Capricorn Group hosted a thought-provoking public information session on Friday, 12 August 2022, under their Inspire banner. The Inspire session, which took place at a local hotel, was themed ‘The Future of Finance: mega-trends that will shape the financial landscape,’ in the hope of stirring up conversations around how financial experiences have and will continue to change over the next decade, and the instrumental role information technology will play in supporting a change to address fundamental shifts.
The speaker, Colin Iles, shared some technological and societal mega-trends and changes driving the financial landscape, the impact of radical transformation in technologies, and the possibilities of new fields of finance.
Iles shared different examples of how the future world will evolve, alluding to examples in the areas of solar and wind energy, battery power, robotics, DNA sequencing, nanobots, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, the internet of things, blockchain virtual reality and telepathy.
“Business, government and the population need to work together to take hold of the opportunities out there. This would eradicate our dependency on First World countries, which are more advanced than us. If we do not, we can be significantly left behind,” said Iles when asked about Third World country participation.
As a Namibian-owned financial institution, Capricorn Group says it takes pride in its large IT resources and infrastructure, with highly-skilled developers, specialists, engineers, data engineers, data scientists and other specialised professions.
“A session of this nature allows for ideas to be shared on what the future holds, and how organisations can be a part of a world where the opportunities are genuinely exponential. The Group has, over the years, become synonymous with these Inspire events, featuring well-known thought leaders in the past. As Connector of Positive Change, the Capricorn Group will remain true to its purpose by creating more thought leadership platforms to stir up conversations with mind-shifting potential,” read a statement from the Group.
At the most recent event, Iles suggested the most important thing for the future is organisations with a clear purpose. This is because these have proven to be the most successful organisations.
Marlize Horn, Group Executive: Brand & Corporate Affairs, said: “If an organisation has a clear purpose, it can explore the various scenarios that Colin presented. This is why Capricorn Group and all its subsidiaries are committed to our purpose of improving lives through leadership in financial services by being Connectors of Positive Change”.
Meanwhile, Iles offered a variety of disruptive interventions for a variety of clients to accelerate their companies’ growth prospects. His 21st century Lleadership programme shows executives how to innovate at scale, using the techniques applied by some of the most courageous leaders in the world.
His clients include global brands such as Google, AWS and Nandos, and more niche players such as Norsad Capital, 4 Racing and Sybrin. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Iles worked in the financial sector and held various senior investment banking roles in Frankfurt, Singapore and Johannesburg. He co-founded UCT’s African Institute of Financial Markets Risk Management, and is a Gordon Institute of Business Science professional associate, where he supports the Centre for African Management and Markets.
Photo: Inspire
Caption: Mega trends…Colin Iles (on stage) was the special invited guest speaker at the Capricorn Group Inspire information session with learners from the Windhoek Technical High School (left), who attended the session. Photo: Contributed