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surgeons to robotic equipment at distant locations. In 2001, Dr. Jacques Marescaux, located in
New York City, performed the first trans-Atlantic surgery when he successfully operated on a
patient in Strasbourg, France. Such examples, which are still rare, have problems that must be
overcome, but they will become more common by 2025. 7
Other uses for remote systems include telelaw enforcement, such as the RedFlex system
that uses cameras and motion-sensing equipment to issue tickets for red-light and speeding
violations. The RedFlex Group, headquartered in South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, earns 87
percent of its revenue from traffic violations in the United States. It offers a turn-key traffic cita-
tion information system that includes all five components. 8
Many remote systems are designed to provide services in dangerous locations, such as
robots that clean nuclear reactors or biologically contaminated sites. Drones and other unoccu-
pied military equipment are examples of remote systems used in war zones. And it’s likely that
drones will soon be used for private security as well. Look for them when you come back to visit
campus in 2025.
But, even with these new opportunities, the news isn’t all good. New York’s Metropolitan
Opera is arguably the finest opera company in the world. To see a live performance, you can
drive to Manhattan, park your car, taxi to Lincoln Center, and pay $300 per seat. Or you can
watch the same opera, remotely broadcast via Met Live, at a local movie theater, park your car
for free, pay $12, and take a seat in the fourth row, where via the magic of digital broadcasting
you can see details like the stitching on the singers’ costumes. Details you just can’t see from the
$300 seats at the Met. And the sound quality is better. Wonderful, but now, who will go to a local
opera performance?
Teleaction reduces the value of local mediocrity. The claim “Well, I’m not the best, but at least
I’m here” loses value in a teleaction world. In 1990, when former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich
9
wrote The Work of Nations, he could sensibly claim that those who provide routine face-to-face
services are exempt from the dangers of offshoring. That claim loses validity in the teleaction world.
By 2025, the value of the top-notch performers increases, possibly exponentially. Four mil-
lion people watch the average Met Live broadcast; agents for the artists who perform at that
venue will negotiate a sizable part of that $120 million gate. A famous surgeon or skating coach
can reach a bigger market, faster and better, and be much better paid. So, if you can be the
world’s best at something, do it!
But what about the rest of us? If you’re not the world’s expert at something, then find a way
to be indispensable to someone who is. Own the theaters that broadcast Met Live. Own the skat-
ing rink for the remote figure skating coach. Be the vendor of the food at some teleaction event.
Or become essential to the development, use, and management of information systems
that support these new opportunities. A business background with IS expertise will serve you
very well between now and 2025. The next six chapters discuss many existing and new IS ap-
plications. Keep reading!

7
Injuries and deaths have increased from telesurgery as the procedures become more popular, spurring the FDA
to look at the training programs used by doctors who participate. See www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-05/
robosurgery-suits-detail-injuries-as-death-reports-rise.html for more information.
8 Traffic citation information system is not a commonly accepted term, but providing all five components is
essentially IS as a service, or ISaaS.
9 Robert Reich, Work of Nations: Preparing Ourselves for Twenty-first Century Capitalism (New York: Vintage
Books, 1992), p. 176.