Nexttech

Nexttech
Creating Generational Legacies

Saturday, June 17, 2017

Beyond The future of work - towards 2050

Join us as a guest at the next BBg forum to be part of this conversation


 

Responses 


Lee Patrick


Hopefully it will be an integrated approach that ensures the government and the people of Australia begin to support Australian made. If we have little production, manufacture, agriculture, aquaculture,  Australian based retail etc. , no amount of skills adaptability and sociability is going to help. Personally I don't see future proofing a career as a possibility at this point - would love to attend the talk today.  Go well Bernard.


Ivan Kaye response - Lee , if these manufacturing jobs can be automated, wouldn't it be more productive for a human to be adding value to another human , or learning , or doing something that he or she was passionate about? 


I believe there will be many roles that are yet to be defined that people will be able to do to become productive. 



Olivia Pennie

Without a white board to scribble on, here's how we look at it @ BEcoME.

The skills needed to thrive in a constantly changing world of work will constantly evolve.  


Some of the skills will change rapidly and become redundant very quickly e.g. specific technical skills related to one role.  Some of the skills will be more portable, relevant to more roles and slower to change as they are the enterprising skills that allow people to work well in many of todays (and as far as we can see) tomorrow's environments e.g. collaboration, creativity, critical thinking.  (See FYA New Work Mindset Report for great detailed analysis).


Adaptability, self knowledge and the skills to navigate a life of learning and course adjustments sit above all of these and help you direct your own path.  


We focus specifically and explicitly on this.


The complication and confusion comes, (I think) because adaptability and a design thinking approach are also a core part of STEAM when it's done right.  

Absolutely agree that if STEM is delivered as teaching all kids to code then it falls way short of what they're going to need.  


Reply to Olivia 

Olivia Pennie (née Hall) Bernard Salt AM Some delineation or definition might help here:


1. ‘Fact-based’ skills – many with an empirical base – that are learned in the classroom, lecture theatre and by exam: generically >‘hard’<. STEM is a relatively easy example to illustrate, but e.g. languages, literacy and numeracy should feature.


2. ‘Personal tool kit’ >soft attributes< such as sociability, adaptability or resilience that are more shaped by experience, peer groups, mentor influence, etc. and can’t generally be formally studied.  


Just a non-white board shared thought bubble 



Jason Furness


Adaptability and sociability become much less important really quickly if the power system fails, the sewage system ceases to exist, office buildings and houses are structurally unsafe. STEM is essential to a societies continued existence.


I believe that STEM and skills are critically important for people to "learn" - however , the focus at school and an undergrad in my view , is the ability to "learn to learn" . 


Ivan Kaye comment - Stem and task related skills - much of which will be augmented or indeed replaced by machines - are still key, but maybe the best place to learn these skills is "on the job" or "in the role". 


Heather Mcgowan and Chris Shipley presented at our first "conversation" on "beyond the future of work - beyond 2050" and they pointed out the need to change the paradigm of our learning system.


Before the way we lived and worked was 

Learn - do (in a job ) - Produce - Retire

And a human would ideally have 1 job all his or her life.


Nowadays the average Australian Millennial will have 14 jobs over his or her lifetime - and they will need to be upskilled throughout their work life. 


The model needs to change to


Learn to learn - learn/work - produce - learn/work/produce - produce x 14 


I believe a key foundation to the future of work is Vocational Education (VET) 


And "Jobs" should be replaced by "Roles"


Over the next 6 months - we are having a series of conversations on the future of work - and the importance of HR personnel to "lead" the future 


Let me know if you want to be part of the conversation and I will send you an invite to our forum. 


Reid Moule 


Agreed.  So if we teach how to be resilient and how to adapt as a part of teaching computational thinking, because this is the basis of STEM or STEAM, then we are also teaching the process that can be regarded as the scientific method because it is a series of steps to evaluate an outcome.  The scientific method is a process (hypothesis, method/materials, data, discussion, conclusion) in the same way that the Engineering cycle is a process and the Design Cycle is a process.


