‘Cyberdyne Systems’ invented ‘Skynet’ and the ‘Terminator’.

Is the time finally nigh?

COVID-19 has resulted in a major crossroads for many. It has increased trade restrictions on a global basis. This, along with the deepening geopolitical tensions between the US and China and the dramatically slowing of international commerce, it has exposed the weaknesses of the global trade finance sector and international supply chains.

The APAC region is striding ahead of everyone in changing the world towards a new order. They are looking to become self-sufficient, applying a digital adoption to jump ahead, and embed these emerging technologies into their businesses. This is ideally to streamline the operations, reduce cost, provide better manageable information in a secure environment, which can adapt quickly, but reduce complexity. All things that will become critical as the ‘value chains’ expand.  Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) or as many refer to it, ‘blockchain’ as it is generally known today, however blockchain is only one type of DLT.

 

Singapore

Singapore entered recession with the worst quarter on record -42.9% contraction of the economy, not something they have ever done before, and this is twice what the 2008 financial crises delivered.  Singaporean Minister, Chan Chun Sing calls for a new way that businesses; in this “new normal”, will be digitally empowered and emerge as leaders. Some companies have already shown that procurement processing can be reduced by 50% and general business costs reduced by approx. 70%, by using blockchain technology.

The Singaporean government is supporting companies in a huge ‘digital transformation’ program. Singapore sits at the top of global trade and is looking to emerge as a true leader in the new economy that is coming and coming fast.

 

China

China added an additional 10,000 blockchain-backed start-ups so far this year, in just the first seven months of 2020, on top of the 18,500 blockchain start-up in 2018 and slightly less in 2019. Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke about the significance of blockchain technology and announced its development plan. The Chinese government will invest more than $2 billion in blockchain technology by 2023. They are looking to see a compound annual growth rate of 65.7% from 2018 to 2023, estimated by global market intelligence firm IDC.

One of the important things to remember is that all these companies are connected worldwide, just like Cyberdyne Systems’ – ‘Skynet’. They have moved into the banking sector, while discrete manufacturing, retail, professional services, and process manufacturing were also among the top industries that attracted blockchain spending.

 

We are also seeing a growing number of blockchain start-ups emerging in the UK and across Europe but not on the same scale. Low code is a good way to build blockchain applications and it can be done fast, faster than most other development environments. Many of the COVID-19 applications for furloughing staff and gaining access to government grants where built on low-code blockchain – they had to be built fast and few other environments could have delivered what was needed in the time that many governments had.

Let us all be watching the skies for a  Cyberdyne System’ – ‘Skynet’ like company, it will not be long before it’s everywhere and in everything we do, touch, and interact with. Is this a good thing?

 

About the Author

 

Howard Longstaff has over 25 years of experience delivering people within the talent acquisition arena.

He has worked extensively across the UK, Europe, USA, Canada as well as in South America, Australia, and New Zealand.

Over the last 20 years he has specialised in two fundamental areas, although he often covers a wider remit due to his thirst and understanding of technology. The first area which he has a real passion for, building ‘Sales Teams’, pulling together the very best ‘A Players’ and creating something very special for his clients.

To do that, he needs to have a clear understanding of what his client wants, so establishing clear communication with the client is paramount, understanding the nuances of what they are looking for and documenting this. Understanding the technology, the opportunity, and the growth potential all help to find the ‘right fit, first time’.  He is one of the few head-hunters that is willing to guarantee his work, offering 12 months free replacement.

The second area he loves getting involved in, is the leadership team, the C-Suite, helping to get the balance right, cover the gaps in knowledge, skills and experience, working on the assumption that ‘No one is perfect but a team can be’?

Howard is someone who thinks outside the box, has an eye for detail, but is perceptive, looking beyond the surface of just skills and experience. He wants to know and understand the candidate behaviour as well as the emotional intelligence, the motives that drive the candidates he interviews. He is looking for the best fit for his client but also looking to ensure it is a fit for the candidate as well.

In the last 25 years he has also built his own companies and opened offices in New Zealand, Los Angeles, New York and most recently several companies in London. Specialising in technology companies, he has delivered permanent resources across practically every department. This has predominantly been for technology start-ups (Enterprise Software Co’s) but also for many leading management consulting and enterprise clients.

Howard is someone that uses technology to enhance the hiring process, to save time, money and effort and take the pain out of the process, but to find those ‘Exceptional People, who are so hard to find’. He operates a ‘Private Client Video Portal’ keeping everything together, the video, as well as psychrometric behavioural assessments on candidates and interviewing on an emotional intelligence level.  He has repeatedly built teams across three continents, so has a good breadth of knowledge across the talent acquisition arena.