10 Years On: Technology – more change on the way?

As the global economy teetered on the brink of crisis in mid 2007, Apple released the iPhone and a year later, just a few weeks before Lehman Brothers collapsed, the game-changing 3G version was launched. Closer to home, JT was at that time preparing to increase the download speed of our broadband service to 8 Mb/s (8,000 bytes). Ten years later, it’s up to 1 Gb (1,000,000,000 bytes), which is 125,000 times faster.

Technology and telecoms companies did suffer during the crash and the value of big players like Google, Apple and Microsoft went down as we all stopped spending like we used to. But the Great Recession also lit the touch paper of the Digital Revolution. In 2008, the biggest company in the world was Exxon, followed by General Electric. Microsoft, with its ubiquitous Windows operating system, was third, followed by AT&T and Proctor & Gamble. Today, it’s Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook – in that order.

As speculation, over-confidence and fear of failure brought the old order to its knees, businesses looked to the certainty of 0s and 1s for an answer. Alongside this was the realisation that the internet was likely to become the platform to deliver goods and services, as well as the primary method of communication. JT was among those who recognised this and we began to shape our operations accordingly.

One fall-out of the Great Recession was a greater suspicion of experts and distrust of leaders. The internet offered a remedy: now information was readily available and free. It brought a new form of democracy – if knowledge is power, then anyone with a phoneline or mobile network had power. In parallel, with the launch of each new device, the technology itself became more powerful.

Fortunately, the Channel Islands had the foresight and wherewithal to see this seismic shift. Companies like JT were given licence to develop comprehensive mobile networks and invest in fibreoptic technology. As the Channel Island’s primary industry is selling financial services worldwide, this investment was essential, and we are all now receiving a dividend, with the islands enjoying a reputation for providing stability and substance in an increasingly unstable world.

Another lesson of the 2008 crash was that diversification is a good idea. Primarily, this meant asset classes, but it could be broadened to economic sectors. While financial services will remain the dominant industry in Guernsey – and why move away from something you’re rather good at – it is still important to diversify. The Digital Revolution has continued unabated since 2008 and has allowed us to broaden our horizons without straying too far from finance. Investing in digital includes such things as FinTech, Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things, which can all be designed for banking, trust, accountancy, law etc. We may need to develop a stronger skill-base in Guernsey and Jersey, but we now have the infrastructure in place to make it happen. The States do appreciate this and are developing strategies to position the island as a digital and communications leader.

Shifting our focus from 2008 and onto 2028, what will the future hold in the next 10 years? Clearly, new technologies will emerge, and the pace of change is likely to quicken. When it comes to mobile technology, the capacity, speed and scalability of physical lines of communication will remain crucial, which is why businesses and governments worldwide recognise the importance of having strong terrestrial networks.

To this end, over the water in Jersey, JT has invested heavily in a full-fibre network, making the island the first jurisdiction in the world to have every broadband customer connected. As well as speaking to UK operators about how and what we did to get this significant project completed, we hope to have the opportunity to expand our full-fibre network in Guernsey.

There have been many lessons to learn over the past decade since the world’s economy went into freefall. When it comes to technology, perhaps the most powerful is that it has given us the freedom to think and act for ourselves. However, that also means everyone else enjoys that freedom, so we need to continue to invest to make sure that we retain a strong knowledge base, world-leading infrastructure and competitive edge.