While Mobile Library is still commonly referred to as a document delivery service, the underlying technology has evolved far beyond simply retrieving and delivering (STM) scientific, technical and medical research. In our most recent thought leadership briefing we examined some of the technology that currently underpins the Mobile Library software platform. Further, we analyzed technology adoption and trends from a global perspective. Our latest briefing is titled, “Technology revolutions and the corporate library: Analysis of technology trends for information centre managers”. In it we reviewed the global usage and adoption of social media, mobile devices, cloud computing and the inherent business value of technology enabled collaboration in a global business environment. Not surprisingly, we found that the growth and adoption of social media, mobile computing devices and cloud computing are almost identical across countries in the E.U. and in the U.S.
The one minor difference we note in our research is that the regulatory environment in the E.U. is somewhat more complex and that complexity has slowed the wide spread adoption of cloud computing. Interestingly, while adoption has been slower, the level of interest in cloud computing from E.U. based IT leaders is virtually identical with that of U.S. corporate IT leaders. Approximately 44% of IT leaders plan to invest in cloud computing solutions within the next three years.
Although we found increased usage of mobile devices in the workplace to be about the same across Europe as in the E.U., one area we did not explore was the European wireless infrastructure. As all U.S. visitors to Europe know, the wireless technology in the E.U. has always been superior to that of the U.S. This is due to the fact that the U.S. built its wireless systems on an older, less scalable technology called CDMA, whereas Europe started with the more advanced and highly scalable GSM technology.
What our briefing did confirm was the business value inherent in collaboration driven by secure social media. We note that an entire software industry grew up around building collaboration software. Yet for all the effort major companies put into developing smarter, easy to use corporate collaboration software, nothing has the appeal and natural adoption rate of social media. Infotrieve is the only document delivery platform for corporate information centers and corporate libraries to build a secure social media set of tools into their software platform. To learn more about how Mobile Library uses secure social media to enhance business value, click here.
