September 26, 2018 — Canada here I come… :-)

I am really excited, in just two days I will hear the Captain of the Air-Canada flight welcoming me onboard :-) The three wonderful months of preparation (along with my full time job :-) are now completed and I am in the best position for starting the “in-Country” mission in Halifax.

Although Nova Scotia region (which Halifax is part of) is one of the smallest regions of Canada, it is regarded as “The Eastern Gate” to Canada (See map). Halifax has a large harbor and the maritime industry is one of the major industries here. Therefore I am very happy that my CSC assignment is within this industry. The selection was probably made because in my work at IBM my client is the world largest (#1) shipping company… on another thought I think that my Yacht Captain on a sailing boat that I enjoy in my free time made the choice :-)

My Assignment at the Institute for Ocean Research Enterprise (IORE):
(Source IORE site http://iore.ca/ ) => “Ocean expertise abounds on Canada’s east coast. In Nova Scotia alone, ocean-related activity generates $5 billion in revenue and produces 60,000 jobs — 14 per cent of provincial employment. More than 10 per cent of all researchers in Atlantic Canada are focused on oceans. And an increasing number of private sector companies are discovering new economic opportunities in key ocean-related sectors.

The Institute for Ocean Research Enterprise (IORE) exists to align these assets to benefit the region and the marine science and marine technology sectors. By brokering partnerships among industry, universities, government and private institutions, IORE is working to enhance both the competitiveness of ocean industries and our knowledge base”

The challenges my team will deal with — at a glance:

• The maritime industry is suffering from long standing misconceptions regarding careers in this important sector. Youth is aware of the career opportunities, however, want to work elsewhere due to an unwritten cultural norm of ‘leaving for work’
• There is a lack of awareness about the diverse nature of jobs, roles and skill set required.
• A general (incorrect) perception about the kind of work and life in the industry is weaning the youth away.

I am happy that among other things, we had the time in the past three month to refresh and ‘boost’ our skills in consulting technique and the new ways of working in this area. My team intends to use IBM Design Thinking to conduct our work with IORE in order to maximize the outcome of one month In-Country work. IBM Design Thinking is a powerful approach to innovation and brand differentiation, focused on creating experiences that delight customers. Makes sense right? However, I am sure you can think about examples where the user experience was not completely thought through. Below is an example of two “products” and why one is regarded more valuable than the other…. The user experience effect…

IBM Design Thinking adds three core practices to traditional approaches: Hills, playbacks, and sponsor users.

Now after hearing about that, why don’t you go and explore further the IBM Design Thinking and learn how we do that at IBM… Warning! This may change your way of thinking when it comes to DESIGN :-) (https://www.ibm.com/design/thinking/ )

More to come… so stay tuned :-)

Best regards,

Ilan Menachem