The workplace is constantly shifting with new tech and useful software. It’s increasingly important for businesses to stay on top of these trends in order to remain relevant.
Successful intranet adoption is partially dependent on your knowledge of the latest tech trends. So, how do you keep up-to-date? Sure, there are books, podcasts, magazines, newsletters, blogs, and more...
...but there’s another way that’s quicker and easier for immediate updates: social media.
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Following some of the leading minds in the technology world will provide an easy opportunity to keep up with the trends. These experts are likely predicting and setting the trends with their expansive knowledge of the field. Here is a list of some of the top tech influencers with different areas of expertise that you should follow to keep up on technology trends.
Gary Vaynerchuk | @garyvee
Gary is an entrepreneur whose claim to fame is being one of the first people to catch on to the internet’s social media craze. He is now the CEO and co-founder of VaynerMedia, a full-service digital agency. He helped his father grow their family business by creating one of the first eCommerce sites. He was an early investor in Twitter, Tumblr, Venmo and Uber and is #1 on Forbes' first list of Top Tech/Business Influencers. He’s also a sports enthusiast, so make sure to check him out if you love tech and sports!
Guy’s influence in the tech world dates back to the 80s when he was one of the original evangelists for Apple. He has now moved on to become an evangelist for Canva, a graphic design program. Although he has moved along in the tech world, he remains a leading influencer with a large following. His twitter feed is full of silly memes and videos, alongside tech news and happenings.
Meghan is the CEO of Talent Culture and runs her own podcast/twitter chat called #WorkTrends, which discusses workplace tech trends. She focuses on empowering employees through creation and expression, and frequently incorporates technology trends. Her goal is to enhance the workplace to help businesses and employees alike flourish. She is one of the leading minds on the future of the workplace, and she has captivated many people with her intriguing theories. If you are thinking of adopting an intranet in order to empower your employees, Meghan is the expert for you.
Brian is a tech security guru who writes about cybercrime. He wrote a New York Times bestseller called Spam Nation, which explains some of the largest spam and hacker cyber crimes in United State’s history. His own computer was hacked in 2001, and since then his twitter feed has been committed to cybercrime news and developments. He also has a very successful blog that has published numerous huge hacking stories. If you are concerned about your intranet’s security during the adoption process, then Brian is your guy.
Christina is a Senior Cloud Development Advocate for Microsoft and combines her love for technology and media in her twitter account. She carried this combination into her journalism career, covering the intersection of tech and entertainment in her work. While this is her niche, she has a wealth of knowledge in multiple areas, and speaks frequently on topics such as mobile technology, new media in journalism and entertainment, social media ROI, personal branding, and evolving web trends.
Dr. Canton is the CEO of the Institute for Global Futures and is one of the biggest “futurist” minds, who constantly think to workplace tech trends and how the we can prepare for them. The Institute for Global Futures gives keynote lectures, forecasts, and strategic advice on technology trends to its clients. Dr. Canton has even advised Apple on his ideas for the future of the workplace at his time working there. He also wrote a book called Future Smart: Managing the Game-Changing Trends that Will Transform Your World. If you want to look forward to where the tech industry will be heading so you can create sustainable intranet adoption, Dr. Canton is a must-follow.
Julie is a Design Manager at Apple, a developer, and one of the most influential female voices on the internet. She is passionate about fighting for inclusion and equality for women in the tech industry. In her blog, she writes about the “discrimination and harassment that Women in Tech experience in the workplace,” stating that “Tech companies too often make witches out of vocal women” who try to speak out about their experiences. She collaborated with her Twitter followers to document stories of harassment in the workplace, and is uniting the women in the tech industry to band together for equality and advancement in the field. Not only is Julie a top player in the Tech world, but she is a top fighter for justice and making change.
Dr. Cole is another leading name in cyber security, with his mission “to make cyber space a safe place to live, work, and raise a family” according to his Twitter. He is the Founder and Chief Strategist at Secure Anchor, whose goal is to “prevent breaches, detect network intrusions, and respond to advanced threats.” His company’s clients include government, military, energy, IT, legal and Fortune 500 industries. Dr. Cole also actively works on research and developments to advance the field of cyber security.
Ann is the go-to leader on digital content in workplace tech trends. She is a self-proclaimed “Chief Content Officer, waging a war on content mediocrity.” Her book, Everybody Writes, aims to equip and empower everyone in the workforce to create good content. She is also Head of Content at MarketingProfs, a marketing education and training company that offers holistic marketing advice and strategies to businesses. Since quality user-generated content is key to successful intranet adoption, Ann is going to be an influencer you will want to follow.
