THE PHYGITAL WORLD

To best describe what the phygital world is, it is the blurred line between the physical world and the digital world, as aptly described by Kevin Muley, the NRG Radio Director. If you think through the timeline of your life, you will notice a continuous blur in the line between the physical and digital world. For instance, activities like banking, transport and communication have changed from being physical activities to having a digital option. Whenever NRG is due to pay me, for instance, I need not go to the office to collect my cheque. A simple bank transfer from the comfort of an office or home and a text message later, my account is smiling. And when I need to actually go to the office, I hail a cab off my phone and I’m picked from my gate and dropped off at the office without the hustle of going to the stage and jumping on a matatu.

The digital world, for a while, was considered a colossal waste of time by our parents, multinational conglomerates and every other person who didn’t see the connection between making friends and communicating with communities on digital apps like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and the real potential these communities had. It was only when people with real influence and the smarts to grow their influence online started to show their dollar worth that corporate companies started noticing the importance of digital communication. Suddenly, a large demographic of consumers was spending a lot of time on their phones and anywhere else where they had a digital footprint. And the world moves in the direction of the young generation – because they steer it forward.

There is still a little resistance by the old guard to stick to the physical world, and for good reason. Nevertheless, the digital world is growing at an exponential speed, and the future is looking a whole lot like a digital one. The line between the two worlds is continually being blurred by new ideas that are taking shape and root in our world now, and when our children take over from us, it will almost be unrecognizable unless we move ahead with them. Soon, that line will have completely disappeared and the two worlds will be one world, and life as our parents knew it will not be the same. Buckle up, everyone. The digital future is a goldmine of untapped potential and it’s ours for the taking!