HWM >> Advanced Technologies

I picked up a January copy of HWM, read through stories such as the one on 2010's biggest tech trends and the report on Blackberry's developer conference held in San Francisco. The gadgets featured are a clear manifestation of technologies currently available and they also give a glimpse of what to expect in the near future. The articles are well written, well laid-out and comes along with relevant pictures and illustrations. Very insightful and entertaining indeed. Regular readers of the magazine will surely be abreast of technological trends.

Then, I suddenly had an epiphany. I realized how unnecessary it was for my former group to exist in the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. That department is called Technology and Planning and my particular group is called Advanced Technologies. I remembered that the group's scope was to anticipate trends in the 5-10 year horizon, catch them while they are hot and derive ways on how they can benefit Singapore.

I was tasked to conceptualize a way to systematically gaze into the crystal ball and catch emerging trends before they even happen. It was a project that was doomed to fail. It does not take a genius to realize that technology moves at a very rapid pace, and whatever may happen in 5 to 10 years is merely an opinion said by a futurist, researcher or even the ah beng in the coffee shop. What value will an opinion add to a public organization like IDA, which bases their decision on hardcore facts?

Regardless, I proposed to archive relevant articles, read through them, map out a particular pattern and derive an emerging trend. Well, that got thrown out of the window, as it'll take way too long and higher management does not appreciate projects that take way too long. I also suggested to use reports such as Gartner and McKinsey and compile a list of trends for the higher management. But, the boss said that we will be just content compilers, something that even monkeys can do. I tried, but I failed.

My time in the public sector was filled with nothing but grief and regret. I just couldn't get into the idea of "adding value to the system". When I was at IDA, I felt that public servants were simply making mountains out of molehills. Case in point, another group within my department came up with a Digg system, where you can post stories and "digg" them if you think they are relevant. The Digg mechanism is nothing new, and it's just a way to share stuff. You can also do it in a Facebook group for goodness' sake. However, my ex-colleagues milked it for what it's worth by simply compiling the top stories for the particular week and sending them to the head honchos in IDA. I used to do that in Creative Technology simply as a service and did not expect anything much in return. Those guys however, treat it as a KPI and strangely, the well-read group of directors even applaud their efforts. It simply boggled my mind.

I couldn't handle the shifting goal posts as well, If you suggest something too forward-looking, the folks there will say that you are out of your league and that it is unrealistic. If you suggest something too simple, then well, you'll be mocked and be told that you have no depth. Either way, I lose.

Well, enough of me wallowing in self pity.

Higher management of IDA, here's my message to you: you don't need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars every year setting up specialized departments to capture technology trends and generate intelligence reports. Just pick up a copy of HWM. It's informative, it reflects current trends, it shows how the technologies can benefit people, and what industries are mushrooming in Singapore and around the world. Most importantly, each copy is just $6.90.