The endless opportunities
A student wrote to me: “I like the idea of being a technology entrepreneur and create my own company. But it is difficult to create new idea or innovate anything because the technology that we learn in school is often five to ten years old. We are so far behind other countries and it is impossible to catch up. What should I do? Please help.”
Answer: Today you can learn almost anything from the Internet. To keep up with technology changes you must spend time to read and follow technology trends. Please do not confuse “technology trends” with “technology products trends”. Most students follow technology product trends, they know what are the latest iPhones, iPads or iWatches etc. They are technology consumers not innovators. Technology trends are emerging technology that about to happen or being created. To be an entrepreneur means you should know about these technology trends, identify opportunities to create new products, new markets, and disrupt the market. The school can teach you the fundamentals but to learn more, you must read more and learn more on your own. There are many information available on the Internet if you put in the efforts to find them. Most entrepreneurs are hungry for information that can help them to evaluate the opportunities to create future products.
We are living in a time where technology is still changing and new things are created every day. For example, the iPhone was a new invention in 2007 but in just few years it dominates the entire mobile market. It also creates opportunity for millions of developers who create mobile apps and sell them in the Apps stores. I believe the next emerging technology is “The Internet of Things (IoT) where companies connect almost everything to the Internet. You will see smart kitchens, smart houses, smart cars, smart clothes etc. all of them have built-in sensors that collect data and send them to control centers or to the owners. This will be another huge potential for businesses, especially for entrepreneur like you. My students told me: “Mobile apps are thing of the past, today it is the Internet of Thing (IoT) and we are hurrying to build apps that connected equipments, machines, and people then analyze and process these information to create new values.
For example, my students created an “IoT apps” that collect data from shipping containers for a Fishing company. The app helps the company to track the location, and temperature of their shipments from fishing boats to the market. It collects data from sensors installed in the containers and monitors any changing conditions that may affect its products. If the temperature fells below certain degree, fishes will be spoiled and cannot be sold. Another group created a wearable device that can read a person’s activities (ECG, heart rate, respiration rate and activity level) and sending the data to their smartphone and warn them if there is any unusual activities (for people who may have a stroke or heart attack) and if the symptom is serious, it will send for an ambulance and call their doctors.
The “Internet of Things” or technology that connected “things” by collect and send data through the network is a huge opportunities for entrepreneurs. According to several studies, people will buy them for their own use or for their home and this trend is about to exploded, just like the mobile apps several years ago. To be of great value, all the things that collect and transmit data have to be connected to a smart system that manages everything by organizes and stores these data and process it before presenting it to the users.
As I look ahead to the next few years, I believe there will be a lot of opportunities for entrepreneurs. We are living in a connected world where everything is connected and every company need to be connected if they want to stay competitive. Technology has changed how businesses operate and as technology changes, more opportunities will be opened for entrepreneurs who can identify and take advantage of them.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
