Month: May 2018

Using Technology to Advance the Art World

The art world has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the technological evolution. Technology has become essential to curators and designers alike as they try to exploit the latest developments in the field for the advantage of their visitors and collections.

From the smallest organisation making use of a Twitter account to gain followers by sharing essential information to their community to larger firms, such as Kendal Museum in Cumbria, who digitised its entire collection exhibition showcases and introduced a new website to engage a bigger audience. The whole world can now connect with its strong collection of minerals and pressed flowers.

It is pretty exciting to witness large museums utilise groundbreaking advancements and innovations that are altering the way the art world uses technology to showcase its collections and reach out to visitors. Such as the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Museum in New York which has designed an electronic pen, which let the patrons gather data as they explore the museum. It also allows them to access an exclusive website after their physical visit to see what they have collected, and thus continue the museum journey.

With the launching of mobile devices, museums and cultural organisations found opportunities to promote awareness, make their collections more available to the public, and improve the visitor experience.

Finding new innovations on how to utilise technology has become a trend in the art sector. It defines how nimble an organisation is and how engaging the exhibitions are. Experts discuss that technology is something that needs to be carefully considered since it has the ability to modify the perception of a museum’s overall outlook. Technology can be applied to add in-depth storytelling to the museum and it is vital you look at your audience and think about what the public wants to see.

This implies that the new generation who is adept at the latest technology and gadgetry will expect that interactive technology will be integrated museum interpretation. Innovative effects will be applied to presentations and exhibits. As a society, we are using technology on a daily basis it’s part of our behaviour now. If museums so not step up and use technology to attract visitors and streamline their experience, people are going to look elsewhere and regard museums as old and outdated. Simply having wifi at the museum is a great step which allows visitors to stay connected and share their photographs and experiences. Bigger establishments like the British Museum utilise more advanced technology such as using audio guides to escalate visitor experience. As wearable technology and other smart devices are coming into the market this further adds to the need for convenience and reliance on technology. Museums and artists can definitely begin to take advantage of the growing field of AI and VR to really get ahead in the market.

Nevertheless, the latest conference held in Minnesota last month concluded: People first, technology second. The conference also tackled topics such as how to use technology to improve the society, social justice and how museums can use technology to help develop the lives of the people they aim to serve. Technology has altered the way people communicate and connect with each other and it is important that the art sector keeps up, museums are no longer just about sedentary museum display cases but there is an element of interactivity and greater involvement needed.

It has been a challenge for museums to integrate technology and relate to their communities. The advent of mobile technology forced the organisations to adopt allowing them to become more available by enhancing their website, developing interpretive apps, digitising their collections and making them obtainable to the public, allowing visitors to take photographs and sharing them online.

Is Tech the Secret to Small Business Development?

Having a flourishing start-up civilisation and many creative, talented minds, Australia is a great country with an abundance of innovative and successful small businesses. Regrettably, two-thirds of start-ups fold over the first 3 years of operation. To prevent becoming another statistic, you want a development mindset from the beginning and long-term company strategy to coincide. You want to make an operating foundation that’s readily scalable as your company develops. Investing in the ideal technology with the advice of the right business coach is the key to accomplishing this.

From the first days of conducting a company, you can eliminate tedious paperwork and unnecessary processes. However, there’s a stage where such manual procedures will begin to slow the company down, affect the customer experience and ultimately slow expansion. Unfortunately, several smallish companies underestimate precisely how vital technology is in conducting a thriving company when it is, in fact, the backbone for development. Technology should be integrated into every aspect of the business, from essential admin work to the business branding and publicity.

When a company begins to experience growing pains, it generally fixes one issue at one time, frequently throwing brand new systems and technologies haphazardly into the mix. However, this approach will create additional problems from the long term than it solves in the short term.

By way of instance, you may require applications to manage sales prospects, so that you get that. Then you may need a method to automate your advertising, which means that you invest in that. However, if both of these parts of technology are not able to speak with one another you are creating deposits of information, and a great deal of manual work and coordination. In contrast, you could invest in a compressive technological system with delivers both these requirements and more to create a cohesive system.

And, if you are wasting time on unnecessary manual procedures to keep the company running, that is the time you are not investing in developing the organisation. It means you are never likely to strike on the KPIs that you will need to achieve for the company to flourish.

How technology empowers small company development

The trick is never to get in a place where you are chasing your tail. Successful start-ups are automating procedures from the get-go and investing in technology which scales with the company as it develops. Consequently, they can attain such KPIs that propel the company towards a prosperous future. They are able to attract more revenue through the doorway, in a lower cost of doing business, while providing a superior customer experience.

Every step in the client experience — from advertising to sales to customer support — is a hyperlink or a rest from the procedure; a good or bad customer experience. Having the perfect technology in place, which may connect the consumer journey from beginning to finish, isn’t just about providing the customer with the very best experience possible, but it is also about conducting a slender, well-executed, workable performance.

Another plus side of getting linked technologies is that you also possess an entire information resource. You are in a position to observe a holistic, real-time view of the organisation, and make informed business decisions. Investing in technology means that you are creating a brand for your business that is forward and modern.

Technology has already revolutionised several industries such as the real estate industry, where the internet has become a vital resource for those looking to sell property. No longer do real estate businesses rely on traditional methods to operate, technology has facilitated no agent property sale which optimises efficiency and costs to both the buyer, seller, and agent. It is incredible how technology simply opens avenues for a business that were not thought possible, the internet especially links businesses with their customers more directly than ever before.

How can you know you are investing in the ideal technology?

Primarily, any tech you are buying ought to easily integrate with your organisation both today and in the long run. Decisions made today can’t have an adverse effect on your organisation tomorrow. This implies not jumping from problem to problem and fixing one problem at one time.

Second, if the tech is forcing you to modify your business processes (perhaps not for the better) take this as a warning and go through an audit to assess the suitability of the technology. Fantastic technology is readily customisable to match your business requirements and procedures, not the other way around.

In the end, be confident that you’re planning for expansion and potential future situations. Just because your business or surroundings is a specific way now, does not necessarily mean it’s going to be similar the next quarter. Never presume an Uber or Facebook is not likely to come together and entirely alter how you conduct business. Fantastic tech ought to be able to address your business issues today and continue in whatever way you want to go to evolve tomorrow.

Cloud technologies have created a level playing field and new opportunities

Back at the beginning of this century that the tech world was entirely different, and businesses were resistant to change and skeptical about the safety and usefulness of technology. Firms would run programs or applications from other applications downloaded on a concrete server or computer. It was rather costly and rigid, and for several smaller and medium companies, beyond reach. It was intimidating to see huge multi-national companies employing technology that was not readily accessible or easy to implement.

Times have now changed. The debut of cloud technologies has levelled the playing area, providing small company access to the same technology that was just an alternative to big business. Cloud technologies have democratised business applications and improved time management for small businesses, without the initial outlay or expensive ongoing maintenance, working on a yearly subscription fee instead. Small company is currently in a situation where you are able to compete with the big players in the market. Cloud technology has allowed businesses to be productive regardless of time or location.