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Significant technology changes in the next 3 years

Sibahle Malinga
By Sibahle Malinga, ITWeb senior news journalist.
Johannesburg, 27 Jan 2017
As technology transforms the way we work and live, it raises important societal challenges and creates new opportunities, says Accenture's Dr. Roze Phillips
As technology transforms the way we work and live, it raises important societal challenges and creates new opportunities, says Accenture's Dr. Roze Phillips

The pace of technology change is breathtaking, bringing about the biggest advancements since the dawn of the Information Age.

This was the word from Dr Roze Phillips, MD for Accenture Consulting, unpacking the findings of the Accenture Technology Vision 2017, the annual technology report from Accenture that predicts the most significant technology trends that people will apply to disrupt business over the next three years.

Speaking in Johannesburg yesterday, Phillips said as technology transforms the way we work and live, it raises important societal challenges and creates new opportunities. Ultimately, people are in control of creating the changes that will affect our lives, and she is optimistic that responsible leaders will ensure the positive impact of new technologies.

As part of the Technology Vision 2017 report, Accenture surveyed more than 5 400 business and IT executives worldwide. Nearly nine in 10 respondents (86%) said that while individual technologies are rapidly advancing, it is the multiplier effect of these technologies that is creating innovation breakthroughs.

The Technology Vision report identifies five emerging technology trends that are essential to business success in today's digital economy namely: Artificial intelligence (AI) is the new user interface (UI), Design for Humans, Ecosystems as Macrocosms, Workforce Marketplace, and The Uncharted territory.

Discussing the trends, Rory Moore, innovation lead at Accenture, said AI is coming of age, tackling problems both big and small by making interactions simple and smart.

"AI is becoming the new UI, underpinning the way we transact and interact with systems. Seventy-nine percent of survey respondents agree that AI will revolutionise the way they gain information from and interact with customers. Technology design decisions are being made by humans, for humans. Technology adapts to how we behave and learns from us to enhance our lives, making them richer and more fulfilling," explained Moore.

Eighty percent of executives surveyed, he added, agree that organisations need to understand not only where people are today, but also where they want to be - and shape technology to act as their guide to realise desired outcomes.

Discussing the growing trend of ecosystems being used as macrocosms, Hans Zachar, MD of Technology Strategy at Accenture, said platform companies that provide a single point of access to multiple services have broken the rules for how companies operate and compete.

"Companies don't just need a platform strategy; they need a rich and robust ecosystem approach to lead in this new era of intelligence. Already, more than one quarter (27%) of executives surveyed reported that digital ecosystems are transforming the way their organisations deliver value," he asserted.

To succeed in today's ecosystem-driven digital economy, Zachar pointed out that businesses must delve into uncharted territory.

"Instead of focusing solely on introducing new products and services, they should think much bigger - seizing opportunities to establish rules and standards for entirely new industries. In fact, 74% of the executives surveyed said that their organisations are entering entirely new digital industries that have yet to be defined," he explained.

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