Get on a rollercoaster of disinformation and media manipulation. From lying hieroglyphs to computer-generated influencers and the future of deepfakes. People have always felt the need to play with reality, but never before has it been so easy and believable as now. How do we keep a grip on the information society now that artificial intelligence is getting involved in the manipulation game? Unlike most books about fading realities, Real Fake looks beyond the doom scenarios. Using inspiring restoration stories and a new set of Reality Ethics, the authors of Real Fake outline a hopeful future for the playful human. “Real Fake educates, terrifies, and stimulates simultaneously. Nascent synthetic media technology has the potential to create mayhem or happiness for society -- the authors brilliantly paint a picture of how this battle will play out over the next ten years. And most interestingly, they predict the "democratization of creativity" -- how the new digital tools will unleash a dynamic and vital era of marketing, commerce, and art.” George F. Colony, CEO, Forrester "As someone who has studied authenticity (real vs. fake) and the rise of digital technology (real vs. virtual), no one has intertwined these topics in as interesting, insightful, and indispensable a narrative as the authors of Real Fake. Digital technology is giving us something akin to superpowers. Will we use them to obliterate the distinctions between authenticity and inauthenticity, reality and virtuality, human and machine? Or will we find a path into a future that preserves what makes us human while ennobling our technology in service to our innate needs? Real Fake says yes." -- B. Joseph Pine II, co-author, The Experience Economy: Competing for Customer Time, Attention, and Money “An extremely authentic book!” Daisy Williams, virtual human

In this new whitepaper, the “Seven principles for a new agenda for work” are meant as a reference for your strategic choices on the new normal. “The Future of Life” expresses just the idea that how we want to live our lives dominates how the future of work will evolve. The collective Covid experience will leave its mark on the future. How all of this will eventually play out needs to be seen. But what stands out is the understanding how much personal life and working life are intertwined. How culture and value shifts in society already leave their mark on business strategy. And how new media technologies are turning people into media and organizations into broadcasters. In times of transformational leadership we need a new agenda. All our seven principles are based on magic and need support from new leadership and new technologies. Look for the magicians in your organization and let them lead you towards an organization that is:

• Employee Obsessed
• Serendipity proof
• Creativity Online
• A Platform for Meaning
• Asynchronous
• A Media Company
• Fan-based not Customer-based

Our new report, Infinite Machine Creativity, urges us to rethink creativity; to embrace machine creativity. The report examines the journey from students wondering whether computers can use their fantasy, to the development of a new breed of artificial intelligence (AI) known as Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs). It describes how GANs have recently proven to deliver original and effective ideas. These two keywords combined define the word creativity. So, your ideas around creativity should be reset. Machines can be creative, but in a different way to humans, since machines lack a soul, a drive, a consciousness. The report examines the huge potential to accelerate innovation when the human soul and the creative machine come together. It argues that those organizations able to figure out how creative machines and creative people can collaborate will be the inventors and creators of tomorrow.

New Report: Utopia for Executives There are certain moments in time when collective dreams are more in vogue, more sought after, than at other moments. Societies seem to be stable for long periods and then – bang – doubt and uncertainty begins to pour in. People start asking themselves “Is this the world in which I want my children to grow up in?” or “Why is everything moving so slowly,  we need to take action now.” It is in these ‘fuzzy periods’ that the popular vote is on the move and society looks for new narratives, a new Utopia. It's at these moments that massive changes in how we run our economy start to evolve. For organizations there is a clear and bold message: to stay relevant in the 21st-century economy, you need to be driven by a strong purpose. The days of the Milton Friedman doctrine is over.  It’s about equality and “resetting capitalism”, as espoused by the Financial Times newspaper earlier this year. In Utopia for Executives we explain why now society is making this drastic turn, what it means for organizations, and what to prepare for. We present fresh, visionary thinking, from some of the world’s most profound thinkers in the fields of technology, economy and wellbeing. Some of it is dystopian, with a bleak outlook for society and business if we don’t have a true purpose to what we’re doing. Some of it is uplifting, with a belief that we face a new golden age that’s been preceded by a massive technological shift – but only if we focus on an inclusive, planet-centric world. Utopia for executives is our fourth report on Digital Happiness.

