My Digital FootPrint

Trust is not a thing or a destination but an outcome of a transition. I have written over 214 articles on “trust” over the past 12 years.   I have read endless books and done countless presentations on the topic of TRUST. I have always searched for the relationships between trust and strategy, value, consent, privacy, identity, data and risk.   The well-reasoned articles include Imaging a Digital Strategy starting from TRUST , Trust is not a destination! , How can Brands restore user trust?   A segmentation model based on trust , The relationship between Trust, Risk and Privacy .  This article brings together some of the thinking already explored in previous articles but as the new drawing below.   It started as I was playing with Laplace to Fourier and back.  These are the transformations between time and frequency.  Whilst time and frequency are related, to move between the domains in maths requires some fancy work.  On either side of the ...

This is a response to the filmmaker Jeff Orlowski Netflix documentary Social Dilemma .  If you have not watched it yet, it is worth it.  There are many write up’s,  here are three of my picks one , two three .    However, rather than write another commentary on the pros and cons of the movie, I wanted to reflect on the idea that Social Media is a reflection of society - as this is a core tenant on the work.  The big theme is that all the platforms do is create a mirror reflecting back what society is like.   However, there is more than one type of mirror!   The play in our minds is that a mirror is a mirror and does what it says on the tin, it reflects. If true, job done as such and it makes no sense to read on.  However, we know from CSI and other spy films there are one ways mirrors as well.  If we look at Social Media only through the lens of a reflecting mirror; we certainly can’t blame anyone for any outcome but ourselves. ...

A new problem #covid has bought into sharp focus is our loss of connectivity and togetherness. There are some serious consequences for those who are Directors with responsibly. How do you know when someone presenting to you is trying to bluff, mislead, guide, lie, direct or nudge you to a particular outcome. Over time individuals who serve on boards learn the skills of emotional maturity to help determine if they are being guided to a decision or a decision made for them. In truth, unpicking intent was hard anyway even when we all met up in one room, but it is far harder now with video. We have lost access to the face-to-face skills and the experiences we have built up as we are not in the same room. How do we detect the signals again? We need to recognise that we have not (yet) developed all the essential skills for a digital life. This is never more true than when we are making judgement or decisions that matter as they have consequences. We have no eye contact (we look at screens an...

So many wise words and wisdom's have been shared and debated on the topic of the future of money, along with numerous books and research papers on the same topic. I have reviewed much of what has been said over the past few years and surely the first question is. “Is there anything new to say?” Whilst walking recently with a good friend Celia Gates we explored the question using her Whether Forecasting model and here is some fresh thinking. “The future of money”; is the wrong question! Money was and remains amongst other things a method of exchange. If money had stayed as only a mechanism of exchange; kind of like what we created it for, we would not be where we are today with the economy we have and the freedoms we enjoy. Money had to and has become an object or an entity . An entity is a thing with distinct and independent existence. Money exists for money itself, it creates itself, it has value in of itself. Money is therefore both an exchange and is something in its own righ...

Trust is not a destination! The purpose of this thought piece is to bring together strategic thinking on data, governance and trust values into one argument. The recommendation is that boards need to wake up There are two existing models of trust that are relevant to business. Let’s call them “experience trust” and “emotional trust.” We are going to explore two new models of trust, explain why they are so disruptive and create a strawman as a way of thinking about the way forward. Experience trust  is simple to grasp. Think about using your bank card, pushing the brake pedal in a car, getting on a plane, charging your phone, posting a picture on Facebook, using a vape pipe, drinking water, taking a taxi, texting, etc. Every time you do something the ‘experience’ functions, within reason, as you expect it to. Expected feedback loops reinforce a message that whatever you use can be trusted. Society depends on experience trust. It makes life simple and convenient. A...

Read this excellent Medium article on "The Age of the Negative Review Is Over" by @jenniferrabin   thinking about no response to worse than negative when we consider attention.  Have a different issue with reviews and that is that I no longer "TRUST" them, principally because of the emerging and growing set of rules, revisions, lies and so much material on what to do to get one deleted, reversed or hidden.  I have come to depend on feedback and reviews for choices, the ability to read others thinking has been so beneficial for online booking and purchases. The reason is that a while ago we booked a wonderful 4* hotel in the 3 valleys; to read the week before we left a very long, detailed and negative review. We left for skiing a tad worried. We arrived, the staff were amazing, the location was spot on, the food was excellent and the lodging was exactly as described. The previous empty nester reviewer obviously booked a 4* expecting a 6* and as it was ...

The Future of Capitalism by Paul Collier  outlines original, pragmatism and ethical ways of addressing the growing gaps between economic prosperity and being more humane. The topic is of great importance and you may not agree with the content but it is beautifully written and important book. The author takes on the failures of contemporary capitalism driven by national and global policy for the now discontent of contemporary high-income western countries and offers (practical) ideas and policies to address them. Drawing on ideas from some of the world's most distinguished social scientists and much of his own personal background and leading research Paul shows us how to save the ideals “capitalism” from itself - and free ourselves from the intellectual baggage of the 20th century. “Deep rifts are tearing apart the fabric of our societies. They are bringing new anxieties and new anger to our people, and new passions to our politics. Thriving cities versus the provin...

We humans set a premium on our own free will and independence ... and yet there's a shadowy influence we might not be considering. As science writer Ed Yong explains in this fascinating, hilarious and disturbing talk, parasites have perfected the art of manipulation to an incredible degree. So are they influencing us? It's more than likely. Love the challenge and what data might tell us that we don't want to know. 

Voice: as the next big thing has been a cyclic mantra for at least 20 years – which is the time I have been in telecoms and high tech. Why voice? Voice recognition, voice ads, voice biometrics, unified messaging, ease, navigation (interface)… voice is content and that is often more valuable than the telecom operator/ NAS collected data of who made the call, to whom, when, how often, from where and for how long. Patterns and meta data.  Interception and recording of all calls is possible but you need to know who and what to look for. They can listen but not to everyone! In fact Voice and Face recognition appear to be in similar season fashion at the moment, with many of the same fears and mantras.  However it is the tech that lets us down, not our acceptance or vision of what is possible.  Voice and Face recognition are also different.  Voice is content and a continuous stream. Face is a one off, closer to finger print recognition for value, however voic...