The Digital Content World… Technology in the Future of Commerce
Bringing a unique perspective of how technology relates to leadership, Eugene Roman, Chief Technology Officer of Open Text Corporation, discussed how society will continue to be dramatically changed by innovation. Roman’s 28 years of IT experience at Northern Telecom and Bell Canada has provided him with first-hand management of business innovation at the billion-dollar level.
Roman focused on a number of specific lessons designed to guide MBA students, and the firms they will lead, into thinking about the future direction of technology and content systems.
As one of Canada’s technology pioneers – he helped Bell develop the internet in Canada and forecast the success of smart phone platforms – Roman discussed how ‘digital disruption’ will continue to change the very way society conducts business. He stressed the importance of user interaction and the need for understanding content management in the greater deep web, highlighting how information has become an “auditable risk” in some cases. Roman provided an example where Open Text utilizes “automated insight analysis” to review materials throughout their systems to fact-check and authenticate all information created by their employees. This system allows more accessibility to knowledge, shortened learning curves, and better understanding for all employees.
Roman enthusiastically endorsed the future of social media as a growing business marketplace. He suggested that since companies are expanding both horizontally and vertically through partnerships and acquisitions, “value creation, destruction and unexpected consequences will become a common part of the active and evolving digital value chain.” Predicting the future involves understanding how pervasive digitization of our world will become. “What will be next after the iPad?”
On the role of leadership itself, Roman said that the technology role is difficult and risky, and leaders must be able to manage risks and costs and balance both long and short-term priorities. They also need to be “extreme leaders.” He believes that only 10% of people can become leaders and only 1 or 2% are extreme enough to be game changers like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. These unique individuals see the future in a different way and are prepared to take the risks and make the sacrifices to develop new products and ideas, usually against a large opposition of naysayers. Roman explained that it was because of this personality that communities form, so extreme leaders must seek each other out and share their ideas. He pointed to Waterloo’s technology success as an example of what happens when great thinkers work together.
It may not be surprising then that Roman does not believe in outsourcing. “Canadians are the best system builders,” he said. “It is hard to do IT work at a distance, to get that mind-share that is so critical.”
As someone who has enjoyed great personal success, Roman shared what qualities he believes makes a great “INNOVaction” leader: be real; have an open mind; get your hands dirty; collaborate; communicate well; and think imaginatively. By learning from the great inventors and leaders of the past, either through study or mentorship, there are still many incredible opportunities yet to develop. Specifically, Roman mentioned that innovation is to be found among the many growing economies and within the increasing collection of personal information and content.