Dr John Blakemore


Bernard, we need both. You can't intelligently communicate with a mathematician if you can't be logical and understand maths


Dr Nick Somolov


Barnard, I have limited social skills and have been considered by many to be "Scottish" in my conduct - read in it what you like. But I resolved that future of the employment is in owning your own business particularly by STEM people otherwise they become "battery chickens" of science and are "culled" by age 35 as I experienced in CSIRO. My company  is now producing one and only high quality fibre worsted comb in Australian history. Future of work is in Scottish FU CSIRO or large gov orgs (exclude defense  orgs ) that exploit science and engineering people ( making future career an MBA option )  - most engineers & scientist  ( one and the same ) should operate as  "law partnership" in a consultancy on all levels - that is the Future.  Even the most average engineer and scientist understands a company bottom line  but most MBA's find it hard to understand the science behind new products or software... let the MBA fight over our crumbs.  Let the scientist and engineers create the world of tomorrow on their terms. 


Reid Moule 


It has always been these skills.  I can remember wondering why someone with these skills and no degree was higher in the ladder in a government department. than another who was much more qualified...and...the answers is...


Steve Southon


Agree Bernard Salt AM and think personal resilience will also play a big part as working environments change around us


Luke Marshall


Stay 'relevant'...whatever that takes


John Bradshaw


 We all have a lot to learn, but one conclusion is abundantly clear:  in a time of rapid technological and social change, we need to innovate to promote inclusive economic growth that helps everyone move forward.  This requires a shared responsibility among those in government, across the private sector, and by individuals themselves.


New technologies like 3D design modelling and simulation,  virtual and augmented reality assembly and training devices, new services like metrology and laser scanning and new tools ,robotic processes and new outward facing soft skills in language, foreign culture, and social media all undoubtedly help individuals develop new abilities and connectivity with new jobs in design /manufacturing and sustainment. 


Unfortunately our governments collectively have failed to articulate and demonstrate to date that the innovation agenda and the business and research models of our research institutes and universities are in any way inclusive ones.    

Promotion of the STEM agenda in Australia is instead focused around University education when in fact over 30% of STEM education is actually delivered in vocational training  for Trade Apprenticeships and Technician ships, 




Friday, June 16, 2017

These are the 25 most attractive employers on earth, according to LinkedIn


 

Job seekers around the world agree on one thing: Google's parent company, Alphabet, seems like an awfully appealing place to work. 

The tech giant places first on LinkedIn's 2017 Top Companies Global List, which highlights the 25 companies whose teams employees everywhere would most like to join. It also reigned atop LinkedIn's ranking of the most attractive employers in the U.S.

To determine this list, LinkedIn's data team analyzed billions of searches by the site's more than 500 million members, considering views of and applications to job postings, engagement with the company on LinkedIn and the number of employees that stay with the company for at least one year.

LinkedIn did not consider itself, or its parent company, Microsoft, for this list.

As usual, a number of tech industry headliners claim spots in the ranking, but the list also represents a broad range of companies from industries including professional services and consumer goods.

Read on for the 25 most attractive employers around the world: 

25. GE

UK GENERAL ELECTRIC
Simon Dawson/Bloomberg | Getty Images

Number of global employees:  350,000

GE offers eight different leadership programs, which provide recent college graduates training in areas ranging from engineering to human resources. Roughly a quarter of the company's current senior management completed one of GE's leadership programs

24. Adobe

ADOBE HEADQUARTERS
Chip Chipman/Bloomberg | Getty Images

Number of global employees: 15,000

Adobe offers job titles as creative as its products, including Principal Artist-in-Residence, People Scientist and Vice President of Creativity. The company emphasizes that to be successful, employees should have a "learn-it-all" attitude.

23. Schneider Electric

FRANCE SCHNEIDER
Marlene Awaad/Bloomberg | Getty Images

Number of global employees: 144,000

Headquartered in France, Schneider Electric wants to increase sharing of skills and knowledge among its employees. Schneider's Global International Mobility Center facilitated 400 employees moving to new countries to work for the company last year. 

22. EY

POLAND ECON
Piotr Malecki/Bloomberg | Getty Images

Number of global employees: 250,000

One of the accounting industry's "big four" firms, London-based EY currently has a quarter of a million employees, and expects its global headcount to reach 300,000 by 2020. In Germany, the country has introduced a refugee internship, offering four months of training to participants, who work with a mentor and are offered full-time employment following the program. 

21. Accenture

Accenture CEO Pierre Nanterme
Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg | Getty Images
Accenture CEO Pierre Nanterme

Number of global employees: 401,000

The global professional services firm offers 16 weeks of maternity leave and eight weeks of primary care leave. Further, Accenture provides free breast milk shipping for new mothers who travel as part of their role, or the option of as much as one year of local work following maternity leave. 

