I *want* 2019 to be a year of radical hope and possibility, made possible by compelling political leadership and bravery. BUT in the meantime, this is what I think *will* happen at the intersection of big tech and UK society:
AMAZON #1: Brexit food and supplies shortages will be a logistics opportunity for Amazon, who’ll use predictive analytics to anticipate needs and shortages. #2019
AMAZON #2: Alexa will give Amazon enough data to launch a UK social care or pharmacy offshoot as both reach Brexit-related crisis point. #2018
AMAZON #3:There will be a serious incident (perhaps a death) in a warehouse that will be minimised in the media because the logistics backbone of the country depends on it. #2019
BREXIT will lead to a UK gov tech crisis that affects the middle classes at scale (in addition to more casual data extraction from the vulnerable) - perhaps all biometric passports will stop working on the first day of the school holidays - and there’ll be riots #2019
YOUTUBE will continue to bear the brunt of pain for Google, but they’ll let it rumble on without doing anything decisive as it’s a useful distraction #2019
The NHS will announce the rising cost of dealing with RSI and arthritis because of smartphone use, which will have unforeseen effects on the workforce #2019
And the flicker of hope is the launch of the Future High Streets fund could be the beginning of better social infrastructure that helps the UK cope with how technology is changing society #2019 gov.uk/government/new…
