The Internet is becoming ever more readily available, cheaper, and easier to use. For many, using the Internet has already become a part of their way of life, and analysts believe that the Internet will continue to change our lives.
One development that we can watch unfolding is the linking of traditional professions to the Internet, whether it’s a New York architect’s 3-D design that’s instantly shared with a construction executive in Florida and a project leader in The Bahamas, or it’s a California doctor sending a diagnosis to an expert at a clinic in New York.
In the U.S. medical profession alone, more than three-quarters of the nation’s doctors reportedly already use the Internet and nearly half of them say it has had a major impact on how they practice, according to a recent survey by the American Medical Association.
The survey also found that a third of the doctors have their own Web sites, mostly to use for promoting their practice and for patient information. Almost 1000 physicians were interviewed for the U.S. survey, with 78 percent saying that they used the Internet for work. Of those, two-thirds reportedly went online every day, the AMA said.
The AMA, which represents about a third of U.S. doctors, found that there is still a trend for younger physicians to use the Web more than older physicians. However the AMA reported that the percentage of older physicians using the Web had increased rapidly from the previous year. (In 2001, 65 percent of physicians 60 years of age or older used the Web, compared with 43 percent in 2000.)
It’s interesting to reflect that less than a year ago, the Wall Street Journal called e-commerce an economic pipsqueak. At the time, Wall Street’s name tag sounded smug, but it wasn’t unreasonable. E-commerce showed promise, but it was insignificant compared with the bricks-and-mortar economy. Now the Internet has literally infected the worldwide economy.
What’s interesting to note, however, is that the Internet is not a replacement for other media types, but rather a new complimentary means of communication. Unlike the birth of television, when radio, once central to people’s lives, was quickly relegated to the car, Internet usage doesn’t threaten other media so drastically. However, as a new medium, professional and personal lives are being altered forever by the changes that are rushing daily from the Internet economy. The Internet will, and is already, propagating cultural change that will rival the impact of the car, flight and television.
Bill Gates once said that the 1980s were about quality, the 1990s reengineering, and that the 2000s will be about velocity. He defined velocity as to how quickly the nature of business will change and be transacted. The 2000s also seem to be about how information access will alter the lifestyle of consumers and their expectations of business. Mr. Gates predicted that quality improvements and business process improvements will occur far faster than before and he was right on target.
The successful companies of the next decade will be the ones that use digital tools to reinvent the way they work. These companies will make decisions quickly, act efficiently and directly touch their customers in positive ways. These companies will use the Internet.
Paul Hutton-Ashkenny is the president of Systems Resource Group Ltd. and Bahamas On-Line. Views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of SRG or BOL. Questions/comments to :P.O. Box N3920, Nassau, Bahamas or e-mailed to: info@srg.com.bs
