What's Your Digital iQ

Presented by: Abe Burmeister, Outlier

Abe Burmeister, the co-founder of  innovative performance clothing company Outlier. A fashion entrepreneur, Abe has found that the internet has not only changed the way he retails and markets, it has reinvented his business. In his talk, he shared the 4 hypotheses of how the internet has changed the way products and services are designed and distributed.

Hypothesis 1: If you can find a the right price point, you may just have an idea.

Abe knew how to design a website and a logo and he knew how to talk to people, but nothing about how to run a business. But, with the internet, all it takes in an idea that others will adopt.

Hypothesis #2: A well designed product sells itself.

What the internet has shown us is that great products can sell them self. There are no sales people involved, it’s a website and a purchase button.

Hypothesis #3: Consumers want products and services they can resonate with.

We are finding that consumers prefer products and services that they can relate to. They are trading cheap clothing shipped across seas for specialized, more-expensive-but-more-durable goods that tailor to their lifestyle.

Hypothesis #4: The internet is changing everything.

From retail to healthcare, the internet is changing the model for which everything works. We have the capability to increase access while decreasing costs.

Presented by: Robert Kirkpatrick, United Nations Global Pulse

Robert Kirkpatrick is the Director of the United Nation’s Global Pulse initiative. He’s an expert in mining social media, the open web and massive passive data to detect the early impacts of crises on vulnerable communities. Global Pulse exists to explore how to foster innovation in large organizations and ways that techno-social initiatives can enhance trust-building, information sharing, and decision making across boundaries.

Today, any event can be felt around the world. Our world, our economies, our societies are so interconnected today that it’s rare that an event is isolated to a single region. That brings significant risk. An economic downturn can bring the world to a stop (we learned this, right?).

At the UN, their job is find opportunities to help people who are in need. But the process is too slow. They are often too late in responding.

How can the UN (and healthcare) use big data? Read Full Entry

What a wonderful Friday! Today, iQ is live from the PSFK Conference in New York City along with hundreds of other technologists, futurist, designers and the list goes on.

Throughout the day we’ll be live tweeting the best of the best from the esteemed lineup of speakers from all over the world! If you’re not able to attend, sit back and enjoy as we bring the most inspiring content from today’s event. If you’re here with us at PSFK, don’t be afraid to hop on here and keep the conversation going on long after we’ve all left this beautiful venue.