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our overall economy, we need to create
that many jobs every month just to
keep up with our growing population.”
That means smaller organizations
and even companies in other more
traditional economic sectors -- such as
automotive manufacturing, retailing
and service industries -- must embrace
new technology to reinvent themselves
and create jobs. According to CompTIA,
a global IT trade association, the
adoption of new technologies such as
tablets, social media and cloud comput-
ing are expected to transform the small
and medium enterprise landscape
within the next year.
“One of the interesting aspects of
information technology is that it is
now affecting every industry,” says
Brynjolfsson. “About 60 percent of
Americans are involved in information-
processing tasks. And they are in all
different industries. Certainly every
one of those industries and tasks is
going to be affected.” And that’s exactly
what is happening.
Notions that today’s high-tech wiz-
ards are merely those brilliant geeks
who invented the latest and greatest
version of your grandson’s favorite
video game system are antiquated, to
say the least. Case in point: Arkansas-
based ABF Freight System, Inc. , one
of North America’s largest and most
experienced motor carriers. Established
in 1923, “trucking” hardly tells the ABF
story. The company and its IT sibling,
Data-Tronics Corp. , are at the leading
edge of advances in supply-chain man-
agement. “eCommerce is the conduit
through which all business is conduct-
ed,” says Russ Aikman, ABF’s director
of marketing and public relations. “O
customers have to have confidence th
they can see their product as it moves
throughout the supply chain.” Throug
eCommerce, a consumer who orders
a piece of fitness of equipment from,
say, China, can now track it as it move
from the manufacturer, to the port, t
the vessel, to the truck and finally to
his or her door. Even the motor carrie
operators who convey the equipment
are information specialists, well-vers
in the newest hand-held technology.
“It certainly has revolutionized our
industry,” says Aikman.
While many tech gaming wizards
still form high-tech startups, they
also are setting up shop in places
far away from traditional technol-
ogy geographic strongholds like the
Silicon Valley. In many cases, these
companies have been lured away by
incentives from municipalities, states
and chambers of commerce, some of
which enjoy strategic partnerships
with local academic institutions. Whe
video game developer and publisher
TimeGate Studios, based in Sugar Lan
TX, looked to establish a cutting-edge
KEEP ON TRUCKING
ABF Freight System, Inc., uses the latest advances in supply chain managem
to allow its customers to view their product as it moves through the shipping proc
THROUGH ECOMMERCE, A CONSUMER WHO ORDERS A
PIECE OF FITNESS OF EQUIPMENT FROM, SAY, CHINA, CAN
NOW TRACK IT AS IT MOVES FROM THE MANUFACTURER,
TO THE PORT, TO THE VESSEL, TO THE TRUCK AND FINALLY
TO HIS OR HER DOOR.
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