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Who Are the Australians Shaping Our Future?

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An interesting question was posed by @nickdallariva on Twitter recently; “Can anyone think of an Australian that should be speaking at TED next year?” This received a “Good point. Can’t think of many” from one of Nick’s followers, which got me pondering “just who do we think about, and why?”.

Firstly, I think it’s important to know what TED is. TED sttarted out as a conference for Technology, Entertainment and Design focussing on ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’. One of the things that I find compelling about TED is that the speakers (in the main) are people you have never heard of, and they are truly thinking of BIG IDEAS to shape our future. Scientists, Philosophers, Engineers, Environmentalists, Designers, Artists, Politicians… – a very diverse group. The other compelling thing is that all the talks are online to watch.

That is the key part of the TED vision to me: ‘Spreading’, and there is a lot of discussion today especially about the spreading of media power. Interestingly, a TED speaker provided a fundamental insight to me. Clay Shirky spoke about how social media can make history and the key takeaway for me was about the nature of communication where most mainstream media is “one speaker” to “many listeners”, but with no ability to create a conversation. So most of our media has been about “what is the single largest group that can be spoken to” in order to achieve whatever the goal is, typically audience share and advertising/subscription revenue. This has taken us to the point where politicians, sports stars and entertainers dominate the “names” we think of when we think of prominent Australians. So what can we change so that we think of “names” in other fields?

One other response to Nick said “our tech and science community are under promoted, but think TED could change that”. I think it isn’t just TED, but it is the whole social media phenomenon. Social media sites and capabilities such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn (and many others) are about creating conversations in a group of any size where there is a common interest. I have found it fascinating to watch my Twitter usage, followers and people I follow change based on the people, ideas and conversations I’m introduced to, and the people, thoughts and ideas that they in turn introduce me to. Some of these people are also thinking of BIG IDEAS, and haven’t found the forum yet (and never would find a forum but for social media).

To create a forum for those people with the ideas the onus is on all of us to participate and pass on what you find interesting, innovative and challenging. One of the most amazing things Twitter introduced me to is an innovation festival run by AMP, not the first company I would have thought of when it comes to innovation, but clearly one of the leaders despite my bad assumptions. Check out www.amplify.amp.com.au to see what a large corporate can turn on to foster their own big ideas.

So why is this in a Teradata blog? Well, I think at the heart, it is what we have been trying to do for years – put the power of information in the hands of the people who can do the most with it. Working locally with our customers, we have helped turn Campaign Management into Conversation Management, and being relevant and timely for individuals, not segments. We have helped customers get a better understanding of their business in order to create better customer (and citizen) experiences. It is why I enjoy doing what I do so much, and why I am here still some 13 years later (though another Twitter introduction – James Gardner makes me wonder if that is a good idea .

 

So I guess the answer to my question is that we are all shaping our future, obviously, but some are trying harder than others. In case you’re curious, my nominations were Dr James Bradfield Moody , one of his projects that I think would qualify is solar cell polymer and Prof Graeme Clark, inventor of the Cochlear implant. Who are your nominations (and I’ll pass them on to Nick)?

 

Sean Kain

www.linkedin.com/in/seankain

The post Who Are the Australians Shaping Our Future? appeared first on International Blog.


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