It’s time you changed. It’s time you thought about the future instead of continuously finding yourself trapped in the now, looking to the past. It is time to start moving again, vita est motus; movement is life.

It’s been a while since I wrote seriously about the future of technology, it’s relationship to the world, and the increasing interconnection with politics.

Some years ago I was writing for the National Business Review in New Zealand as well as some international publications. I was very interested in the application of new technology that was emerging rapidly into the world.

Cloud, Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, Smart Cities, Open Data, and a host of “new” technologies sprang onto the stage. The future looked interesting.

But then, some years later, the promised innovation, technology breakthroughs, and social progression hasn’t really happened. We’ve trapped ourselves in older thinking while only small corners of the globe have really innovated.

Why?

Because we are scared of change. We’re scared of losing control.

In New Zealand, during the COVID lockdown, entire companies and government agencies moved quickly to remote working. A proven method of working that has major benefits for humans and organisations.

The moment lockdown was lifted, the Finance Minister and State Services Commission sent a strong message to get government workers back into their offices. Back the to dreary, battery farmed offices that kill productivity and innovation.

Why?

Because they are scared of change and losing control.

The State of IT will feature a number of writers on different topics as time progresses. Free thinking technologists with passions for different topics and how they could help us change for the better in the future. What the future holds. Not just for New Zealand, but for the world.

It’s time that we, as technologists and humans, remembered why we got into this “business”, though it is more a way of life. The curiosity, fascination, love of science fiction, long debates on “what ifs”, and that childlike wonder that IT created.

Rather than what it has become. A highly-constrained by government, controlled by multi-national, and exploited by new media locked down version of what it could be.

So let’s explore.