What are the automation apps?
Automation apps are internet-based technology platforms designed to do things autonomously. The free automation apps I use now are for customer service and involve email newsletters, calendar events, progress reports, and help chat. I use apps that work with my Squarespace website and implementation was relatively quick: Acuity Scheduling, Pure Chat, MailChimp, and Google Sheets. I like automation applications because they give customers an immediate response and enable people to take action while also saving administrative cost that means more billable hours. All of these are great tools for design!
Leadership tools, free and paid options
What you might notice is that many of these automation technology platforms are free to use. This is the case for all of the applications I have listed above. (Paid options, for businesses that need more support and use.) The idea that the basic services should be free in low-income brackets aligns with the transition going on to stabilize infrastructure and promote sustainable community development.
We need more people who have leadership skills to meet the needs of the future as changing economies and ecologies impact large segments of the population. Sharing information and resources is key. The transition has been taking place, like it or not. We have seen the impact of an internet of things in music industry CD sales, newspaper sales, and other digital media products and services.
Building automation for the future
What these kinds of new technologies share is distribution and visualization of data in real time based on a persons activity and interaction. While tracking technologies are tricky, they do play a significant role in visions of the future, as explained in a documentary by VICE on the internet of things and the third industrial revolution.
Reflecting on automation and the future
How do you use automation in your daily life? You might use automation several times every day like when you pump gas at the station, take cash from the bank machine, book your yoga class online, or purchase something on Amazon.
What do you imagine the future to look like and how do you see leadership? I imagine a future where the quality of life is optimized for all being on the planet. That requires a great deal of collaboration and communication to distribute the right things at the right time. Making the best of the work at hand is an art, a creative life is an adventure with many free and intrinsic rewards!
