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In today’s information-driven economy, it’s not enough to
gather and synthesize data. You also have to do it quickly
to gain and keep your competitive advantage. More than ever,
developed and developing nations need to implement a
communications strategy that uses technological advances to
better integrate their citizens into the global community,
and to allow government and industry to provide an array of
advanced services to all sectors, says Sandor Boyson,
research professor in the logistics, business and public
policy department.
“Unified communications” is the term that describes this
growing ability to integrate real-time communications with
business processes and presence technologies across multiple
devices. And the push for unified communications is growing
in part out of technology developed in the Supply Chain
Laboratory in collaboration with Smith School corporate
partner Avaya Corporation. Boyson lays out a new paradigm
for achieving truly unified communications in a paper
“Unified Communications: Leading Advances in Global Decision
Making and Economic Development,” co-authored with David
Boyer, senior communications architect with Avaya. This
paper was published in the World Economic Forum’s Global
Information Technology Report 2007-2008, which reviews the
network readiness of 127 nations and recommends policies to
accelerate national technology development.
 Boyson and Thomas Corsi, Michelle E. Smith Professor of
Logistics and co-director with Boyson of the Supply Chain
Management Center, worked with Avaya to create a portal
linking flight line mechanics at Air Force bases in Oklahoma
and Texas to aerospace engineers at General Electric in
Cleveland in real time, so that the mechanics could quickly
get the answers they needed for technical repair questions.
But the truly amazing aspect of the technology was that
problems in the aircraft engine could be diagnosed
wirelessly by the portal, which would then automatically
activate problem-solving solutions and bring the mechanics
into contact with the engineers who could solve the problem.
Based on this experience, the center developed a portal
for hospitals that combined real-time diagnostics and
alerts. It used an Internet-enabled drug dispensing cart
that could identify potential drug interactions right at the
moment when the nurse was dispensing the drug, and
wirelessly contacted a specialist to immediately address the
issue, potentially preventing medical errors before they
happened.
All these were business-process-level technologies. But
it became clear to Boyson that this technology could be
expanded to an industry level. Finance and banking, for
example, could benefit from the opportunity to get
information to traders in a split-second, or from faster and
more effective ways to get customers connected with the
services they require.
Boyson is also enthusiastic about the potential for the
technology to be utilized for even larger and more complex
systems, like those used for disaster response. Unified
communications could link sensor systems across the globe
that tracked storms, wind and sea-level rise. The sensors
would be linked to communication networks of experts, first
responders, and government agencies to provide a fast and
effective way to mass mobilize when a tsunami or hurricane
or typhoon is on the way.
Some of these technologies clearly have the potential for
enormous social good. Japan’s telecom giant NTT has a pilot
program where the cell phones of elderly people are equipped
with military-grade sensors that detect heat and motion to
track their owners’ respiration and heartbeat. The data is
sent to a server and, based on information provided by the
person’s doctor, alerts the doctor or other medical
caregivers when breathing or heart rate falls outside
acceptable parameters.
Issues of interoperability present serious challenges to
the development of truly unified global communications. And
it’s not just a matter of technology — creating the
infrastructure for unified communications will require a
significant investment from both the public and private
sectors. But Boyson argues that “the potential value of this
technology for the social good and for business
transformation is so profound that it is worth pursuing.”
And it’s important to pursue it fast. Boyson says that
this kind of technology will also provide the economy with
an edge in managing supply chains, providing powerful new
services, and spurring innovation and discovery. And those
rewards will go to the nations that are the earliest
adopters.
The paper describing this new paradigm for unified
communications was showcased by the World Economic Forum, an
independent, international nonprofit organization committed
to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in
partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
The World Economic Forum is one of the world’s premier think
tanks for public and private sector economic policy. Its
annual meeting of top business leaders, national political
leaders (presidents, prime ministers and others), and
selected intellectuals and journalists is usually held in
Davos,
Switzerland.
For more information, contact
sboyson@rhsmith.umd.edu.
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