What does today's Cloud mean for tomorrow's Digital Life?

Today, the ubiquity of "cloud" and its computing, platform and infrastructure opportunities are offering new ways of offering value to consumers from both a business to consumer (B2C) or a business to business (B2B) perspective. Consuming content via the cloud is not new - we have in the last couple of decades been accessing data and applications via private networks (via VPNs, EDI etc) and later public networks (via the Internet).  However, it is the increasing (need for) digitisation of contents and pervasive mobility offered via low-cost PCs, tablets and smartphones or mobile devices, which is leveling the playing field in terms of availing the media creation and consumption globally - bringing forth the new order of Digital Life.  A recent article which I came across "Digital cloud devours our books, CDs, DVDs, photos" evidenced the changing content consumption behavior with the digital cloud.

So, how will today's cloud impact on tomorrow's digital life?  I have put down the following 3 areas for further discussion.



(1) Big Data becomes Action Data

• 1 of the 2012 trends I highlighted in my earlier post was Data Science.
• Operators, over-the-top (OTT) players and other ecosystem players start collaborating in various forms and work to reach their (global, local) glocal customers.
• From cloud, voice and big data, petabytes of customers' consumption data will be turned into shared insights and soon, customers could get told of what they would want next - cool huh?
  

(2) Building Symbiotic Ecosystems

• Through partnerships and collaborations, content partners become excited with their soon global, regional, local (i.e. glocal) play and cross-platform reach.
• The value chain of media-commerce-data start getting stitched together in the digital life  ecosystem.
• Ecosystem players develop a symbiotic cross-platform play in mobile (from feature phones to smartphones to tablets), broadband (PC, Ultrabooks), TV (with triple play!) as well as retail and other associative online (eShop, social media, online portal) touch-points.

And the beauty of it? The ecosystem could be scaled in the cloud - be it public or private.



(3) Connecting People to a new World of Entertainment

• The downtime of consumers will never be the same again.
• Consumers can read an ebook (local or international bestseller), or go hunting for treasures online, offline or a hybrid of both, with a mobile social game.
• Jurassic Park can suddenly come alive from your mobile device.

And the most beautiful part?
The Digital Life ecosystem will be developing transmedia offers with ancillary product and revenue opportunities in packaging mobile games, trading cards, ebooks, print books (via screenplays), movies, VOD, DVDs, online communities, celebrity endorsements, TV shows ... you get the drift. 

Here are some examples:

1. "Adventures of Tin Tin" (from graphic novel to screenplay movie, novel)
2. Animal Kaiser trading card game - see pic above. 
3. mobile social games from Gree.

And yeah, marketing and selling becomes loads more fun than before!  Have a look at how a  popular Gree mobile social game Doliland (which is making a tune of US$50million/mth in Japan!) is being promoted via TVCs with a local Japanese band.




What are your thoughts on what the new Digital Life will herald?


talk soon,
Nelson Wee
engage with me via @nelsonwee