Innovation Alphabet
Quantified Self
In a nutshell
How well do you think you know yourself? Quantified Self is an approach adopted by a movement of individuals who aspire to use technology to acquire data that will produce a detailed picture of a person’s daily life. Heart rate, hours of sleep, number of sneezes – anything that can be measured becomes important when used to improve one’s physical and mental performance.
Application Fields
• Medicine: This area includes self-tracking devices that monitor patient health parameters. They collect a variety of basic data such as heart rate, blood pressure, ECG, temperature, and respiratory rate. It is the path to Predictive Health. Instead of waiting for a disease to manifest, each parameter is monitored in real time. This way, doctors are notified of the collected data and can eventually contact the patient to suggest a follow-up examination.
• Physical exercise: In the fitness field, wearable devices collect information about the physical and cardiac activity of the user, even during sleep. They provide data on calories burned, miles traveled and the person’s overall health status, detecting any abnormal parameters.
• Digital assistants: Predictive chatbots might be able to gather, analyze and process all the data collected from different apps, intervening with advice on health, fitness and education. Preferably, while respecting the privacy of user data. Integrating an all-around screening system with a trusted framework such as blockchain could strengthen data security.
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Industries
• Quantified Self in the fitness industry
Fitbit is a company that developed the wearable devices of the same name, employed to monitor physical activity via wireless technology pulses. The cyber bracelets, when connected through their respective app to smartphones or tablets, communicate in-depth analysis from data such as number of steps, calories burned, quality of sleep, steps climbed and other personal metrics.
• Quantified Self in the sport industry
Nike+ Fuel Lab is a partnership forged to connect Nike with leading technology companies in order to merge digital with real life. Since 2012, Nike has been trying to create solutions that enable athletes to track activity levels and reach their potential. The Fuel Lab grew out of the Nike+ Accelerator program to capitalize on the lifelogging (“life recording”) trend and credit an increasingly mechanical approach to the study of the human body.
• Quantified Self in the biotechnology industry
23andMe is a company founded by Linda Avey and Anne Wojcicki that has become synonymous with a new business model: personal genetics. Together with Google, it offers reduced genetic testing so that people can learn more about ancestry, genealogy, hereditary traits and many other information extracted from the study of DNA.
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Check out more of the Innovation Alphabet:
3D Printing
3D Printing
“3D printing” is a process carried out by an electronic device which, instead of resorting to the canonical ink, it molds almost any kind of material: from concrete to living tissue, most usually plastic, but also metal. And the operating principle is similar to that of a traditional printer. The creation of three-dimensional models can lead to the redesign of a company’s production capabilities.
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5G
5G
5G is the new frontier of cellular telephony. It was designed to improve (or completely replace) previous generations of mobile networks. The 5th generation features lower latency, ensuring flawless performance of business applications and many other digital experiences – thus enabling the new cultural generations to furiously play Fortnite away from home.
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Advanced Analytics
Advanced Analytics
The term “Advanced Analytics” refers to the ability to autonomously or semi-autonomously analyze data and content to identify correlations, develop analyses, predictions, and recommendations. It is not just a matter of collecting information and then organizing it into watertight compartments: the ultimate goal is to identify a dialogue pattern from a data-driven perspective.
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Agile
Agile
Agile is an approach to software development designed to respond to change. Teams quickly analyze the context in which they operate, identify uncertainties faced, and figure out how to adapt to always move forward. Interaction between individuals comes before processes and tools; collaboration with the customer is more important than negotiating contracts.
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Ansoff Matrix
Ansoff Matrix
The Ansoff Matrix is a marketing planning model that arises from the intersection of new and existing products and markets. It derives four possible strategies for expanding the company’s market, which are built around four variables with a changeable factor of risks and possibilities: existing product, new product, existing market, new market.
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Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is not strictly defined. Basically, it is a computer system able to make decisions in an independent and flexible way. A good AI application can perform everyday tasks better than an average person (e.g., identifying other people from their photos on social media or beating the best chess player). Nothing to fear, then. Unless you are a chess champion.
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Artificial Scarcity
Artificial Scarcity
We often tend to desire what we cannot have. Or what we are in danger of losing: Artificial Scarcity is a strategy that flaunts a limited number of items that do not correspond to actual availability. The goal is to stimulate the perception in consumers that the stock of items is about to run out and thus create a need based on the “fear of being cut off” or the intention to buy the item in order to resell it at a higher price.
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Attack Surface
Attack Surface
The term attack surface refers to the part of a system that may be subject to attack or breach by hackers. The smaller that surface is, the easier it will be to protect it. Indeed, the Internet is an ocean of deep, dark waters: those who navigate it must be aware that they are exposing themselves to a flood of digital risks. Yet, ironically, we do not need a big boat to shelter us.
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Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality is an ever-evolving technology that overlays multimedia information on top of our common sensory horizon to gain a deeper understanding of our surroundings. No, it doesn’t allow you to step out of the Matrix dream simulation, nor can it be accessed by swallowing a red pill. But neither is it the disturbing experience of the Playtest episode of Black Mirror.
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Balanced Scorecard
Balanced Scorecard
In business, as in life, you need balance. The Balanced Scorecard is a holistic tool for strategic management. It offers, in fact, the possibility of assessing corporate performance in its wholeness. An overview that embraces four perspectives: the business/financial side, customers and stakeholders, internal processes, and learning and growth.
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