Resources
VA Myth Busters
Q:
The Virtual Assistant industry is a $127 billion dollar industry.
Fact or Fiction?
A:
FICTION!!!
A couple of years ago (April 2005) there were numerous articles popping up
reporting that the Virtual Assistance industry would soon become a $127
billion dollar industry; however, this information was not accurate. No
one in our community disseminated this information with ill intentions. It
started with a report that looked quite legitimate and I would like to
bring to light this misinformation before it goes too far along. I sure
wish this figure was accurate; it would help me a great deal personally in
teaching classes on Virtual Assistance and in my presentations. That
figure would certainly grab people's attention, but I have conducted my
own research and found that this data was misunderstood; thus interpreted
incorrectly. This led to an independent company's report to now have
inaccurate data. Read on to see how this happened.
Dr. Halal wrote a report back in January of 2000, called the GW Forecast
(George Washington Forecast) stating the Virtual 'Electronic' Industry
will become a $127 billion dollar industry by 2008. I contacted Dr. Halal
(late March/early April 2005) and he confirmed my suspicions that his
report had indeed been misunderstood. According to Dr. Halal's email to me
personally, he states, "I mean intelligent IT systems that serve as
surrogates for "real assistants." It appears that another person, also
interpreting Dr. Halal's study, Dr. Terry J. van der Werff, CMC, provided
a definition of the term 'Virtual Assistant' and it could easily have been
misconstrued as a 'person' providing the computer-based virtual assistance
versus the computer-based assistance (meaning - without any human aspect
involved at all).
I believe the Marubeni Corporation Economic Research
Institute combined this data and came up with their own interpretation,
thus leading to this huge misconception of Dr. Halal's original report . I
sent the Marubeni Corporation an email asking them to change their report,
on behalf of Dr. Halal, with respect to this data; however, I have not
heard from them to date. There was no other available contact information
for this company besides their online form, which is what I used to let
them know about this error.
To date, the only valid Virtual Assistant report/study I am aware of is
one published by Robert Brenner in October 2004. Mr. Brenner conducted an
extensive study in a collaborative effort with The Alliance for Virtual
Businesses www.allianceforvirtualbiz.com. If you are truly interested in
this latest study on the Virtual Assistance industry, please visit Mr.
Brenner's site at: www.brennerbooks.com. You can download the 250+ page
report or order the book to arrive by mail.
Please find the various source articles that made up the Marubeni report
below, along with the source web links from my own research of the
Marubeni findings. If you have any questions, you may contact me direct at
michelle@thevirtualnation.com. I can email you the various articles or my
compiled Word document highlighting the various places where Dr. Halal's
study has been misinterpreted.
Marubeni research sources:
The report that caused all the stir!
The George Washington Forecast of Emerging Technology , George Washington
University's Forecast of Technology and Strategy Program, January 2000
(some updates as of December 2000)
Dr. William Halal, Highlights of the George Washington Forecast of
Emerging Technology, July 2000
Dr. Thomas Gaylord, Technology: A Prism for Learning (Emerging
Technologies 2001-2030), April 25, 2001
Technology Forecasts, Strategic Technologies for 2020 , Batelle, 2000
The World in 2012, Newsweek, September 16-23, 2002
Forecast of Emerging Technologies, Futurist Interviews, World Future
Society, July-August, 2000
Cynthia Wagner, "World View 2002: Futures Unlimited", the Futurist,
November-December 2002
Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance, National Science
Foundation, June 2002
"NSF Report Says Nanotechnology, Other Converging Technologies Could Bring
'Golden Age' in Human History, Foresight Update 49, Foresight Institute,
August 2002
Global Trends 2015, A Dialogue About the Future With Nongovernment Experts, National Intelligence Council (U.S. Central Intelligence Agency),
December 2000
Brad Wieners, "Eight Technologies That Will Change the World", Business 2.0
Magazine, June 2002
Web Guide, Emerging Technologies, business2.com
The Virtual Nation™ research sources:
Click here to view notes based on The Virtual Nation's™ research
Press Release Archive: GW Researcher Offers Millenium Forecast of Future Breakthroughs
http://www.sbpm.gwu.edu/emba/Halal_bio.htm
Battelle - Technology Forecasts
http://www.battelle.org/news/98/34topten.stm
PRNewswire
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/futurist/index.html?ts=1113869892
Leaders.net
http://www.wtec.org/ConvergingTechnologies/Report/NBIC_report.pdf
Global Trends 2015: A Dialogue About the Future With Nongovernment Expert
Business 2.0 - Web Guide - Emerging Technologies -e1
The Top 10 Emerging Technologies
Thank you for your time and I hope you understand my need to clarify an
important document on behalf of Dr. Halal. I value his work as a professor
and as I previously mentioned, it would be wonderful if this information
were true, but I am sure our industry will reach that figure someday,
unfortunately we cannot claim a study that doesn't belong to us.
We can reach $127 billion as an industry if we support each other, provide
professional work and promote our industry with all the honesty and
integrity we value so highly. Creating a powerful community based on these
ideas along with the passion behind each and every one of us will get us
there! We just need to pull together.
[Back to Resources]
Disclaimer:
The Virtual Nation™ does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any of the resources and/or paid advertisements above or the quality of any products, information, or other materials displayed, purchased, or obtained by you as a result of an offer in connection with any ad. You are responsible for handling your own due diligence before purchasing any product or service.
