About Nigel Cameron

Writer, conference chair, former think tank director “Asking Tomorrow’s Questions” Speaking managed by ATG│Chartwell US: ellis@americantalentgroup.com, Global: alexh@chartwellpartners.co.uk Nigel Cameron has extensive experience as a keynote speaker and in facilitating high-level conversations focused on the future – crossing disciplinary lines and bringing together participants with diverse opinions and backgrounds. His emphasis is on reframing issues, welcoming outlier opinions, and pressing for a positive sum outcome that recognizes differences and engages them. A citizen of the United States and the UK, he has worked on both sides of the Atlantic and travels widely. He recently chaired GITEX 2015 in Dubai and will be chair of the Future Technology 2016. In one year he addressed conferences on all five continents, including the biennial innovation festival hosted by Australian finance giant AMP in Sydney, and Nanomedicine 2010 Beijing. He was the sole US-based plenary speaker at “the world’s leading conference on content marketing,” the 2011 Content Summit. Other recent engagements include the UN-affiliated Rio+ 20 Planet under Pressure event (London), and the opening keynote at the European Identity and Cloud Conference (Munich, Germany). His unusually wide experience includes serving on U.S delegations to the UN General Assembly and UNESCO; three periods as an executive-in-residence at UBS Wolfsberg (Switzerland); testimony on technology policy and values issues before the U.S House and Senate, the European Parliament, the European Commission’s advisory Group on Ethics, the German Bundestag, and the UK Parliament; and co-chairing a nonpartisan panel that advised the UK Conservative Party on emerging technologies and health policy. In the early 2000s, he was an invited non-federal participant in the Department of State-led Project Horizon, 3-year scenario-based strategic planning process. He has appeared on network media in several countries, including in the U.S. ABC Nightline and PBS Frontline; and in the UK the BBC flagship shows Newsnight and Breakfast with Frost. With a strong academic background together with an M.B.A. he has developed projects focusing integrative approaches to new technologies both in the academic/business context (at the Illinois Institute of Technology) and in the policy community (Center for Policy on Emerging Technologies in Washington, DC). He hosted a succession of annual policy conferences on nanotechnology at the National Press Club, which led to the publication of Nanoscale: Issues and Perspectives for the Nano Century (Wiley). Among Washington events in 2011 he hosted a series of roundtables on impacts of new technologies (risk, intellectual property, change), co-sponsored by the Intel-led Task Force on American Innovation; and was invited to moderate panels on the security implications of the “Arab spring” for weapons (WMD) control. He regularly hosts teleconferences with thought leaders such as Wired Magazine founder Kevin Kelly, former Lockheed-Martin chairman Norman Augustine, CEA president Gary Shapiro, innovation leader Vivek Wadhwa and White House technology policy lead Tom Kalil. Other teleconferences have focused emerging issues in cybersecurity, and the future of on internet governance with Ambassador Philip Verveer and others. In Silicon Valley he hosted a breakfast for the venture community to discuss his provocative commentary on the innovation gap between the west coast and Washington, How to Bridge the Continental Divide. Other recent commentaries that have generated thoughtful interest in Washington and further afield: on NASA, and Washington’s core problem thinking about the future. He has written a monthly column for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on the latest issues in corporate social responsibility and his op-eds include several for the San Francisco Chronicle on emerging issues in technology and policy. In 2015-16 he is Fulbright Visiting Research Professor in Science and Society in the University of Ottawa, Canada.

The Grim Details on CEOs and Social; 14/500 are tweeting, for example

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Nigel Cameron

An Evening with the Fortune 500, May 7, 2012 (Photo credit: Fortune Live Media)

I am rapidly coming to the conclusion, as these bizarre studies keep tumbling in, that serious personal engagement in social media is an absolute prerequisite for corporate leadership in 2012. And given the numbers, it’s also the single biggest opportunity for developing competitive advantage.

And here’s a project – anyone want to team up? Remedial social education camp: Every Fortune 500 CEO and other C-Suite denizen, every member of their boards, unless they are in the tiny minority actively and seriously engaged, needs to come spend a week being enabled to understand the single most dynamic force in the world in which they are operating.

Here are some of the most telling numbers.

5 of the 19 CEOs on Twitter have never tweeted, and other accounts are “underutilized”
25 of the 38 CEOs on Facebook have less than 100 friends
only four CEOs are on Google+ (including Larry Page)
not a single Fortune 500 CEO is on Pinterest

Here’s the report. Pour yourself a stiff drink before opening.

http://www.ceo.com/wp-content/themes/ceo/assets/F500-Social-CEO-Index.pdf

The CIO Issue is about Strategy; Strategy; got that? (futureofbiz.org)
CEOs, C-Suites, and Suicide (futureofbiz.org)
The Two Most Stunning Facts about American Business (futureofbiz.org)

CEOs, C-Suites, and Suicide

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Nigel Cameron

Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...

