jack barse

OK, I know I’ve been accused of a Pollyannish level of optimism regarding the tech-driven economy, but now I’ve got serious company: Forrester Research.

In a research report published at the end of June Christopher Mines and his collaborators say that the fourth wave of the tech economy (after mainframes, PCs, and networked computing as waves 1-3, respectively) will blossom starting as soon as next year. Mines writes:

The technology economy has shown pronounced growth cycles over the past 50 years, alternating with periods of technology digestion when growth slows. We are in such a digestion period right now; history strongly suggests that another growth wave of IT innovation will begin in 2007 or 2008. The seeds of that next wave are all around us; Forrester’s research agenda is focused on four important themes in technology development and deployment that will accelerate the growth of the tech economy in the coming years.

The report, “The Seeds of the Next Big Thing,” cites four current trends that Forrester will watch closely.

• A digital business architecture, described as “a new IT architecture stack is emerging as the successor to Web-based applications”;

• An extended Internet which to connect information systems to physical assets, products, and devices. “It represents a
  new architecture and new applications for the Internet, ranging from RFID and telematics to mobile networking and biometrics”;

• Innovation Networks to help companies “match their demand for innovation with worldwide sources of talent and capital”;
• Social computing, which companies will use “to develop new products, communicate with customers, and
  manage their employees and business partnerships.”

If they’re right then our timing with our little startup couldn’t be better, since we’re right in that ‘extended Internet’ space. Hooahh!

Via Ajay Sanghani’s blog and AustralianIT.