Generali Group Magazine since 1893 Number 6 – Series 13 – March 2017 CONNECTIVITY connectivity CONNECTIVITY Everything is shrouded in a cloud of data and we can be anywhere, anytime. The Internet has upended our lifestyle and our interactions with others, connecting us in real time with remote contexts and faraway cultures. We have torn down physical barriers and obtained access to products and services everywhere, and we have built virtual communities with people we have never met. As individuals, employees and consumers, we have gained access to extraordinary opportunities. All this is possible thanks to the ease and immediacy that enable us to share information. Perhaps now we are just beginning to recognize the huge changes that have happened since the invention of the Internet over 25 years ago. Are we sure we can anticipate where connectivity will lead us to in the near future? —ak. OPENING REMARKS OPENING REMARKS Connectivity 99% of interesting things have“ not yet been invented” by Simone Bemporad —Sebastian Thrun Editor in Chief Connectivity has caught us up in rise of China and India, once among But in the world of complex Some Luddites consider connectivity a revolution that has reshaped the world’s poorest nations. connection systems technology and digitalisation as threats to job everything about how we live, love, is constantly evolving as this special creation. That is not really true. work, play, shop and share – how our There are many countries that are in the issue of il bollettino will show. Value creation doesn’t come from very hearts and minds encounter the course of transforming from a wholly Devoted to the various aspects of routine tasks or monotonous repetition world around us. Interconnected industrial society to an information one. connectivity, its articles - written by that can be automated, but rather from digitalisation, automation and artificial That transformation will likely occupy experts in business and technology - creative problem solving. intelligence are creating opportunities us for decades to come. Consider how it will take us through the rapidly This is certainly true for the insurance that were the stuff of yesterday’s started. Short messages, status updates, approaching future where our offices world both for basic services as well science fiction and decisively shape news alerts, or links to longer and workspaces have adapted and as complex problems. our lives and our work. To what degree documents have formed the basis changed, where there are no limitations and how rapidly remains to be seen. of real-time connectivity for the past of physical space, where anywhere Looking to the future we think of the decade. Now, virtual communities are in the world is just a link away. words of Sebastian Thrun, considered New technologies are permanently being built on common interests within one of the technology pioneers of our changing the way we do business. companies, within scientific and We shall examine cloud computing time. He says “Ninety-nine percent Connectivity is transforming the academic communities, within group and the industrial internet of things, of interesting things have not yet been economy sector by sector. It is one movements – each of them using explore the effects of digital invented.” On that basis Connectivity of the main reasons why prosperity completely new interaction modes. transformation and artificial has a rosy future indeed. continues to grow, and not just in the Today, we take for granted the fact intelligence, look at the range of new old industrialised nations that are that we can connect with any person, access tools and the types of interior changing to information societies. company, service or information office design that are helping us to It has also enabled the tremendous database, no matter where we are. work better together. 02 03 INDEX INDEX PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 Community First We, Generali Business & Strategy Twist 08 CONTEMPORARY SCENARIOS 26 OVERVIEW 42 INTERVIEW 60 CONTEMPORARY SCENARIOS Beyond the fridge Smart machines are better New Ways of Working The workspace is not Microsoft partnership — Interview with Carlo Can the Internet become truly global? than humans at capturing data that can enable facing extinction, but is turning into a place to meet Purassanta The technology that is reshaping our The Internet is never quite connected, never quite companies to spot inefficiencies and problems people, share experience and knowledge, work in world has the potential to change everything: people, big enough for what we need. Is it that we can’t grow sooner, saving time and money. Which industries a team, be inspired / by Ruggero Forni products, processes, businesses, and communities. fast enough? Absolutely not. There are those who, Microsoft is committed to helping every person and achieved that first? / by Werner Vogels despite knowing the possibilities of connectivity, organization to achieve more / by Alberto Branchesi choose consciously to keep themselves away & Chiara Ronchetti / by the Editorial Office 34 VIEWPOINTS 14 VIEWPOINTS The connectivity