Digitally Curious

If you've ever wanted a Masterclass in Web3, NFTs, Cryptocurrency, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO) and Decentralised Finance (DeFi) then this 45-minute podcast is for you!

I was fortunate to be able to convince Nick Abrahams, the Global Co-leader of Digital Transformation Practice at leading law firm Norton Rose Fulbright to come on the show and give us a very informative, no-nonsense look at some of the hottest topics in technology at the moment.

Nick is the founder of the successful online legal site, LawPath (90,000+ users) and he created the world's first AI-enabled privacy chatbot, Parker. He also has a thriving career as a keynote speaker on future trends and innovation.. He is the author of the best selling Kindle books "Big Data, Big Responsibilities" and "Digital Disruption in Australia".

He is on the boards of ASX-listed software company Integrated Research ($500M); the global genomics research leader, the Garvan Foundation; the Vodafone Foundation; and the Sydney Film Festival.

We had a whirlwind tour around Web3 and the many umbrella topics.

I started by asking him for some quick definitions of

• Web3
• Metaverse
• NFT
• Cryptocurrency
• Blockchain
• DeFi
• DAO

We then delved into each in more detail including

• Why is Web3 so important?
• Establishing ownership with Web3
• A 3-dimensional experience of the web
• How big could the Metaverse become?
• What does the Metaverse mean for corporates?
• Companies embracing the Metaverse
• Why is Facebook/Meta scared about the Metaverse?
• Are we being brainwashed by Facebook's view of the Metaverse?
• Things for brands to consider before they jump into the Metaverse
• Tokens as a new asset class
• The concept of Tokenomics
• Legal implications for the Metaverse
• The "MetaBirkin" that upset Hermès
• How the legal industry is coming up to speed

We spent some time on the different types of NFTs

• Flex Club NFTs
• Art NFTs
• Collectable NFTs
• Twinning NFTs
• Gaming NFTs
• Branded NFTs

We finished our discussion looking at 

• How can corporates best manage NFTs?
• Cybersecurity concerns around NFTs
• What is the future of blockchain, bitcoin and distributed ledger technologies?
• What's the hottest thing in crypto at the moment?
• The future of DeFi - a parallel banking system
• Decentralised Autonomous Organizations (DAO)
• Staying up to date with all these concepts

If you work In a corporate, or for a brand and someone has asked “should we be in Web3/Crypto/Blockchain or have an NFT” then this podcast is for you.

If you’ve heard all these terms and thought aloud “I wish there was one place I could go for a no-nonsense view” then this podcast is for you.

More on Nick
Nick on LinkedIn
Nick on Twitter
Nick's website
What the NFT is going on? The New NFT 'Price is right' Gameshow

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

Andrew's Social Channels
Andrew on LinkedIn
Andrew on YouTube
@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
Keynote speeches here
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What really goes on behind the scenes to ensure you get the things you order on-line or in person? To find out more, I spoke with Wayne Snyder, Vice President of Retail Strategy for EMEA at Blue Yonder.

Wayne has worked in retail for more than 20 years and is a recognised expert in planning and supply chain operations.

Wayne argues that with recent advances in technology, we’ve opened a digital window to the consumer, allowing us to go online, and see real-time availability of products in stores.

Because we’re making any flaws in the supply chain very visible to the consumer, the need to solve issues becomes even more important, because as consumers we are fickle, and will go anywhere that can help us best.

Wayne makes a point that there is an even greater challenge for retailers to make sure the supply chain is not only delighting but exceeding the expectations of customers.

