The future is about the combination of digital and analogue, says THINQUE founder

The future is about the combination of digital and analogue, says THINQUE founder

Creative director and founder at THINQUE, Anders Sorman-Nilsson, told telcos at Capacity Asia 2014 in Bangkok this morning that in order to move forward, they must find a way to combine both digital and analogue technologies.

“The future is not about just going digital, or just remaining in the analogue world; it’s a combination of the two,” Sorman-Nilsson said. “As a futurist I love the idea of the virtual, the cyber, the cloud, the digital, but I also have some misgivings about that world because it can be extremely disruptive if as a business leader, you have not adapted.”

Sorman-Nilsson noted the emotional attachment consumers have to analogue technology, and said that telcos must strive to reach both the “digital minds and analogue hearts” of their customers.

Through a variety of thought-provoking examples – such as smart metering technology that monitors when a customer wakes up in the morning and switches on heating accordingly – Sorman-Nilsson moved on to discuss the importance of making the right cross-industry partnerships.

He highlighted the deal between SingTel and Standard Chartered Bank in July this year, which created "Dash" – an app that offers a range of innovative mobile money solutions – as a successful example of two ideally matched companies.

“Banks realise that they must partner with telcos to ensure they are in the back pocket of the consumer,” Sorman-Nilsson said, adding that in turn, it is the telco responsibility to find similarly constructive partnerships.

Sorman-Nilsson said telcos must decide whether to fight or partner with their OTT counterparts.

With players such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook holding a huge slice of the market, Sorman-Nilsson asked the audience: “Who here is still making money from SMS?”

A single audience member raised their hand.

Sorman-Nilsson concluded that rather than seeing these types of players as disruptive, telcos should view it as an enormous opportunity.

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