How IT responds to change—by being resilient and adaptive under load, failure, and attack—allows us to leverage opportunities and protect against risks. Through the lens of IT, this conference will look at technologies that support resilience when organizations and human systems are confronted with events arriving with unprecedented speed and complexity. We may find that we don't control increasingly complex systems anymore; we merely negotiate with them. We'll assess the human, organizational, and business ecologies that surround us, especially as those processes are implicated when things go wrong.
Precision, high-tech manufacturing and automation models can enable organizations to quickly overcome the obsolescence of products and services. At the same time, resilient systems can adjust their operations before, during, and after unexpected (and unplanned) events. This can apply at the component level, as well as at the human and process levels. We'll explore the increasing breadth of roles robots play: companions, medical assistants, and factory workers who "learn" on the job.
We'll also assess the human, organizational, and business ecology processes that surround us. How far can we push efficiency? What are the new business policies and practices that produce effective results by challenging traditional methodologies and thinking? Responses to natural disasters have given us much to ponder about the future shape of modern society. How good can community problem solving be?
We'll look at new technology developments and dynamics unique to Asia. Innovation is spreading quickly across devices and platforms—especially in the mobile and smartphone arenas. Mobile communities are converging on the open Internet from all sides, whether it's through SMS, the smartphone browser capable of rendering all Web pages, or open-source operating systems. What opportunities exist, how will they scale, and what architectures should we support? How are these tools becoming anchors for enabling human and organizational adaptiveness? Will (and can) these platforms lead futureproofing innovation?