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The theme of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland was "The Power of Collaborative Innovation". This goes beyond a simpler discussion about disruptive technologies like Web 2.0 to higher-level topics about how technology can be improved and applied to solve the largest and most important world problems (like the rising rate of global poverty). The intent of this meeting is to improve the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional, and industry agendas.
Mark Stouse, global communications leader at BMC Software discusses his experience there and the Davos question: "What one thing do you think that countries, companies or individuals must do to make the world a better place in 2008?"
Mark talks about BSM's place in the solution to global problems and his opinion of what we should take away from Davos: "Never forget that we, as individuals, have the ability to make a tremendous impact if we choose to. There are a lot of people in this world who need our help. And, as important as what we do at BMC is, it is ultimately the impact we have as human beings, individually and collectively, on the larger world that is the most important thing."
Resources
- The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland
- The world's answers to the Davos question
- Bill Gates spreads the wealth at Davos
- Help Make Poverty History at ONE.ORG
- Business Service Management (BSM) at BMC Software
Bio
Mark Stouse leads BMC Software's worldwide analyst, press and executive communications organization. Known for strategic, hands-on leadership and content and metrics driven operational focus, Mark joined BMC from HP, where he spent five years as one of the company's most senior communications executives. His view of information technology is enlarged by a wide array of experience and interests. A social scientist and keen political observer, he loves to tell the story of why technology matters and what it accomplishes for real people. He holds that the modern history of enterprise IT can be generalized as follows
- The creation of an enterprise IT solution was originally sparked by an observable business need. Innovation was directly linked to powering the business.
- Over time, the industry focused more on creating IT products for IT professionals, and therein losing sight of the needs of the business.
- Businesses, frustrated by the increasingly siloed nature of their ITinvestment, begin forcing IT to justify itself in light of known business needs.
Given that perspective, Mark is impatient with the long, rambling dissertations about "speeds and feeds" that still characterize so many ITdiscussions today. He believes that the next chapter of the story is beingwritten by companies like BMC, who are re-linking IT innovation with the measurable, definable needs of the business and thereby delivering unprecedented operational power and clarity to business managers. Besides technology, Mark is a passionate historian whose current interests include President Theodore Roosevelt, Otto von Bismarck, the Crusades, and the rise of the Ottoman Empire.
