Announcing the C3/A3 Project: The Connected Future of Communities, AI & Automation

The C3/A3 Project

C3: Community, Crowd, CollaborationA3: AI, Agents and AutomationHumans instinctively seek meaning, connection and resources through community. Driven by near ubiquitous access to broadband and the rapid adoption of smartphones, our new and ever-expanding digital world offers instant access to a rich tapestry of social experiences, fundamentally changing the way we seek, find and participate in community. Currently, individuals and organizations are struggling to adapt to our evolving digital world, particularly the social technologies we use to connect and communicate with each other. Complex human networks are springing up on and across myriad social media, social network and topic-based communities, forming community ecosystems that transcend technological, geographical and organizational boundaries.Looking forward, it seems things are about to get even more complicated. A new set of technologies is emerging to augment human cognition (AI), enhance human agency (Agents) and shape digital experiences and outcomes by taking advantage of a rich set of tools and APIs (Automation). We see these three technological forces (AI, Agents and Automation) as the next immediate wave of disruption in digital experience, and we see Community, Crowd and Collaboration as the social contexts in which technology and humanity will interact for the betterment (or detriment) of humankind.

The C3/A3 Project Overview

Our hypothesis is that this combination of social technologies with human augmentation technologies will usher in a new age of digital community experiences. These new experiences will present unprecedented opportunities and challenges for organizations and individuals, and complex policy issues for society.  The C3/A3 project will explore the technological, business and societal implications of this next wave of change and offer a helpful path forward.Focal areas:

1. Technology: The current and emerging technology landscape

2. Business: Corporate strategy, competence, needs and level of readiness

3. Individuals: Customer (a.k.a. Community member) needs, expectations and likely challenges

Key Components of the Project:

1. Community Executive survey - February 26th

2. Technology landscape analysis

   1. Community platforms

   2. AI technologies ( ex: Watson, Einstein)

   3. Agent interfaces (ex: Cortana, Alexa, Obindo)

   4. Automation platforms

   5. Executive interviews with select technology providers, early adopters and startups

   6. Mass practitioner survey

   7. Customer (Community End-user) survey

Reports and MastermindThe output of the project will be a series of reports throughout 2018 that publish key findings. An executive mastermind group for brands and select startups will be formed to deeply explore relevant topics.

Getting Involved

The first wave of research launches on Monday, February 26th with an invitation-based survey to Executives who own community and social media experiences for their respective companies. Detailed results will be shared privately amongst this group, and summary data will be shared publicly.If you would like to participate in the research survey and subsequent Mastermind discussion, please send me a note: bill@structure3c.com.Reminder: This phase of the research is open to Executives at large organizations (5000+). No agencies or consultancies please.