The grand challenges of information technology

EDS Chief Information Officer Terry Milholland recently asked the 23 EDS Fellows (thought leaders) to define what they considered to be the "grand challenges" of the IT industry. From a large initial list, six were chosen as particularly imposing, but that also would reward those who "solved" them. The grand challenges aren't new, yet they continue dogging companies everywhere. Their grandness lies in their seeming intractability and in the exponential growth and competitiveness they block. The answers, we believe, lie in breakthrough solutions-the kind we're all working on now. The EDS Grand Challenges initiative is designed to open discussion, then change the conversation about barriers facing the IT industry. The six grand challenges are: Commercializing innovation: How do established companies develop new products and services? How should those new products and services be integrated with traditional lines of business? Knowledge management and optimization: How will companies ensure employees have access to essential information anytime, anywhere and in the desired form and context? Productivity improvement: How can companies exponentially improve their productivity while reducing costs and more swiftly delivering improved products and services? Contract pricing: What is the best way for companies to evolve toward value-price bids and contracts and away from prices set by time and materials? Data explosion: How can companies tease data that is most valuable for them from the online deluge? Can that data become knowledge that enterprises can use to their advantage? Can the data's long-term accessibility be ensured? Reuse: How can organizations most effectively share their software and intellectual assets? In this paper, each grand challenge will be briefly explored and some of the fresh thinking introduced. The challenges are complex and are riddled with interdependent causes and consequences; they demand industry significance much more than technology alone to solve. Ultimately, solutions may require new business processes and major changes in culture and human behavior.