We are living in a disruptive technological era. The breakthroughs surrounding the ecosystem of emerging technologies are transforming our world. The pace of innovation in our Fourth Industrial Revolution is happening so rapidly and exponentially and that it can be quite overwhelming to try to keep up, especially in the areas I actively engage and promote.
Having sprouted tech roots earlier in my career at the Science & Technology Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security, The Center for Advancing Innovation, and as a former Technology Partner Advisor to The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, I am passionate about learning what awaits in the near future and how I can share it with clients.
The extensive resources of LinkedIn combined with the intrinsic marketing and matching capabilities based upon intelligence analytics via algorithms has served me well. I use the LinkedIn medium to consume and synthesize information. It facilitates my keeping up with emerging technology trends and perspectives that I often share with others across events and media.
It begins with my LinkedIn connections, many of who are leaders in technology fields who post regular items of keen interest to me. From interchange with many of my connections I have been able to educate them about client capabilities in a variety of technologies of potential interest to their companies. Not only have I been able to help brand client portfolios, I have developed professional relationships and have been invited to present at numerous conferences and compose articles in recognized publications because of LinkedIn. And the value for technology evangelism and marketing goes far beyond immediate connections.
In the science and tech worlds, there is a category commonly called “technology foraging,” or searching for smart ideas and technologies. The process serves as a basis for discoveries of new products, applications, and processes that brought to the marketplace. To me, LinkedIn groups serve as social media digital tech foraging. The foraging and sharing interchange on LinkedIn is significantly amplified by the myriad of LinkedIn groups I participate in daily, for example:
Emerging and Futuristic Technologies, S & T/Disruptive Tech, Future Trends, Future Technology: Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Driverless Cars, IoT, Blockchain | Startups, Internet of Things, CYBER SECURITY Forum Initiative – CSFI, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE | DEEP LEARNING | DATA ANALYTICS | MACHINE LEARNING | DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION, The Intelligence Community, The Global MegaTrends Roundtable, Technology 360, Virtual Reality (VR) + Augmented Reality (AR) + (IoT) Innovation Network by InnovationTraining.com, Electrical & Computer Engineers | Big Data, Cloud, Mobile, Web, IoT, Wearable, … and many more!
In my major areas of focus, challenge, cybersecurity, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence, I am very active with groups and my connections. My posts are widely viewed by people in those emerging technology endeavors and LinkedIn has served as a catalyst for me to also personally brand my expertise and services. It has also brought me clients!
There are so many cutting edge technology topics accessible in LinkedIn groups for gathering informative insights and facts. Some of the next- gen subjects that I regularly browse in LinkedIn groups include are virtual & augmented reality, digitization, nano-technologies, the Internet of Things, smart cities, robotics, self-driving cars, 3-D Printing, cybersecurity, quantum computing, predictive data analytics, Biometrics and wearables, self-healing materials, bio-informatics, genetic engineering, and artificial intelligence.
Interesting enough, some of those technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and virtual augmented reality are also being utilized directly by marketers across media and social media. The fact is that emerging technologies are impacting all areas of business, including marketing and sales.
Renowned Futurist Dr. Michio Kaku characterizes the technological shift we are experiencing as moving from the “age of discovery” to the “age of mastery.” He characterizes it as period in our history where we will be able to harness our technologies and control our destinies.
I wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Kaku on the need to harness our technologies which includes many ethical and humanitarian considerations. What is evident is that scientific discoveries and emerging technologies will pave our futures and how we steer it will be transforming itself. It is nice to have the resources of LinkedIn as a compass and force multiplier on the journey.
