We asked ‘Envisioner’Dave Coplin eight questions:you’ll love his answersMicrosoft UK’s Chief Envisioner and self proclaimed ‘creator of crazy job titles’ gazes into the future of digital, search & privacy

• What have the next five years got in store for digital, and what does it mean for privacy?

• I think the next five years are going to be about a couple of things: blurring the digital/analogue boundary and a brave new world of 'contextual' interactions.

• Blurring the digital/analogue worlds is about ensuring that humans can get access to the best that the digital world has to offer wherever they are, whatever they're doing it and use that 'experience' to change what they do in the real world (for the better).

Question 1:

• Will email ever be replaced as the work communication tool of choice?

• Replaced? No. Complemented by other tools? Yes -- and it's happening right now as organisations embrace the principles of communication we use in our personal lives to fundamentally change the culture of how we collaborate at work.

Question 2

• Do you know of any business that does not need reimagining?

• Every business and industry has the potential to be 'reimagined'. At its heart, reimagining is simply about freeing ourselves from the constraints of our past to look to the real potential that technology and a modern digital society can bring about.

• There is no single organisation doing everything, but many are already starting down the journey and often in some really unusual locations. The DVLA's example of retiring the paper tax disc is one of my favourite examples of the magnitude of change that becomes possible.

Question 3:

• How do you envision the future of search?

• For me, the future of search should be to make search invisible. Don't get me wrong, search is one of the fundamental foundations of how society will leverage the power of the internet, but I just don't think in the future it will be about homepages, query boxes and ten blue links. The future of search will be much more natural and transparent to our lives; it will be ever present, but in a way that is contextual, accessible and valuable to everything we do.

• (Visit http://goo.gl/VxzWFL for the full post)

Question 4:

• Can digital help with the world's really big problems, such as famine, war and climate change?

• Of course -- and it already is. At risk of playing IT Buzzword Bingo, in a Big Data world (someone at the back just called 'house!'), a great many things become possible. Having access to all the data makes a world of difference to how we understand the world around us. We will stop fixating on causation (why something happens) and instead, settle for simply correlation -- the fact that it does happen. This will enable a great number of significant breakthroughs in the scientific world over the next few decades.

• (Visit http://goo.gl/VxzWFL for the full post)

Question 5

• What gets you up and out of bed in the morning?

• Talking, listening and learning with others about the potential that technology offers our society, and how we can help others make it real.

• (Visit http://goo.gl/VxzWFL for the full post)

Question 6

• What career advice would you give?

• Never, ever call yourself a digital guru! Instead, focus on how your skills could empower those around you to be successful (be they your colleagues, customers or even family and friends).

(Visit http://goo.gl/VxzWFL for the full post)

Question 7

• And finally, what digital tools do you use in your job?

• This is a bit like asking, what sort of air do I breathe? All of it, of course!

• (Visit http://goo.gl/VxzWFL for the full post)

Question 8

If you liked this interview or want to learn more about the work of Fresh Egg, then please visit our blog:

http://www.freshegg.co.uk/blog/microsoft-uks-chief-envisioning-officer-dave-coplin-peers-into-his-crystal-ball-for-fresh-egg