The AI train isn’t stopping. For social impact, and other sectors, the talent mix of the near future will be human intelligence mixed with machine intelligence. Impact-focused leaders need to think about how they are teaming to make use of—and push back on—an internet economy powered by algorithms.
Chatbots and AI-powered virtual assistants are reimagining public engagement in the retail sector. There are also early experiments in the world of social impact. This is a technology that has the potential to boost frontline feedback, improve services, and ameliorate societal ills.
Implementing new Smart City technologies or methods without consideration of unintended consequences takes away from the social impact. With rose-coloured glasses removed, and sleeves up, leaders must get into the practical social implications of smart cities.
Cross-organizational and cross-sector mobility is slowly becoming mainstream in the social purpose economy. In a sector that already struggles to attract and retain the best and brightest talent, portability of worker rights, benefits, credentials, and intellectual property is of huge consequence.
If the potential exit of a third of donation revenues from the charitable system over the next decade happens, critical life-saving and life-enhancing services provided by charities across the country would be in jeopardy.
Research and development is gaining traction as an essential capability in the social sector. There are the whys of R&D and there are the hows. Once you’ve gotten past all the buzzwords and buy-in, you need to know what it really means to put R&D into play.