20. PepsiCo

RUSSIA X5 RETAIL
Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg | Getty Images

Number of global employees: 264,000

PepsiCo brands like Lays, Gatorade and Tropicana are available in upwards of 200 countries around the world. Recently, the company has honed in on creating healthier products, increasing research and development spending 45 percent over the past six years

19. Deloitte

CANADA ECONOMY
Brent Lewin/Bloomberg | Getty Images

Number of global employees: 244,400

Employees of the auditor and consultancy have the opportunity to transfer to 150 countries where Deloitte has offices or teams — more than 6,000 employees took advantage of the option last year. The company's leadership training center, Deloitte University, has campuses in the U.S., Singapore, Belgium, France, India and Canada. 

18. IBM

89401809
David Ramos | Getty Images

Number of global employees: 380,000

IBM uses its own technology, Watson, to enable the hiring process and pair resumes with relevant open positions. 

17. Johnson & Johnson

J&J EARNS
Daniel Acker/Bloomberg | Getty Images

Number of global employees: 126,000

Johnson & Johnson is made up of 275 companies around the planet and has nearly 130,000 employees, but the company's decentralized structure means that each of its subsidiaries has the independence to develop strategies that best serve its market.

16. The Walt Disney Company

55375798MNC001_Disneyland
MN Chan | Getty Images

Number of global employees: 195,000

Disney employees get free passes for themselves and family members to the company's theme parks, and trainers on the Disney English team use stories and characters from the company's movies to teach English to children in China. 

15. Unilever

UNILEVER RAGU
Daniel Acker/Bloomberg | Getty Images

Number of global employees: 169,000

Got a taste for tea? The global consumer goods juggernaut employs a "Tea Expertise Director." The role entails leading employee tours through tea plantations and tasting more than 1,000 cups of the beverage each day. 

14. Siemens

94754269
Sean Gallup | Getty Images

Number of global employees: 350,000

Siemens has cracked the code on employee retention: According to LinkedIn data, Siemens workers stay with the company 8.6 years, longer than the average employee tenure of any other company on this list. 

13. Oracle

ORACLE OPENWORLD
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg | Getty Images

Number of global employees: 135,000

In August, Oracle broke ground on a public charter high school on the campus of its headquarters, and in the most recent fiscal year, the company reused or recycled 99.5 percent of the electronic waste it generated

12. Tesla

ABE TESLA
Bloomberg | Getty Images

Number of global employees: 30,000

Tesla is now the most valuable U.S.-based automaker, with a $62 billion market cap and nearly 2,500 jobs open around the world. The company isn't turning a profit yet, so employees miss out on a lot of the perks often associated with the tech industry. But there's hope: In an email to staff, CEO Elon Musk recently announced that free frozen yogurt and an "electric pod roller coaster" will soon be part of Tesla's office landscape. 

11. Cisco

91921113
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Number of global employees: 73,000

Cisco employees receive five days off beyond their vacation time each year to devote to volunteering, an initiative that's clearly been a hit — last year, employees put in 227,000 volunteer hours. 

10. Dell Technologies

52777412RO002_Dell
Ralph Orlowski | Getty Images

Number of global employees: 145,000

Dell offers employees a great deal of flexibility, including working from home, adjustable hours and the option of bringing your dog to work. More than 40 percent of the company's hires are referred by current employees, a strong vote of confidence in Dell's organizational style. 

9. L'Oreal

FRANCE L'OREAL
Balint Porneczi/Bloomberg | Getty Images

Number of global employees: 83,000

L'Oreal has 36 brands in 140 countries and has a strong focus on those at the entry level: Roughly one third of the company's hires last year were recent graduates, and the cosmetics giant's current CEO started as an intern with the company in 1978.

8. LVMH

AUSTRALIA SYDNEY
Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg

Number of global employees: 135,000

Nearly three quarters of management positions at the iconic luxury brand — which spans sectors including fashion, perfume, cosmetics, jewelry and wine — are filled with internal candidates.

7. McKinsey & Company

McKinsey employees gathering during a lunch break
Source: McKinsey
McKinsey employees gathering during a lunch break

Number of global employees: 25,000

About 40 percent of McKinsey consultants take on at least one international assignment each year. The global consultancy offers employees the chance to take as much as 10 weeks off between projects.

