As I converse with Accenture clients about their approach to sustainability, I’ve encountered what I would call a mountain range of companies on the sustainability maturity curve. Near base camp are organizations watching from the sidelines, in some cases questioning the science and wondering if the green fad will pass. Further up the trail are enterprises that are beginning to embrace sustainability-driven opportunities. Typically, these organizations have a chief sustainability officer and an assortment of quick and easy green initiatives underway (think compact fluorescent light bulbs, double-sided printing, HVAC improvements, carpool incentives and so on), generally coupled with a green image campaign.

Halfway up the mountain, I’m talking to vice presidents of corporate responsibility, whose organizations have harnessed the first wave of improvements from going green; now these executives are looking for the next level of energy savings, environmental benefits and return on investment. Driven by environmental regulations and the high cost of oil, these companies are investigating ways to revamp product life cycles, reconfigure supply chains and rethink logistics. All of these initiatives are complicated, cross-functional, and involve both system and process changes. Incidentally, this falls squarely in Accenture’s sweet spot.

I often get questions concerning the legitimacy of scientific evidence demonstrating global warming. A wave of these hit after the release of Cool It by Bjørn Lomborg. Judging from what I’m reading, however, during the past 20 years, the scientific debate on human-induced climate change has shifted from a 50/50 split in the 80s to an overwhelming consensus today that climate change is real and accelerating—and that we collectively are responsible.

Now the scientific discourse seems to be focused on how fast and severe the impact of global warming will be. Yet even with the growing consensus, some scientists continue to sign petitions and put their credentials on the line to say that global warming is a farce. It’s easy to get sidetracked with this debate.

That was the presentation title of BT’s Group CTO Matt Bross at last week’s inaugural SOFNET event - jointly presented by the International Engineering Consortium (IEC) and BT. Matt deftly showed how service complexity is increasing with the aid of some props from his children’s toy box! It was a great analogy for the way that telcos are re-thinking their service creation approach in the age of convergence – an age which we at Accenture are calling “perpetual beta”.

In Accenture’s SOFNET workshop “Industrial Revolution 2.0” earlier that day, we discussed how the Web 2.0 era is unleashing a whole toy box of applications, application programming interfaces (APIs) and services – exposing opportunities to millions of third party developers who can quickly “mash” applications together with other APIs. Google Maps is just one example of this – appearing at the last count in 47 percent of all mashups.

While attending the recent Accenture Global Convergence Forum, I found strong interest in the entire topic of talent. As keynote after keynote delved into topics on business growth, the pace of change, the demand for new products and services, globalization, and the shortage of key skills it became quite apparent that every business is focusing on attracting, developing, and retaining the right talent. No one is immune, and we are all competing in new wars for talent that are about all the skills and capabilities we need to support our businesses in every market and geography, and not just about the old definition of talent as high potentials.

But how well are we responding, and how good are our talent management practices and processes? Do we have a culture and mindset that recognizes that finding, developing and retaining talent is everyone’s responsibility from the CEO on down? Is our leadership at all levels equipped and supported to play their part, and do we have an HR capability that enables best practices throughout the organization? What is working and what isn’t in this new global war for talent?

You may have had the pleasure of hearing Don Tapscott, Founder and Chairman of New Paradigm present at the recent Accenture Global Convergence Forum in Miami. You may have also left the conference with a signed copy of Don’s bestseller, “Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything”. I found it compelling reading and believe it will prove indispensable to anyone who wants to understand the key forces driving competitiveness in the twenty-first century.

Readers will learn why leaders must think differently about how to compete, be profitable and embrace a new art & science of collaboration. They will understand the deep changes occurring in the structure and modus operandi of corporations, based on new competitive principles such as openness, peering, sharing, and acting globally.

How video advertising will produce significant revenues was the subject of a panel discussion I participated on at the National Association of Broadcasters 2008 convention.

The panel, which included participants from CNN.com, Microsoft TV, Permission TV, Abacast, Technicolor Electronic Distribution Services and InterVox Communications focused on the business and cost models for video advertising which are still being developed. Even though we can point to only a few profitable sites, in general we were quite upbeat about the possibilities of generating significant revenues in the coming years through broadband video advertising.

