Insight

B

ness partners,most ofwhich is trapped in data warehouses.They seek to harness it and

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use it to inform better decision making,financial management and customer service.

What they do not realize is that,even ifthey were able to meet this goal,they would

merely have caught up with yesterday.The information frontier is moving forward

quickly,opening up incredibly rich streams ofnew information sources

and formats and dramatically increasing the technical ability to man-

age them.Forward-looking companies must stay ahead ofthat curve.

Consider an everyday example.More than 30 million packages are

delivered globally by courier services every business day.All too often,the recipient

isnнt there to receive the package when it arrives,which is frustrating for him,the

sender and the courier.The problem is that packages are directed to a physical loca-

tion,which is static,but the intended recipient is mobile.Yet with information and

technology available today,the delivery мaddressоcould be a person who could be

found in real time,anywhere.

How would that work? Imagine that a delivery company had access to your

electronic appointments calendar and could locate you using the Global

Positioning System via your vehicle or cell phone у with your permis-

sion,ofcourse.The company could notify you ofan imminent delivery

and ask ifa courier should bring your package directly to you right away,leave it at

Organizations are

another location,or reschedule delivery for a more convenient time and place.

Depending on your choice,you might мsignоfor the package,by verifying your iden-

increasingly able to

tity through a smart card or a thumbprint.This kind ofdelivery would be a highly per-

gather and process

sonalized service,made possible by combining several different types ofinformation

not commonly or economically available until recently.

information from a

So far none ofthe major package delivery services has adopted usercentric

variety of new sources.

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addressing.But the technical capabilities do exist.

In the near future,leaders in any

industry will be able to draw on not only enterprise data but also information from a

But competitive

wealth ofnew sources that will create a richer,real-time picture ofthe world.And

advantage will still

those leaders will be able to use that information not just to understand the past,but

belong to those who

also to anticipate the future,gleaning novel insights and innovative products,services

and business models.To understand this assertion,it first is important to look at what

know how to use it.

is happening in the realm ofinformation.(See мAbout the Research.о)

Glover Ferguson is chief scientist at Accenture. Sanjay Mathur leads Accenture Technology

Glover Ferguson,

Baiju Shah directs Accentureнs Predictive Insight practice

LabsнInformation Insight R&D area.

area. Contact them at glover.t.ferguson@accenture.com, sanjay.mathur@accenture.com and

Sanjay Mathur and

baiju.shah@accenture.com.

Baiju Shah

WINTER 2005MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW 51

Physical-world observations. These are the result oftechnolo-

gies such as radio frequency identification (RFID) sensors,

About the Research

miniature cameras,wireless access,GPS and sensor telemetry,

which reveal where any person or thing is located,what it is

This article is based on workshops and working sessions

with hundreds of global organizations held at the Accen-

doing,and under what conditions it is performing.These tech-

ture Technology Laboratories over a number of years. Our

nologies are being rapidly advanced and will engender vast

methodology is related to scenario-based planning we

amounts ofnew information.Indeed,RFID tags have been made

monitor and map the emerging technology landscape on

mandatory by purchasing giants such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

an ongoing basis. We then look at each companys context

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and the U.S.Department ofDefense.

An increasing number of

and business challenges and fit them to the technology

cell phones and automobiles come with technology that can

areas where they could have the most impact. We develop

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locate a user to within