May 20168 The Future of Work is Here, Take Advantage of ITBy Charlie Wood, Managing Director, DropboxDropbox Business is a secure file sharing and storage solution that simplifies the way people work together. It transforms everyday workflows through cross-platform sync, file sharing and cloud storage designed with a secure, distributed infrastructure with multiple layers of protection.There's a famous quote by Bill Gates: "We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten." The quote refers to the fact that we have a tendency to speak about technology as if it were still something off on the horizon, not really affecting the way we live our lives in here and now.Of course, technology is very much of the here and now. People are becoming more cognizant of that, but there is still a gap between how we think about things in our life like work and the role tech plays in that. Especially in regard to our working lives, technology has reshaped the types of work we do and how we do it. At a granular, everyday level, we see tech constantly redefining what work means.There are three key areas that are currently driving massive trans-formations in how we think about work: the voluminous growth in data sometimes referred to as `big data'; the continually increas-ing mobility of the global workforce, especially in professional roles; and the drive to collaboration and innovation.Growth in DataAt the moment, we are generating more data than we probably know what to do with. The mind boggling numbers on this explosion of Big Data are easily found and almost don't do justice to the sheer scale of information we are now accessing and trying to comprehend. And we're only just beginning.The number of platforms and de-vices generating data is set to grow dramatically with the advent of the Internet of Things. Last year, Cisco estimated there were about 10-15 billion devices connected to the in-ternet and that by 2020 that number will be around 50 billion. The data generated by those devices will seep into and shape how we understand the world around us and our roles in that world, personally and professionally.Mobile WorkforceAnother key factor transforming our relationship to work is mobility. This mobility is manifested in several ways, including the fact that mobility companies now have to access talent from around the world. Also along with mobility that talent has to work from anywhere in the world.Charlie WoodIN MY VIEW
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