Fake or fact? Why a new generation workforce is better equipped to manage digital and social media than its predecessors. Discover how research into the characteristics of born-digital youngsters reveals that authenticity is key to this generation’s pursuit of happiness – and why helping them identify what is real and what is fake is an ongoing challenge. Find out what a new generation workforce values most in the modern enterprise. The third report in Sogeti’s Digital Happiness series charts the rise of a new generation of influencers – post-millennial young people for whom the concept of digital ‘transformation’ is alien. Digital and new media behaviors are simply ‘normal’ to these Gen-Z youngsters, for whom being an influencer or following their favorite influencers (fake or real) are part and parcel of everyday life. Our report ‘The synthetic generation - Growing up in an uncertain changing world’ argues that this new generation has a different value compass than even the millennials of just a few years ago. More secular. More self-actualized. More protected (by their parents). More interested in making an impact on the world than the generations that immediately precede them. This is a neo-romantic generation. What impact will they have – The Founders, Homelanders, the fluid generation, Gen-Zers – on the workplace of tomorrow? The report argues that first employers must understand the power of the influencers.  Second, aligning your brand or organization with influencers – or being an influencer – is key to success. Third: Gen-Z employees are better equipped to handle themselves in this new world than you might imagine – real or fake, they get it. And the last and definitely not least: being an ethical and inclusive employer with a ‘purpose’ counts to them. They're 'woke'.

"In Code We Trust" is the second report, in a series of four, on our new research theme “Digital Happiness”. Trust is one of the six key variables that have been found to support wellbeing according to the World Happiness Report of 2018. Trust and happiness are closely related. For instance, societies that show high corruption rates, lose their trust and are amongst the unhappiest countries in the world. For our wellbeing and happiness, the trust we can put in friends and families, organizations and institutions are key. And since trust has become such an important part of the current tech-debate, we decided to investigate the concept more in depth. “Who can we trust?” and “How do we organize trust?” are the leading questions.

Digital happiness is rapidly becoming the new frontier of competition. New digital opportunities can make our lives easier, more efficient, safer, and more joyful. You may ask yourself where to begin and which needs to prioritize, but one thing is clear: only focussing on efficiency and effectivity is not enough anymore. Customers and employees are already two steps ahead by actually living in a happiness economy. They are becoming more selective when looking for happiness and a purpose, making the prudent use of technology an additional differentiator. Their findings and judgments are shared in reviews and ratings, giving helpful insights for shopping customers who need these happiness ratings. Enhanced by a customer-centric mindset, it is experience and emotion that are today’s differentiators. Technology empowers organizations to understand these emotions, to persuade people with hyper-personalized touch points, and to directly impact their happiness and sadness. Those who miss this societal trend will have a hard time winning the hearts of the customer and new employees. The advanced state of digitization today requires a holistic approach with the ultimate question in mind: what is the main goal of the products, services, and organization and how do they contribute to the digital happiness of the customer? In this report, we explore three key questions. First, what is the potential advantage of aiming for happiness? Second, how does digital technology impact our individual happiness? And third, what role must organizations play as guardians of the happiness of their customers and employees?

More and more companies are now taking action with more than a third of the organizations applying AI at scale. Place AI at the heart of your digital activities, that is the most important message. After decades of too much promise from technology, we now see a breakthrough in the realization of concrete business value. A new AI focus is essential because your competitors will certainly use the learning acceleration offered by AI’s specific capabilities to gain a head start. The last in a series of four qualitative research reports on the topic of Machine Intelligence, ‘AI First: Learning from the machine’ states that profit and economic growth go hand in hand with the proactive deployment of AI. It further asserts that companies can raise their Corporate IQ by embarking on a new journey of discovery built on intelligent machines. ‘AI First: Learning from the machine’ explores the latest developments on the journey to being an AI-first organization and recommends a number of actions for improving Corporate IQ with a better understanding of the relationship between man and machine.

