IT gurus to discuss impact of wireless technologies

Just over a year ago, online companies Amazon, eToys and Priceline seemed like they were taking over the future from the giant brick-and-mortar retailers who had nurtured their growth through the years. Global markets buzzed with e-commerce activities. Then the dot-coms crashed. And the question on everyone’s lips was: How viable will future technology ventures be?

Strategy consulting expert and best-selling author Peter Cohan says that now is the best time for businesses to ride on the next wave of the e-revolution.

"We’re moving into a more mature phase in e-commerce," Cohan says. "The Internet is still a powerful tool for enhancing business productivity. If used for cutting the cost and improving the quality of interaction between a company and its stakeholders, investing in the Internet-induced business change can yield measurable returns."

Cohan will be a guest speaker in "Beyond WAPPcceleration" on Aug. 7 at the Shangri-La Makati. The event is being sponsored by the Philippine Wireless Applications Users Group (PhilWAPP) and will bring together the country’s leading business and IT professionals to discuss the impact of wireless technologies on commerce and everyday life. Cohan will reveal how businesses and individuals can best benefit from the wireless revolution.

Cohan’s management consulting firm helps companies in technology-intensive industries such as telecommunications, computer networking, systems integration and semiconductors, identify, evaluate and profit from business opportunities in the New Economy.

He says the companies most likely to succeed are those that combine Old Economy business tenets with well-thought out technology investments. "Today’s technology leaders are competing in markets where demand is big and growing but can still set prices high enough to earn a profit," notes Cohan. "Not only do they have enough capital to assuage fears of cash burnout, they can also defend their markets from competitors."

Dubbed as the "Peter Drucker of the New Millennium," Cohan is a frequent speaker and TV commentator on high technology. He has authored four books, including the best-selling and critically acclaimed e-Profit: High Payoff Strategies for Capturing the E-Commerce Edge and Net Profit: How To Invest and Compete in the Real World of Internet Business.

Joining Cohan as guest speaker in Beyond WAPPcceleration is NTT DoCoMo’s Takeshi Natsuno, the man behind "i-mode," the world’s most successful wireless strategy and the paradigm of the world’s top telecommunications companies.

As executive director of NTT DoCoMo’s gateway business department, he is directly responsible for developing strategic alliances for i-mode with applications and content providers.

"In an Internet business, no one can dominate all the value chain," says Natsuno. "We have to be very conscious about how to get support from others to implement our technology and services."

Natsuno will share the proven strategies of i-mode and give a preview of FOMA (Freedom of Mobile Multimedia Access), the world’s first third-generation wireless service. FOMA will offer mobile multimedia applications such as videophone and video streaming to accelerate new business opportunities for wireless players in Asia.

Beyond WAPPcceleration will feature discussions for various wireless industries such as gaming and entertainment, marketing, consumer banking and B2B, customer relations management, enterprise resource management, and supply chain management.

Technology experts will reveal the latest in wireless applications protocol, GPRS, 3G infrastructure, wireless Java, Bluetooth, wireless LAN and location-based services.

Special prospects-to-partnerships or P2P sessions are also scheduled for wireless application and technology developers interested in learning how to profit in the wireless business.

Register online at www.wappcce-leration.com. For inquiries, call Melynn Nuyda of TeamAsia at 807-6370 or 546-0908 or e-mail at [email protected].