Broadband will be as essential as electricity in 10 years time, according to futurist Mike Walsh who says Australia lags the rest of the world with the 10 year time frame put on the National Broadband Network
Walsh who is the author ofFuturetainment and CEO of Hong Kong based innovation research agency Tomorrow, likens the National Broadband Network to electricity in that it is an essential utility required to function in today’s Australia.
“Broadband is the 21st century equivalent of electricity; all the advanced markets in the world already have it thanks to a combination of business and government efforts; Scandinavia, Korea, China,”
“Research shows there is a clear correlation between innovation in business and fast broadband,” he says.
Walsh believes a National Broadband Network is vital for entertainment, gaming, and enterprise to flourish in Australia. In enterprise, for example, this could mean in the medical field, where imaging and patient X Rays can be delivered from regional and remote areas via broadband, an area Senator Conroy was quick to point to in his public utterances about the National Broadband Network.
“For advertisers, this means it is no longer enough to buy a TV or billboard ad. Advertisers now need to convince an audience to engage with their brand online, and have people forward it to their friends -because the only way you can get a critical mass of attention now is for an ad to go viral,” says Mr Walsh.
Walsh also believes the internet as we know it is changing.
”Globally, internet is simply becoming a utility. It is the applications that matter. Consumers don’t need to understand electricity to make a cup of tea. Fast broadband is just the start, not the end of the innovation curve. ”
“When you ask people in Indonesia if they use the internet they say no. But if you ask them if they use Faceook they say yes because they see Facebook as a button on their Blackberry.
Mr Walsh predicts that location-based social networking like Foursquare will boom in Australia shortly such as how VIVO Cafe used Foursquareto gain a swarm badge and promote their business online.