Artificial intelligence (AI), smart Internet of things (IOT), virtual reality (VR) and 5G are among the trends expected to drive a new era of intelligent transformation in 2019 and beyond.
This new era requires businesses to create a strong technology-focused foundation that supports transformative capabilities.
This is according to Alan Browning, hyper-converged system expert, at Lenovo Data Centre Group META, speaking this week at the Lenovo Transform event in Johannesburg.
Discussing technology trends expected to shape the future of business, Browning explained that a new era of intelligent transformation is dawning, forcing global enterprises to reinvent and restructure their entire system of production, management and governance.
Large organisations, he pointed out, should better position themselves in order to thrive, through intelligent use of AI, smart IOT, 5G, cloud computing, VR and augmented reality (AR).
"The year 2019 will bring an evolution of change which will require new skill sets, technologies, alignments and business models," explained Browning.
"It's no longer enough for tech companies to provide smartphones, laptops, servers, storage and networking products and then step aside. Their value comes in helping their customers pull it all together, in providing an intelligent holistic vision of a world that is not only connected but smart."
AI defines the future
As voice and gesture-controlled technologies come to the fore, we will see an era of ambient computing emerge, said Browning. This vision will be defined and enriched by advances in AI, speech recognition, machine learning and cloud computing.
"As Lenovo, we prefer to talk about the AI concept as augmented intelligence, which is not computers taking over the jobs of human beings, but rather how humans interact with computers to gain the capability to do their jobs better.
"AI will be used more for building autonomous infrastructure, instead of replacing redundant infrastructure in business. This becomes key in having less downtime. Data scientists will be crucial for AI transformation because over 80% of data will become unstructured data in future. Therefore, the latest advancements like voice-activated assistants, self-driving cars and self-driving drones will form part of an ecosystem where they will start interacting with data consistently."
Smarter IOT
According to a report by IDC, annual spending on digital transformation initiatives in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa is predicted to surpass $38 billion by 2021, accelerated by the large-scale adoption of third-platform technologies such as cloud, big data analytics, AI, IOT, VR and AR.
The digital universe is doubling its size every two years and almost every device that humans interact with will have an Internet Protocol address and a sensor in it, generating massive amounts of data, explained Browning.
"By 2020, there will be 20 billion connected devices in the world, which will mainly be used as smart IOT systems: devices that can be turned into productive machines to provide useful information for humans. Companies that show leadership on this front and subscribe to this more sophisticated and broad approach will be the ones that lead the intelligent transformation era, while the rest will be left behind."
5G fuels the future
Browning believes 5G connectivity will be the fuel that enables new ways of working, making all the other future trends such as IOT, AI, VR and AR become scalable.
"5G, which is 10 times faster than 4G, is expected to revolutionise networks. 5G download speeds will transform how people engage with the world overnight. This breakthrough will help to mainstream innovations like smart wearables, gaming, home security, driverless cars and industrial intelligence.
"This technology will only be rolled out throughout SA by 2024 as there are a lot of complexities associated with rolling it out. When additional radio frequency spectrum earmarked for 5G networks is licensed in SA, cost will be a major factor. How much the telcos will buy that spectrum for, will determine how much consumers will pay for connectivity."
Beyond gaming
Jim Holland, country head at Lenovo Data Centre Group SA, explained that as hardware developers make AR and VR headsets more user-friendly, these technologies are expected to significantly reshape the future of business across a variety of industries.
"The impact of AR and VR on gaming continues to grab the headlines in the mainstream press. But shrewd observers know that the effect these fast-developing technologies are having on business, is nothing short of transformational.
"AR is causing disruptive transformation across industries. One such industry is the aviation sector, where airplane mechanics are using AR glasses to conduct training sessions remotely, giving step-by-step virtual guidance to less seasoned workers.
"In the healthcare sector, VR is showing some effective industry use-cases as well. One example is how a Utah-based cancer centre identifies melanoma in humans, by using AR head-mounted displays and AI glasses to better map mole progression."
For businesses to take advantage of these trends, they will need to invest in infrastructure that is open yet secure, flexible, and delivers speed and reliability, advised Browning.
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