Sogeti research on “The App Effect” predicts everyone to be addicted by 2020

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Today, the Global Research Institute for the Analysis of New Technology (VINT), founded by technology services provider Sogeti, will be sharing the results of a study into “The App Effect” during the Sogeti Executive Summit in Lisbon. The results and the topic will be discussed by top minds from around the world.

Lisbon, Portugal 10/06/11 -- The Sogeti Executive Summit, is a yearly technology event for Sogeti clients all over the world. This year the theme for the event is “The App Effect”, inspired by the six month study and forthcoming publication of the same name. The book will be released later this year and delivers a visionary report on the information behavior shifts that will shake up businesses in the years to come. A first preview on the inquiry and its results will be presented during the event and follow-up analysis will be shared by world-renowned speakers, including Forrester Research’s George Colony, leading media futurist Gerd Leonard, best-selling author on social business Sandy Carter, information philosopher Luciano Floridi, product designer and serial entrepreneur David Rose, Vodafone Netherlands CEO Jens Schulte-Bockum and new media guru Peter Leyden. VINT’s qualitative research shows that by 2020 everyone will be addicted to information.

“This will have both positive and negative consequences for our society,” announces VINT Director Menno van Doorn.

Conclusions

Working in collaboration with an international team of technology and behavioral experts, Sogeti’s VINT has drafted a new forecast of the future that offers insight into society’s behavioral patterns in the year 2020.

New media addiction is only one of the ten behavioral changes that will deeply impact the way organizations need to operate in order to be successful.

Menno van Doorn continues: “One will no longer be able to draw a clear distinction between information-related behavior and regular behavior. While other media have always had a remote relationship with the user, the arrival of apps marks a turning point: the individual has become the sole focus.”

In 2020, there will be no difference between old and new media; there will only be media. Companies will no longer focus on clients’ preferences, but on their behavior. Organizations that fail to come to terms with this will suffer: customers, employees and stakeholders will simply move on.

The study indicates that people can and will no longer do without what we now call “apps” and personalized information. Nielsen indicates that 57% % of iPad users take their device to bed with them. When visiting family or friends, 44% consult their iPad and 58% their smartphone. A recent study called “The World Unplugged”, which asked 1,000 students on four continents to turn off their mobile device for a period of 24 hours, showed that the participants exhibited what was in effect craving behavior similar to that of heroin addicts. A majority of the participants had to admit that they were unable to successfully complete this task.

“At present, we still laugh this off. In 2020, this will be entirely normal,” says Menno van Doorn.

“It may sound shocking that by 2020, everyone will be entirely addicted to information. But at the same time, this is the logical outcome of the fact that the last physical ‘digital nerds’ generation will have grown old by that time. In 2020, every individual will consciously or unconsciously use apps as an extension of his or her senses”, the VINT Director continues. “What it shows, is that people want to do more with information. There are new possibilities to build a society based upon the eagerness to interact with information.”

Clash to be expected

The study paints the following picture of the future, recounts Menno van Doorn:

The current system, and by that we mean the existing organization, have become the center of alienation. Employees have changed more than the companies they work for. Consumers have changed more than the companies they buy their products from. This chasm is leading to a clash, a clash of cultures. The outcome of this culture clash will be a push towards a new system. This new system is what we refer to in our study as a ‘new digital commons’.”

According to Menno van Doorn the new digital commons will be formed by what is technologically possible, sociologically acceptable and economically feasible:

“On the technology side it is really important to understand that ‘apps’ are only the beginning. In this Post PC-era it will become a standard to buy and use your own software gadgets in the workplace. Software gadgets will spread across many devices and onto many screens. People will have greater control over their information while companies will lose their grip. Countercultural resistance as manifested by organizations such as information sharing service WikiLeaks or hacker collective Anonymous will put more pressure on companies to ‘do good’ and to protect privacy.”

“Get to know the information you spread, learn to like the information around you, spend some time with private information. Anything that can be leaked, will be leaked. Once it is out on the street, it will get around. We'd better learn to become friends with information,” concludes Menno van Doorn.

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For more information please contact:

Menno van Doorn, Director, Sogeti research institute VINT
Tel: +31 6 51 27 09 85
Email: menno.van.doorn@sogeti.com

Therese Sinter, Group Corporate Communications Director, Sogeti
Tel: +46 70 361 46 21
Email: therese.sinter@sogeti.com

About Sogeti
Sogeti is a leading provider of professional technology services, specializing in Application Management, Infrastructure Management, High-Tech Engineering and Testing. Working closely with its clients, Sogeti enables them to leverage technological innovation and achieve maximum results. Sogeti brings together more than 20,000 professionals in 15 countries and is present in over 100 locations in Europe, the US and India. Sogeti is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cap Gemini S.A., listed on the Paris Stock Exchange. For more information please visit www.sogeti.com.

About VINT
Every year, VINT conducts research into important technological developments. In recent years, VINT has studied developments ranging from open-source innovation and crowd sourcing (2006) and social media (2008) to the economic crisis and the paradigm shift (2010). Established in 1994, VINT has currently published over 10 books and a large number of video productions. The book ‘The App Effect’ will be published at the end of 2011. The findings of the most recent study will be included in this publication. For more information please visit www.sogeti.com/vint.

About the App Effect study
The study into ‘The App Effect’ was realized in partnership with an international team of experts from the Sogeti Global App Center, Sogeti VINT Research, the US trend analysis agency Next Agenda and Amsterdam-based FreedomLab, which specializes in Future Studies. Various behavioral experts from Europe and Silicon Valley in the US have also contributed to the study, including Professor Amanda Spink, Professor Kia Nobre, Professor Luciano Floridi, Professor Hank Greely, Linda Stone, former Apple strategist Chris Riley, former Chief Privacy Officer of Facebook Chris Kelly and MobileFuture Chairman Jonathan Spalter.

Yritysesittely Sogeti Finland Oy
Sogeti on erikoistunut korkealuokkaisten IT-palvelujen toimittamiseen Suomen markkinoille. Keskitämme Suomessa palvelumme ohjelmistojen testaukseen ja laadunvarmistukseen. Sogeti-konsernin pääkonttori on Pariisissa Ranskassa. Konsernilla on palveluksessaan yhteensä noin 20 000 konsulttia 15 maassa: Belgia, Espanja, Hollanti, Intia, Irlanti, Iso-Britannia, Luxemburg, Norja, Ranska, Saksa, Suomi, Sveitsi, Ruotsi, Tanska ja Yhdysvallat. Pohjoismaissa konsultteja on Suomessa, Ruotsissa, Tanskassa ja Norjassa yhteensä yli 1 300. Sogeti-konsernin yhtiöt ovat Pariisin pörssissä listatun Cap Gemini S.A.:n kokonaan omistamia tytäryhtiöitä.

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