Only few organizations wise up to new digital competitors, as they usually come from outside their own sector and are not taken seriously at first. Their allegedly inferior propositions confuse prominent players, who should in fact be the very first to be fully aware of potentially disruptive innovation. To swing into action rapidly, existing organizations would be well advised to properly analyze anything resembling digital competition. Evidently, there are clear patterns behind the startup success marking a new techno-economic reality. Ecosystems, APIs, and platforms characterize this New Normal where customers have more freedom of choice and better service at lower costs. These successful disruptors are called two-sided market players, also known as multi-sided platform players. Companies like Uber and Airbnb are getting all the media attention, however there are over 9000 players (and counting) active in almost every industry. The new VINT report explores the new digital competition and presents:

• A analysis of the success factors of disruption
• 10 design principles of the new digital competition like Unbundle your organization processes, APIs first. Access over ownership and Building trust with social systems
• The need for every business to develop a API-strategy
• An appeal to the CIO and the IT department to use a leading digital approach and map out an offensive technological route.

The fourth stage of the Industrial Revolution is upon us due to the far-reaching integration, accelerated by the Internet of Things, of Operational Technology (OT) and Information Technology (IT). This creates completely new opportunities as a result of new combinations of mental, physical and mechanical work by integrating the internet, sensors and embedded systems. The Internet of Things enabled IT/OT convergence leads to cost reduction as a consequence of predictive maintenance, speed and intelligence, thanks to Machine-to-Machine communication and improved forms of Human-Machine Interaction. M2M interaction between and within machines and systems is the cyber-physical heart of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. End-to-end ecosystems – from design and production to client interaction and advanced Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) – should be focused on a future in which appliances, devices, things and machines for professionals and private people will communicate with central systems, with one another, and with users for the purpose of providing the best possible facilities to makers, service providers, legislators and customers. Organizations should put IT-OT integration on their digital transformation roadmap, focusing their attention and knowledge from various disciplines, ranging from connectivity, infrastructure, standardization, work processes and risk management to human resources and marketing. The new VINT report, written together with Sogeti High Tech, provides insights into the IT-OT fusion and presents three recommendations to speed up this integration.

The Internet of Things plays a crucial role in the ‘programability’ of the physical world. As a matchmaker between operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT), the IoT has capacities at its disposal that appeal to both partners. The operational machine world is becoming more human due to ‘things’. Moreover, sensors are more entrenched in that field. But, thanks to these ‘things’, the IT world is becoming more integrated in the domain of operations, and the opportunities to add value ‘where the action is’ are simply there for the taking: in everyday interaction with appliances and physical products. In the new report by VINT, our trendland examines the three main reasons to embark upon the Internet of Things adventure: 1. the benefits of human-machine interaction (M2M) as the basis of speed and intelligence 2. the benefits of better maintenance: preferably Predictive Maintenance 3. the benefits of engagement or customer interaction: humans and machines in Smart Factories and beyond. Equipping everything on the factory floor and everything that leaves the factory with sensors and internet connections brings benefits to the user and, of course, to the underlying industry. A precondition of success in IT/OT is the ability to bring people together, both physically and mentally. This means that all barriers will have to be flattened. In the new report called The Fourth Industrial Revolution – Things to Tighten the Link between IT and OT , VINT provides three recommendations to speed up this integration.

The fourth stage of the Industrial Revolution is upon us due to the far-reaching integration, accelerated by the Internet of Things, of Operational Technology (OT) and Information Technology (IT). This creates completely new opportunities as a result of new combinations of mental, physical and mechanical work by integrating the internet, sensors and embedded systems. The Internet of Things enabled IT/OT convergence leads to cost reduction as a consequence of predictive maintenance, speed and intelligence, thanks to Machine-to-Machine communication and improved forms of Human-Machine Interaction. M2M interaction between and within machines and systems is the cyber-physical heart of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. End-to-end ecosystems – from design and production to client interaction and advanced Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) – should be focused on a future in which appliances, devices, things and machines for professionals and private people will communicate with central systems, with one another, and with users for the purpose of providing the best possible facilities to makers, service providers, legislators and customers. Organizations should put IT-OT integration on their digital transformation roadmap, focusing their attention and knowledge from various disciplines, ranging from connectivity, infrastructure, standardization, work processes and risk management to human resources and marketing. The new VINT report provides insights into the IT-OT fusion and presents three recommendations to speed up this integration.