Entries by Ross Dawson

How tablets are changing how we use tech

Nielsen has come out with some interesting research on tablet usage in the US and associated changes in the use of other devices. Source: Nielsen It seems that some of the data may simply reflect changes in usage rather than the direct impact of the use of tablets. For example, Nielsen highlights the fact that […]

What would you do if you could solve a major world problem with technology and innovation?

The Imagine Cup is an initiative by Microsoft in which students from around the world to come up with technology solutions to solve the world’s biggest problems. This morning at an event at the Powerhouse Museum it was announced that Sydney will host the global 2012 Imagine Cup. They showed a video, as below, of […]

3 major shifts in the nature of trust in business relationships

While the subtitle of my book Living Networks referred to the ‘hyperconnected’ economy, the reality is that living networks are built primarily on human relationships based on mutual knowledge and trust. Here is a brief excerpt from the book about what is changing in the world of trust. Trust is a business perennial—from the days […]

World-leading Australian crowdsourcing platform 99designs gets $35 million, shows depth of Australian tech

As I have written before, Australia is a global hub for crowdsourcing platforms, with the likes of Freelancer.com, 99designs, DesignCrowd, Kaggle, Ideas While You Sleep and many more resident here. We have tapped some of this Australian expertise for our events, notably our Future of Crowdsourcing Summit, held last November simultaneously in Sydney and San […]

Charismatic robots can now do stand up comedy and respond to the audience

Heather Knight, also known as Marilyn Monrobot, studies human machine symbiosis and charismatic robots. In addition to her doctoral studies at Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute she runs a stack of interesting projects. Here is a video of Heather speaking at TED, demonstrating her robot which does stand up comedy. The audience provided live feedback to […]