DailyPost 551
DIGITAL DIVIDE : The Changing Landscape.
The digital divide as has been conventionally understood between the use or lack of it, moves on to a different level with cutting edge digital technologies. The Digital Divide now is the divide of the usage of high end technology or not. The differentiators are fast emerging technologies Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things & Blockchain Technology between the haves & have nots of the Digital World. These technologies are increasing efficiency& making businesses more customer friendly.
The three technologies have vibrant research activity happening not limited to academic papers & patents. The second indicator is the potential commercial momentum& use cases that provide end users with value. The commercial values can be gauged for IPOs / ICOs & mergers. Research vibrancy & commercial vitality are critical indicators.
Big Data continues to fuel more research than Cloud & Mobility and feeds heavily into the market leader technology of the day, Artificial Intelligence or AI. Investors poured in $15.2 billion globally, 141% jump in AI start-ups in 2017. BCG & Sloan Management Review assessed companies in AI ambitions & efforts and found a large gap between AI ambition & reality. 23% of the companies incorporated AI in their processes & offerings while another 23% have kick-started pilots. * A paradigm shift from consumer friendly to customer delight*.
Internet of Things, IoT, matured with inexpensive sensors to convert analogue to digital, reliable network & intelligent analytics. Full stack coming together facilitated IoT. Likely incremental spend by 2020 would be $250 billion. 50% of likely spend would be in manufacturing & logistics. Blockchain makes possible issue & transfer assets in the virtual world by using the distributed ledger to record ownership & its continuity. It’s out of the Crypto currency mode & stands tall on its own feet as an Internet of Value. The speed of transactions & high energy consumption are the pull factors.
TODAY’s DIGITAL DIVIDE HINGES ON THE USAGE OF AI, IoT & BLOCKCHAIN.
Sanjay Sahay