We covered many topics related to retail and the supply chain including:

• Covid's impact on the supply chain
• The 2021 Fuel Crisis
• The retail industry's impact from the pandemic
• Key lessons for retail from the pandemic
• Is there a need for open data in retail?
• Navigating retail data
• The role of regulation in the retail space
• Sharing data
• Intermediaries sharing high-level trends
• The change in consumer behaviour due to the pandemic
• Will consumers shop closer to where they live vs where they work?
• The move to online shopping as the default
• Why stores are still dominant
• Differentiating between store and online popularity
• What part does technology play in the supply chain?
• Why Excel shouldn't be running your supply chain
• The importance of IoT for the supply chain
• The Golden Quarter & Christmas in Retail
• The 2022 challenges for retailers?
• Building resilience into the supply chain
• The need for data literacy
• M&S example of digital enablement
• The use of real-time control towers in retail
• The move from when things happened to why things happened
• What's the future for supply chain technology
• The impact of Christmas on the supply chain
• Why the supply chain will be holistic, connected & real-time
• Opening the digital window to the consumer
• The need for the supply chain to exceed customer expectations
• US Retailer inventory accuracy example
• Exception based reporting focusing on what's important
• The role Blue Yonder plays to help with supply chain fluctuations
• The need for shorter technology deployment cycles
• Should consumers care about what goes on behind the scenes?
• 3 Actionable things to do today

More on Wayne
Wayne on Twitter
Wayne on LinkedIn
Blue Yonder Website

Books Wayne is reading
Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters
Factfulness Illustrated: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World - Why Things are Better than You Think

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

Andrew's Social Channels
Andrew on LinkedIn
Andrew on YouTube
@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
Keynote speeches here
Order Digitally Curious

“During the pandemic, Broadband has saved economic collapse and the health system collapse” says Phil Sorsky, Senior Vice president of Worldwide Sales at CommScope. 

When you think about it, one of the unsung heroes of the last 2 years has been technologies that kept us connected to our families and our work.

With the lines between “home” and “office” increasingly blurred due to the rise of remote working, access to reliable connectivity is crucial so that local economies and communities can truly thrive.

In the latest episode of The Actionable Futurist Podcast, we explore the future of 5G and fibre technologies and what we can expect around the corner.

We also looked at what can be done to narrow the digital divide, especially since we’re now relying on online services even more as a result of the pandemic.

Phil has more than 20 years of telecommunications industry experience, having worked for Juniper Networks, Adobe Systems, Cisco Systems and AT&T, and he is a graduate of the University of Birmingham in the UK.

In this episode we also discussed

• Narrowing the digital divide
• How 5G can solve the "last mile" problem?
• The state of 5G in the UK
• The rise of "community fibre"
• Will every home be connected to fibre in the UK in 10 years?
• How Covid accelerated high-speed broadband adoption
• Would a National Broadband Network concept work in the UK?
• Why Fibre is the answer for faster broadband
• The societal benefits of faster broadband
• How broadband has saved lives and economic collapse during the pandemic
• Cybercrime post-pandemic
• Will we see more 5G use cases?
• The uses of 5G with IoT
• Femtocells to help mobile coverage
• New innovations to drive new services
• What new developments have come out of the pandemic?
• 3 Actionable things for this week

More on Phil
Phil on Twitter
Phil on LinkedIn
CommScope website

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

Andrew's Social Channels
Andrew on LinkedIn
Andrew on YouTube
@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
Keynote speeches here
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How does a university project to index the entire Oxford English Dictionary become one of the world’s largest information management companies with revenues of over $3Bn? 

To find out I spoke with Muhi Majzoub, Executive Vice President & Chief Product Officer of OpenText who leads the product development and strategy for the company as well as their transition to the cloud.

Muhi has over 30 years of experience in technology, including 10 years at OpenText, and 16 years at Oracle as VP for Engineering and Application Development. Muhi is coming to us today from California.

In this episode we covered

• OpenText's origins
• Innovations that delight
• Where do the best ideas come from?
• Sparking ideas with a distributed workforce
• Muhi's first experience of cloud computing
• OpenText's journey to the cloud
• Public vs Private Clouds
• The benefits of moving to the cloud
• Keeping the cloud secure
• Cloud technology + supply chains
• What's the future of Cloud?
• Cloud as part of the net-zero solution
• What is an API Cloud?
• The different clouds from OpenText
• How cloud has helped industries over the pandemic
• The future of information management
• 3 actionable things around moving to the cloud

More on Muhi
Muhi on Twitter
Muhi on LinkedIn
OpenText website

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

Andrew's Social Channels
Andrew on LinkedIn
Andrew on YouTube
@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
Keynote speeches here
Order Digitally Curious

We hear a lot about digital transformation, and my guest Helena Nimmo thinks this term is outdated and should be replaced with digital acceleration.

