Technology and Efficiency
Companies are now using mobile applications (apps) in unique ways, and many companies are creating their own internal app stores. For example, the pharmaceutical company Pfizer has an app that helps employees who are traveling find and contact other Pfizer employees who are also traveling. Aflac, an insurance company, has an app that allows claims adjusters to see data and coordinate insurance claims on a mobile device without having to go to a computer and log on to the main enterprise system. For disaster recovery, Deloitte created an app called Bamboo, which can push emergency information out to employees’ smartphones in the event of an emergency. Deloitte is implementing the app internally, and in the future, the firm plans to offer it to its customers.The military is also a major potential user of specialized mobile devices and apps. Harris, an electronics and communications company, is working on an app for tablet computers, such as Apple’s iPad, to control the remote camera on an unmanned aerial vehicle. While there are durability issues with using a commercial tablet in harsh environments, it could make economic sense to use a $400 tablet in a rugged case instead of a $10,000 wireless receiver. If a tablet breaks, it is much cheaper to replace. In addition, because these devices are familiar to many young soldiers from their personal experience, training costs are reduced.In April 2011, Textron announced that the U.S. Army was beginning tests of SoldierEyes, a smartphone-based battle analysis and tracking system the company has been developing. According to Textron, this application would allow every soldier to act as a sensor. Using this application, soldiers could collect and report real-time mission-critical data, incorporating photos and video, which can be linked to the geographic location of the soldier. With SoldierEyes, this information can be communicated (via the SoldierEyes Application Cloud) to existing command, control, communications, intelligence, and surveillance systems using 3G/4G cellular and Wi-Fi networks. For remote areas where these networks are not available, Textron has developed a secure mobile battlefield cellular network called FASTCOM, which can use manned and unmanned aircraft, aerostats (tethered blimps), or ground vehicles to provide cellular coverage.For your initial post, follow these steps:
- Choose an industry in which you might eventually like to work
- Think of three types of mobile apps that could be used to help you work more efficiently in that industry
- Search the internet to find out if those apps have been developed by any company
- Describe your ideas for mobile apps and your research findings in your post
Respond to at least two of your peers, evaluating their mobile app ideas. Offer suggestions to further support their ideas or offer new ideas that could help them work more efficiently in the industry they are interested in.
