Rich Wolf TOPICS: Future Technology Ecommerce Motivation Marketing FEE CATEGORY:* 5.0k to 10.0k Profile Program Outlines Testimonials/Client List Request This Speaker

Rich Wolf

Chief Futurist

A Communications Odyssey Abstract

A Communications Odyssey is a personal observation of the dramatic changes that Rich has experienced during his 30+ years with AT&T Research and Development. This multimedia presentation covers technical and societal trends, enabling technologies, network infrastructure, leading edge applications and lots of cool stuff. The motivation for the talk is based on the following reflections:

• Computer and Information technology have undergoneexplosive growth during the past several decades
• The communications infrastructure has grown in functionality and is being transformed to underpin and support the acceleration of an information-based economy
• This rapid pace and synergies of network and computer change has been driven by explosive customer demand for innovative services and increased functionality
  

The ability to solve customer problems is in turn fueled by the integration of enabling technologies into the network fabric and information appliances. Customer satisfaction depends on three important elements:

• developing new technology
• integrating technology into the network/computing infrastructure
• providing the innovative services to solve customer needs

The next decade will significantly outpace the 1990’s in terms of technological opportunity and change. Available and emerging technologies such as lightwave, integrated circuits, speech processors, neural networks and ubiquitous networks enjoy dramatic cost/performance improvements. This enabling hardware, driven by affordable, approachable software intelligence and ubiquitous computing, provide the capabilities needed to support a wide array of customer services across public and private sectors.

The impact of information technology has permeated all aspects of global society and has changed the way we live and work. The change will accelerate and have an even more profound impact in the next millennium.

We are well into a revolutionary journey toward an intelligent, global, network environment, which will support simultaneous voice, data and image-based services. This information platform will ultimately permit us to move toward the concept of a Global Village as described by Marshall McLuhan in his 1955 work Understanding Media. "We have extended our central nervous system itself in a global embrace abolishing both space and time as far as our planet is concerned."

Articles by Rich Wolf:

• Adapting the Supermarket For The New Era
  

* Please note that while this speaker's specific fee falls within the range posted at the top of this page (for Continental U.S. based events), fees are subject to change without notice. Also note that most celebrity keynotes begin in the $25,000 and up range (most list "Contact for Fee Schedule"). For current fee information or international event fees, please contact your Speakers Platform representative.