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Insights
Genomics research has ushered in a new era of large-scale, automated, high-throughput science, which in turn has had a major effect on instrumentation and processes, ranging from sample preparation to data analysis. This work underscores the increasingly symbiotic relationship between technology development and scientific research: Advances in biology drive technology development as much as technology development drives biology. Much work lies ahead as researchers turn their focus from defining the human genetic sequence to improving their currently sparse understanding of the functions of genes. In turn, companies that hope to turn science into practical applications face intense challenges, not the least of which is the need to unify many disciplines, scientific methods, organizations, emerging technologies, and levels of information across the research environment. Ultimately, researchers want to develop an integrative or systems-biology approach to life-sciences research. However, this ambitious goal requires standardization of the vocabulary and protocols of disparate areas of technical expertise as well as advances in bioinformatics to enable scientists to analyze the massive amount of information emanating from the sequencing, mapping, and functional study of genes. This study assesses the current status of technology in the three central areas of genomics: sequence genomics, functional genomics, and bioinformatics. Author: Andrew Broderick. 12 pages. Index Keywords: Biotechnology; Information Technology; Medical Research; Research and Development.
Widespread growth of electronic finance (e-finance)—the delivery of brokerage, consumer-banking, and other financial services via the Internet—has created lucrative opportunities for businesses seeking new markets and for countries wishing to improve their level of economic development. The financial-services industry has made major investments in information technology (IT): The typical bank spends as much as 15 percent of noninterest expenses on IT, and the industry spends more than $25 billion on IT every year. To maximize the benefits of these IT investments and expand into new markets, financial-services firms that encounter slowing growth in developed markets will look to emerging markets for profitable opportunities. The proliferation of mobile phones in the developing world points to a probable role for e-finance. Yet few developing nations have widely adopted desktop Internet-based IT. Infrastructure hurdles, along with the absence of a legal and regulatory framework to foster the growth of e-finance, present difficult problems for developing nations. Moreover, cultivating a culture of technical education to stimulate IT demand is a significant challenge for developing areas of the world. This study examines four countries that have adopted e-finance in varying degrees—Argentina, Mexico, Estonia, and India—and explores issues that firms should consider when establishing e-finance in emerging economies. Author: Miguel de Figueiredo. 8 pages. Index Keywords: Banking; Consumer Finance; Electronic Commerce; Financial Services; Internet; Polarized Society.
In July 2002, California's Governor Gray Davis signed a landmark bill to require automakers to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions (primarily carbon dioxide and, to a lesser extent, methane) from cars, pickup trucks, minivans, and sport-utility vehicles by model year 2009. This bill sets the stage for California to have a huge influence on future auto designs. The law de facto requires automakers to manufacture more fuel-efficient vehicles for the California market, which is the largest auto market in the United States. The legislation could also encourage development of hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles and alternative fuels such as hydrogen. Passage of the California bill is a big win for environmentalists, and other environment-minded states may follow California's lead and enact their own greenhouse-gas legislation. But the ultimate outcome is uncertain. Automakers lobbied heavily against the bill and have announced that they will mount legal challenges to it. Automakers contend that the new law is simply an attempt to increase fuel-economy standards, which fall under federal, not state, law. Because California's new legislation addresses greenhouse-gas emissions only and does not mention fuel efficiency, its fate may depend on whether greenhouse gases legally qualify as pollutants that adversely affect California's environment. If the law survives challenges, it will have far-reaching implications for the auto and energy industries and consumers. To the extent that it influences U.S. greenhouse-gas regulations, it will have consequences for all U.S. businesses. Author: Susan Leiby. 8 pages. Index Keywords: Automotive Industry; Energy; Environment; Fuels; Green Consumer; Petroleum Industry; Pollution.
