11. 21st Century Communication Trends

The Summary from web Articles

There is no doubt that 21st century will be the century of information. And of course all the information should be accessible and here comes communication.
Information is everywhere around us. What most people consider it to be includes weather information, exchange rate, time tables, news, etc. Until very recently, most of the information transmitted in the world was analog, that is, some kinds of continuous change of a certain property like color, sound, etc. And the main reason for that is that humans cannot perceive directly digital information, i.e. with strictly quantatized properties like colors can be either black or white(no gray), or something can be either on or off. Another reason was that there were no efficient means to store, transmit and convert between digital and analog form.

Mike Rhodin, the General Manager of IBM Lotus software, talked about the future communication trends that will increase demand for unified communications, reshaping the way businesses and workers communicate and collaborate.
• The virtual workplace will become the rule. Desk phones and desktop computers will gradually disappear, replaced by mobile devices, including laptops. Social networking tools and virtual world meeting experiences will simulate the feeling on being there in-person.
• Instant messaging and other real-time collaboration tools will become the norm, bypassing e-mail.
• Companies will go beyond the initial uses of instant messaging and will integrate IM with business processes and line-of-business applications.
• Interoperability and open standards will tear down proprietary walls within business and public domains. Corporate demand for interoperability and maturing industry standards will force unified communications providers to embrace interoperability.
• Meetings will become increasingly ad hoc and instantaneous based on context and need. 3-D virtual world and gaming technologies will have a significant impact on online corporate meeting.
What future will bring us nobody knows. Looking at the latest trends in communication, however, I think that the huge demand for high speed low cost communication will be strong enough solutions to be soon found.

** My opinion **
Owing to the development of information technology, the means of communication in both among people and between organizations as well as between persons and companies are much more diverse than in the past. These changes of communication tools also give companies crises and opportunities simultaneously. Thus, individuals and companies should effort to catch up with these rapid changes. Otherwise, individuals and companies that neglect of embracing new information technology are likely to decline in competitive global environments.
Today the importance of communication is more and more increasing both within organizations and among individuals. As mentioned earlier, Not only are the diversities of communication tools, but also the speed is so fast. In addition, the importance of communication with between managers and employees within organizations influences on the success or failure of firms. The relationship with external communication channels also is considered as important elements of a crisis management manual of companies. In this sense, the top management needs to appropriately handle newly emerging communication tools such as email, UCC, RSS and blogs as well as the communication relationship with internal and external stakeholders.

References
www.bcg.com/publications/files/Company_Comm_Trends_Rpt_Feb02.pdf
www.laptopsarena.com/future-communication-trends