Christian is the Founder & CEO of CollabTalk, a research and marketing services company that aims to modernize marketing strategies in the workforce. He is an award-winning author, technology evangelist, and 7-time Microsoft MVP. He is also avidly involved in advancing video technology through his work with revealit, which delivers interactive videos to its clients. His area of expertise is in SharePoint, and he has co-written three books on this topic. In addition to those books, he wrote three books on software configuration management as well. If the evolution of SharePoint interests you or is relevant to your company, then Christian is the person you want to follow.
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Jeff Willinger | @jwillie
Jeff is another Microsoft SharePoint guy, who recently received the Microsoft MVP award for the third consecutive year. He is currently the VP of Digital Inspiration for Rightpoint, which works to digitally transform businesses. Along with his MVP awards, he has also been named one of the top SharePoint and Office 365 personalities for past five years in a row. He is one of the key tech industry influencers on web collaboration, social networks within enterprises, and enterprise IT strategy. Jeff is always looking ahead in the workplace tech trends, and following him will help guide your enterprise towards the top-of-the-line enterprise technology.
Jacob Morgan | @jacobm
Jacob is the champion of the employee experience advantage in the workplace. So much so, that he wrote a book on just that! His stance is that the future of the workplace is based on improving the employee experience. He is a self-proclaimed futurist, and founded the Future of Work University, which educates companies on the workplace tech trends taking place and prepares them for the future of the industry. His mission is to prove to companies the worth of investing in the employee experience, and he gives them the tools and knowledge to implement his method. Adopting an intranet with your employee’s experience in mind would be right in alignment with Jacob’s teachings.
Barney is the Chief Digital Officer for Mercer, one of the largest B2B consulting companies in the world. He is a gig economy believer and advocate, and is also a futurist leader in the tech industry. His specialty is how companies can maximize on their “human capital,” which is a current field of interest in workplace tech trends, and is a necessary field for the future of the workplace. He is the expert on how the evolving technology world will impact the human working field, which makes him an extremely relevant and important person to follow.
Mina is an up-and-coming star in the technology world, and she’s doing some amazing work. Her claim-to-fame was engineering and building Hillary Clinton’s internal design system. She has since made her way up to Senior Engineer at Slack and remains active in the tech community. Mina is an activist and cares about the future of the tech industry, which she shows by her work teaching for Black Girls Code and founding the Dallas chapter of Girl Develop It and DFW Sass. Mina is also an active keynote speaker, sharing her expertise in building design systems and responsive applications using modular CSS architecture. She is going to be one that you want to keep an eye on as she rises up the ladder in the tech industry.
Maribel is a prominent speaker, author, business advisor, and entrepreneur in the tech industry. In 2015, she co-founded the Emerging Technology Council, which gives insight on the mobile market and emerging technologies for enterprises. Her specialty is in enterprise mobility, and she wrote a book entitled “Right-Time Experiences: Driving Revenue with Mobile and Big Data,” which has gained global recognition. She has a lot of experience under her belt, including her position as an analyst for more than ten years at Forrester Research. She’s a regular contributor to Forbes magazine, and has started her own research company called Lopez Research which helps companies connect technology to business value. She’s continually looking for those workplace tech trends that link improved technology to business success.
Daniel focuses on mobile applications as well, but not the actual development of them. His area of is the adoption of these apps in the workplace. He is considered one of the top mobile app experts based on his expertise. He had humble beginnings in the tech industry. He simply started studying mobile app press releases and blogging about them on his blog, EnterpriseAdoption. Now, he works for InnoviMobile as their Mobile Enterprise Adoption Strategist & Project Manager. His motto is "Without adoption, you have nothing", so if you are looking for tips on mobile app adoption for your enterprise, look no further than Daniel DiMassa.
Rachel is one of the leading voices on wearable tech and data (of which her enthusiasm can be seen featured on her twitter page), and therefore very important in the conversation of workplace tech trends. She is currently a Data Scientist & Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. Rachel also has a background in neuroscience and worked for the NeuWrite West and the Stanford Neuroscience Graduate Program. Along with her wearables research, Rachel is also investigating the field of open data, which is still emerging on the tech scene. She is doing some extremely forward-thinking work in the tech industry, and you will want to follow her to stay ahead of the game.
Lyza is another mobile app mind in the tech world. She co-authored “Head First Mobile Web”, which helps businesses take the web technology they already use to make mobile sites and apps. Lyza is also a developer, CTO, and co founder of Cloud Four, which designs and develops responsive websites and progressive web apps for enterprises. Her passions include coding, software, and spotlighting marginalized communities within the tech industry. As the tech workplace trends towards mobility and anywhere access, we are going to see Lyza’ work and voice becoming more and more relevant to the field.
Tim is the founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media, which helps drive the technology transformation process for individuals or enterprises through educational tools. Tim is known for popularizing the term Web 2.0 and his major contributions to free and open source database management software. In fact, he is attributed with coining the term “open source.” He is continually looking towards the future of technology, as well as speculating and evaluating the ways in which the industry can improve.
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