Want to Build the Future? What You Need to Know Now
“At the end of the day, the goal is not to be right, because predicting the future is somewhat impossible,” explained Ron Clark, Partner and VP of Strategic Design at BCG Digital Ventures. “The goal is to inspire action to address change.”
Want to build the future? Digital strategy, we all know, is now table stakes. Technology is ever-evolving, markets are changing, and we have completely new ways of working. Understanding these opportunities today is essential to make an impact tomorrow.
That’s why BCG Digital Ventures recently came together to delve into where the world is going. Our Manhattan Beach and New York centers last month hosted Digital Day, where our thought leaders shared the trends they’re watching — and how to prepare for what’s next.
The first thing to consider? “To build the future, you need to have a perspective on the future,” said Ron Clark, Partner and VP of Strategic Design at BCGDV in Chicago. “At the end of the day, the goal is not to be right, because predicting the future is somewhat impossible,” he explained. “The goal is to inspire action to address change.”
It starts with identifying the trends and signals in any given industry, and then organizing them to develop a perspective; Ron shared the STEEP framework, which focuses on social, technological, economic, environmental, and political groupings, to do that analysis.
He also flagged the Futures Wheel, which was created by Jerome C. Glenn in 1972 and examines the “ripple effects” of a particular change or development. For example, thinking about implications five, ten years down the line.
“Ten years is not as crazy as it sounds to have some perspective on,” Ron said. And Harnish Jani, Managing Director and Partner at BCGDV in Manhattan Beach, agreed. Looking ten years (or even 20 years) out allows us to push boundaries — and not just focus on what is possible today. “There is not one future,” Jani noted. “There could be multiple futures.”
That might veer into sci-fi territory for some, but Jani sees it more as being prepared. There are natural trends, as well as uncertain ones. Organizations need to consider both. If you look at the decacorns of today, almost half of them did not exist 20 years ago — ByteDance, Stripe, Canva, SpaceX, AirBnB, Instacart, to name a few.
“It’s not about what business you are in, but what businesses you could be in. And how do you future-proof yourself?” he said. “It’s about building resilient businesses.”
As for where those businesses could exist…well, we would be remiss in talking about the future without mentioning Web3.
While the conversation is dominated by cryptocurrency and NFTs, there’s another area that isn’t discussed enough: self-sovereign identity (SSI). And Tiffany Chen, Lead Engineer at BCGDV in Chicago, believes it will be “the most widely implemented and adopted of Web3 technologies.”
Consider the process of applying to rent an apartment (especially in New York City). You need to provide pay stubs, bank account statements, your social security number, and more to prove you can afford the space. And where does all of that information end up? On the email server of a broker you spoke to years ago.
SSI reimagines the exchange of information to put trust and privacy back in the hands of the user. Leveraging a combination of decentralized technologies (like blockchain) and advanced cryptography, information can be securely shared and verified in real-time from a digital wallet. Not only does that make information more accessible and portable, it also lets users control what they want to share and with whom.
“While digitizing records can streamline processes and reduce everyday inefficiencies, that’s only the beginning,” noted Tiffany, who was previously the chief architect of IBM’s digital identity and credentialing platform.
“I used to tell my team that if all we’ve accomplished is to digitize a piece of paper, we failed. We haven’t done enough. We have to strive for digital ownership because digital ownership can transform industries. And this is the value that’s driving investment into decentralized identity solutions.”
Sharon Mwale, Senior Venture Architect at BCGDV in Chicago, meanwhile, spoke about the exciting innovation happening in Africa and how the continent is leapfrogging the Industrial Revolution. Take M-Pesa, an SMS-based system for personal banking that launched in Kenya in 2007. Zelle, which might be considered its US equivalent, didn’t debut stateside until 2011.
Plus, a number of homegrown startups are tackling the continent’s biggest challenges — from waste management (Nulla Waste) to deforestation (RecoPlast). “Local founders are equally concerned with maximizing financial returns and opportunities for the community to benefit,” Sharon noted.
“It is innovating for the context,” she said. “Innovating for what Africans are going through with the resources they have.” You can’t just take an idea that’s worked in the US, Sharon added, and expect it to succeed in Africa without taking things like culture into account.
Because innovation — as Jessica Schwartz, Venture Architect Director at BCGDV in New York, reminded us all — is really the ultimate endurance sport. Like a marathon (she’s run a few of them), it requires discipline, focus, and a willingness to believe that you can accomplish what everyone is saying you can’t.
“To me, innovation is probably one of the toughest jobs out there — whether it’s here at DV, whether it’s innovating inside a corporation, whether it’s simply trying to adopt and get traction of a new process, a new way of working, a new way of thinking,” Jessica said. Challenges are inevitable, but her biggest takeaway is that “fortitude is everything.”
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