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TRIVERGENCE. Accelerating Innovation with AI, Blockchain, and the Internet of Things. Edition No. 1

  • Book

  • 256 Pages
  • February 2024
  • John Wiley and Sons Ltd
  • ID: 5899683

A Breakthrough Introduction to The Next Phase of the Digital Age

In Trivergence, Bob Tapscott, writer, speaker, complex system designer, and former CIO introduces an exciting new concept in explaining how the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT) will transform business and society. He explains the synergies between these technologies and the disruptive potential that they will offer, as well as the challenges and risks to making it happen. He offers an insightful guide through the difficult decisions that businesses and society must make to thrive in a new era where decisions will be difficult, and uncertainties abound.

You'll discover how and why AI's power is now exploding, its growth driven by smarter approaches to neural networks trained on a new hardware architecture that can derive its intelligence from ever more massive datasets. You'll also find:

  • Discussions of the multiplicative and exponential power of trivergence on the core technologies discussed in the book
  • Explorations of IoT's tendency to bring the physical world to life as it harnesses the capabilities of AI and the blockchain
  • How trivergence morphs Big Data into something new he calls “Infinite Data”, where thinking machines consider trillions of data points to generate their own content, value, and perspectives without programmed code or human intervention


A fresh and innovative guide, rich with case stories, on how the most critical technologies of this new phase in the digital age are combining to drive business transformation, Trivergence will become a critical handbook for forward-looking leaders, and anyone interested in the intersection of cutting-edge tech and business.

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

1 Introduction to the Era of Trivergence 1

Welcome to the Trivergence 4

A Glimpse of the Chapters Ahead 7

The Trivergence Technologies 7

Key Enablers of the Era of Trivergence 9

Applications and Implications 11

2 Artificial Intelligence 17

The Evolution of AI 19

When Will AI Surpass Human-Level Intelligence? 23

How Will AI Transform Society? 28

Artificially Intelligent Government 29

AI-Powered Transportation 31

AI-Enabled Entertainment and the Arts 33

3 Animating the Physical World 37

A Global Network for Planetary Monitoring and Conservation 39

Tackling Deforestation with the IoT 41

The IoT and Final Frontier of Ocean Exploration 43

The IoT Meets the Urban Environment 45

The Robotic Future: From Industrial Automation to Robot Swarms 49

Managing the IoT 55

4 Blockchain 61

How Blockchain Is Powering Transparent Global Supply Chains 64

Blockchain for Public Good 68

Putting Land Registries on the Blockchain 68

Estonia’s Blockchain Revolution 69

Solving Global Challenges 72

The Rise of Web3 73

Decentralization 74

User Control and Ownership 75

Censorship Resistance 76

Interoperability 78

New Economic Models 79

NFTs for Christmas 81

The Future of Blockchains 82

5 Walking on a Cloud 87

The Cloud Was Inevitable 90

The Cloud’s Big Three 95

Cloud Growth Is Explosive 98

The Cloud, the Future of Computing, and the Trivergence 100

6 Big Data to Infinite Data 105

The Explosion of New Data: The Food for AI 108

Building the Infrastructure for Infinite Data 110

Science’s Infinite Data Revolution 113

Mapping the Universe 114

The Rise of Big Genomics 116

Preparing for Infinite Data 117

Infinite Data and the Era of Self-Sovereign Identities 119

Breaking Free of Our Digital Landlords 121

7 The Trivergence in Action 125

Trivergence and the Future of Healthcare 126

Trivergence and the Future of Agriculture 132

Trivergent Food: From the Field to the Supermarket Shelf 133

Rise of the Digital Farm: Accelerating Innovation in the Global Food System 137

Trivergence and the Future of Transportation 139

Get Ready for Trivergence-Driven Disruption 143

8 Challenges of the Era of Trivergence 149

Technological Challenges 150

Data Integrity 150

The Trivergence Trilemma 153

Interoperability 159

Software Limitations and Risks 161

Social Challenges 166

Speculation and Hype 166

Privacy 169

Governance 171

Access and Inclusivity 173

9 The Executive Guide to the Era of Trivergence 177

Evaluating Organizational Readiness 178

Identify Business Objectives and Opportunities 178

Review Existing Infrastructure 179

Assess the Digital Skills and Attitudes of Your Workforce 181

Deliberating Key Considerations 182

Identify Risks and Trade- Offs 182

Assess Costs and Resource Requirements 183

Evaluate Potential Benefits 183

Weigh the Risks Against the Benefits 185

Crafting a Trivergence-Focused Business Strategy 187

Step 1: Define Phases and Milestones 187

Step 2: Allocate Resources and Establish Timelines 188

Step 3: Monitor Key Performance Indicators 189

Step 4: Implement and Evaluate 189

Step 5: Iterate, Optimize, Repeat 190

Exploring Opportunities for Collaboration 191

Attend Conferences and Events 192

Join Industry Consortia or Associations 193

Participate in Open Innovation Initiatives 194

Fostering a Culture of Innovation 195

Tune Your Change Management Strategy 196

Provide Learning and Development Opportunities 196

Re-evaluate Incentive Structures 197

Leading in the Era of Trivergence 199

10 Trivergence and Our Digital Future 201

The Perils of the Trivergence 204

The Weaponization of Trivergence 205

Jobs and Prosperity 207

What Happens to Infinite Data? 212

Trivergence and Bias 215

Undermining Our Concepts of Truth and Reality 217

The Trivergence and People 220

Trivergence and You 222

Acknowledgments 227

About the Author 229

Index 231

Authors

Bob Tapscott