All posts filed under: Technology

Hybrid Work and San Francisco Commercial Real Estate

Published by Gert Christen

The COVID-19 pandemic has completely shifted the state of work in the country. While many employers are demanding their employees return to the office, workers are seeking much more flexible arrangements. A survey from Gallup in June 2022 found that approximately 56% of full-time employees in the U.S., or more than 70 million workers, say their job can be done remotely. Of those surveyed, 50% were adapting to hybrid work schedules, 30% were exclusively working remotely, and only 20% were working entirely from their office. The same survey found that six out of 10 employees working exclusively remotely are “extremely likely to change companies” if not offered remote flexibility at work. In Silicon Valley, 2-3 days of remote working has emerged as the new normal, with Wednesdays and Thursdays as the days when most employees work at the office. With technology moving in the direction of catering to remote and hybrid employee needs, employees are moving out of more expensive cities in an effort to save money, cut back on commute time, and achieve better work/life balance. If you’ve …

Shapeshifting of entertainment ecosystems:

Published by Gert Christen

Content is king! And in TV, the trend clearly shows us moving away from watching traditional channels paid via cable TV and moving towards subscription-based streaming services. Streaming benefitted from COVID with record growth: However, as the competitive battle heats up among the providers, winning new subscribers and preventing existing ones from leaving is becoming harder. As a consequence, providers started looking for more ammunition: attractive content to keep their viewers within their own walled garden longer and to attract new subscribers. A reshuffling of the assets in this industry has begun, and we have a front-row seat to a textbook case of a formerly new industry entering a more mature phase. WarnerMedia TV and Discovery merged to create a new premium mouthful, “pure-play direct-to-consumer entertainment company.” WarnerMedia was previously owned by AT&T, the U.S. telecom provider who, with this move, turned their entertainment assets into an independent business. This spinoff was a glycemic index-busting sweet deal for AT&T, as it received up to $43 billion dollars, which it can now pour into the 5G …

The coming of transhumanism

Published by Gert Christen

Doctors have used technology to repair or improve human bodies for decades, and this has been uncontroversial. However, soon the technology will be available to be stronger, to better resist illnesses, and to live longer. This voluntary transhumanism is different – and it will become controversial. Should we do everything that we technically could? Is it right? Will it be only for the rich? Are we playing god? These are questions that we need to start exploring. Rena Seiler recently tackled the topic in a paper entitled “Transhumanism – the vision of the technological evolution of humans” at the Institute for Digital Business of HWZ University Zurich. You can read the English version here, or her original article in German here. Rena argues that this technology is being developed no matter what and that we as a society must seize the opportunity of the early stage to discuss the use of transhumanism. Otherwise, there is a risk that the technology will be exploited for selfish personal and strictly commercial reasons, which will exclude many from …

Transhumanism – The technological evolution of humankind.

Published by Gert Christen

Transhumanism is considered a philosophical school of thought that seeks to expand the boundaries of human possibilities through the use of technological methods. Rena Seiler, MAS Digital Business student at HWZ University in Zurich, Switzerland, offers insight into the challenges of the transhumanist vision. On February 18, 2021, Perseverance, NASA’s rover, landed safely on Mars. From tabloids to science magazines, the broad media covered the successful landing on the red planet, which marked the kickoff of NASA’s mission. Much of the population watched in fascination as humanity moved one step closer to one of the four explicit goals of NASA’s mission: the colonization of space, starting with Mars. So our aspiration to colonize space is no longer science fiction at all but reality. Colonizing space: Is the human object as ready as its rockets? The vision of space colonization also poses challenges for the “human object.” Currently, a one-way trip to Mars takes nine months. The associated strain on the human body leads to various, sometimes lasting, physical impairments. The question inevitably arises as to …

Data is the new oil

Published by Gert Christen

Michael Palmer of the Association of National Advertisers expanded on Clive Humby’s statement. “Data is the new oil. It’s valuable, but if unrefined, it cannot really be used. (Oil) has to be changed into gas, plastic, chemicals, etc. to create a valuable entity that drives profitable activity; so must data be broken down, analyzed for it to have value.”* We’ve come a long way in data as the basis for businesses, and we’re learning about its legal, social, and ethical boundaries along the way. But there’s no doubt about the trend: Companies who use data as the sole base for their business are coming. And it’s growing into big business for many, not just social media platforms (exploiting user-generated data in return for free services), storage companies (operating the data centers where our clouds host our data), and companies providing software-as-a service (SaaS). Data in recruiting and talent management: Recruiting and managing employees is still mostly database-driven. Enter keywords, and databases, like LinkedIn, will list results. Consequently, resumes and LinkedIn profiles today are optimized for …

