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New tech era means equal chance for big and small business

Cape Town - Social collaboration will be a dominating factor in years to come and businesses not yet realising this are already behind in leveraging the relevant technologies, explorer Jonathan Knowles said at the recent Autodesk event in Cape Town aimed at design, architectural and engineering professionals.

"With the technology now at our fingertips we can today enter an era where the cloud, social and mobile computing are connecting people more than ever before. It is, therefore, essential to go beyond just design to how something is constructed," he told Fin24.

"The way things are designed and constructed will change and, therefore, will bring new ways of working. The future of making things can be just as transformative and empowering for small companies and start-ups as for big companies."

Knowles' task at American multinational software company Autodesk is to explore what’s next in terms of a 10 to 100 year time frame "at the frontier of beyond the horizon technologies" and how design-driven innovation can be applied.

"It is talking about the future of making things and what it means for you and your business," he said.

"Construction, for instance, then becomes more a process of design than a process of building. It becomes like assembling the structure rather than building it," he explained.

He gave examples of companies already using innovative technologies in the building and auto industries, which enables greater precision and speed of construction. The use of drones and 3D printing is becoming the norm.

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"I am an optimist and for a good reason. While there are a lot of challenges, my job is to think about the very big picture and the very long term. I am optimistic that design and engineering tools will be some of the primary things to help us address the challenges we have in the world. For me it is about how everyone could have greater access to it in order to find solutions collectively," said Knowles.

One area which he is particularly excited about is generative design - basically "letting computers do what they are good at and people do what they are good at". Autodesk is, for instance, working with a company to build a car that has its own "digital nervous system".

"The future is clearly upon us. We are ready for the next age of innovation. It is a future of making things," he said.

He emphasised that Africa clearly has a big part to play in this future of making things and South Africa is positioned to be one of the biggest influences for all on the continent.

"We will see signs of innovation from South Africa, for instance in the building, construction and housing sectors. I believe it will get better at an increasing rate and these product innovations can flow into the rest of Africa," said Knowles.

"The mind-set needed, however, is one of participation. Therefore, getting more people to participate in the design and engineering and to embrace the design process in which we must learn to mentor our computers," he said.

ALSO READ: BOOK REVIEW: Why you need to innovate

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