6. Salesforce

Bloomberg | Getty Images

Number of global employees: 25,000

Salesforce continuously audits employee pay "to ensure equal compensation across gender, race and ethnicity," and recently introduced six months of parental leave for primary caregivers in the U.S. 

5. Apple

appleshop001
Zhang Peng | Getty Images

Number of global employees: 110,000

Apple offers employee stock grants to all its workers, including part-time and retail employees, and a little more than one-tenth of its retail workforce turns over each year, compared to 80 percent industry-wide. CEO Tim Cook has said that he plans on doubling Apple services like iTunes and Apple Pay over the next four years. 

4. Uber

AFP_MJ543
Anthony Wallace | Getty Images

Number of global employees: 12,000

The ride-hailing company has had its share of negative headlines lately, and CEO Travis Kalanick announced on Tuesday that he'd be taking a leave of absence. Still, though applications dipped slightly after ex-employee Susan Fowler's explosive blog post, year over year, views of postings and applications to open positions on LinkedIn are up 35 percent

3. Facebook

61950270
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Number of global employees: 17,000

Facebook boasts 1.9 billion active users every month and is constantly on the hunt for the talent to help it grow its reach. "When you enter our buildings," says CEO Mark Zuckerberg, "we want you to feel how much left there is to be done in our mission to connect the world."

2. Amazon

20150126181227_1437_IMG_3460.JPG_168808
Lisa Werner | Getty Images

Number of global employees: 341,400

"The everything store" collected three Oscar trophies for its programming, introduced Prime video in India and delivered a package in the U.K. via drone — all in the past year. "We take risks and make big bets," Amazon told LinkedIn, "and when we fail, we apply the lessons learned and keep moving."

1. Alphabet

Google Inc. APAC Headquarters, Singapore
Ore Huiying/Bloomberg | Getty Images
Google Inc. APAC Headquarters, Singapore

Number of global employees: 72,000

Google's parent company keeps employees engaged with cutting-edge opportunities: Upwards of 27,000 of the company's employees work in research and development, an area that Alphabet poured almost $14 million into last year. According to LinkedIn, it's "the opportunity and resources employees are given to tackle massive problems, stretching from creating self-driving cars to impeding extremism" that puts Alphabet on top.

What is replacing the restaurant chains?

The Bob Pritchard Column 

Casual dining restaurants such as TGI Fridays, Ruby Tuesday, Olive Garden, Outback Steak House and Applebee's are facing sales slumps and restaurant closures, as casual-dining chains have struggled to attract customers and increase sales.
 
The sit-down restaurants' struggles can be blamed on millennials who are more attracted than Generation X, Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation to cooking at home, ordering delivery from restaurants, and eating quickly in fast-casual or quick-serve restaurants.  There are now many, many options that people are using to replace chains.
 
Many of these options involve cooking at home. Grocery chains are increasingly competing with restaurants, thanks to lower prices, pre prepared meals, free pick-up and delivery and new technology.   Meal-delivery kits like Blue Apron are taking the market by storm.  They are focused on getting millennials on subscription plans to persuade them to stay in and cook a certain number of days a week.
 
Convenience is also a factor, both when it comes to delivery and speed of service. Casual-dining chains are still playing catch-up regarding delivery yet the only part of casual dining that's growing right now is the off-premise side.
 
Cheesecake Factory is expanding delivery to half of its 194 US locations through DoorDash, a third-party service. TGI Fridays, Chili's, and Maggiano's Little Italy are all now on Grubhub, and Buffalo Wild Wings and Red Robin are testing the service. Outback Steakhouse is using third-party services while it builds one of its own.
 
While delivery is a very compelling option, it isn't a simple service for restaurants to add. Customers generally spend less when ordering delivery than they would when eating at casual-dining chains, most of which rely on alcohol orders to drive sales. In-house delivery means added complexities, paying drivers, and additional insurance costs. Using a third party could mean losing control over the food's quality.
 
More convenient chains have also attracted millennial customers away from casual-dining options. The growth of fast-casual chains such as Chipotle and Panera have made a significant impact. These chains offer lower prices to millennial customers, who are less enthused about spending more money just for the experience of sitting in a booth at a casual-dining joint.
 
The fast-casual industry grew by 550% from 1999 to 2014. By 2020, the fast-casual market in the US is expected to reach $66.9 billion. They have more of a healthy perception and quicker service times.   The bottom line is that casual-dining brands just aren't cool anymore. 
 
The alternatives are creating buzz and excitement.
 

