Each and every year, industries around the world are shaken up by new and innovative technologies that can disrupt their business activity in ways they may never have predicted beforehand. Technology is a huge part of our everyday lives; we use smartphones, we wake up to digital alarms, we cook, we use a vacuum and so much more, so it’s no surprise that businesses are facing just as much disruption and improvement as we all do in our everyday lives. The question, however, is just what technology trends there are to watch and how they’re affecting the industry. Here, we’re exploring some of today’s biggest and best disruptive trends in business.
Digital Labour
‘Digital Labour’ technologies refer to any new innovations that affect and improve the world of work. As of late, these have been coming in the form of automation, and some of the ones to watch are as follows:
Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
RPA refers to the replacement of humans in what would otherwise have been a manual task, and replacing them with automated, robotic machines instead. The idea behind automation is that there is no need for manual intervention or tinkering. Instead, the underlying technology will be in charge of each process the robot completes and as a result, what would have been a laborious, intensive task can be done much faster and without the need for aching limbs or the potential for human error. As a result, supply chains and general business processes could benefit from an increase in speed and efficiency.
Machine Intelligence
Machine intelligence is essentially a much more sophisticated version of RPA. The increase in artificial intelligence understanding and development means that we can provide machines with the ability to deliver better perception, decision-making capabilities, reasoning, language processing, self-learning, pattern recognition and much more.Rapid adoption of this technology is becoming more and more widespread, and could disrupt how businesses complete their day to day activity on a huge scale.
Digital Experience
Life is all about experiences, and technology is making our digital experiences so much more valuable and immersive. Whether it’s our smartphones, our gaming style or how we get work done, there is plenty to be said about disruptive technologies that relate to experience. Here are just a few:
Mobile And Social Media
With smartphones, wearable technology and social media all at the forefront of consumer-related content, it’s no surprise that businesses are having to rapidly adapt to make up for this. Meeting consumer demand is more important than ever before, and they are demanding more seamless mobile and social media integration from their brands. Whether it’s following their favourites on the likes of Facebook and Twitter, or a fully functional and easy-to-use app with online connection, mobile has never been so important.
Peer-To-Peer Technologies
Every industry from the consumer-focused retail, to multimedia are all benefiting from a brand new focus on peer-to-peer technology. User experience is vital no matter the business or their target audience, and the likes of collaboration technologies, better design techniques and, once again, social media are all bending over backwards to ensure that this is used to its full potential.
Virtual And Augmented Reality
2017 saw a true take off of the virtual reality technology. The gaming industry in particular have benefited from the commercialisation of VR, with the likes of Sony and Microsoft all bringing out brand new devices to cater for this disruptive demand. What’s more, whether you were an avid player of not, Pokémon Go’s ongoing success is the prime example of how big of an effect augmented reality can have on any particular industry.
Digital Information
Information has become a huge part of our lives, and rightly so. Businesses and consumers alike are all living with a constant want for more information, whether it’s about our online orders, our everyday interests or our everyday lives. Of course, technological innovation is shaking this up too, and this is how:
Analytics
Businesses run off information. From warehouses to your average office, knowing the ins and outs of how your business runs and how it’s doing is vital for ensuring that you’re doing the right work and focusing on the right areas. Predictive technologies are making it easier to create models, predict potential problems before they can become a problem, and are enabling a more proactive approach to everyday business activity.
Internet of Things (IoT)
The Internet of Things (or IoT) is the name given to the vastly expanding industry of sensors, machine intelligence, actuators and plenty more. This particular area of technology is one that is being picked up on a constant basis, with even the likes of mobile giant Verizon setting about developing new products based around this.
Digital Ledger
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, it’s likely that you’ve heard of the term Bitcoin, but the blockchain technology it works off of is still a mystery to most. However, it’s this technology in particular that could prove to be the most disruptive of all, especially where our financial industries are concerned. Bitcoin is constantly in the news nowadays, but the blockchain technology behind it is working its way into our everyday lives more than we know.
Blockchain is a shared and transparent ledger-like process that enables the sharing of information that can’t be edited or altered. It’s this that makes it practically impossible to infiltrate or corrupt. With thousands, if not millions of computers worldwide having access to and hosting a blockchain, hackers would need to infiltrate each and every computer to even begin corrupting the information there. This kind of security and technology could transform the way we do banking in the future, whether via digital or fiat currencies!
Digital Infrastructure
Cloud services are something that have been around for a while now, but very few truly understand the purpose and functioning of them.According to Microsoft, cloud computing is “the delivery of computing services… over the internet.” This can include servicers, data, storage, networking, software, analytics and plenty more. This kind of technology is making it easier for businesses to share information across the company and have a backed up version of any documents that may need to be accessed by more than a single person. Not to mention, ‘Cloud’ technology is even proving to be the platform of choice for businesses when it comes to the new emerging business strategies, so it is certainly one to watch in the coming years.
Technology is constantly changing, and as a result, so are business processes. Efficiency, speed and security are all paramount in any business, and new innovative technologies are proving to aid growth and development in each and every one of these areas. How extensive this growth will prove to be has yet to be seen, but whatever the case, it looks to be an exciting journey to follow.
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