I had some very interesting conversations with clients and others at the NAB Show about the financial analyses that support some of the industry trends that everyone is talking about—including the claim that traditional broadcasting is in decline.

Based on Shareholder Value Analysis (SVA), our research shows that market enthusiasm for the traditional broadcasting industry segment has decreased over the last few years; market expectations about future cash flow growth are almost flat. The total enterprise value of the broadcasting segment has grown at a compounded average rate of seven percent over the last three years; but, the future value component (which represents analysts' expectations for future growth) has grown less than one percent over that same time period.

I heard lots of discussion and debate at last week’s National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas about set-top boxes. If you spent any time at all walking around the miles and miles of exhibits and vendor booths at the show, you might have gotten the impression that set-top boxes for digital broadcasting is where all the action is. I saw all sorts of boxes and applications—for over-the-top video, for download services, etc.— and lots of talk about the "über" set-top box with HD, DVR, networking, storage and so forth.

But look: the numbers just don't add up. Consumers have already voted on this matter. If you look at Slingbox, Apple TV, TiVo and others, sales and market share are not going to set any Chief Financial Officer's heart aflutter.

On the third day of the NAB conference, I served as moderator for a stimulating and controversial panel discussion on the topic, "Digital Rights in a Cross-Platform World" with executives from Alcatel-Lucent, Intertrust Technologies, CableLabs, and Widevine Technologies. The premise we discussed centered on digital rights controlling the creation and distribution of intellectual property; are digital rights an enabler of anything truly positive for the value chain?

Today it is because content owners believe they need it to maintain control over their revenue model. The trillion dollar question is whether anyone can hope to keep that kind of control in an environment where content is capable of flowing everywhere across the consumers’ three screens (TV, computer and mobile device)? If DRM simply serves to make that multi-modal use more difficult, as it has done so far, then it may be made obsolete by the actions of consumers.

Tuesday was the second full day of the 2008 NAB conferences. We've had client conversations on a variety of subjects, of course, but I thought I would highlight one topic of interest to a number of big companies yesterday, including European telcos and device manufacturers, as well as some US-based software and entertainment companies: widgets.

Widgets sound like small things, and they are, but they're also a big deal to companies trying to figure out how to monetize online and mobile services.

"Content on the move" is our theme at the Accenture pavilion, here at NAB in the South hall (SL8012) at the Las Vegas convention center. And, based on our interactions to date, it's a theme resonating with executives and journalists alike. Today's consumers want content—and in ways that don't require them to be chained necessarily to a TV, a computer, a movie theatre or a stereo system. They want content on the move, as they move, wherever they move.

In one sense, this isn't a new trend. When I was a kid I had a transistor radio, and that meant I could listen to music while riding my bike or laying in bed at night or sitting in the back seat of my parents' car. Multiply that trend across any kind of content, any kind of network, any kind of device, and you can see the digital revolution we're living through.

Tim Robbins, actor, producer and director best known for his roles in "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Bull Durham," gave an extremely entertaining, amusing, sometimes shocking, but always provocative keynote speech yesterday during the NAB Show here in Las Vegas.

Using an ingenious touch of irony and sarcasm combined with a great deal of insight, Robbins made a creative call to action against the homogenization of American media—of radio, news, music, entertainment, talk channels, and the like. (One of his jokes: "Isn't it too bad that we came so close to having one standard playlist for accepted music around the country?")

Yesterday I had the pleasure of introducing David Rehr, President and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, for his plenary address to NAB attendees. Dave spoke frankly about many of the challenges ahead for the broadcasting industry: "Some people are overwhelmed by change," he said. "Some are not optimistic about broadcasting's future."

Yet Dave made and continued to make throughout his remarks a consistent point, using the old phrase that "when one door closes, another opens." Digital is that new door opening, he said, and the industry must be able to understand why some parts of the business have changed forever, but also why new areas of the business hold great hope for the future.

Our own Greg Douglass kicked off the National Association of Broadcasters 2008 conference yesterday in Las Vegas. Each year, the NAB show draws thousands of executives and vendors in the broadcast, media, communications, entertainment and high-tech industries for workshops, networking, plenary sessions and, of course, mile upon mile of vendor booths stretched across three massive exhibit halls.