She argues that Digital Transformation suggests that you have a blank canvas and that is rarely true, she prefers to talk about Digital Acceleration and building on what you already have.

Helena knows a lot about this subject as the Chief Information Officer for Endava, a public technology company that is reimagining the relationship between people and technology.

Helena joined Endava in 2019 and has been in the technology industry for over 20 years. A native of Finland, she started her career at Finnish technology giant Nokia in the logistics division before joining Symbian software and moving to London in 1999. She also worked in senior roles in publishing with Euro Monitor and Thomson Reuters.

Helena thinks that data is what makes technology relevant, and prefers the term “digital acceleration” to that of “digital transformation”.

In this episode we discussed:

• How a CIO needs to manage “Shadow IT” in an organisation
• How the pandemic exposed issues of digital breakage
• The extra tools a CIO needs to support a distributed workforce
• Why boards should be taking cybersecurity more seriously 
• The industries that have more rapidly adopted digital acceleration projects
• Helena’s views on digital literacy
• Her key learnings as a manager during the pandemic
• How to stay up to date with all the new technologies and platforms that are appearing 

More on Helena

Helena on LinkedIn
Endava website
Angela Marsons Crime Writer

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

Andrew's Social Channels
Andrew on LinkedIn
Andrew on YouTube
@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
Keynote speeches here
Order Digitally Curious

When we think about the components that go together to make the internet work we probably think of browsers and IP addresses but there is one critical component that brings it together - the Domain Name System or DNS. It's the reason behind when you type cnn.com you end up on the right website.

The design of DNS is more than 30 years old, but still is a critical point of the internet today.

In October 2021, a misconfiguration error caused Facebook to disappear from the internet for nearly 7 hours.
 
To understand the notion of DNS better, we spoke with Michael Kaczmarek who is the former VP of Product Management at Neustar Security Solutions. 

Michael directed the research efforts into distributed denial of service attacks and DNS trends for Neustar working closely with the cross-functional team to publish insights on changes in the cybersecurity landscape.

Prior to joining Neustar, Michael was with Verisign for more than 18 years where he served in various capacities including VP of product management and marketing.

Prior to Verisign, he was a systems engineering manager for Lockheed Martin in charge of their Solid Rocket Motor Disposition in Russia Program.

Michael is a Ponemon Fellow and holds a Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland and a Master of Engineering in environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

In this wide-ranging discussion, we looked at 

• How Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are on the rise
• How AI can be used to detect cyber threats
• What the Internet 3.0 might look like
• What the Facebook 2021 outage tells us about DNS
• What to look for in a DNS provider
• Why every business owner should care about DNS
• The top3 cybersecurity trends
• New threats such as API security
• Analysis of a real DNS hack
• Why Cybersecurity needs to concern every board
• Three top cybersecurity tips

If you are truly digitally curious, then you will want to listen to this episode in full.

More about Michael

LinkedIn
Twitter
Neustar Security Solutions

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

Andrew's Social Channels
Andrew on LinkedIn
Andrew on YouTube
@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
Keynote speeches here
Order Digitally Curious

This special episode of the podcast was recorded live in front of an audience in February 2022 as one of a number of popular events run by the Institution of Engineers Australia UK Chapter. It features a panel of experts discussing a very interesting subject that of space-based solar power.

I was joined on stage by

Martin Soltau Co-Chair Space Energy Initiative & Space Business Lead at Frazer-Nash Consultancy

Dr Alice Bunn CEO Institution of Mechanical Engineers

Sam Adlen Chief Strategy Officer, Satellite Applications Catapult and

Ali Stickings Space Strategy lead at Fraser Nash Consultancy

You will also hear remarks from Mark Garnier, MP for Wyre Forest who is Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Space, and Chair of The Space Energy Initiative Advisory Board as well as Nick Wayth Chief Executive at The Energy Institute.

