Jonathan's eye on the future

Jonathan Mitchener has always got an eye on the future. And he's got one ofthe most interesting - and intriguing - jobs at BT. Here he explains why...

Jonathan, what is your job at BT?

I'm a futurologist. It's my job to look ahead to see how technology will develop in the coming years. And I work with BT's bigger customers to see what's up-and-coming and to identify disruptive technologies.

'Disruptive technologies?' What are they?

They're technologies that have changed the way business is done. Probably the best example of a disruptive technology is the internet. It has fundamentally changed the way businesses operate – you could say it's turned the business world on its head. Another would be the iPod. It hasn't just changed the way people listen to music (after all, that's been done before) it's altered the way people buy music. It's forced the music industry to change.

I know you're really keen on gadgets - what can we expect in the future?

What's clear is that you can expect gadgets and devices to carry more and more functions. You've only got to look at a mobile phone today - with a built-in camera, video, radio, net access etc - to see that. The problem, is that as gadgets are filled with more and more functions, people find them harder to use. That's why gadgets need to be easier to use.

How can this be achieved?

Easy-to-use touch-screens are one way to solve this problems but this is not enough on its own. The solution needs to be more radical. It's not just about stuffing more functions into one box. In fact, we now need to split functions.

What do you mean?

Exactly that. We need to break down the functions from single devices into multiple devices. Instead of cramming all these functions into one device, we need to have separate devices - a camera, a phone, a radio... But we need to come up with devices that can still co-operate with each other...that talk to each other. By breaking things up we can solve the problems of complexity.

Is this possible?

Of course! But it will come in stages. You're already seeing it happen to a certain degree with the next generation of Bluetooth. One of the favourites to succeed is ultra-wideband (UWB) which would enable lots of information to be transmittd very fast over very short distances. It also has a radar-type property which enables it to seek out devices within range. I believe we could be using gadgets this way in the next six or seven years

It sounds interesting. Any reasons why this might not happen?

One of the obstacles to this cooperative approach might be those manufacturers that don't want their products to work with those from other manufacturers. They may not like the idea but it could end up delivering more benefits in the long run. There is a general trend towards openness in design and I believe this will win out over proprietary approaches eventually.

What about the environment?

In the near term, there is lots being done to remove nasty chemicals - everything from solder to plastics - from PCs and gadgets. There is now a greater green attitude to manufacturing electronic products, with more gadgets capable of being recycled. Regarding power, there is far greater emphasis on making processing power more efficient. New battery technology is also being developed that makes them even faster to charge, and there is also work going on to develop solar-powered gadgets.

So the future looks set to deliver some interesting developments?

It certainly does...