The enterprise of the future: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow
Where we’re headed
Thirty years from now we may look back and fondly refer to the present decade as “The Great Reset.” Practically every aspect of life will undergo upheaval. We can either continue to operate in crisis mode, or use this extraordinary juncture as an opportunity to make a fresh start. Let’s take a look ahead at each of the four areas and how KM can lead the way toward purposeful and intelligent transformation and renewal.
Finance: We talk about a global knowledge economy, but we use metrics that are mostly devoid of knowledge. Money represents only one dimension—one that has been slowly corrupted over time. More organizations are starting to consider the overall benefits to society over financial gain. Triple-Bottom-Line (TBL) accounting adds environmental stewardship into the mix. More interestingly, we’re seeing growing numbers of transactions in which only knowledge changes hands. Call it “intangible barter.”
Health: We can expect to see a massive shift from the currently flawed approach of evidence-based differential diagnosis and treatment of disease to viewing the human physiology for what it truly is, an ecosystem within an ecosystem. Yet we keep trying to “engineer” parts of the human physiology. As a result, more ethics-related decisions are bound to arise. This will create huge opportunities for the application of AI/machine learning, along with the need to curate massive amounts of knowledge.
Education: We laugh at the old saying about the Model-T: “You can choose any color you want as long as it’s black.” Yet that’s exactly what we do as we force children to go through a K–12 education system based on Common Core, Standards of Learning exams, etc. The manufacturing sector figured out a long time ago how to make highly customized solutions by blending separate practices such as CAD/CAM, just-in-time, 3-D printing, and the like. Imagine a similar approach in which each student’s education is tailored to their strengths and weaknesses, while aimed at meeting the need for specialized talents and skills in the global workforce, a large part of which will have been displaced by robotics. That would be true knowledge-based education.
Energy: For many reasons, big energy will give way to small energy. For example, many homeowners already sell their excess solar panel or other renewable energy outputs to the utility companies. Economies of scale served us well in the industrial age. In the knowledge age, scaling will be achieved by massive localization. Think highly customized energy generation based on local needs, climate, and available resources. There’s another opportunity for KM.
Of course, we’ll continue to see broad leaps in all aspects of technology, such as quantum computing, homomorphic encryption, nanotechnology, brain implants, even using synthetic DNA for preserving massive volumes of data (and knowledge) over many thousands of years. Yet, as exciting as these might seem, we must keep reminding ourselves—technology always will be an enabler. No matter how “intelligent” it might become, it will always need human governance and oversight—which is why we’ll need KM more than ever. Let’s make sure we stick together for at least another 30 years so we can play a key role in guiding this amazing and exciting transformation.