Demand for cleaner-burning fuels for electricity generation and transportation is driving current and projected use of natural gas in energy-policy discussions. Natural-gas hydrates—namely, methane hydrates—are an unconventional and potentially huge source of natural gas whose viability is yet unknown. Once an industrial nuisance and scientific curiosity, methane hydrates have become the subject of national R&D initiatives to assess and develop them as a source of energy. Methane hydrates are attractive to countries—such as India, Japan, and South Korea—that are poor in conventional hydrocarbon reserves. Growing instability in energy prices and diminishing reserves of conventional fossil fuels make methane hydrates a compelling energy source for countries such as the United States and Canada as well. If methane hydrates prove to be the source of energy that optimists expect, they could have a major impact on future geopolitical energy economics. Though recent government efforts signal optimism for the potential of methane hydrates as a viable energy source, critics abound. They suggest that current estimates wildly exaggerate the amount of resources, say that the cost to extract resources is economically prohibitive, and fear that tampering with oceanic methane hydrates could disrupt the geomarine climate, increasing global warming. Nonetheless, despite incredible technological hurdles, the prospect of an abundant source of natural gas that could alter the geopolitical dynamics of energy is enough motivation for some nations and industry players to invest in methane-hydrate R&D. Though commercial production of methane hydrates is 5 to 15 years away, companies are wise to keep this high-uncertainty, high-impact wild card on the corporate radar. Author: Margaret Pak. 8 pages. Index Keywords: Alternative Fuels; Energy.
Signals of Change is a series of Business Intelligence Program research publications that help companies identify signs of change and explore emerging opportunities. This latest study highlights signals of change that SRI Consulting Business Intelligence analysts identified in the July 2002 Scan meeting in London, England. One of the topics was micro outsourcing—the ability to outsource one-off tasks—which has become possible because of Internet technology. The practice offers attractive cost benefits, eliminating time-consuming project-allocation and development procedures, but it also has drawbacks. For example, potential exists for confusion about intellectual-property ownership. On another track, meeting attendees discussed companies' growing interest in measuring their customers' profitability, a practice that grows out of their improved ability to track individual customers' activity. Although this process normally helps companies retain their most profitable customers, it can also identify unprofitable customers that companies would perhaps rather avoid. Evidence suggests that some companies are now aggressively assessing individual customers' profit or loss potential. Could this more hard-nosed, balance-sheet approach to customers herald a new era in customer retention? The final major meeting topic was the prevalence of obesity in industrialized societies and its potential negative impact on business. Lawyers who pioneered lawsuits against tobacco and asbestos manufacturers now have "big food" in their sights. Their actions could do to junk-food products what similar lawsuits have done to tobacco products. Authors: Rob Edmonds, Erin Coberth, Dave Alker, and Rosamund Gee. 9 pages. Index Keywords: Computer Services; Food and Drink Industries; Innovation; Strategic Planning. Watch-List Spotlight: Pervasive Computing B-I-P's watch list identifies defining forces that are transforming the business environment. This month's selection from the watch list is pervasive computing. Pervasive Computing Pervasive computing is the convergence of information technologies into a networked computing environment that is always on, always available, and unobtrusive. Pervasive computing will transform the way consumers and employees use computers and access information and entertainment. News The summaries below describe current activities and programs not included in the B-I-P membership but of potential interest to members. B-I-P Is the Tip of the Iceberg A Fortune 50 company recently leveraged B-I-P's broad-based expertise to look at possible business futures. A team of SRI Consulting Business Intelligence (SRIC-BI) consultants helped the client make sense of issues ranging from demographics in less-developed countries to new ebusiness models for commodities and specialty products. As a backbone for this six-month assignment, SRIC-BI consultants used the scenario-planning process to play out very different worlds with equally different strategic implications. The result of the assignment for the client was a design for a new, more robust, strategic path forward. For more information about how SRIC-BI consultants can help you leverage the resources of VALS™ Explains New Product Adoption and Diffusion SRIC-BI's VALS™ introduces a significant contribution to the existing understanding of new-product adoption and diffusion popularized by Everett Rogers and Geoffrey Moore. Rogers's work identified five innovation/adoption groups: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. Moore's work adapted this work for the arena of technology adoption and, in doing so, identified a critical diffusion gap between the early adopters and the early majority. Moore notes that companies need to cross this gap, often unrecognized, in order to advance a product's diffusion into the mass market. VALS research into consumer motivations extends Roger's and Moore's work by identifying three distinct consumer mind-sets within the innovator/early-adopter groups. Because multiple "flavors" of innovator/early-adopter consumers exist, multiple adoption points and diffusion paths are available for new products and services. The VALS program works with clients to anticipate which consumers will be the first adopters of products with certain features and benefits and helps clients design new products to appeal to the different innovator/early-adopter groups. Current Watch-List B-I-P's scanning and research processes identify areas on the periphery of your business's focus area that constitute potential opportunities or threats. The areas that we decide bear watching go on B-I-P's watch list of defining forces that are transforming the business environment. Current watch-list topics include:
The Bulletin will periodically highlight each defining force, listing related B-I-P publications. |
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