Technology is a powerful thing.
It can make our lives easier, transform the way we do business, and even connect people from thousands of miles away, all over the world. Companies throughout the world – particularly in some of the most technology-rich sectors – are constantly looking for new innovations that not only make them more appealing to their customers but help them to outshine their competitors too.
In a world where “digital transformation” is becoming more essential than ever to organisations who want to stay ahead of the curve, it’s important to remember that transforming a company is about more than simply implementing every new piece of tech you find. Today’s businesses need to evaluate the opportunities available to them and make decisions based on relevance, scalability, and security.
To help you get started, here are just some of the biggest technology trends that have been transforming our environment in 2017.
1. AI, Chatbots, and Machine Learning
Artificial intelligence is probably the hottest topic in tech right now. Over the last year or so, investment in AI has been ramping up, as more companies from Google to Amazon explore how the use of machine knowledge can transform the world as we know it. As we discover more solutions for AI accuracy, like natural language processing, deep learning, and neural networks, the potential of AI is becoming even more exciting.
Today, AI can be used to help companies sort through millions of pieces of data, within a fraction of the time it would take to process that information manually. Chatbots are enhancing customer experience, with some statistics suggesting that chatbots will be responsible for savings of over $8 billion per year by 2022.
The potential of AI is tremendous. We’re already seeing some of the possibilities today, in computers like IBM’s Watson that learns over time, and simple virtual assistants like Slackbot, Alexa, and Cortana. With the potential to access and use so much data in so little time, AI could potentially transform everything we know about the way businesses work – streamlining everything from customer service, to product development. It’s no wonder research predicts that it’ll be worth $5.5 billion by 2020.
2. The Arrival of Interactive Broadcasting
This year, we’ve seen a lot of buzz around the concept of “interactive broadcasting”, or live streaming. In fact, the chances are that you see several examples of this technology every day when you’re checking out your Facebook Live or Twitter Periscope feed. Though the tech has been popularised by social media, what most people don’t realise is that it has incredible potential for businesses too.
As connecting with modern customers becomes increasingly difficult, interactive broadcasting could open the door to a new level of experience for brands. 2017 could be the tipping point for this tech, which can give businesses the opportunity to share events with customers around the globe, deliver real-time product training to employees, and schedule interactive webinars for users.
Already, 46% of the population in China are using interactive broadcasting daily. The latest figures predict that the market in China alone will reach around $5 billion by the end of the year, just slightly short of the market for movies in the country.
3. Access to Big Data
For a while now, big data has been more of a buzzword than an actual strategy for businesses who want to take their company to the next level of digital transformation. This year, however, the concept of big data has become more accessible for everyone. New Services like “InsightSquared” are giving companies the chance to mine the information they need from tools that are already in use, like Zendesk and Google analytics. Organisations are leveraging data instantly to drive growth in their business.
As we move further into the future, the chances are that we’ll see more demand for big data solutions to be quicker, and more secure than ever before. Fortunately, with the advent of AI technology, managing the big data we collect as businesses should be simpler than ever.
