Technology is providing us with some great solutions to business obstacles, including many in comms fields—but for every solution, we seem to be left scrambling to overcome new obstacles createdby the technology. New research from Frost & Sullivan‘s Information & Communications Technology (ICT) team, Global Next Wave Technology Disruptors, 2018, features the insights of 112 thought leaders from around the world on the technologies that will have a profound transformative impact on existing industry dynamics, value chains, and business models across multiple vertical markets in the next 10 years.
In addition to providing quantitative insight, the study also provides a top-level assessment of eight emerging technologies: 5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain and Distributed Ledger, Human Brain-Computer Interface, Human Intelligence Augmentation, Internet of Things (IoT), Natural Language Interfaces (NLIs) and Quantum Computing.
“Numerous technologies with limited adoption/availability at present will rise in relevance over the next 10 years. 5G will play an important role over the next five years as commercial deployments commence, while Quantum Computing is set to have a huge impact in the coming decade,” said Adrian Drozd, research director for ICT, in a news release. “However, thinking of these emerging technologies in isolation will limit their effectiveness. For instance, IoT cannot reach its potential without AI, and AI can be powerful only by accessing the data generated by IoT.”
Key findings include:
- 57 percent of survey respondents noted that enhancing the customer experience (CX) is the key driver for their organization to adopt new technologies, followed by improving productivity (51 percent) and lowering operational costs (37 percent).
- The focus on CX is largely powered by AI, with 40 percent of respondents naming it the most game-changing technology in their industry.
- AI, along with IoT, Blockchain, 5G, and NLIs, were cited by 60 to 70 percent of respondents as transformative technologies.
“Technologies will reach maturity at different times; while some are already widely used, others are still in the development phase,” added Drozd. “Technology development should be guided by the use cases and real-life deployments that the solutions promise to enable.”
New technologies are emerging at an unprecedented rate, each promising to be the next transformative force that will drive fundamental shifts across industries and society. Companies looking to tap growth opportunities in their respective industries should:
- Assess the ways in which technologies co-exist and combine to identify optimal ways of enabling specific use cases.
- Engage, experiment and be ready to accept new, better solutions to old problems.
- Stay abreast of the developments in relevant fields of technology to support informed strategic decisions.
Download an overview of report here.
Global Next Wave Technology Disruptors, 2018is part of Frost & Sullivan’s global IoT & Digital Transformation Growth Partnership Service program.
