Friday 16 February 2018

Book Review - Disruptive Technologies by Paul Armstrong

This is another of my semi-regular book reviews for the British Computer Society: -


This book appealed to me based purely on the title; to me, the word "Disruptive" is a double-edged sword, and is often seen as a threat as much as an opportunity.

In this book, the author takes a similar view, in terms of positioning new and emerging technologies, highlighting the potential risks and benefits of each.

Personally I take issue with the author's perspective on the blockchain, in that he appears to confuse the blockchain with a well-known, and not always in good way, example of it's use, namely Bitcoin.

However, this is a common misconception, so I chose to let it pass.

Apart from the extremely useful introduction to the most recent innovative and disruptive technologies, the author then devotes the remainder of the book to focus upon the methodology of forecasting and technology selection.

He introduces an approach of his own innovation - Technology/Behaviour/Data - TBD - upon which he expands throughout the book, as a tool to support technology selection, adoption and acceptance.

Whilst this was of interest, it wasn't of immediate relevance to me, in my current role. However, I can see the attraction of a clearly defined process, especially with the large number of worked examples of the methodology in practice.

Similarly, as someone who has recently had a patent application filed, this book is immensely useful in the context of innovation and invention.

Therefore, I'd recommend this book to anyone looking to introduce new technologies into a business, whether they are listed in this book, or whether they're yet to be invented.

I'd give this book 9/10, in terms of it's overall value and benefit.

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