Internet of things (IOT), 3D printing, and biotech/healthcare IT are among the top technology trends to disrupt businesses.
The trio is among an increasing number of technologies gaining momentum, disrupting industries, and enabling new business models.
This is according to the KPMG Global Technology Innovation Survey 2014, which seeks to identify disruptive technologies, barriers to tech innovation adoption, and the scope of business disruption and new monetisation opportunities driven by emerging technologies.
KPMG surveyed 768 technology business leaders globally, including C-level executives (70% of respondents) from technology industry start-ups, mid-sized to large enterprises, venture capital firms and angel investors.
3D printing, IOT, and biotech/ healthcare IT were each selected by more than twice as many respondents as last year to move up the survey's list of disruptive technologies, says KPMG in a statement.
These disruptive technologies are expected to transform enterprises and enable indispensable consumer technologies, it adds.
"The rapid rise of this portfolio of technologies is driven by several factors, ranging from macro-economic opportunities to local incentives and a growing global tech innovation engine that is creating more rapid widespread disruption," says Gary Matuszak, global chairman of technology, media and telecommunications at KPMG.
The interplay of these emerging technologies is enabling new business models and fuelling innovation in many industries, he adds.
In the study, 20% of leaders globally believed retail or intelligent shopping has the greatest potential to generate revenue as a result of adoption of IOT.
Also, IOT and its applications is one example of a mobile-driven growth opportunity.
Global executives are increasingly seeing mobile technologies and mobile applications as an engine of growth and profitability, says Brad Fisher, KPMG's data and analytics leader.
The vast increase in the amount of data coming from mobile devices is driving the development of advanced analytics applications, he adds.
The survey states the biggest challenge to innovation and commercialisation is restrictive regulatory policies.
In SA, the pending implementation of the Protection of Personal Information Act - which protects the privacy and personal information of consumers within organisations - may present challenges to tech businesses once implemented, says Frank Rizzo, data and analytics lead for KPMG SA.
The respondents were from the Americas (25%), 47% in Asia Pacific, 28% in Europe, Middle East and Africa, 17% from the US and 14% from China.
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