Gen Next Tech

  CS875 Unit 3-2 Forecasting and Prediction in an Innovation Context F or centuries, human beings have been forecasting and predicting about what the future may unfold or about products that might exist in the future. Some of the predictions have come into reality, some have failed while others might unfold in the near future. There exists quite a number of physicists, engineers, researchers, and futurists who made noble predictions that have significantly contributed to the evolution and development of some of the products, tools, and technologies being used in the 21st century. Nikola Tesla is among the most renowned and popular inventors whom some of his predictions have turned to reality. According to McSweeney(2019) , Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American electrical engineer who was born in 1856. Besides inventing the alternating current, Tesla made powerful predictions that have been the foundation of the innovative technologies that are in use in the 21st ce...

  CS875 Unit 3-1 Comparison Between Traditional Forecasting and Scenario Planning H umans beings are always limited in predicting about the future. In fact, according to  Schoemaker (2004) , “Years of behavioral research on judgment and decision making have unearthed a variety of cognitive limitations when people are confronted with uncertainty” (p.275). Primarily, this can be attributed to the fact that future predictions are based on utopian visions and overconfidence that leads humans into making biased conclusions. That, however, does not mean humans should not predict or plan for the future. As such, business and tech leaders have been relying on different tools and techniques to improve the future planning and prediction process. The main approaches that this discussion will address include traditional forecasting and scenario planning techniques. A ccording to Hernandez (2018) , traditional forecasting uses mathematical formulas and quantitative ...

  CS875 Unit 2-3 Think Tank Methods P rimarily, the process of innovation includes creating a novel idea, concept, or solution to real-life problems or challenges facing the world or a business. The think tank process is among the relevant approaches that can be used to foster innovation. Typically, a think tank consists of experts from different fields who are incubated to research, debate issues, generate or propose ideas, and develop feasible solutions to a wide range of problems. Some of the problems and challenges addressed by think tanks include topics that are related to technology, politics, economic, social and the cultural aspect of life. While the number of think tank experts can vary, a typical think tank can include 5 to 12 individuals  (Monet, 2017) . The individuals can be incubated under one roof or with a wall-less roof and connected with a communication network that they can use to collaborate remotely (Aly, 2019) . T here exists a num...

CS875 Unit 2-2 Delphi and Brainstorming Group Decision-making Methods S ometimes, leaders have to consider the opinions and the decisions of other team members to be able to make effective and informed decisions. There exists different group decision-making techniques that leaders can take to facilitate the process. In this regard, group decision-making techniques refers to different ways that can be used to get decisions and views from individuals in a group. Most importantly, considering the opinions and the perspectives of each group members before arriving to the final decision enhances the decision-making process and helps to promote sharing of ideas. There exists different group decision-making techniques that leaders can use. Primarily, this discussion will mainly focus on brainstorming and the Delphi techniques. A ccording to Landeta (2006) , the Delphi technique “... was conceived as a group technique whose aim was to obtain the most reliable consensus of opinion of a g...

Almost every man-made product, that exists in the 21st century, was invented by someone. These includes but not limited to cloths, pots, spoons, cars, computers, the alphabet, radios, aeroplanes among others. The technological evolution process can be traced thousands of years back since the evolution of mankind. Throughout, human beings have been inventing innovative products that have continued to provide support to mankind and make life easier.  For centuries, necessity has always been termed as the root driving force towards "invention" and development of feasible solutions to a wide range of problems facing mankind. While this statement remains relevant and valid, it is not always the case. This is because some of the inventions were not purely necessity-driven but occurred as a result of an accident or an error committed by the inventor . Though the 21st century has been an era of constant technological innovations, it is worth mentioning that an inventi...

  About Blog I am Valarian Couch, the creator and author of Gen Next Tech . Currently I am the Director of Information System and network Security at Champaign Unit 4 School District . At the same time, am also enrolled at Colorado Technical University where I am studying " Futuring and Innovation ." Primarily, this blog will report breaking tech news, tech trends, innovative new tech products, and future technologies. Some of the main areas that will be addressed include: Latest information security news  Latest tech products and gadgets Gaming Latest developments in Internet of Things (IoT) tech Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Cloud Computing Big Data and Analytics Latest tech reviews  The first emerging trend that educators and public policy makers should be aware of is the use of " Learning Analytics and Adaptive Learnin g " in higher education. A typical framework illustrating this emerging technological trend is shown in the figure below:  Image ...