Malcolm believes the new age of Work From Home (WFH) has greatly changed business today, accelerated by Zoom-style technology and the ubiquitous presence of hi-speed broadband.
I agree, and the resulting net/net is that Covid is fundamentally changing the way we communicate, reducing the need to travel and perhaps most importantly, allowing us to live “where we want” as opposed to near our offices. It’s a profound change and it’s going to change our world in a material way.
The interesting thing relating to the Australian Tech scene is that it may mean Australian Entrepreneurs can finally benefit from the “death of distance” and begin to compete in the global market without the costs and constraints they had to endure for decades. Malcom spoke on this issue and agreed. He thinks it’s a discontinuity in time and an opportunity for Australian Entrepreneurs.
Malcolm said he believes the Covid19 pandemic has served as a real time experiment, accelerating existing trends and disrupted today’s reality. A good example, he added, is how some businesses (that can pull it off), are drastically scaling back on brick and mortar office space. “The pace and scale of change today is greatly accelerated, but despite Covid, business and commerce carry on.”
Continuing on that point, he said there is plenty of opportunity for businesses and startups to thrive (and work from) places all over the globe due to technology, not just in the traditional power centers like New York City and Singapore.
