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Scan™ Monthly No. 035 January 2006   Download this Scan™ Monthly  (PDF)   • Signals of Change     – Optimizing Operations – Personality Management – Beyond Vision – Toward Customized Medicine – Relationships and Technology – Rethinking Conventional Solutions   • Insights     – A Television Revolution – Opportunities in a Cell-Phone–Centered World   • Calendar Signals of Change Optimizing Operations SoC147 Recent advances in automated real-time data acquisition, software agents, machine learning, and other tools and techniques are helping companies to optimize complex business systems and processes and make them adaptive to fast-changing conditions. The developments are expanding the capabilities of operations research. Personality Management SoC148 Part of our personality we want front and center, on stage, impressing everyone in the world. Another part of our personality we reserve for intimate encounters with special people. Projecting our desired image and protecting our intimacy are both parts of the increasingly difficult task of personality management in today's media-intensive world. Beyond Vision SoC149 The rapid development of technologies related to sound and touch is narrowing the traditionally wide capability gap that has long existed between visual and nonvisual sensing technologies. Toward Customized Medicine SoC150 As scientists continue their pursuit of customized medicine through research in molecular biology and genetics, the broader social community is beginning to recognize and address infrastructure, regulatory, and policy needs and issues. Relationships and Technology SoC151 How many of your current acquaintances did you meet on the Internet? What does deleting a person's name from your cell phone say about your relationship? Technology mediates a huge portion of our relationships these days. Anticipating the uses that consumers might develop for any particular technology in building or maintaining relationships with other people is an excellent means for companies to design, build, and sell successful products and services. Rethinking Conventional Solutions SoC152 The Scan™ process's continual questioning of conventional wisdom helps us examine the assumptions behind existing products and services. A company that redesigned the humble wood screw and a company that makes furniture instead of firewood show what happens when people reimagine the assumptions behind processes that they've always taken for granted. Insights A Television Revolution View full summary D06-2520   Download this Insight A revolution in television content distribution, programming, and advertising is on the way. Announcements at this year's (2006) gigantic Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, made one point perfectly clear: The television revolution that began to emerge in 2005 will go into full swing in 2006. The revolution will transform everything from content production to distribution. It will influence everyone from artists to engineers, from producers to consumers. Its major drivers will be companies that range from entrepreneurial start-ups to some of the world's largest corporations. This study examines some of the broader implications of the revolution for a variety of industries and players. Author: Thomas M. McKenna. 8 pages. Opportunities in a Cell-Phone–Centered World View full summary D06-2521   Download this Insight Cell phones have become the most ubiquitous mobile devices in the world and have changed the way we communicate. Increasingly, cell phones integrate a multitude of features and applications, moving the devices well beyond mere voice communication. The trend toward multiple applications in every cell phone is accelerating, and the number of features in some cell phones has become mind-boggling. The cell phone is on the way to become the quintessential IT device in a digital society, enabling access to a variety of devices and applications, providing real-time access to the most arcane types of information, and changing the way we organize our lives and navigate our day-to-day tasks. This study examines some of the more unusual applications and features that companies are building into cell phones as a means of speculating about the future of the ultimate mobility enabler. Author: Martin Schwirn. 9 pages. Calendar Scan™ Abstract Meetings Scan abstract meetings (in which SRIC-BI staff participate in a free-form discussion of current Scan abstracts) are open for client obseration/participation on: 22 March 2006 at 9:00 am 17 May 2006 at 9:00 am 19 July 2006 at 9:00 am 20 September 2006 at 9:00 am 18 October 2006 at 9:00 am 24 January 2007 at 9:00 am. Please contact your SRIC-BI marketing representative to schedule participation in any of the Scan Abstract Meetings.

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