Greg's emphasis was crystal clear: we know the future is a digital one. Now it's all about execution and preparing your organization to scale its capabilities to meet consumer demand.

I’ve concluded a three-day journey across the multi-world and back here in Miami. And now shortly after everything involving this unique annual event has been said and done, and reflecting above and beyond the concrete, over-riding reality that the multi-polar world is the most important global economic transformation in many years, I came to a new realization. Which is that thriving in this new world boils down to individual human beings believing that they are intelligent and creative, and, more importantly, that maximizing these assets, rather than allowing any doubts about these capabilities get in their way, will be the key differentiating attributes of people and companies in this interdependent multi-polar world.

There is no question that people are intelligent and creative as was emphasized by the final speaker of the day, Sir Ken Robinson, a world-renowned expert on innovation. The winners in the multi-polar world will be those who maximize their intelligence and creativity, unleashing inhibitions and doubts and seize control of their ideas about how to make customers—the ultimate decisions-makers—always much more than merely satisfied.

I was really struck by the focus on Innovation – developing it, harnessing it, exploiting it. It is a major driver of economies. It affects how you do business. I thought Graham Love put it best when he noted that innovation contributes to wealth. He went on to state that innovation, along with rules of law and competition are the three primary ingredients of economic growth.

Equally brilliant was Sir Ken Robinson – the internationally renowned expert on creativity and innovation – who stated that you cannot create innovation without imagination. What underpins innovation to you? Why do we struggle so much with innovation? A superb example that Sir Ken Robinson shared was Starbucks. Starbucks did not invent coffee, but they innovated the culture of coffee.

The Web 2.0 discussion from the Service Innovation breakout session yesterday was particularly enlightening. To tap into this Web 2.0 world, companies are opening their networks, devices and Web platforms and more actively participating in collaborative service development. I was struck with the talk around the growth of web applications, and in particular how they intersect with mobile growth.

What was attention-grabbing was the dialogue around the iPhone SDK. A comment was made during this session on whether there is a $100m worth of applications to develop for the iPhone and in turn, which ones would win. I think there is a tremendous opportunity in the enterprise space and how we leverage these very flexible expandable devices to extend enterprise applications and allow employees to tap into corporate data and corporate applications in a more mobile way.

During a breakout session yesterday I shared new findings from an Accenture survey about customer service among businesses. The findings reported that more than half of customers say service levels have improved somewhat or significantly during the past two years; that only 36 percent of actual customers surveyed reported being highly satisfied with the service they receive; and that businesses give away about 28 percent of technical support for free because they lack proper insights into what customers are entitled to receive (I gathered from the audience’s reaction that the 28 percent figure may be actually be higer).

One way to improve these problems, I told the audience, is to get customers to become loyal repeat buyers. I also shared with them our finding that more than two-thirds of customers Accenture surveyed would be willing to pay a premium for higher quality service.

Why do we continue to compete on feeds, speeds and price when our customers are thinking about so much more when they sign up for services and buy new PCs and mobile devices? I repeated this question several times during a workshop yesterday on the new customer experience that I co-hosted with Robert Wollan, who leads Accenture’s Customer Centricity and Service Transformation practice globally.

Some 50 industry executives in attendance from communications, electronics & high tech and media & Entertainment agreed that keeping the consumer satisfied has never been harder. Technical literacy is up among consumers but their expectations have grown even more rapidly. When $399 will buy you a powerful, feature-rich PC, consumers are making their decisions on a whole host of others factors – such as convenience, ease of use and the company’s reputation for customer service.

The Telefonica plenary presentation was incredibly powerful on two fronts. I was sitting next to a number of senior executives from one our clients and we were all motivated by Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete's passion about his company and Telefonica's willingness to expand on Latin America where the risks where very high.

Many of our clients are in the midst of transformational programs to replace aging systems, simplify processes, and streamline the organization in order to complete or expand their offerings. In many ways, Telefonica's decision to take a 'leap of faith' is no different than the decisions our clients need to make in this multi-polar world. However, by far the most inspiring part of his presentation was to hear of Telefonica's commitment to social responsibility. As a father, it was upsetting to learn of the child labor situation many children in Latin American countries may find themselves. Through its PRONINO program, Telefonica works to end child labor in Latin America. The company believes that corporations can and should work toward helping to build a better society.

