Analysts from Deloitte have released their forecasts of what they believe to be the most important technology trends over the next 12 months. To do this, they placed key trends such as machine learning, cloud computing, and blockchain in the dynamically changing industry context they fit in, with the goal of focusing on actual use cases rather than high-level technological concepts.
Forbes had the opportunity to review the selection using the main futurist by Deloitte, Mike Bechtel, to understand how these trends will impact our lives in 2023 and beyond.
The Metaverse
Anticipating the impact the much-discussed metaverse will have on our lives, the Deloitte report focuses on the concept of the “immersive enterprise internet”.
The true value of the metaverse, the report says, will lie in the new business models it enables. They explain that this will happen as part of natural progress towards simpler ways of interacting with machines. This development began with punch cards, the operation of which literally required an understanding of advanced mathematics and the basic mechanics of computing. Iterative advancements such as icon-driven desktop interfaces and mobile touchscreens have enabled more intuitive interactions to get us where we are today, at the dawn of an era of worlds and immersive virtual experiences.
Mr. Bechtel says, “What we’re starting to see with the Metaverse is that we’re ready for a new chapter of the World Wide Web… Think of it, perhaps, as an immersive Internet.”
As with previous iterations of the Internet, those who engage are roughly divided into three groups. There are the “promoters” who simply want a website as a big business card New age simply “Call us”. Then there are those who are using technology to add new ways to interact with their customers – Mr. Betchel cites the example of a food company adding menus and online ordering to its website. Finally, there are the true pioneers who use new technologies to bring entirely new business models and products to market – the equivalent of hyperscalers which have become the web giants of the internet age.
artificial intelligence
According to Deloitte, the main trend in artificial intelligence in 2023 will be trust. In particular, “learn to trust our fellow robots”.
Businesses must answer key questions as machines move from “computing” tasks like running spreadsheets to a new realm of cognitive decision-making tasks. According to Deloitte, companies and organizations will increasingly recognize their success or failure by the extent to which they trust intelligent, self-learning machines and algorithms.
The report states: “As algorithms take on probabilistic tasks such as object recognition, speech recognition, and image and text generation, the actual impact of AI applications may depend on the extent to which their human counterparts understand and approve of what they are doing”.
In many ways, achieving the required level of trust will likely depend on how transparent and explainable the AI itself can become. It’s not controversial to say that technology today is something of a “black box” – often we just don’t understand how it works. Overcoming this problem will likely be a critical step towards developing an AI that everyone can treat as a trusted peer.
cloud computing
For many organizations, the cloud space in 2023 will be firmly focused on “taming the chaos of the cloud”. This will happen as we strive to master the increasingly complex ecosystems of public, private, hybrid and multi-cloud solutions that make up the average enterprise’s technology stack. According to Deloitte, 85% of companies use at least two cloud computing platforms and 25% use up to five. While this heterogeneous mix of tools and platforms often provides all the flexibility and options we need, it can result in companies not realizing all the benefits available to them and incurring unnecessary costs.
Mike Bechtel told us he likes to use an analogy from the days when cable was cut to get away from cable TV services.
“Remember the early days of streaming? The value proposition was to lower your bill and get most of what you wanted in this simple new interface. Well, if you think about the last decade of the streaming revolution, you’ve had two streaming services, then four, then eight. It’s confusing and I wish TV was as easy as it used to be… The cost arbitrage has gone down because the added cost of all these streaming services is almost as much as the big cable bill! »
The solution, according to Deloitte’s report, is an “abstraction and automation layer” that sits on top of the convoluted cloud ecosystem and delivers the big picture in the form of dashboards and unified control panels – a solution sometimes dubbed the “supercloud” or “supercloud ” referred to as. Sky Computing”. It is delivered according to a paradigm the report describes as “simplicity as a service”.
The Skills Gap
A problem that affects companies of all industries, but no more than those that rely on the coveted STEM skills. To counteract this problem, the Deloitte report suggests that successful companies will rely on “flexibility – the best skill”.
That means they focus on cultivating and developing the talent they already have in-house, rather than engaging in stiff competition to attract scarce and expensive external technology talent. The report points out that the talent and innovation resources companies need to thrive in today’s markets do not necessarily reside in top external positions with decades of industry experience and advanced degrees from prestigious universities. “Don’t compete when you can be creative,” is the advice in the report, which seems very reasonable.
Shouldn’t we be worried that as soon as we spend enormous sums on retraining and upskilling, our employees will be poached by the competition? Not at all – actually we should be happy about it, because it shows that we are investing properly in people. The answer is to invest at the same time to ensure that the work they do is so rewarding that they just don’t want to leave.
decentralized systems
Of all the emerging tech trends, blockchain — the decentralized, encrypted database platform that underpins cryptocurrencies like bitcoin — probably has the biggest image problem, Bechtel concedes. Created anonymously over a decade ago, its most successful application to date has been to create new markets and payment methods for illegal substances on the “dark web”. It is therefore difficult for many to understand why all companies, from Silicon Valley to Singapore, are investing heavily in this technology. Basically, the goal of this research is to find ways to remove trust in digital transactions involving multiple entities. In 2023 we will enter a new phase of this research, Deloitte proposes.
Mike Bechtel gave examples of real-world problems that can be solved by implementing distributed, trusted database solutions, such as a government-led initiative trying to build systems to record vaccination records for Covid-19, and a cocoa farmer in Africa trying to eliminate child labor from the Eliminating the product supply chain, and a jeweler faced with the need to compete with synthetic diamond manufacturers while proving their own stones are not conflict diamonds.
Modernization of the central computer
After all, in 2023, in the midst of the cloud computing and mobile computing era, we might be a little surprised to find the word “mainframe” in a list of the hottest and newest technology trends. !
But it’s a constant effort to connect existing hardware – like the venerable mainframe platforms of yesteryear – with new technologies. “Instead of ripping out and replacing outdated core systems, companies are increasingly looking to connect them to emerging technologies using innovative new connectors so that each system family can do what it does best, better,” the report states.
An example is that of the Israeli health service provider Meuhedet, which relies on its established central systems for recording and storing patient data simply because it has always worked well and sees no need for replacement.
However, much newer and emerging technologies such as cloud, web services, machine learning algorithms, and big data dashboards can be applied to make systems much more feature-rich, user-friendly, and valuable. This is increasingly happening through AI-supported middleware solutions and microservices. Another example was BMW’s acquisition of Nvidia’s Omniverse platform, which allowed the company to leverage the efficiencies of aging manufacturing infrastructure at its UK manufacturing facility and convert it to support vehicle production.
Article translated by Forbes US – Author: Bernard Marr
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