The Business Models On The Chopping Board

Grandparents haven't ceased being as wise as they once were. Google and social media in general just became handier and faster.

At least grandpa will filter off the clutter to deliver age-appropriate advice including the trade secrets best shared only after undergoing certain rites of passage.

But modern media channels remain largely an indiscriminate source of all manner of information and has become the grandpa of the grandfatherless lot.

Likewise, traditional industries are not as macho as they once were. Newer ways of getting things done are emerging at rates faster than could be adapted to by capital intensive outfits.

The only things dictating the pace of wide adoption of new ways are governments and allied oligarchs outpaced by new ways outside their grasp. They must slow things down deliberately. For instance, despite the obvious benefits of clean energy-powered vehicles, fossil fuels remain a huge revenue source for many governments entrapped by obligations dependent on such oil revenues.

They will be with us for a long time to come. Many cartel-like operations are dinosaurs running on government life support machines. But no matter how hard the powers-that-be hold on to the clock's hands, technologically speaking, their days are numbered.

1. The Banking System as we know it, has come a long way. Most of its "thou shall nots" are under repeated mockery. The tech world has elbowed its way in from just playing vendor to partaking actively in the boardroom. The banking halls are now left for the mundane banking of cheque leaves, filling in paperwork and brand visibility, and increasingly, these are now proving interim as they are subject to new innovations.

Pressure to act on technology-driven redundancies is now a constant fight with authorities staring at reduced taxes and steepened growth in social inequalities.

Much as the regulators remain firmly effective in keeping the industry within set laws, the tech-driven push will inevitably bring about 'new normals' that will cut down on manpower and physical presence. Our acts of buying sophisticated phones have caused shifts in the banking industry. The phone is now the ATM and branch.

2 The universities and schools as we have known them have increasingly gone online. The financial benefits are plain to see. The biggest push for continued physical universities is that by students eager to begin a free life away from constant parental control. But the price is too high for many parents to pay when compared now with the online option.

Gone are the days when distance learning was an alternative to physical class presence. Ironically, I recently met with a depressed school owner thinking hard of what to do with the empty complex. Methinks hosting servers for a cloud computing service provider make sense.

Professors must now walk down from their revered pedestals equated to the holy of holies and get known only for their beneficial output.

Institutions shall remain in their physical form as research centres with labs and workshops, for those cannot be replicated easily at home.

The greatest hope for institutions is in the sustained generosity of their alumni. Universities benefitting from such donations—little but from an ever-widening pool, have lasted for centuries. They must invest in the post-university life of students by offering industry-appropriate programs as opposed to dead-end offerings as it comes to bite them hard.

3. Healthcare, is perhaps the single most important aspect of a nation besides peace. The proliferation of private health institutions is a double-edged sword. Too much of them is an indictment on failed governments and too little of them lock out many from accessing healthcare in remote places or when under unique circumstances.

Again, technology is the equaliser here. Facilities developed purely for exploitative endeavours will go the route of the dinosaur to extinction as they carry negative emotional baggage when fresher and more affordable options emerge.

We may go on and on about every sector and yes, everything, as we have known them, is changing in shape and form. What is clear now is that as technology lowers the barriers to entry, Intellectual Property ownership is becoming the last frontier and hope for inventors. The more IPs we own, the better we shall be as a country. We have abdicated R&D to the outside world and must now move in swiftly to compete on this front. Let us not take anything for granted for today's toothless gums if well nursed, shall possess the biting power needed tomorrow.

By doing nothing at all, we willingly place ourselves on the chopping board as carriers of models headed to extinction.