Last updated: 28 Jun 2010 Update History
Report Status: Archived
Report Pages: 34
Analyst: Paul Budde
Publication Overview
Australia's first newsletter on national and international management and business applications in broadband, voice, data and video communication. Trends and developments in telecommunications, wireless communication, broadband and data services, fibre-to-the-home and satellite-based services. It describes business opportunities and provides updates on deregulation in the Australasian region and around the globe.
Executive Summary
Over the last few decades we have seen dramatic changes in our society.
These do, of course, form part of generational and societal change patterns in areas such as education and individual pursuits, and they can be viewed in isolation. However, some people, organisations and communities are finding it easier to adapt than others.
In some cases the individual assertiveness that has accompanied these changes has also created extreme forms of behaviour, and this is manifested in hooliganism, crime, abusive behaviour at personal level (drugs, obesity) and also at a societal level, in extremism and intolerance towards others.
In addition, a breakdown has taken place in relation to authority; people are turning to their peers and people in their local community rather than to political and religious leaders.
On the positive side there is far greater participation in democratic processes, mainly thanks to new means of communications. In all of these changes, both positive and negative, the power of the Internet has proved to be quite remarkable.
Political and business organisations also experience this dualism. Some companies thrive on these new developments (Cisco, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, etc) while others, many of them incumbents, struggle and are left behind.
Some countries are showing early signs of a positive attitude towards these changes. The Obama Government in the USA and the Australian Rudd Government are leading examples. In the developing world changes are occurring, particularly in the BRIC countries.
However most governments struggle with the new developments, especially several of the European countries where there is a distinct lack of positive leadership.
One of the main problems with struggling countries and governments is a lack of positive modern leadership and a problem with managing these organisations within a silo-based structure.
Solutions to today’s problems require a trans-sector approach and many find it difficult to break down the silos that have existed since the 1950s, and which, until a decade or so ago, delivered a reasonable outcome.
An interesting observation here is that trans-sector operations require a more inclusive approach that also the soft and social benefits into account rather than only the rational economic elements. This is the perspective being applied in countries and companies that are operating in a trans-sector way.
Leadership is needed to bring more coherence into an increasingly compartmentalised society. This is especially necessary at a political level, as it is impossible for the bureaucracy to lead such a societal change on their own.
Problems in most silos
As a result of the above there is a great deal of dissatisfaction all around the world regarding healthcare, education, climate change, energy, broadband and many other services provided and/or regulated by governments; over the last 10-15 years the quality of these services to the end-user has deteriorated sharply. While, in general, they have seen much ‘internal’ innovation and improvement the service quality delivered to the average person has declined. The problem, therefore, is in management and distribution rather than the core quality of these services.
We do not believe that any of the major social and economic problems we are now facing can be solved by trying to optimise broken or faltering (silo) systems.
New infrastructure investments – especially within the context of the current economic and environmental crisis – need to be based on a trans-sector policy, looking for the multiplier effect those investments will have in relation to healthcare, education, energy, environment, etc.
National welfare depends on new ways of thinking
Once its significance is fully understood it becomes clear that the trans-sector concept extends much further than our discussion has to date. It will actually be fundamental to the broader global solutions we need to find for the larger problems being faced by the human race.
More and more economists, sociologists, government policymakers, business leaders (in general, the decision-makers in our societies) are realising that there are links between the various crises we are experiencing – that it is not just a matter of coincidence that these problems are all cropping up at the same time.
We know that climate change and the associated environmental problems are linked to our insatiable appetite for resources and this in turn is driven by our mantra of growth – the need to earn more, own more and do more.
If we look at the financial crisis we see a similar picture – the quest for more wealth regardless of cost. And the ruthless pursuit of that goal has plunged the world into its most severe economic crisis ever.
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