The State of the Corporate Startup

Published by Gert Christen

Video and presentations for download from the “Corporate Venturing” event on October 28, 2020. The event was organized by the Swiss American Chamber of Commerce in San Francisco and was sponsored by the Swiss Business Hub. Experts from Swisscom, the Swiss Railways SBB and Paul Holland from Mach49 and Foundation Capital shared their approaches to corporate innovation (more about the speakers at the end of this post). Here are the recording of the event and the speaker presentations: Zoom video recording Swisscom presentation Swiss Railways SBB presentation Mach49 innovation consultants presentation Thank you to the Chamber for organizing the event and to the three speakers for sharing their work and their inputs. Feel free to download the slides and the event video. If you have an opinion on corporate innovation let me know and let’s start a dialog. The panelists were: Swisscom (Lukas Peter, Head of Silicon Valley Outpost): Swisscom started an outpost in Silicon Valley 20 years ago and are one of the most visible and present partners and investors in the Swiss innovation scene. …

I don’t buy it! The rationale Amazon gave for buying Zoox.

Published by Gert Christen

Amazon bought a self-driving car company. Zoox, the company that gave me my first-ever autonomous car ride (unforgettable, even though it wasn’t the wild ride shown here). Congratulations to the entire Zoox team — I’m very, very happy for you! So why did Amazon buy Zoox? Amazon gave this rationale: “We’re acquiring Zoox to help bring their vision of ride-hailing to reality.” And further down in the press release: “Zoox is pioneering the future of ride-hailing by designing autonomous technology from the ground up with passengers front-of-mind.” I don’t buy that Amazon would “help” to pioneer the future of ride-hailing by passengers. Amazon simply doesn’t strike me as a company that altruistically helps others achieve their visions. Furthermore, Amazon isn’t in the people-moving business, a space with already fierce competition, and lots of controversies. I don’t think they’d touch that business with a 10-foot pole. However, Amazon’s own business is plagued by problems that could be solved by self-driving cars:  Cost of last-mile deliveries: Amazon has traditionally used the U.S. Postal Service for many of …

What Constitutes Leadership in a Digitalized Business World?

Published by Gert Christen

7 personal takeaways by André Meister, Partner at NOVO Business Consultants after completing HWZ University’s graduate certificate (CAS) in “Digital Leadership” and a study tour to Silicon Valley:
1. A fundamental shift of power in organizations: From hierarchical to networked
2. Traits of a good leader: Vision, clear values, role model, be present, develop employees, communication, justness & due process, expert knowledge, self-reflection
3. Fast, agile & flexible organizations
4. Dual transformation

Silicon Valley Innovation Tours Done Right

Published by Gert Christen

This article was first published as a LinkedIn article by Antonio Grgic on November 12, 2018. He condensed his personal learnings from a study tour to Silicon Valley organized by HWZ University of Applied Sciences Zurich. What follows is the English translation of the article with an introduction by Gert Christen who organized and led the study tour. Silicon Valley Tours – Just Tourism or Meaningful for Innovation? If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area you know the two types of buses shuttling people between San Francisco and Silicon Valley: Employee buses of the large tech companies on the one hand and chartered buses carrying visitors from all over the world to the same tech companies on the other. Each week there are hundreds of delegations from all over the world traveling around the Silicon Valley determined to learn its secrets. They fall into five categories: Politicians who want to learn how to set policies that attract innovative companies, resulting in more high qualified jobs and highly profitable and future-proof companies. Business people who want to learn how to be more innovative and who want to sell their products, find new suppliers or create …

“Cracking the Code of Public Sector Innovation” included in Yea(h)rbook

Published by Gert Christen

The Institute of Digital Business at HWZ University in Zurich, Switzerland, included my article about how to create a method to innovate in the public sector in their yearbook 2018. Very happy and proud to make a contribution and to see my learnings being shared and used! The full article can be read here. The yearbook can be ordered here. My thanks to the team who worked with me on this project at City Innovate Foundation, namely Garrett Brinker, Katy Podbielski, Luke Kim, and Carlos Cruz-Casas of Miami-Dade County as well as all the experts, researchers, writers, advisors and supporters. It was a pleasure and together we created something unique!