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A government organization responsible for researching, developing and testing modern logistics technologies and business practices obtains a future assessment of technology trends to help enhance supply-chain processes and prioritize IT investments over time.
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Business impact A government organization responsible for researching, developing and testing modern logistics technologies and business practices obtained an assessment of future technology trends to help enhance supply-chain processes and prioritize IT investments over time. The analysis, based on IBM's Impact of Future Technology (IoFT) solution, provided the client with a roadmap for incremental implementation of mission-critical processes and technology, helping prioritize funding for appropriate projects in a timely manner to gain a competitive advantage. Following completion of the engagement, the client changed its name and modified its mission, in part due to the recommendations provided by IBM.
Issue Historically, this government organization had been a leader in technology innovation. In the last four decades, however, private-sector businesses made significant investments in information-technology (IT) research, resulting in an astonishing number of technology advancements. The client, which manages the strategic planning and change process for one segment of military logistics, wanted to capitalize on existing and emerging innovations to sustain a strong strategic advantage. But the ongoing and frenzied pace of technology development in commercial industry made it difficult for the client to determine which technologies might offer significant return on its investments.
Executive summary In the past, supply chain, maintenance, transportation and distribution processes employed by this government organization were plagued by paperwork. The client had been involved in a number of process improvements over the years, but was looking to evaluate new ideas for future improvements and contracted with IBM Global Business Services (GBS) to provide a broad overview of emerging technologies. In particular, the client wanted a fresh look at technologies that might affect logistics as far out in the future as 2032. GBS consultants recommended using IBM's IoFT solution to assess future technology trends and lay the groundwork for assimilating the right technologies at the right times. Using IoFT's advanced information mining and text analytics technology, GBS consultants worked with IBM researchers and a team of foresight professionals to identify possible technological advancements over the next 30 years and develop a technology roadmap and investment strategy for the client. In doing so, the IoFT team identified nine future technology forecasts, highlighted how these forecasts might impact logistics (should they unfold as envisioned), and provided recommendations for how the client may be able to capitalize on those advances.
What IBM did IBM employed its three-phase IoFT solution, using advanced information mining and text analysis technology to identify which focus areas were most critical to the future success of logistics. The IoFT team then performed a baseline review and conducted workshops with subject matter experts covering emerging trends and scientific breakthroughs in IT, biotechnology, nanotechnology, telerobotics, energy and advanced data analytics. The workshops combined the intellectual capital of both the organization’s and industry experts to help extract a clearer picture of how logistics planning and execution might evolve over the coming decades. The industry experts also helped develop a plan for how the client might assimilate the right tools and techniques incrementally to keep pace with anticipated changes.
Capabilities applied IBM GBS and IBM Research used IoFT's advanced information mining and text analytics tools to conduct scans of emerging technologies and assess how they are maturing over time. They then pooled their resources to assemble panels of industry experts and a team of professional futurists from top academic institutions and businesses. These experts brought their own unique knowledge and perspectives to the table with the client’s experts to help generate realistic scenarios of future logistics operations. In addition to organizing and moderating these workshops, IBM zeroed in on two dozen technologies and authored a series of white papers and feasibility studies with targeted recommendations for further investigation and possible investment.
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Related case studies | Bayer Healthcare Research A model-driven approach to analyzing and capturing pharmaceutical research processes |
More on Issue | Focus on: Impact of Future Technology IBM's IoFT solution helps businesses better prepare for disruptive change and more clearly understand how political and economic events and scientific breakthroughs can affect their organizations. |
More on research | Innovation Management micropractice IBM helps clients create new research and innovation activities to drive new growth opportunities. |
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