Upcoming Technology Trends
IT strategy firm Accenture’s annual report technology vision shows that rapid technological advances are empowering intelligent companies but require a drastic change in leadership. Rapid advances in, for example, artificial intelligence have created new intelligent organizations, which use technology to blur the lines between businesses and individuals. That’s according to Accenture’s report, which predicts the most important technology trends for businesses over the next three years.
According to them, in order to successfully take advantage of the growth opportunities that new technology brings, and at the same time have a positive impact on society, a new type of leadership is required that prioritizes trust and responsibility. This year’s report focuses on how rapid technological advances in areas such as artificial intelligence, advanced analytics and cloud storage have enabled companies to not only create innovative products and services, but actually change the way we live and work.
This, in turn, will change the relationship between companies, their customers and partners. Part of technology vision is based on a survey of roughly 6,300 managers and IT managers. The survey shows that 84 percent of the respondents believe that companies have become an increasingly large part of people’s everyday lives.
A concrete example of this phenomenon is amazon. Through its large online presence, the smart speaker echo and the AI assistant alexa, it has been fully integrated into people’s everyday lives. Today, special storage cabinets with smart locking systems from amazon are being built into apartments in the united states so that amazon can access the apartments and deliver goods to the home of the apartment owner regardless of whether they are at home or not.
Responsible for the business area advanced technology and architecture at accenture states that today technology permeates all parts of our everyday life, and has transformed large parts of society. In the same way that people’s lives changed when electricity came, the world today is being drastically changed by new digital innovations. It also means that the companies behind these innovations must change. This change requires a new kind of leadership that is based on people’s trust and thus also their willingness to share personal data, he says.
The report also shows that today’s technological transformation is unique compared to other historical changes: for the first time, a change of this kind is based on two-way communication. People not only use the companies’ products and services, they also contribute their own information. This type of integrated innovation and trust from consumers requires a deeper relationship between people and companies. A relationship where people can identify with the company’s goals and values, and not just with the product. This also entails greater responsibility for companies’ responsibilities towards consumers, business partners and society at large.
