The end of the year brings with it reflection and 2011 was certainly a big year in business innovation. From the passing of Steve Jobs, who was in his own right business innovation incarnate, to the video game industry slaying Hollywood; 2011 made an impact and we’ll feel its effect going into 2012. This year will provide new business innovation but just as last year was influenced by 2010 so shall the rippling effects of progression be felt in eternity. Let’s look back at 2011 for some of the top business innovation movements and the skill sets that surfaced.
The Business of Competitions
It seems that a golden oldie resurfaced as a business innovation in 2011; the consumer competition. From Frito-Lay to Toyota, consumers found themselves being invited to design challenges and competitions opened to the public. Where businesses would before usually hire a designer out of executive suites Raleigh or some other trendy design firm they were now asking the public for input in their business innovation management. Consumers responded positively and if you were a company that didn’t run such programs you were usually responding to a competitor’s program.
Tablet Technology
2011 was without a doubt the year of the iPad and similar technologies. As the tablet technology has matured in our industry, it’s infiltrated all levels of the consumer market. From the Kindle to the iPad, the keyboard took a backseat this year, although I doubt we’ll stop using those anytime soon. 2012 looks set to continue this business innovation technology with Google announcing a tablet to compete with Apple’s to be released this year.
WWWabs Are Online Testing Labs
While not quite mainstream in 2011, WWWabs certainly rocked the business innovation underbelly in a big way. WWWabs exist as experimental labs for Google, American Express and similar companies. These labs are not housed at serviced offices in London, they are instead within the folds of the internet; this means that anyone can visit them at any time. Hosting betas to amazing products and services that will go live in the future, 2011 saw companies open their doors and business innovation centers for the world to sample. 2012 should probably be a bigger year for this trend but for those of you who caught the wave in 2011, we’re sure you’re feeling very privileged right now.
2012 is tipped to be a big year for business innovation, perhaps bigger than 2011; the reason for this could be that every year the previous year compounds all the fresh technology into a giant snowball effect. Either way we’re excited for the year which will introduce new Blackberry devices, brand new Google products and even new cinematic cameras for the masses. Here’s to 2012, a year of business innovation and excitement.
Eugene Calvini is a proficient writer and keen lover of business technology.