  My name is Ed Gottsman and I'm
an Associate Partner working out of the Labs in Chicago.
I joined Accenture in 1985, becoming involved in expert
systems and object-oriented programming which were then hot topics in the IT
industry. It turned out that my forte was immersing myself in novel, complex
domains and then helping others understand them, their significance, and their
potential impact on business problems. I put those skills to work on the
industry's first large-scale object-oriented programming project, on which I
served as teacher, design coach, and reviewer for a team of 150 developers.
My first project with the Labs was around what we now call
multimedia. I was part of a team that created and built several interactive
video prototypes that inspired and intrigued many clients—as well as Accenture
personnel. At the time, getting video out of a PC required seven cards and a
lot of luck… so no mean feat!
My current projects include the Customized Radio
prototype, which involves building your own professional-quality "radio
station" by culling tailored content from radio stations, networks, and
archives all over the world. Since the prototype knows where you are (using GPS
or similar), personal radio will create many opportunities for location-based
services. Why not hear the BBC radio football commentary in Chicago? Or receive
the latest travel information while you're walking to the train station or even
downloaded to your PDA just before you leave the office?
I'm also working on a system that increases Website
"stickiness" using rich, constantly-updated interactive screen-savers. Finally,
I'm helping a client team apply speech understanding technologies to a rich,
complex customer service application.
Working in the Labs has two attractions for me. First,
fuzzy thinking and poor ideas don't last very long. Our culture requires a lot
of formal and informal "pitches" of new ideas, and the scrutinized feedback
ensures that only the good ideas survive. This is an exacting but beneficial
process and a key factor in the Labs' success.
Secondly, the Labs offer the opportunity to constantly
surprise yourself—and others. I get great pleasure from seeing that sudden
speculative look on clients' faces when they hear about our ideas or see a new
prototype.
To Top |