Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Connect - share - collaborate - create (part 2)

By Chris Abood - posted Wednesday, 22 April 2009


Gun for hire

The top ten in-demand jobs today did not exist ten years ago. The United States department of labour estimates that today’s student will have ten to 14 jobs by the age of 38. One in four workers has been with their current employer for less than one year. One in two workers for less than five years. How does a child today answer, “What do you want to do when you grow up”?

The average lifetime of an S&P 500 company in 1920 was 55 years. Today it is 15 years.

Over the past ten years and more, management and leadership were sports oriented. Go the extra mile. Work towards the endplay. Being a team player and so on. Over the next ten years, management and leadership will involve interacting with a large and diverse team over many countries.

Advertisement

Today’s children who play Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing games (MMORPG) are tomorrow’s leaders. They will have the interactive skills, the ability to manage diverse resources and will be highly strategically focused.

Today’s hierarchical management structure will be replaced by a flat structure where employees (even from different organisations) share and collaborate to achieve common goals. The chain of command will be replaced by a command of chains.

The next ten years will see a continuation of a mobile and agile workforce. More and more people will tend to work for themselves, utilising their skills where required. They will utilise online networks to find work to sell their skills and knowledge. Today they can be working for an organisation in the next suburb, the following month for an organisation in another country.

The next ten years will see more people starting up their own business. This is due to four factors as outlined by Paul Graham: hardware is cheap; open source has made software free; the web has made marketing and distribution free, and more powerful systems mean teams can be smaller to achieve outcomes.

What is becoming apparent is that a person’s willingness to be involved in continuous learning and being able to adapt will have a significant bearing on their employability.

Feed the beast

It is estimated that four exabytes (that’s 19 zeros) of unique information will be generated this year which is more than in the previous 5,000 years. It is estimated that a week’s worth of the New York Times contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18th century. There are currently over 31 billion searches on Google every month. How are you going to find the information you want in the ever-expanding cyberspace?

Advertisement

Currently we search for information using keywords, which match tags associated with the information sought. A list of possible content is displayed for us to browse to determine if it is the information we require. If we come across a site that we like, we would probably bookmark it for future reference.

This has been perfected by Google but is far from perfect. There is still information out there that is of relevance that we may never come across. It is also an ineffective way to find content. The same search criteria can mean different things to different people. If I use the keyword “eel” in my search, I am looking for information regarding the mighty Parramatta Eels rugby league team (although not so mighty these days). However, if a marine biologist uses the keyword “eel”, they are probably looking for information regarding the species of fish Anguilliformes.

Already, content feeds are being incorporated into browsing; feeds such as Really Simple Syndication (RSS). RSS will notify you when new content is available. However, you need to know the site where you wish to obtain the information and subscribe to the feed. This is great if, instead of checking a site such as a blog to see if anything new has been added, you are alerted when new content becomes available. However, this only alerts you to content from that site only, not to content that is of relevance to you from other sites to which you have not subscribed.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. 3
  5. All

Facts stated in this article come from the research of Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod, and Jeff Bronman shown in the video “Did you know?”. Sharing and collaborating concepts by Ralph Demuth, Director of Technical Sales, Services and Support, IBM Asia Pacific.



Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

1 post so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Chris Abood is a teacher and computer programmer. He has taught at TAFE and private RTOs, and has worked as a computer programmer mainly in banking and finance. He is concerned with the effects and use of technology within society. These opinions are his own.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Chris Abood

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Article Tools
Comment 1 comment
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy