Welcome to Asymmetric Insights

Welcome to the new digital home of Asymmetric Insights (AI). Asymmetric Insights is a next generation technology research, analysis, and strategy firm located near Washington, DC  where focus on helping companies and government agencies navigate the rapidly evolving intersection of risk, digital security, and public sector use of technology.

Why Asymmetric Insights?

I have been asked a number of times how the name was chosen. I chose the name Asymmetric Insights because it matched perception of the world. As much as we may want the world to be fair and equal, it isn’t so. The natural world of plants and animals as much as the world we live in and the markets we operate in have always been unbalanced. One side has always had a significant advantage over the other. Think the king and the peasant, the hawk and the mouse, the empire and the colonies, the casino and the gambler, the corporation and the consumer.

Though on the surface this imbalance might seem unfair, this lack of balance is actually only a single snapshot in time. As within any ecosystem, this imbalance serves as a catalyst for change and a driver of innovation. It is because of this lack of symmetry that the “weaker opponent” pursues an unconventional and innovative path of change that will at least bring it on par with or advance it past its foe. In the natural world it is often an evolutionary change. In the human world of people, businesses, and markets these changes are often new technologies, new business models, new models of governance. The possibilities are limitless.

The role Asymmetric Insights plays is to provide a lens through research and proprietary methodologies into observing and understanding the nature and components of the unbalanced relationship so that no matter which side you find yourself on, you will have the necessary understanding and insights to take advantage of the complexity and the coming change.

Who is Asymmetric Insights?

AI is lead by Alan Webber, a veteran technology industry analyst with over twenty years of experience. Prior to starting AI Alan was a Principal Analyst and Partner at Altimeter Group, a Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, and a Strategic Planner at the Department of the Interior. Alan’s full bio is available here.

What technology areas do you focus on?

Our research and advisory focus is on three primary areas, though this will likely evolve based upon market needs. Those three areas are:

• Digital risk identification, threat assessment, risk mitigation, and crisis management.
• Digital security, privacy, technologies, policies, and practices.
• Public sector including eGovernment, Gov 2.0, open government, and technology disruption.

This also includes areas and research questions that are tangential but important. For example analytics and big data are both key technological components of public sector technology adoption. Another example is globalization which provides an interesting wrinkle to among many areas privacy and privacy policies.

If there are a specific technologies, market changes, or other issues that you think we should take a look at, please drop us a note through out Contact Us page and let us know.