Real World awareness
From IRF Wiki
MEGATREND #3_Real World Awareness
THE FIRST FEW GENERATIONS of information technology were used to automate manual business processes. But they still required a significant amount of human effort to enter data, analyze reports, and manage systems.
IN THE PAST FEW YEARS, government and industry have begun experimenting with ID readers and sensors that connect directly to IT systems using embedded software. These systems reduce human error and provide more timely information about what is happening in the physical world, leading to greater efficiency.
As these devices become less expensive and the wireless networks needed
to connect them become more pervasive, it will become attractive to apply this
technology on a widespread basis to processes in business and industry.
However, the use of RFID tags has already triggered privacy legislation in
the US and Europe. Will the public accept that the security and efficiency gains from this technology are worth the loss of privacy? Are there technical solutions that allow the application of this technology with no loss of privacy? Will the public accept less human intervention in physical processes?
ANOTHER ASPECT of these so-called intelligent devices is the ability for process information to flow freely across the organization so that more of the business intelligence can be distributed to the front lines. How might this move from centralized authority to more local authority affect the way organizations work and the way IT systems provide automation? What are the costs and opportunities of managing data on billions of items in motion?
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