Image via CrunchBase

Seems that approximately once a week a report is coming out giving fresh evidence for the same, utterly bizarre, fact: That most top execs are simply not engaged, personally or professionally, in social media. To qualify a tad: One well-placed observer tells that he believes many are actually engaged in private social media (such as Yammer) within their companies. I should be interested to see the evidence. Some I am sure are. But the whole point about social is that it is substantially public; private chat/bulletin experiences are not exactly the point. And while we are being skeptical: Anyone have data on private social use? Key issue is that the dynamic, transformative, threatening, swirling, social ocean needs to be swum in. It’s not just chit-chat among colleagues.

Back to point: Just before reading this nice piece in AllThingsD, I had posted a cry of distress that our major “social” corporations (that is, Facebook et al.) are themselves way down the list of those corporations benefiting from social engagement with their customers/users. Way down.

That is, the argument is a fortiori. If even our top social corporation isn’t engaging with its environment socially, what hope for B2B and B2C players in more trad industries?

This is bad.

Top CEOs Aren’t Using Social Media, Study Says — Should They Be? – Mike Isaac – Social – AllThingsD.

The CIO Issue is about Strategy; Strategy; got that? (futureofbiz.org)
CEOs Afraid Of Going Social Are Doing Shareholders A Massive Disservice (forbes.com)

The CIO Issue is about Strategy; Strategy; got that?

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Nigel Cameron

In a helpful review of the various studies on CIO social media use et al. Theresa Clifford draws attention to the most details, a Gartner piece from earlier this year, with its alarming (though hardly surprising) data point that social is not on the list of the top ten CIO priorities for the next 3 years. Links below.

Having discussed the social-C-Suite problematic on various occasions I am wrestling with a way of understanding what this is emerging as one of the most ridiculous deficiencies (and, at least for now, biggest opportunities) in the entire business environment.

Plainly, the extraordinarily limited personal engagement of top CIOs in (public) social media (4 blogs/250, 25 Twitter accounts . . .) is one factor. Back of that is the hiring and promotion policies that have set in perhaps the most sensitive position in corporate America the least prepared persons. Back of that is the tech focus of the CIO office, which should be about information – the core of value in C21 – and is far too much focused on system upgrades and playing defense on security and employee social use and BYOD and . . . Back of that that the CIO office it typically reports through the – ugh – CFO (it really does). And back of it all: that the CEOs and Boards of our top companies have yet to realize that the seismic development of this generation has not been about comms and database systems but about the information that they contain and enable.

Kinda basic, don’t you think? But at the end of the day amazing insights and dumb errors usually are. Think, once again, of Thomas Kuhn. Every exec and board members should read him; just as they should all do social immersion courses. I’m serious. And happy to help.

It’s about information; and once you get that, you will get that it is about social – knowledge and relationships, and the threat and opportunity the offer in tandem to every organization on the planet.

That is to say, taken together, they present the core strategy issue to C21 business. Every C21 business. And the bigger, by and large, the more central.

http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1897514

Is social media the next area for CIO innovation? | CIO New Zealand.

Next up, The Uber Device; Handy Too

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Nigel Cameron

Those of us who are perpetual travelers are less annoyed than we should be by the “need” to port various devices and their support chargers (or even, worst case, that “universal” charger kit that was devised by a lego exec who went crazy). Many professional Blackberry users have kept their phones. Then the “laptop.” Now the tablet, which may or may not supersede the latter. And that mass of charger wiring that makes every single TSA X-ray look like a, well, we aren’t allowed to joke about them so I had better not say what. I met a top global exec who carries 6 phones/Blackberries. Sigh.

I think we all know where we are headed, even though it tends not to be articulated. One device. One genuinely UV charger (unless by then we have osmosis charging as standard). Serious batteries and backup and all-round resilience (as in, as resilient as my old portable typewriter, which will be worth a million dollars when we get hit with a EMP).

Early adopters help fund R and D. Many devices and types of devices have made a surprisingly brief appearance in the anthropocene. The early “mobile phone” with the size of a carton of milk and the charm of an army field telephone has been successively – and surprisingly subtly – succeeded by smaller, neater, more fashionable, until now we go around clutching supercomputers the size of energy bars whose serious powers we rarely engage. But we do clutch them. Except for those guys (sorry) who look like geeks’ dads and plumbers and wear them on tool belts. . . .

Meanwhile, we have parallel tale of the computer proper. Those of us old enough to remember pre-PC when IBM had yet to get its act together and artifacts like the Sirius preceded the early Apples are aware that the first decade or two of that evolution took their time. Remember “luggables”?

