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August Jackson

Competitive intelligence and strategic management enthusiast, ICT and consumer electronics pundit, blogger and podcaster.

August Jackson is an enthusiastic advocate for the value competitive intelligence can deliver to decision-makers, the potential for social software to facilitate collaboration to improve business processes and the economic potential of telecommunications and information technology. He has worked with a number of technology companies, including British Telecom, AT&T and Verizon to deliver market foresight to product, marketing, sales and corporate strategy executives. Jackson has also worked with government agencies to provide guidance on best practices for exploiting Open Source Intelligence (OSINT).

With experience utilizing a diverse collection and analysis methods, Jackson has focused low cost, high-value research methodologies that leverage available technology and repeatable processes. Jackson is also a strong proponent that competitive intelligence practitioners can benefit significantly from capturing the market insights of sales, marketing and other colleagues already inside their organization.

Jackson produces and hosts the Competitive Intelligence Podcast and blogs about competitive intelligence, the technology industry and the new business models and scenarios faced by modern business. Jackson received his B.A. in International Affairs from the George Washington University and his MBA from the University of Maryland.

Areas of Expertise

• In-depth secondary research using free and low-cost Internet sources
• Creating and maximizing value of internal intelligence knowledge networks to capture insight held by customer- and market-facing colleagues
• Application of social network analysis and other analysis methods to gain foresight into possible market developments and competitive scenarios
• Developing a standing capability to maintain industry and competitor knowledge
• Social media and Web 2.0 tools for CI collaboration and insight
• Telecommunications, information technology, consumer electronics and digital media industries
• Basic and free sources of information about competitors
• Using social media to research your competition
• Assessing reliability and credibility of primary and secondary sources
• Setting expectations of what is and is not possible through ethical collection
• Use RSS to build a free knowledge-maintenance system for competitors and industries
• Exploit web site technical information and search engine optimization for competitor insight
• Budget your time and money for maximum research and analysis value
• Utilize Web 2,0 tools and social software for competitive intelligence product development, on-going delivery and capturing constant feedback
• Get beyond the traditional intelligence cycle
• SWOT, Five Forces, and other basic analysis frameworks
• Building scenarios to envision multiple possible futures and prepare accordingly
• Applying social network analysis concepts for competitive intelligence insight
• Empowering decision-makers to benefit from ambiguous intelligence
• Industrial espionage and unethical practices deliver less value than well-designed, ethical practices
• Interviewing internal sources to maximize market and competitor insight
• Diversity of competitive intelligence around the world
• Align competitive intelligence activities with corporate and business strategy
• Market Intelligence Lessons from the Telecommunications Boom and Bust of the Early 2000s

Publications

• Jackson, A. (Host). Competitive Intelligence Podcast. Sterling, VA: August Jackson. Competitive Intelligence Podcast website (http://www.cipodcast.com).
• Jackson, A. (2006). RSS: The CI Professional’s Best Friend. Competitive Intelligence Magazine, 9, 23 – 27.

Presentations

• “Cast a Wide Research Net and Save Time with RSS”
• “Using the Internet to Research Private Companies “
• “Social Network Analysis for Competitive Intelligence Insight”
• “RSS: The CI Professional’s Best Friend”
• “Getting the Most from the Internet and the Deep Web”

Professional Activities and Awards:

• Vice-chair for Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) 2009 Conference
• Chapter Chair for SCIP Greater Washington Chapter since 2004
• Winner SCIP Catalyst Award, 2007

Contact August

E-mail: august at augustjackson dot net

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/8of12

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