"I want Sony Ericsson to have the lowest barriers for developing and publishing innovations"

At the Mobile Monday event on the 13th of September in Malmö, Sweden, Troed Sångberg from Sony Ericsson will be presenting his thoughts on the Future of Openness (in Mobile). Troed work as a director of research at Sony Ericsson’s Chief Technology Office, and has a background as a developer. He also defines himself as a futurist. We met up with Troed, for him to explain things further.

Why do you define yourself as a futurist?

− I was once introduced as futurist when I was on a panel, where the presenter told everyone how much he loved that term since it meant that you can say anything you want without anybody being able to verify the truth of it. And to some extent he was right. But what defines a futurist is the fact that we try be conscious about how much actually will change in the future, without anyone knowing exactly what those changes will mean on beforehand. So you could describe futurism as a sort of consciousness about change. And when you are conscious about change, then you can prepare yourself for at least some of the changes that the future will bring.

On Mobile Monday Malmö, you will talk about the Future of Openness, what does that mean?

− I will put openness in a historic perspective, try to explain where it comes from, and I will also try to find relevant answers to what it really means. The whole concept of openness is closely related to the growth of democratized innovation. If we look at the mobile phone business today, and compare it to how it used to be, we see a big difference. It used to be so hard to get an application into a phone, you used to have to setup up advanced agreements with companies, get through all kinds of major technical and business processes and so on. And now, you only have to put it out on Android Market.

− So the barriers for publishing are almost gone in some cases. The innovator is now also the publisher. So what made this change? And when we now see this change, what more changes will we see in the future? What will happen to the mobile industry as it is now changing so quickly towards openness? These are some of the questions I will try to answer in the presentation at Mobile Monday.

What role will Sony Ericsson play in all of this?

− Well, Sony Ericsson is already well known as a strong brand when it comes to good looking phones. And the phones are generally very capable, if you for example look at the quality of the camera, or the way you experience music in the phone. But we also want to be known as the phone manufacturer with the lowest barriers for third party developers. So if anyone would like to innovate with the help of our phones, we should make that as easy as possible.

− In most cases, the most popular platforms for innovations have been the platforms where developers have got quick feedback on their innovations, and where developers have felt that the barriers are very low for making things happen. And with low barriers comes many inventions. And with many inventions, great consumer experiences most often follow. So I hope Sony Ericsson can become a platform where you as an inventor can go to get things to happen, and where things are happening.