Hans Vestberg, chief executive officer at Verizon, is fond of saying: “Anything that can benefit from a connection will have one in the Networked Society.” Look around you—what products could become digital with software and sensors and connected to the network? What might be the value when such products get digitized?
A digital product has 3 core elements:
- physical components: mechanical and electrical parts
- “smart” components: sensors, microprocessors, software, data storage
- connectivity components: ports, antennae, wired or wireless protocols
Smart components increase the capabilities and value of the physical components. Connectivity increases the capabilities and value of the smart components. Essentially, connectivity allows for the exchange of information between a product and one or more users, manufacturers, or products. And it allows some of the functions of the smart components to exist outside of the product; for example, cloud storage. So that’s computers, connectivity, and cloud.
As business thinkers Michael E. Porter and James Heppelmann suggest, what a digital product can do that a traditional product cannot is:
- monitor. The data a digital product provides can be used to track what condition it’s in, how it is being used, and what is going on around it. Think about how useful this function is for medical devices, satellites, even field testing new products.
- control. A digital product can be programmed to respond to a specific change in its condition or environment or allow users to customize how it does so. Think about smart home products that optimize energy efficiency, lock the door when you leave, or adjust to your preferred lighting and sound levels.
- optimize. A digital product can apply algorithms and analytics to real-time or historical data to make itself more productive, useful, or efficient in the future. Here, think about preventive maintenance on aircraft or home appliances that can repair themselves or diagnose the problem and order the parts needed for you to make the repair.
- operate autonomously. A digital product can evaluate conditions and make decisions, and coordinate with systems and other products to perform a task with a minimum of immediate human input. Think smart grids continuously improving the efficiency of the energy grid.
Each of these functions implies a level of increasing complexity. A digital product with control capability is also able to monitor. A digital product cannot be autonomous without having monitoring, control, and optimization functions too. More data can be collected, analyzed, and shared than ever before. And new products are more efficient and upgraded faster than in previous generations. But designing and making these products requires investment and a whole lot of new skills.Over the last few years, the idea of digital glass has captured the imagination of several companies. Have a look at Corning’s video below to see how it pictures glass enhancing how we live, work, play, learn, and interact. Visit View’s website to understand its vision for using digital glass in our buildings. Corning and View are just two of the companies working with digital glass, but their products help us to imagine what might be possible in different settings. Below, write a reflection on the benefits for a range of industries.