Today I heard Accenture’s Gene Reznik share intriguing stats during a session about the thriving developers community building applications and services, called mashups, that will work on top of popular web based tools such as Google maps. (To further clarify, a mashup is a web application that combines data from more than one source into a single integrated tool, thereby creating a new and distinct web service not originally provided by either of the sources individually).

Gene said there are nearly 3,000 registered mashups since the first one was put out there about two years ago. And this number is growing at 50 percent per year. I thought it was telling, also, when Gene referred to the fact that Facebook, a leader in mashups, already has 20,000 applications developed by third parties and is adding 140 per day. This all sounds to me like something important on the IT business and technology horizon. And like so many facets of the Internet, it’s somewhat unchartered territory.

In the midst of some great discussions yesterday, I have to say that the “Young Disruptors” panel moderated by Om Malik lived up to its billing. They were young, and their companies are certainly going to be disruptive.

My perspective is that these four “start ups” are just that – small scale companies, with a specific play in mind, all trying to drive growth in a highly fragmented and competitive environment. I think many of us have had a least some experience working with, or being around, a startup company, and what that means. However, I found several takeaways that I think were significant learning points for companies in the Fortune 50/100/500 realm…..and, as billed, these points might end up being disruptive if not paid the appropriate heed.

Okay, so 3 Screens is nothing more than a metaphor for “any digital content anywhere anytime” whether through television, PC, or mobile device. But look more closely and you will realize that 3 Screens gives the power back to the customer.

Coming out of the ‘Bringing 3 Screens to Life’ session today, I was further convinced that marketing and strategy folks need to fully grasp that their customers have become more dominant, if not smarter. In your customers’ minds it’s about their experience as much as it is about usability. Panelists from AT&T and Comcast noted that customers increasingly expect to control how they buy, access, store, share, created and even distribute content inside the digital home or on the go.

Insightful, instructive, empowering – there are just a few of the words I would use to describe this morning’s Women’s Leadership Forum.

I found myself – along with about 40 executive women in the room – echoing the sentiments and life approaches employed by our esteemed panelists:

We had great speakers with great content…lots of success and lots of passion. The multi-polar world concept is beginning to resonate with everyone at the forum. We heard from several speakers about how this deeper phase of globalization is impacting the way they do business.

Telefonica’s story is worth noting. Not that long ago, the name Telefonica conjured visions of the Spanish domestic carrier. Today, it represents a global telecom powerhouse. By aggressively expanding into Latin America, they’ve widened their footprint in a region that represents enormous growth potential - one anchor in the multi-polar world. At the same time, the company is embracing social responsibility and sustainability in a remarkable way.

I really enjoyed “The New Disruptors” session chaired by Om Malik. His panel of brilliant, young, drop-out entrepreneurs should be a wake-up call for everyone in our industry. Over the past few years we have seen a shift from enterprises driving network and technology innovation in the marketplace, with examples such as the PBXs and Ethernet, to innovation driven by consumers in the rapidly evolving Digital Home. It has been amazing to watch how consumer demand for creating, moving, and sharing content within their homes is starting to drive the industry. The adoption of WiFi has been an excellent example.

Om’s panel, consisting of CEOs from Xobni, Peanut Labs, Box.net, and Automattic, took this notion of the consumer driving demand to another level. In a highly energetic session, they spoke about how new service innovations will be driven by small, “agile” companies that are tightly connected with their users. With rapid beta processes, these companies could receive immediate feedback from their users and innovate at a fantastic pace. In an ironic but scary statement, even Google, who popularized the “beta”, was coined as “too slow moving” to keep pace. Iterative feedback and development cycles are needed to stay ahead of the market. They also described a world in which the approach is to put your software and services in the hands of the non-paying customers and grow virally – leveraging the power of social networks. Matt Brezina, from Xobni, even suggested that we should stop calling them “customers” and think of them as “individuals.” While some were starting to figure out how to make money from their applications through enterprise sales, many will still in positions in which they had not yet figured out how to monetize their services. But then again, when did Google figure out that they could make money in advertising?

I wonder if some executives were taken aback--as I was--by the staggering amount of dramatic change I spoke about and heard all about today. I have several examples like the rapid rise of the m