PHD Perspectives: WORLD CUP 2014: Preview to a Technology Changed World - Lance Neuhauser - MediaBizBloggers

So it ends.

Another epic World Cup event has concluded. And as always, it did so in historic fashion (over 700 million people tuned in to the final match alone).

However, I'm not here to highlight the volume of record-breaking football and media stats this World Cup provided. The fact is, the World Cup accomplished much more than sporting glory. It exemplified the true power that sport possesses. And given its scale, its reach and its influence, the World Cup just handed our planet a technology-based roadmap to solve some of the largest global problems plaguing us today…like education, disease and hunger.

Yes, I just said that.

Here's why.

It begins with the fact that the World Cup occurs every four years:

To put some perspective around a four-year period let's do two things.

1. Briefly look at some behavioral changes that occurred since 2006

2. Understand three dominant technology undercurrents that effected change over the past four years and will continue to effect change through 2014 and beyond

First, where we've come…

We've expanded community outreach.

Facebook grew from a dorm room into the 4^th largest country.

Activism became available for the masses at a micro-transactional level…congratulations President Obama.

Children, who were previously remote and had no access to technology, have begun to have the opportunity to see what the world has to offer and to demand more from it (thank you Africa Goal and satellite technology).

We've created digital echoes.

Think of an event as the pebble in the water, and the pictures, video uploads, and blog entries as the ripples. One event…millions of content waves.

We expect more from the devices that we use.

Applications and device utility value expanded. Computing became a first language. We turn to our devices for answers, for help, and for our own self-development. Roughly 200,000 apps across dozens of categories prove our reliance.

Second, the undercurrents…

Moore's Law

Moore's Law states that technology development achieves a doubling effect every two years. This is predicated upon a decrease in microchip size and resulting increase in processing speed. Therefore, cutting edge technology cycles speed up. Costs reduce more rapidly, and user experiences become faster. Our devices are four times faster then they were in 2006 and will be four times faster than that in 2014. That's a 16x multiplier!

Global Broadband Adoption

Recently, ITU & UNESCO announced a Global Broadband Commission, which will 'define strategies for accelerating broadband rollout worldwide'. Chairman Dr. Toure stated, "In the 21st century, affordable, ubiquitous broadband networks will be as critical to social and economic prosperity as networks like transport, water and power." Combine the heightened community efforts with the billions being laid out for infrastructure development by large corporations, plus already staggering triple digit adoption growth rates in under developed areas, and four more years will allow most of the world to reach broadband critical mass.

Connected Fractionalization

To spare us all from a digital dissertation, here's the nut on this one…

Device convergence, impact of device mobility (see McGuire's Law), cloud computing and application development (e.g. language translators like Google Wave) brings about never seen before levels of community and connectedness (heightened by the network effect). However, this also means exponential growth in content development and, in return, fractionalized user attention. It is now harder than ever to achieve mass audience via singular media productions, but when such events do occur a much larger impact is possible.

Therefore…

When we combine these major movements, Moore's law, broadband adoption, and connected fractionalization, we inherently recognize the multiplicative impact of all three on one another, and their resulting ability to change and create new human behavior.

However…

The World Cup does not only devise its strength from the sheer passing of time. Its other major force is an unquantifiable volume of passion that resides within its fans. Of course, the 700 million tune in number and stats like 89% reach for certain games in Germany and 84% reach in Spain certainly help.

Although, I think famed author Nick Hornby said it best, "I fell in love with football as I was later to fall in love with women: suddenly, inexplicably, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain or disruption it would bring with it."

Disruption indeed.

Now, when we overlay the rapid dissemination of new technology, with a fans desire to be disrupted (to do more, see more, and have more from their sport), it allows us to easily understand why the World Cup has become a brand investment haven, a catalyst for infrastructure evolution, and ultimately a technology Mecca.

Which happens to be great for the growth of the sport, but…

How does that alter our planet's ability to solve issues?

People have been asking how we solve larger global problems if there's no money in solving them. We can easily connect the World Cup to profit, but how can we connect the World Cup to a cultural and philanthropic revolution?

The answer…piggyback that which makes money.

Watching games brings about a larger fandom. Larger fandom equals larger ad revenues. Layer in decreasing costs of communication technologies, which allows for greater reach and increased viewership, and cyclically this means more dissemination of the communication technology itself.

We then use the same technology platforms to solve issues like health education (see the recent iPhone app that provides eye prescriptions), or reduce illiteracy (see a multitude of distant learning and video conferencing tutorial programs).

Therefore, the combination of these behavioral changes, technology undercurrents, and large-scale commercial investments means that we should expect to see continued advancement through:

· Community not dominance

· Hearing from the individual and her voice

· An ongoing reliance on communication devices as a central part in our cultural evolution.

· Providing individuals with an opportunity for success

As a result, I suspect come June 13^th, 2014, we will watch:

· Technology do for remote South America what it did for Africa…revitalize, connect, and create a world of possibility.

· Social platforms become more integrated into the experience; don't think twitter entries…think full fledged audio and video conferencing completely integrated with your device, and the ability for any individual to broadcast across any community of choice.

· User-initiated choice of game commentary and/or video/picture replays, (especially with the recent advancement of professional editing software). It will signify a true shift in who is defined as the journalist and how we define news.

With these types of advancements just imagine the possibilities for anyone with a device and a drive to succeed.

Bottom line is that technology, arguably powered by our passion for sport, is making what was previously impossible, possible.

So Brazil get ready, because the world and technology is coming, and we want technology and the world in return.

Lance Neuhauser, EVP, U.S. Digital Director, PHD Media, an Omnicom Company. You can follow PHD's Twitter feed at http://twitter.com/PHDisSmartMedia

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