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Risk science leads services revolution

Caroline New, Information Age

19/02/2008 12:23:26

The global services revolution is entering a new phase as more and more companies seek to use technology services and solutions to manage and reduce their exposure in an increasingly risk-prone world.

The shift to a service economy in recent years has seen many of the ICT sector's major players reinvent themselves to align their strengths and resources with the services boom. The commoditisation of hardware and even increasingly, of many software products, has also driven this evolution as companies seek new ways to differentiate themselves and grow their profits.

According to Dr Robert Morris, the head of IBM's worldwide research efforts in services, the emerging area of risk science is the fastest growing segment of the ICT services market.

He said the huge advances over the past five decades - by eight to 10 orders of magnitude - in our ability to process information has created an infrastructure that now allows us to solve new types of problems and create fundamental ways of adding value.

"We can now use technology to break down conflicts, create new forms of wealth or to solve human problems, such as creating enough food to feed the whole planet. Of course, the products are still important because they provide the foundation, but we will deliver the biggest difference through innovative services," he said.

"In this flat, globalised world, we are dealing with new issues like terrorism, health outbreaks, environmental responsibility, cyber-crime and natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina - things that are unprecedented, but for which companies need to have strategies and scenarios to deal with the risk they represent. Issues of compliance and regulation also play a larger role as companies increasingly operate across multiple jurisdictions and must not only comply with local requirements, but must also manage any potential risk to their reputation," Dr Morris explained.

The Australian-born vice president of IBM Research has long played a pivotal role in the vendor's global research operation. He was previously VP, Assets Innovation for IBM Global Services, driving innovation through the creation and management of intellectual assets to improve service effectiveness, knowledge management and tools, and talent. Before that, he headed up IBM's Almaden Research Centre, which explores new developments in hardware and software encompassing nanotechnology, materials science, storage systems, data management, Web technologies, user interfaces and services.

"We used to be a computer company, but now when I meet with CIOs they want to talk about innovation and improving competitiveness. Everyone's thinking about things at a much higher level now. The role for ICT professionals has really shifted. It's all about using the tools at our disposal to create competitive advantage. We're working with people in healthcare to make better use of genomes and protect the patient privacy. These are fundamental issues of change and challenge, and it's fascinating," he enthused.

Dr Morris has spent his entire career based in the US after travelling to America as a Fulbright and Gowrie Exchange Scholar to study Computer Science in the late 1970s. After completing his PhD at UCLA, he was snapped up by Bell Laboratories, but soon after decided that "all the exciting stuff was happening at IBM".

He's a firm advocate of travelling and working overseas to broaden your horizons, but is surprised that Australia is not reaching out and pulling more people in.

"The world has become so global and people are going back and forwards in all directions, working in China, India, Europe and throughout Asia. I know a lot of people who want to work in Australia - the economy is so strong there and you have so much going for you. Australia needs to pull in people from all over the world."

He says education is an important big part of this, both in educating people to be global, and in developing professionals who are T-shaped rather than the traditional I-shaped approach.

"We used to produce I-shaped people who had deep expertise in a single area, but in today's service-based economy we need people whose I-shaped specialised expertise is complemented by a bar across the top representing high-level knowledge in a wide range of areas like finance, HR and marketing and with excellent communications skills.

"Australian universities are responding really well to this challenge, but the Government could do more to support them. I'm aware that the Australian services industry is growing quickly, but it's important to focus on those services that are innovation- or knowledge-based.

"In this flat world, there is no reason why Australia cannot export these services. With the Web, you don't even need to travel. In areas like mining services and developing surveillance tools for water or natural resource management, Australia has a natural advantage. With your excellent talent base, diverse community and strategic position within Asia, Australia can leverage its cultural diversity to provide innovative services to the world," he said.