Once again, I got the pleasure of attending a conference in the Helix on the 11th of April of this year. This time the theme of the conference was ‘Get Digital’, which in my opinion I think was very different to the ones I have attended already. Having grown up alongside the fast-moving pace of technology I was intrigued to find out how these speakers expect technology to take us and where we are at already.
Dr Johnny Walker, CEO and founder of Health Founders, was the first speaker. He informed me about a concept that I had never heard of and it fascinated me that technology has allowed us to do so much more. Dr walker talked about ‘’Jinga Life’’. The initial offering is “Jinga Life” a cloud-hosted, 24/7 home-based personalised Family Electronic Health Record and integrated 30 second Video Messaging Tool aimed at engaging, empowering and enabling the Female Warrior at the centre of Her Family’s Healthcare Team. Their aim is to create a tsunami wave of disruption driven by the Female gatekeepers. The app is a digital family tree that includes all allergies, immunisation, online videos, advice and e-prescriptions. It allows families to be provided with the tools and knowledge needed to protect their family. This growth in technology for me is fascinating, that 3.3 million people now has this access to this beneficial information that could change their life as well as their families. ‘’ From womb to tomb’’ we can now have a better relationship with our health. This is a cost-efficient method of trying to improve the health and wellness of people today.
Not only did I find what Dr Walker had to say fascinating because of the technology side but also on a personal level as I think this app is the perfect example of how getting digital can improve our lifestyles. Dr Walker then had to return to the scrubs as he is a very busy man in high demand, but having listened to DR walker it did encourage me to look up other way in which technology can improve our health, and I found the results fascinating. There is now technology for every daily problem we face, for example the ‘’SleepBot’’. This is an app that allows you that tracks sleep by having users check in when they hit the hay and check out when they wake up. Activating the app automatically silences the phone and shuts off WiFi, eliminating potential disruptions. SleepBot also doubles as an alarm clock, synchronizes to a website where sleep data is stored, and allows users to analyze trends and write notes about their night’s sleep. Apps like this, although seem simple can really change the health of a person, especially with the help of ‘’Jinga Life’’.
The second speaker, David Erixon, Head of Digital and Customer Innovation at Ulster bank, took a different approach to getting digital. David talked about getting digital in terms of Banking. Online banking is becoming a very popular method for performing banking activity instead of going into the shop. Online banking is the way forward because of its convenience and availability. David mentioned something which I found most intricate but amazing how, eventually this will become the norm. He stated that money is already becoming digital, we use our cards, online banking etc. and paper money will ultimately die out and be replaced by a cleaner more efficient way of spending. There is now an app that allows you to do everything that you need to do in terms of banking, investing, budgeting. This app is called 22seven and is the future of money. 22seven is a very futuristic app. Tech report gave this app an excellent review stating it is one of the best app around for budgeting and is an easy way of having an overview of your spending and future spending that is categorized.
There’s no industry more susceptible to disruption than banking. In the space of 60 years we’ve gone from tangible, suit-and-tie meetings in stuffy banks to credit cards, debit cards and ATMs on every street corner, and it’s unknown where it might take us next. But from this conference it is clear to stay that newer and better ways are always around the corner in terms of banking and I look forward to being a part of it!
Finally, was Alistair Croll ,Author of ‘’Lean Analytics’’, discussed 4 very different things that all have a common link, they were Horses, Tea, Steam and Perfume. Croll had me confused at first by these 4 very random things that are not associated with ‘getting digital’, but by the end of his talk it made total sense. The horse was once the main forms of transport but due to technology we now have the car. The horse is no longer used for transportation because technology took over its job, making the life of the horse a lot easier. Next came tea. Now tea did not evolve into some modern technology that changed the world but it is however linked to being on demand. Us Irish are constantly demanding tea but now it’s not the only thing we want on demand! It is estimated that the age group 18-24-year-old go one their phones 82 times a day and 30% of this age group spend the 5 minutes they have before bed on their phone. If a video doesn’t load within 4 seconds we will more than likely scroll on because our brains are now channelled to be on demand. That is why ‘’Netflix and chill’’ has become so popular with the younger age, we want to watch whatever and whenever we want. Netflix spends more than $150 million on improving their recommendation system every year, trying to arrange selections based on what they think you might like. That kind of personalized menu is necessary: The company estimates that users spend only two minutes browsing for a title before choosing one or opting for another diversion entirely. This is a prime example of how we need everything on-demand. We once had a demand for steam engines all those years ago but due to technology we have now have trains that allow us to access all our desired places within the island! Technology has allowed most things to be instantaneously, like perfume. We can now online shop, track our orders and so much more. We take advantage of how technology has developed but it does however benefit us daily. Alistair’s point of view was fascinating but it did also make me realise how dependent we have become on getting digital which is also frightful!
In response to the conference, I have learned a lot of about the new technology that we can use that makes our future look brighter and robotic. Each speaker had a unique way of getting digital and I found these ways most interesting and glad I got the opportunity to attend such a conference. I’d love to hear your opinions on getting digital, so stay in contact, and stay digital!
Making my debut into this crazy world of business 