Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing Our Digital Future

9:45 am - 10:15 am,
Kresge Auditorium

Moderator:
Jason Pontin, MIT Technology Review (@Jason_Pontin)

Speakers:
Prof. Erik Brynjolfsson, PhD ‘91, MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy (@erikbryn)
Andrew McAfee, SB ‘88, SM ‘90, MIT Sloan /MIT IDE (@amcafee)

This Fireside Chat will focus on what Erik Brynjolfsson and Andy McAfee call “the second phase of the second machine age.”  This phase has a greater sense of urgency, as technologies are demonstrating that they can do much more than just the type of work we have thought of as routine.  The last time new technologies had such a huge impact on the business world was about a century ago, when electricity took over from steam power and transformed manufacturing. Many successful incumbent companies, in fact most of them, did not survive this transition. Today, companies need to rethink the balance between minds and machines, between products and platforms, and between the core and the crowd. The second element in each pair has become much more capable and powerful within the past few years.  Who better in an organization to navigate this change than the CIO?

Recent Press Coverage