Signals of Change

Enabled by Design SoC363

Some design decisions (such as the decision to use a small typeface) can disable users (people who have poor eyesight, for example). Increasingly, companies are learning to make design decisions that enable as wide an audience as possible—paying special attention to Baby Boomers.

Preserving Web Universality SoC364

Although some Web forums, such as competing social-networking sites and the use of the Web for private commercial services such as iTunes, appear to be fragmenting the Web, some initiatives are emerging that hold the potential to preserve the Web's universality and openness.

Cueing the Social Consumers SoC365

A growing body of research suggests that fairly simple contextual cues can fundamentally affect how consumers see themselves in relation to other people. In some cases, fairly dramatic behavioral changes can result from subtle social cueing mechanisms.

Defining Obesity SoC366

As obesity becomes more prevalent and costly in societies around the world, defining obesity becomes an issue. How societies define obesity—as a disability, as a disease, as an addiction, or as a lifestyle choice—will dictate how societies deal with obese people. Recent tactics in the war on obesity highlight the difficulty of defining obesity and the potential for unforeseen repercussions depending on the definition.

The Two Faces of Amateur R&D SoC367

Amateur R&D could lead to quantum leaps in research findings and our understanding of science, just because of the sheer numbers of individuals potentially participating. But amateur R&D also presents a host of problems and dangers that come with a lack of oversight or institutional control.

Innovation Out of Africa SoC368

An increasing number of innovations in business models and the application of technology are turning up in developing regions such as Africa. The two main drivers are the intensification of the globalization process and the continuing rapid advances in information technologies that drive costs down and increase functionality.

Insights

RFID Applications Emerge in Infrastructure Industries D09-2592

Many industries have been able to increase productivity and improve services by implementing information technology on a large scale. Infrastructure industries (including the construction industry, the oil-and-gas industry, and utilities) have traditionally focused on the materials and energy necessary to create real-world structures rather than the bits and bytes typical of data-intensive industries such as banking and finance. Until recently, processing and tracking information about the materials and components in infrastructure projects has been a highly fragmented, relatively uncoordinated, nonstandardized, and often inaccurate process because of a huge gap between materials processes and information processes in infrastructure projects. RFID technology is perfectly suited to close this gap. This study highlights some examples of how RFID technology can offer benefits in the creation and maintenance of infrastructure-related industries involving construction, oil and gas, and utilities. Author: Martin Schwirn. 8 pages.

Scan™ Meeting Digest: 18 February 2009 Meeting D09-2593

This document is a digest of the Scan™ abstract clusters that participants in the 18 March 2009 Scan meeting identified. The digest includes a description of the Scan process for people who have never attended a Scan meeting, a list of the clusters that meeting participants identified, and a one-page description of each cluster's premise and supporting abstracts. The document has active links that allow the reader to access the supporting abstracts for each cluster in Scan's online abstract database. The document also has links to previously published Scan documents relating to the particular cluster. Clusters of abstracts for this March meeting include optimizing consumer decisions, SMS more or less, recessionary retailing, mobile migration, extreme Internet makeover, energy behavior, interactive interfaces, developing-world innovations, and open-source revolution. Compiler: Aster Peng. 34 pages.

Calendar

Scan™ Abstract Meetings

Scan abstract meetings (in which SRIC-BI [now SBI] staff participate in a free-form discussion of current Scan abstracts) are open for client observation/participation in Menlo Park on:

• 20 May 2009 at 9:00 am
• 22 July 2009 at 9:00 am
• 23 September 2009 at 9:00 am
• 21 October 2009 at 9:00 am
• 20 January 2010 at 9:00 am
• 17 March 2010 at 9:00 am.

Scan also sponsors occasional Scan abstract meetings in Croydon, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. Contact your SRIC-BI (now SBI) marketing representative to schedule participation in any of the Scan abstract meetings.