HomeBlogsConnecting the world in 2030 – building on the lessons of 2020

Connecting the world in 2030 – building on the lessons of 2020

After so much change in the last 18 months, planning for, much less predicting the future, is trickier than ever. Our customers are facing up to challenges around hybrid work, cloud migration projects and future expansion plans. But what about the longer term?

Colt, in partnership with BCE Global, a Bell Canada division and Ciena, recently had the pleasure of hosting a discussion with Hamish McRae, taking the longer term view and looking at the world in 2030. Hamish is a well-respected economic journalist and commentator – he’s Associate Editor and Economics Commentator at The Independent and City Columnist at the Mail on Sunday.

Hamish was joined by Andrew Edison, Colt’s EVP for Sales, Marketing and Customer Relationship Management, and they discussed what the world might look like in 2030, the impact and lessons of the pandemic and where Hamish is seeing the strongest recovery. It was a fascinating discussion over the 30 minutes and well worth taking time to watch –it’s available on demand here.

There were several points that really stood out – the power of technology and connectivity as a force for not just recovery from the pandemic, but as a force for good, and the importance of decency and how we look after each other – in our professional and personal lives.

Hamish expects we will look back on the 2020s as a period where technology improved things for the better – whether that’s improving our carbon footprint, making critical services more accessible or driving business growth. His hope is that this period will be one that drives the same productivity gains in the service sector, as those seen in the manufacturing sector in the last 10-20 years.

Connectivity is of course a critical part of this – giving businesses the flexibility and the reach they need not just today, but into the future, will provide a solid platform for growth. It’s also one of the drivers behind Colt’s relationship with BCE Global, ensuring our customers have access to rapidly growing markets through a partnership they can trust.

Hamish and Andrew also spoke about the importance of decency and working with people and partners who do the right thing. Hybrid working puts employees in a stronger position in many ways and opens up more opportunities. At the same time, the pandemic has shown many businesses the value in looking after their people and how that sits alongside an increase in productivity.

Hamish’s hope for 2030 is that lessons from the last 18 months combined with the power of technology and connectivity, will have enabled us to construct a stronger and more equitable economy for future generations.

You can watch the full discussion with Andrew and Hamish here.

Darren Willsher is Head of Content at Colt 

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