Martin Cole

Always On. Always Connected. Now What?

In this opening message, Marty Cole identified four shifts driving the opportunities being always on and always connected present. He gave a common thread among all the opportunities that will help companies take advantage of these opportunities.

Welcoming participants to the 2011 Accenture Global Convergence Forum, Marty Cole set the tone: "We invent and make the things people need and want. We connect people to their co-workers, families, and friends. Our technologies are changing entire industries."

Cole identified four shifts driving today's "astonishing opportunities":

1. There's been a huge jump in the number of people–and things–that are connected. More people around the world have access to a mobile phone than to clean water or the electrical grid. We're moving to a world of billions of internet-connected users, tens of billions of consumer electronics, and hundreds of billions of specialized connected devices. Can our collective intelligence be harnessed to solve global problems?
   
   
2. We're going mobile. In 2013, mobile internet use will overtake desktop internet. Already, the number of smartphones and tablets being sold exceeds the number of PCs. The demand for mobility is nearly impossible to overestimate, and mobile broadband is being adopted faster than any computing platform in history.
   
   
3. Cloud services are exploding in popularity. The digital universe is expected to expand 50 times in the next 10 years. The challenge is figuring out how to make money. Some companies are improving customer service; others are using customers for R&D. Many are delivering new capabilities and services faster than ever before.
   
   
4. Consumer technology is impacting our world. Nearly 50 percent of workers think they can boost performance if they can use the technologies of their choosing. Companies must be prepared to meet the business demands of mobility and secure their data and software.
   
   

The common thread? "The things our companies do best. Today's opportunities depend on a widespread broadband infrastructure, new ways to store and process content, and connected devices to deliver it to the user."For example:

• Cities are linking sensors and cameras to reduce traffic congestion, air pollution, and fuel consumption.
• Within the next three years, a half a billion people will have health apps on their smart phones to manage their health. One Accenture prototype equips clothing with sensors to monitor vital health statistics in real time.
• In 2015, $119bn worth of goods and services will be purchased via a mobile phone.

"We can change how the world lives, works, and plays. Over the next few days, we'll discuss how we can turn the promise of 'always on, always connected' into new ways to operate, into better lives for the billions of people in emerging markets, and into new chances for us to lead the way. I look forward to the conversation."


Marty Cole, Group Chief Executive, Communications & High Tech, Accenture discusses "Capitalizing on the opportunities in an Always On, Always Connected World" at Accenture Global Convergence Forum 2011 in Rio, April 27-29 2011. View the video ...


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Martin (Marty) Cole Group Chief Executive, Communications & High Tech, Accenture Marty Cole is the chief executive of Accenture’s Communications & High Tech operating group, a position to which he was appointed in September 2006. He is a member of Accenture’s Executive Leadership Committee. Prior to this, Mr. Cole was the chief executive for the Health & Public Service operating group (formerly called the Government operating group). From 2000 - 2004, Mr. Cole was the managing director of Accenture’s Outsourcing & Infrastructure Delivery group, where he led the development and oversaw the execution of Accenture’s transformational outsourcing strategy. Mr. Cole joined Accenture in 1980 in the Austin, Texas, office and became a senior executive in 1989.