To provide some context around this episode and the topic, we all accept that fossil fuels are not a sustainable form of energy, and renewable energy such as solar and wind have issues when it is cloudy or calm.

This event was part of The Institution of Engineers Australia UK Chapter's monthly “Spring Forward” hybrid lecture series to look at a potential new form of energy – Space-Based Solar Power.

The concept is not new – it was first mooted by Isaac Asimov as science fiction in the 1940s, and in 1968, Dr Peter Glaser of Arthur D. Little introduced the concept of using microwaves for power transmission from geosynchronous orbit to an Earth-based rectifying antenna.

Since then, technology has advanced on several fronts to remove some technological and economic barriers to practical full-scale implementation.

Issues covered in this episode include:

• How Space-Based power actually works
• The opportunity for generating power from space
• How to overcome challenges in commercialising this technology
• How space-based solar power contributes to the net-zero debate
• The future of space-based solar power generation
• How Space solar power gives Governments options
• Solar power vs Nuclear Fusion
• What will the solution cost?
• The regulatory risks
• The role of Government
• The security concerns
• Who regulates the space segment
• The spin-off benefits
• What are other countries doing?
• The UK-Australia Space Bridge
• The Space Energy Initiative
• The job creation opportunities
• Nick Wayth Chief Executive at Energy Institute comments
• Audience question: How can the UK maintain a lead in this area?
• Audience question: What is happening in Australia?
• Audience question: What can go wrong?
• Mark Garnier MP closing remarks

Resources
UK Government’s paper on Space-Based Solar Power

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

Andrew's Social Channels
Andrew on LinkedIn
Andrew on YouTube
@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
Keynote speeches here
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We've learned much about how to work remotely over the last 2 years, but how will these changes impact the education sector? To answer this I invited  Mark Sweeney, who is the Regional Vice President for Citrix in the UK & Ireland onto this episode of the podcast.

Mark has over 25 years of experience in business innovation, and a key focus has been innovation within the technical professional services field.

He has researched how automating professional services engagements through artificial intelligence and robotic process automation could modernise the consulting business. 

In his current role at Citrix, his primary focus is working with customers on delivering consistent employee experience, as well as awareness to the concept of hybrid learning within the higher education vertical.

Mark believes that much like evolutionary designs for the workplace, campus-based learning could be the place for collaboration and practical work while formal teaching could be delivered virtually.

On this episode we covered:

• What Citrix does today
• Citrix Hybrid Learning study results
• What is "Blended Learning"?
• The evolution of the classroom
• What has the pandemic taught us about how to work & learn remotely?
• How do we enable educators to use the technologies that supports remote learning?
• Has higher education changed forever as a result of Covid?
• What investment do we need to effectively deploy remote learning solutions?
• Why IT staff will become more critical for blended learning
• Tele-teaching in 1994
• The need for "Zoom Rooms"
• How to best engage the online learners as well as those in the room
• Gamifying the virtual experience
• Should students pay less for virtual education?
• What is the role of the campus going forward?
• Up-skilling educators on new remote learning technologies
• Preparing students for the hybrid world of wor
• Citrix Company culture survey findings 
• Asynchronous vs Synchronous remote working & learning experiences
• Are candidates seeking roles that support remote working? 
• Maintaining fairness for employees choosing to be remote
• Avoiding "Location bias"
• The issue of "presenteeism" - favouring output vs attendance  
• Mark's biggest Covid-19 learnings  
• How Mark has changed as a manager due to Covid 
• The need for a consistent experience when we move between home & office  
• Actionable Advice to prepare for a hybrid world of work and learning  
• Planning for the next disruptive event 

More on Mark
LinkedIn
Mark's Blog
Blog on Blended Learning

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

Andrew's Social Channels
Andrew on LinkedIn
Andrew on YouTube
@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
Keynote speeches here
Order Digitally Curious

To understand the future of the market research industry, my guest is Tom Smith, Founder and CEO of GWI. Having spent several years working agency side, he recognised a growing demand for global data to better understand the complex online market, coupling the world's largest ongoing study on the digital consumer with powerful analytics. GWI is now the leading provider of digital consumer insights to the global marketing industry.

