The folks at the MACPA and the Business Learning Institute spend a good deal of time outside of Maryland. The reason is pretty simple: There’s a lot of important stuff happening in this profession, and very little of it happens exclusively within Maryland's borders.

Since our goal is to help our members become future-ready, we go to wherever the important stuff is happening, learn about it, and bring that knowledge back to Maryland.

And Tom Hood is the king of going to where the action is. Tom, of course, is the CEO of the MACPA and the BLI (and the second most influential person in accounting, according to Accounting Today). He goes everywhere in search of knowledge that will make Maryland's CPAs more prepared for what’s to come.

Tom is our guest this week, and he has been to some really interesting – and definitely exotic – places this year. I wanted to find out what he’s learned on these trips that Maryland’s CPAs need to know.

In this conversation, we cover:

• What Tom has learned in Canada, Bora Bora, and beyond.
• The No. 1 challenge facing CPAs around the globe.
• The four Ts – talent, taxes (standards, laws, and regulations), technology, and transformation.
• How we can better engage both newer and older accounting and finance professionals moving forward.

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5G, Wi-Fi 6, and our profession We’ve seen more than a few articles about 5G and Wi-Fi 6 lately, and it looks like something significant is on the horizon.

5G, of course, is the next generation of cellular network technology. It promises speeds that are multitudes faster than the current 4G standard, which could finally help drive the Internet of Things connectivity to ready-for-primetime status. 5G is being rolled out in late 2018 and should see much wider adoption in 2019 and beyond.

Wi-Fi 6, meanwhile, should make its debut in 2019. It promises much higher upload and download speeds, it’ll be able to support 8K video streaming, and it will have a much lower power draw, which means much lower drain on your battery life.

Combined, 5G and Wi-Fi 6 will do some incredible things – if you believe the folks who write about this stuff. In the article “Next Generation Wireless: What You Need To Know About 5G And Wi-Fi 6,” Paul O’Farrell of Forbes writes:

“Seamless high performance access to information opens up a plethora of opportunity for developing new, never seen before applications: imagine walking into a store and using augmented reality to watch a live demonstration of the product you are pointing to in action, envision self-driving cars on a freeway, interacting with each other in real-time to ensure complete safety and coordinated traffic flow, or even imagine a surgeon performing a delicate operation, using virtual reality while he is in a different country, other than the patient.

“The possibilities are compelling and endless. It is a call to action for businesses and other organizations to leverage both of these technologies and create new services and offerings. In many markets, the ability to successfully do this will be the difference between success and failure.”

Which means it’s time to put on our anticipatory hats.

Anticipation is all about spotting future trends early and figuring out what opportunities they offer so we can take advantage of them before our competitors do, and there’s a lot of opportunity here. What could you do with the combined power of 5G and Wi-Fi 6? What challenges would that type of power help you overcome? How would they help you better serve your clients and customers?

Start thinking about this stuff now. This is our opportunity to finally get in front of some of the hard trends that have been disrupting our world.

That's exactly what Tom Hood has been trying to do — learn what happening and share that knowledge with Maryland’s CPAs, so they can become more future-ready.

Come learn with Tom! You can learn more about all of these issues by attending one of Tom’s acclaimed Professional Issues Updates. You’ll find a full schedule and registration information on the MACPA's website.

Tom also will on hand at the MACPA’s annual CPA Summit, scheduled for Dec. 6 at the Sheraton Baltimore North hotel in Towson, Md. CPAs will learn from the most important voices in the profession and find solutions to push their careers forward. Topics will include leadership, technology, cutting-edge trends, and emerging professional issues. Don’t miss it – this is going to be an incredible event!

Get details and register here.

Resources:

• Connect with Tom Hood: Twitter | LinkedIn
• 
Register for MACPA’s annual CPA Summit.
• Read: “Next Generation Wireless: What You Need To Know About 5G And Wi-Fi 6"