Thursday, June 15, 2017

The Automation of the fast food industry

The Bob Pritchard Column 

A secretive robotics startup has raised a new round of venture funding as part of its quest to replace humans with robots in the kitchens of fast-food restaurants. Momentum Machines secured  $18 million in funding to develop its robot that can make 400 made-to-order hamburgers in an hour. It's fully autonomous, meaning the machine can slice toppings, grill a patty, and assemble and bag a burger without any help from humans. A personalizable variety of fresh produce, seasonings, and sauces will be available for each burger.

The company bills itself as the next Industrial Revolution, is on a mission to replace human labor. The founder Alexandros Vardakostas says  “Our device isn’t meant to make employees more efficient it’s meant to completely obliterate them.”
 
The company has been working on its first retail location since June of last year although there is still no scheduled opening date for the flagship in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood.
 
In 2015, futuristic food-chain Eatsa opened in downtown San Francisco. The vegetarian restaurant, which specializes in quinoa bowls, automates the ordering and pick-up process. It's since expanded to New York and Washington, DC.  In San Francisco, robots also run food deliveries for Yelp's Eat24 and pour coffee at Cafe X.   Zume Pizza enlists a team of 3 robots named Pepe, Marta, and Bruno to make pizzas without any humans.  Big fast food chains such as McDonald’s have been using self service kiosks for 2 years, and as Carl’s Jr. CEO Andy Puzder says "Robots are always polite, they always upsell, they never take a vacation." 
 
These changes, along with other evidence that AI could displace huge swaths of workers, have prompted the consideration of a "robot tax" to help offset the economic devastation a robotic workforce might bring.
 
It is estimated that robots put the low-wage food service industry which is one of the US’s biggest job sources, and its 513.000 fast food cooks in jeopardy.
 
But will the burgers taste as good … most likely.  Will they be cheaper … unlikely.


Monday, June 12, 2017

PIONEERS OF INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY

Have just been invited to be part of this conversation in Silicon Valley? 

Who would like to be a fly on the wall? 

Sunrise invites you to step inside the cutting-edge world of A.I.—tomorrow—Tuesday, June 13th, 2017, from 1:00pm to 8:30pm at the Quadrus Conference Center in Menlo Park.

Join the most innovative A.I. companies and smartest A.I. venture investors on the planet at the Silicon Valley AI Summit 2017 for an intimate gathering of networking and deal-making. See below for the complete list of speakers.

I will be personally doing a fireside chat with one of the Valley's bright new VCs, Nicholas Davidov, Cofounder of Cherry Labs and Gagarin Capital—whose portfolio company, MSQRD, was just acquired by Facebook, and his other company, a photo-editing app called Prisma is one of the hottest new apps on the market.

There is no other high-powered, insider event in Silicon Valley that brings together the top private companies, thought leaders and venture capitalists focused on the forefront of artificial intelligence.

PARTICIPANTS

Matthew ZeilerFounder & CEO, Clarifai
Aaref HilalyPartner, Sequoia Capital
Nicholas Davidov, Cofounder of Cherry Labs and Gagarin Capital
Tony Perkinsfounder and editor, Alchemist
Andy ByrneCEO, Clari
Peter LeeCEO, RapidMiner
Upal BasuManaging Director, Nokia Growth Partners
Dr. Qirong HoCo-Founder, Petuum
Adam TaischCo-Founder, Sight Machine
Michal WroczynskiCEO & Co-Founder, Fido A.I
Ben NarasinPartner, Canvas Ventures
Dr. Eitan SharonFounder & CEO, mode.ai
Lauren KolodnyPrincipal, Aspect Ventures
Kanav HasijaCo-Founder, InnovAccer
Ajay SudanPartner, Lightspeed
Dennis MortensenFounder & CEO, x.ai
Rama SekharPartner, Norwest Venture Partners
Vidur ApparaoCTO, Agari
Michael LuddenDirector of Product, IBM Watson Developer Labs & AR/VR Labs
Nikhil R. JainCEO & Co-Founder, ObEN
Oussama KhatibDirector, Artificial Intelligence Lab, Stanford University
Ravi ViswanathanGeneral Partner, NEA
Gaurav TewariManaging Director, Citi Ventures
Dharmesh ThakkerGeneral Partner, Battery Ventures

WHEN
Tuesday June 13, 2017

WHERE
Quadrus Conference Center