Sogeti Research on "The App Effect" Predicts Everyone to be Addicted by 2020

DAYTON, Ohio, Oct. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Sogeti, a leading provider of professional technology services, shares its research conclusions on the future of mobile applications at the Sogeti Executive Summit, the annual global event for Sogeti clients all over the world.

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This year the theme for the event is "The App Effect", inspired by a six month study and forthcoming publication of the same name. The book will be released early next year and delivers a visionary report on the information behavior shifts that will shake up businesses in the years to come.

A first preview on the inquiry and its results will be presented during the event and follow-up analysis will be shared by world-renowned speakers, including Forrester Research's George Colony, leading media futurist Gerd Leonhard, IBM Vice President and best-selling author on social business Sandy Carter, information philosopher Luciano Floridi, product designer and serial entrepreneur David Rose, Vodafone Netherlands CEO Jens Schulte-Bockum, and new media guru Peter Leyden. VINT's qualitative research shows that by 2020 everyone will be addicted to information.

Conclusions

Working in collaboration with an international team of technology and behavioral experts, Sogeti's VINT has drafted a forecast that offers insight into society's behavioral patterns in the year 2020.

New media addiction is one of the ten behavioral changes that will deeply impact the way organizations need to operate.

Van Ommeren continues: "One will no longer be able to draw a clear distinction between information-related behavior and regular behavior. While other media have always had a remote relationship with the user, the arrival of apps marks a turning point: the individual has become the sole focus."

In 2020, there will be no difference between old and new media; there will only be media. Companies will no longer focus on clients' preferences, but on their behavior. Organizations that fail to come to terms with this will suffer: customers, employees, and stakeholders will simply move on.

The study indicates that people can and will no longer do without what we now call "apps" and personalized information. Nielsen indicates that 57% of iPad users take their device to bed with them. When visiting family or friends, 44% consult their iPad and 58% their smartphone. A recent study called "The World Unplugged", which asked 1,000 students on four continents to turn off their mobile devices for a period of 24 hours, showed that participants exhibited craving behavior and many were unable to go through with the challenge. At the same time, participants underlined how this technology is essential to the construction and management of their daily lives, with a refined awareness of which apps to leverage in which context: "Mobile phones function both as this generation's Swiss Army Knife AND its security blanket."

"At present, such behavior is considered an exception, a generational idiosyncrasy. In 2020, it will be the norm," says Van Ommeren.

"For better and for worse, by 2020 we'll all be immersed in information.  Apps will become the go-to tool for augmenting our senses," the VINT Director continues. "On the one hand, this is the logical outcome of the fact that the last physical 'digital nerds' generation will have then grown old. On the other, it shows that people want to do more with information. There are new possibilities to build a society based upon the eagerness to interact with information."

Clash to be expected

The study paints the following picture of the future, recounts Van Ommeren:

"The current system and existing organization structure are ill-adapted to this new kind of individualism. Employees have changed more than the companies they work for. Consumers have changed more than the companies they buy their products from. This chasm is leading to a clash, a culture clash. The outcome of this culture clash will be a push towards a new system which we refer to as a 'new digital commons'."

According to Van Ommeren the new digital commons will be formed by what is technologically possible, sociologically acceptable and economically feasible:

"On the technology side it is really important to understand that 'apps' are only the beginning. In this Post PC-era it will become a standard to buy and use your own software gadgets in the workplace. Software gadgets will spread across many devices and onto many screens. People will have greater control over their information while companies will lose their grip. Countercultural resistance as manifested by organizations such as information sharing service WikiLeaks or hacker collective Anonymous will put more pressure on companies to 'do good' and to protect privacy."

"Get to know the information you spread, learn to like the information around you, spend some time with private information. We need to learn to become close friends with information," concludes Van Ommeren.

About Sogeti USA

Sogeti USA is a premier provider of information technology services to businesses and public sector organizations.  Operating in 23 U.S. locations, Sogeti's business model is built on providing customers with local accountability and vast delivery expertise.  Sogeti is a leader in helping clients develop, implement and manage practical IT solutions to help run their business better.  With over 40 years of experience, Sogeti offers a comprehensive portfolio of services including Advisory Services, Application Development & Integration, Business Information Management, Engineering Services, Infrastructure Services and Testing Services.  To learn more, visit: www.us.sogeti.com

About Sogeti
Sogeti is a leading provider of professional technology services, specializing in Application Management, Infrastructure Management, High-Tech Engineering and Testing. Working closely with its clients, Sogeti enables them to leverage technological innovation and achieve maximum results. Sogeti brings together more than 20,000 professionals in 15 countries and is present in over 100 locations in Europe, the US and India. Sogeti is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cap Gemini S.A., listed on the Paris Stock Exchange. For more information please visit www.sogeti.com.

About VINT
Every year, VINT conducts research into important technological developments. In recent years, VINT has studied developments ranging from open-source innovation and crowd sourcing (2006) and social media (2008) to the economic crisis and the paradigm shift (2010). Established in 1994, VINT has currently published over 10 books and a large number of video productions. The book 'The App Effect' will be published at the end of 2011. The findings of the most recent study will be included in this publication. For more information please visit www.sogeti.com/vint.

About the App Effect study
The study into 'The App Effect' was realized in partnership with an international team of experts from the Sogeti Global App Center, Sogeti VINT Research, the US trend analysis agency Next Agenda and Amsterdam-based FreedomLab, which specializes in Future Studies. Various behavioral experts from Europe and Silicon Valley in the US have also contributed to the study, including Professor Amanda Spink, Professor Kia Nobre, Professor Luciano Floridi, Professor Hank Greely, Linda Stone, former Apple strategist Chris Riley, former Chief Privacy Officer of Facebook Chris Kelly and MobileFuture Chairman Jonathan Spalter.

SOURCE Sogeti