revolution and connected 54 SPOTLIGHT 66 STORIES How the network changed our working insurance Generali is ready to catch the trend Success stories In its journey toward becoming A century of connections in historic culture The best approach to digital towards connected insurance and thereby transform Simpler, Smarter and Faster, Generali has focused cafes Connectivity and coffee-houses have been transformation is communicating its significance the insurance industry. Switching from a reactive on the changing needs and behavior of closely allied since the earliest times. From the and making it meaningful through role models to proactive player, the Group can disrupt how connected society and has developed smart great coffee-houses of London came Insurance that tell and personify its benefits / by Laurence insurance is done / by Valter Trevisani new tools that are in tune with the lifestyle of brokerage, the London Stock Exchange, Sotheby’s Bret-Stern its digitally savvy customers / by Francesco Orsi and Christies auction houses. From Paris came the meeting place for the great names of the Enlightenment / by Diego D’Amelio 38 LEGAL BACKGROUND 20 VIEWPOINTS The challenging opportunities of the connected The next frontier for smartphones insurance world The greater the growth of data This year, ten billion mobile internet devices will be volume, the greater the challenges facing insurance in use globally. More than 60 percent of these will companies. Thus good data management be smartphones. Today, smartphones are not just is paramount, not only for market differentiation, an access to connectivity, they constantly learn but also to avoid the substantial risks from our choices adding value to our experience / by Furio Curri & Giangiacomo Olivi / by Alberto Dalmasso 04 05 PART 1 Community First BRIEF SUMMARY Community First BRIEF SUMMARY Community First Within Connectivity, cloud Also below, Laurence Bret-Stern computing, the Internet of Things of LinkedIn explains that the best and smartphones have increasingly approach to digital transformation important roles to play – as does is communicating its significance digital transformation i.e. the art and making it meaningful through of getting all those things to work role models that tell and personify together efficiently. its benefits. How will digital transformation help employees? Cloud computing enables companies What metrics will measure success? to store, manage and process data online remotely as opposed to on their This year, ten billion mobile internet own physical computer or network, devices will be in use globally. saving on large installation costs and More than 60 percent of these will software licenses. Many companies be smartphones. According to Alberto are combining cloud computing with Dalmasso of Satispay, smartphones the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) are not just an access to connectivity, to reap extra rewards. Smart machines they constantly learn from our choices are better than humans at capturing organizing an exact copy of our lives data that can enable companies to spot and adding value to our digital inefficiencies and problems sooner experience. His article below saving time and money. explains how. The Internet of Things has moved beyond household controls and into industry itself, according to Dr.Werner Vogels, the Chief Technology Officer at Amazon.com, in the article below. Thanks to the infinite amount of storage in the Cloud combined with unlimited bandwidth, Gas and Oil, street lighting, automobile manufacture and the factory floor are all benefiting from optimized production, minimized waste and new ways of doing business. by the Editorial Office 06C 07 PART 1 Community First CONTEMPORARY SCENARIOS Beyond the Fridge CONTEMPORARY SCENARIOS PREFACE Connectivity reaches its peak when data sets, sensors and recording Beyond the Fridge devices are able to exchange information and establish a dialogue. What prospects are emerging for the Industrial Internet of Things and in which areas is it already being used? by Werner Vogels Amazon Web Services The IIoT of now We have moved beyond the fridge. Many of the changes brought about by In the 1990s when the idea of an Internet the IIoT have been subtle, but there are of Things (IoT) was first tabled we were many examples we can point to where this promised that by the turn of the 21st century technology trend is changing the world we would all have fridges connected to the around us. Phillips CityTouch is one such internet in our homes. These would be able example. CityTouch is an intelligent light to tell when we needed more milk, eggs management system for citywide street or cheese and would automatically order lighting. It allows entire suburbs and cities them from the store for us. Despite this to actively control their streetlights in real promise, we are yet to see our fridges do time. This allows local councils to keep the shopping. What we have seen instead certain streets well lit, to accommodate high is that the IoT is happening in a completely foot traffic, bring on lighting during adverse different place.