20 November 2014
The future workplace will be made up of a new generation of lightweight technologies designed to work alongside the gadgets people carry in their pockets, claims Microsoft's office specialist.
Anton Andrews, global director of office envisioning for Microsoft based in Redmond, Seattle in the USA, spoke at the Worktech conference in Canary Wharf, London. He commented: "In the future, technology that is heavy, costly and hot will become redundant. It will be replaced by technology that is lighter, cooler and cheaper."
Andrews said new "lightweight technology" would complement the phones and tablets that people carried in their pockets and in their bags, fitting more comfortably around flexible work schedules.
As a result, said Andrews, there would develop a more "organic, natural flow of work".
"At the moment we are on the journey from informal to formal when it comes to technology use."
This change was taking place already, noted Andrews, particularly through the advent of big data and the Internet of Things. These developments meant that society was moving away from a top-down model of work where information is held by a few privileged gatekeepers. The world of work was moving more towards a "collaborative model", where networking and closer communication between workers were of a greater importance and technology needed "to support these new activities."