Then we speed forward into the standard “laptop” that is almost never actually on a lap and has held court for more than a decade. Suddenly it’s the netbook. Now the tablet. Now the midi-tablet, as 7 inches becomes the magic number. And my sense is we are getting warm. Not that Moore’s Law will ever leave us alone, but there are device plateaus and we are about to hit one.

Point is: Convergence. When those two wondrous 19th Century inventions, the typewriter and the telephone, finally converge. We shall port one device. It will have it all. The question is when, and exactly how will it meet our many needs?

Here’s my prediction.

1. Voice function is exploding in accuracy and appeal, but I expect Qwerty to be there too, very possibly (yes) with a non-touchscreen option.

2. Use of new materials (there are already flexible, roll-up displays) will go further and give us flex in screen size.

3. The son or granddaughter of Google Glass will give us micro-display options.

4. Cloud-based storage and fast download will be taken as read (though the latter will still be a problem in places long after we arrive at the single device).

What will we call it? The cab firm has seized Uber. But thinking of Germany, perhaps their curious name for the mobile/cellphone will work for the universal device. Using an English word (which the English have never used of their “mobiles”) they call them handies.

So by when?

The Great Tech Election – not

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Nigel Cameron

Romney (Photo credit: Talk Radio News Service)

Here in the United States we are preparing for Presidential and Congressional elections in which the core issues being fought over by the parties are focused on technology and the future. Research, space, implications for security and social values; innovation to drive our research and development; the steep climb up the exponential curve that will take us far in the next 2 and 4 years; the next rounds of the digital revolution.

Except that we aren’t. Whatever the merits of our parties and their respective leaders, there’s not a soul who would describe the 2012 campaign in those terms. I wonder why.

Look at these expert panels that explain something of the answer:

Looking Ahead: Investing in America’s Competitiveness » Tech Policy Summit.

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Nigel Cameron

http://www.techpolicysummit.com/2012/06/looking-ahead-investing-in-americas-competitiveness.html

FutureofBiz.org

The Napa Technology Policy Summit, 2012

http://www.techpolicysummit.com

I’ve just returned from this outstanding annual conference, in which C-PET was privileged once again to be a partner. It brought together leading voices from corporate, entrepreneurial, venture and governance communities.

The panel I moderated illustrates this well. Vivek Wadhwa, Washington Post innovation columnist, biz school prof in five locations, and recently appointed resident guru at the NASA-hosted Singularity University, was joined by Kauffman Senior Fellow Paul Kedrosky, Start-up America leader Kathy Warner, and Chief Strategy Officer of well-known start-up Spokeo Emanuel Pleitez. Like all panels at these events so well curated by Natalie Fonseca, there were no PowerPoints or set-piece speeches. Focus was on lively discussion, and Q and A, in which some of the best minds around were fully engaged. Full video will soon be available (we shall let you know when) and each of the panels will bear careful viewing…

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When and How if you’re Marketing with Twitter

Aside

If you missed this report a week or so ago, it’s worth a visit. A Salesforce unit looked at around 300 Twitter accounts managed for major brands. Important to note that, since while many of us use Twitter to promote our businesses, this effort seems to have looked at more overtly promotional tweeting (the kind I never see as I don’t follow brands!).

There are straightforward lessons about keeping under 100 characters, including links, making sure your links work (sigh); and interesting remarks on when best to tweet – at busy times, and especially at weekends (when it seems most major brands don’t bother much).

Grist to the mill of those of us who have been repeating that major companies aren’t serious about social, and the tips on timing and length are helpful even if they are not of universal application (so if you are selling sleeping pills . . .). And the approach some of us taking to mingling professional content with quips, snarks, and general-purpose observations (not to mention cat pics); and who tweet far more than is here recommended; is not really in view.

Back to a point I keep making. This really is early days – in digital in general, in social in particular, and in Twitter especially, which is the key social medium. I suspect I shall return to these points soon . . . .

WHY TWITTER MATTERS: Tomorrow’s Knowledge Network

http://t.co/GBi0mbyp

Sorry, Marketers, You’re Doing Twitter Wrong [REPORT].

The Two Most Stunning Facts about American Business

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Nigel Cameron

No hires from west of the Mississippi! (Photo credit: Kevin Saff)

Serious question: Is there anyone out there in the Fortune 500 who actually wants to make money?

Because mainstream American business is deliberately ignoring the two key drivers of value creation – with a remarkable degree of consistency. Companies vary, but not by that much, which is why the competitive advantage implications of both should be causing CEOs (and investors) nights of sweaty, nightmarish sleeplessness or first-mover overtime.

