
How to Generate 60 Innovations in 2 Hours

I don’t know if you’re familiar with Dragon’s Den, a reality television series featuring entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas to secure investment finance from a panel of venture capitalists. We used that concept at our R&D event last week—and the result was 60 ideas in 2 hours. Do you want to know how?

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| | Estimated reading time: 1 minute | Business Technology
Out of Office, but Still in the Know

It has been predicted that within the next few years a quarter of the global workforce will be made up of mobile workers. Although the bulk of this growth will occur in traditional established markets, non-traditional markets will also show a significant increase in mobile workforce.

There are five key drivers behind the mobility revolution.

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