|
|
 |
| Possibly
the coolest experience in town |
| |
 |
| These “intelligent” display
posters can make shopping hassle-free.
Simply point your PDA at the device
at the bottom corner of a particular
poster, and details on what is available
in that section of the store will be
downloaded into your PDA. This way,
you can shop wirelessly without having
to physically visit that section of
the store. Similar technology has been
deployed in an art museum in Brazil
to enable visitors to enjoy personalised
tours of the place. |
|
|
|
| |
Imagine
this: You are living in a world where everyone
and everything
is connected to the Web. It is a world where people
are mobile, services are integrated, appliances are
context-aware, and everything
has a Web presence.
Does that sound like something that can only happen in the far future? If you
think so, you may be surprised to learn that such a world exists today at Hewlett
Packard’s (HP) CoolTown Experience Center. The Centre showcases HP’s
vision of the future of computing and how technology will transform the way people
live, work and play. And HP foresees the possibility of marketing its technologies
in just a few years’ time.
On show: The spirit of invention
A group of public officers experienced the wonder of HP’s spirit of invention
when they went for a field visit on 26 February.
During the tour of the Centre, they were introduced to current and emerging technologies
deployed in five scenarios: at home, in a car, at a retail store, at an office
and at an airport lounge. The experience was seamlessly integrated and centrally
controlled by a personal digital assistant (PDA).
Learning from best practices
Impressed and inspired by what they saw, the tour participants naturally wanted
to know what motivates HP’s employees to innovate.
According to HP’s Business Development Manager Alvin Chan, who led the
tour, the spirit of invention is deeply entrenched in HP’s philosophy and
culture. Moreover, HP’s staff believe in sharing ideas and information,
and collaborating with one another. Encouraging the public officers to embark
on innovation, he said, “Never
be afraid to take the first step. Never be afraid to share and collaborate. Never
be afraid to invent.”
Lessons for the Public Service
One of the tour participants, Mr Nicoll Tan from the Ministry of Education, shared
his reflections on the HP tour as well as his earlier field visit to Citibank.
“At Citibank, I felt the emphasis was a lot on quality.… Many things,
such as performance, are measured and staff are rewarded accordingly. Over at
HP,
we hear about the spirit of invention that is part of the company culture.
“It’s hard to tell what works or what doesn’t for the Public
Service.
I think we have to find a niche for ourselves, and how to ‘turn our staff
on’. Would it be by rewards or by giving recognition? Or should we look
beyond being rewarded and adopt the very noble spirit of servitude? I think these
are things we have to seriously think about.”
Keen to share what he had experienced with his colleagues, he added, “I’ll
bring back to my organisation the importance of dreaming the impossible and being
inspired to achieve greater things.”
 |
|
| |
| |
|
Next: Learning
new ways of seeing things
|
|
|
|
 |
| Related
Articles |
|
|
| - |
Theme 3:
Pool Practice
The visit to HP was one of the industry
tours conducted during the Innovation
Experience. The
13 other organisations which hosted
the field visits included 3M, Citibank,
the Media Development Authority, Public
Utilities Board and Singapore Airlines. |
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