1. As I keep noting, every survey that reports on the number of women in senior positions tells us something ridiculous. Not, primarily, unfair (though of course it is unfair). Ridiculous. Whatever they may say, corporate leaders have taken a decision to ignore 50% of the talent pool.

Think about it. No-one with brown eyes. No-one from west of the Mississippi. Dog-lovers, fine; no-one with a cat. I know, it’s complicated. But when you get paid a whole pile of moolah, you can expect zero sympathy from me if things that are complicated prove to be beyond you. Get it fixed, or get out.

We know the national numbers. Men make up 84% of corporate officers, and 86.5% of executives. To focus more narrowly, look at the latest numbers (referenced below) from the state of MA: 41 out of the 100 largest companies by revenue have no women on their boards; 52 have no women executives. No-one with brown eyes. No-one from west of the Mississippi. No-one with a cat. It is frankly hard to see how in these circumstances officers and board members can claim to be exercising their fiduciary responsibility. At a time when the pressures on U.S. business are as bad as they have ever been, nearly half the talent pool is being ignored. I feel like I should be writing this for The Onion.

I think it’s unfortunate that this has been branded as an issue about fairness, like minority representation. Because it is quite different. It is something investors, were they thinking straight, would understand. Something boards would understand. It’s about value and competitive advantage. Get it?

There’s more to be said. I’ve argued that many women are in general better suited than many men to the flexible thinking, agility, relational management, and personal shape of C21 business. There’s actually a bonus in brown-eyed, western, cat-loving hires.

2. The second stunning fact is recent, obvious, dramatic, and at least as hopelessly out of focus as the first. It’s “social.” We keep talking about it. The posts linked below give some telling numbers that drive home the point. Not one of our major corporations has grasped the strategic significance of social media and social customer engagement. Some have responded more seriously than others. A few CEOs have set a lead. But only a handful of top CIOs are personally engaged in that combo of tech and human interface which will define both the relation of corporation and customer (B2B or B2C) in this generation and the corporation’s own capacity for agile, responsive change. It’s as big as that.

So, were I to be asked, I’d suggest the CEO snap up the top 10 social gurus on the planet and build a unit that engaged equally with CIO, CMO, every customer-facing unit, product development, and strategy. With the authority of his (sigh, yes, likely, his) office. For starters. Then next week, something else.

Now, guess what? Anyone seriously think that with women occupying around half the board and executive positions the revolutionary impact of social would be ignored? Anyone seriously think that if and when social is taken proportionately seriously, and customer values demand alignment with those of the company, the asinine male-dominated corporate culture that is well-nigh universal in U.S. business will survive?

Point is, the misalignment of society and corporate governance culture will find its most ready corrective in the revolutionary impact of social in permeating the organizational boundary and enabling market-driven pressures to reshape the business enterprise. It’s all under way. Who’s interested enough in the bottom line to jump ahead?

Customer Service and those who don’t get it: https://futureofbiz.org/2012/07/06/the-social-revolution-customer-service-and-those-who-dont-get-it/

How to Become a Social Business

82% of Moms of under-18s On Social Networks

Tech and Corporate Culture: #social #DC #Gov2.0

The business case for investing in women – Boston Business Journal.

via The Two Most Stunning Facts about American Business.

More on the #social #CIO (futureofbiz.org)
Facebook, Diversity, and Leadership in the C21 Corporation (futureofbiz.org)
Oh really? Directors go Digital? (futureofbiz.org)
More Facebook Malarkey: Why? (futureofbiz.org)
The Social Revolution: Customer Service and those who don’t get it (futureofbiz.org)

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Nigel Cameron

Reposting this as it is highly relevant to the urgent need to re-orient the federal government westward: to the Silicon Valley tech/creative community, and to China. We need to start with Camp David. Then the rest of federal Washington. Shift them to the Bay Area. The question is when, not if. The longer it takes, the worse U.S. chances in C21. How about it, Obama? Romney?

FutureofBiz.org

I first posted the discussion below in January. Couple striking recent developments to add. The Germany Pirate Party is now polling better than the Greens. And the UK’s Daily Mail – very much a mainstream conservative paper – has published a clarion call to support Marine Le Pen for the French presidency. Go figure.

I’m about to discuss this in the context of Gov2.0 at #gov20la

People have pointed out that others use this term to refer to the politics of space exploration involving inhabited planets. I think it has a much more useful meaning. Sorry, ETs.

Oh yes, and @mikenelson picks up the theme in this essay: http://www.europeaninstitute.org/EA-April-2012/battles-over-digital-copyright-sopa-and-acta-and-the-rise-of-exo-politics.html

On Exopolitics: Tectonic Plates are shifting in America

So far as I can see, no-one else is using exopolitics in the sense I have been this past year on Twitter and in various blog posts to refer to fundamental shifts in American…

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