In this week's news roundup for IT pros, we bring you the latest predictions for 2017 and articles on the Internet of Things.
Predictions for 2017
With Halloween behind us and the smell of pumpkin pie in the air, tis the season for predictions for the year ahead. This week we saw predictions for the CIO and the future of technology from Forrester and IDC.
Top 10 tech predictions for 2017 from IDC [Forbes]: Gil Press breaks down IDC's predictions for technology leaders in an article for Forbes. He summarizes, “The predictions covered many trends driving success today and in the future, from how the entire global economy will be re-shaped by digital transformation, the transition of all enterprises from being 'digital immigrants' to being 'digital natives,' the scaling up of innovation accelerators, the emergence of 'the 4th platform' (a new set of technologies that will become mainstream in ten years), drastic changes in how enterprises connect to their customers, and the ecosystem becoming as important for business success as IP.” He covers each of the 10 predictions in more depth in his article.
Forrester Predictions: CIOs push for speed amid volatility [Forbes]: Also in Forbes this week, Matthew Guarini, VP and research director at Forrester, shares his predictions for what will happen to the CIO role in 2017 amidst a rapidly changing technology landscape and volatile consumer demands. Forrester expects CIOs to take four actions next year, including correcting the missteps of failed bi-modal strategies, and turning to open source to speed innovation and time to market.
Internet of Things
IoT adoption is sure to show up on 2017 predictions in the coming weeks, but two articles this week highlight its current shortcomings.
The Internet of Things? It’s not that connected yet [ReadWrite]: In a contributed article for ReadWrite, Chris Stone, chief products officer for Acquia Inc., argues that the IoT era is here, but orchestration of all those smart devices is the next big challenge. He says, “Right now, there are roadblocks standing in the way of our devices communicating not just with us, but with each other. We need a new approach – one that overcomes challenges with both technology and corporate interest, letting users fully leverage the power of each of their connected devices.” He goes on to discuss how the IoT landscape might evolve if companies can overcome challenges around standardization and user permissions.
An experiment shows how quickly the Internet of Things can be hacked [NPR]: The article states, “Andrew McGill, a reporter at The Atlantic, devised an experiment to find out how vulnerable our devices are to hackers. He built a virtual Internet-connected toaster, put it online and waited to see how quickly it would take for hackers to attempt to breach it. They found him much faster than he expected.” In fact, what he was expecting might be days or weeks took less than an hour. More highlights on this experiment and advice to protect against hacking are included in this article.
More news for CIOs
Are true IT leaders born or made? [InformationWeek]
Why the CIO is essential to digital transformation [TechRepublic]