My favourite section of the podcast was where Tom said

"People think data is the new oil, and we’re all sitting on this very valuable commodity. The better comparison is that data is like sand. Until you do something with the information, it lacks real value. It’s the processing it's the presentation, it’s the aggregation and millions of people’s data aggregated at scale is a highly valuable product."

Tom argues that the market research industry has utterly failed the needs of its consumers in today's global marketplace - this is a bold statement and something Tom addresses in detail in this episode.

In this episode, we look at:

• Why Tom started GWI
• The changing needs of the market research industry
• How traditional market research methods have evolved
• What problems GWI solves
• How Ad blockers, GDPR and other regulations have changed collection methodology
• Where AI fits into modern market research methods
• The future of market research
• Being an Entrepreneur

More on Tom
LinkedIn
Twitter
GWI Website

In February 2024, to celebrate Facebook's 20th birthday, we spoke to Jason Mander from GWI - listen to this podcast here.

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

Andrew's Social Channels
Andrew on LinkedIn
Andrew on YouTube
@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
Keynote speeches here
Order Digitally Curious

As a special holiday edition of the podcast, and the final episode of this current series, I’m joined by Internationally acclaimed Mezzo-Soprano Deborah Humble.

She is highly regarded for her Wagner roles and has performed in opera houses around the world including Paris, London, Sydney and Hamburg.

She’s also been a friend of mine for over 35 years.

Born in Bangor, Wales, Deborah grew up in Adelaide, Australia.  She received her musical and vocal training first at the Elder Conservatory of the University of Adelaide and later at the University of Melbourne.

Deborah was a member of the Young Artist Program of the Victoria State Opera, and in 2002 became a principal artist with Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House. She was also the winner at the beginning of her career of the prestigious Dame Joan Sutherland Scholarship in 2004, and the following year, she became a Principal Mezzo with the State Opera of Hamburg.

In 2008 she was a finalist of the International Wagner Competition of the Seattle Opera.

In 2009 she was included in the Who’s Who of Australian Women.

Since 2010 she has been a freelance artist and she has performed over 60 operatic roles worldwide.

In 2016, after 25 years living in Europe, Deborah returned to live in Sydney, and today she's coming to us from Brycefield estate in the Hunter Valley where she lives with her Partner Dr Bruce Caldwell.

Like many performers, Deborah has had to adapt to multiple cancellations and changes brought about by the global pandemic.

In this podcast, Deborah looks back on her 25-year career as a Mezzo-Soprano and also looks at how she has adapted by becoming a winemaker, created a show channelling Julia Child and a look behind the scenes at how Operas are made and what can go wrong, alongside a look at how different cultures respond to Opera.

In this fascinating chat, we covered literally Wagner to Wine: 

• Deborah’s journey from Wales to Australia
• When did you decide to become an Opera singer?
• Why pick Opera as the genre to focus on?
• How Opera singers project their voice
• The preparation required for a huge Opera
• The experience of living in Hamburg
• Being an Australian in Hamburg
• Why did you return to Australia?
• The need for resilience
• The Brycefield Music Festival
• The Hunter Valley region
• Becoming a winemaker
• The need to change direction during the pandemic
• Becoming Julia Child
• Performing at the Bennelong Restaurant at the Sydney Opera House
• Stories from the life on the road
• The story behind Opera costumes
• Performing for different audiences
• Dealing with negative feedback
• German vs English vs Australian audiences
• What’s next?
• Career highlights

More on Deborah

LinkedIn
Twitter
Instagram
Brycefield Estate Website
Deborah's Professional Website
The Diva Diaries - travels of an Opera Singer

Thanks for listening to Digitally Curious. You can buy the book that showcases these episodes at curious.click/order

Your Host is Actionable Futurist® Andrew Grill

For more on Andrew - what he speaks about and recent talks, please visit ActionableFuturist.com

Andrew's Social Channels
Andrew on LinkedIn
Andrew on YouTube
@Andrew.Grill on Instagram
Keynote speeches here
Order Digitally Curious