Trends Identified
Robotics
Robots are machines with enhanced sensing, control, and intelligence used to automate, augment, or assist human activities. The robot market, which has grown for industrial applications, is poised for growth in a broad range of services applications. These applications are transforming manufacturing and non-manufacturing operations with new capabilities that address the challenges of working in changing, uncertain, and uncontrolled environments, such as alongside humans without being a danger to them.
2017
The Essential Eight - Your guide to the emerging technologies revolutionizing business now
PWC
Robot dexterity
Robots are teaching themselves to handle the physical world.For all the talk about machines taking jobs, industrial robots are still clumsy and inflexible. A robot can repeatedly pick up a component on an assembly line with amazing precision and without ever getting bored—but move the object half an inch, or replace it with something slightly different, and the machine will fumble ineptly or paw at thin air. But while a robot can’t yet be programmed to figure out how to grasp any object just by looking at it, as people do, it can now learn to manipulate the object on its own through virtual trial and error. One such project is Dactyl, a robot that taught itself to flip a toy building block in its fingers. Dactyl, which comes from the San Francisco nonprofit OpenAI, consists of an off-the-shelf robot hand surrounded by an array of lights and cameras. Using what’s known as reinforcement learning, neural-network software learns how to grasp and turn the block within a simulated environment before the hand tries it out for real. The software experiments, randomly at first, strengthening connections within the network over time as it gets closer to its goal. It usually isn’t possible to transfer that type of virtual practice to the real world, because things like friction or the varied properties of different materials are so difficult to simulate. The OpenAI team got around this by adding randomness to the virtual training, giving the robot a proxy for the messiness of reality. We’ll need further breakthroughs for robots to master the advanced dexterity needed in a real warehouse or factory. But if researchers can reliably employ this kind of learning, robots might eventually assemble our gadgets, load our dishwashers, and even help Grandma out of bed. —Will Knight
2019
10 Breakthrough Technologies 2019 - How we’ll invent the future, by Bill Gates
MIT Technology Review
Automation
Robots in manufacturing go back to the 1960s. Now it's the scale and breadth of the transformation that automated systems make possible, as a result of other advances in machine learning and connectivity, for example, that puts automation firmly at the forefront of technology trends. From convenient devices at home to industrial applications on a massive scale, automation will be a key focus of technological change, with potentially far-reaching economic and social consequences. Currently, professional services such as the legal and finance industry are being disrupted by automation with feedback from these sectors being that core technical skills together with management and people skills being more important than ever. How will automation disrupt your industry?
2019
Five tech trends for 2019
University of Technology Sydney
Autonomous robots
Robots will eventually interact with one another and work safely side by side with humans and learn from them. These robots will cost less and have a greater range of capabilities than those used in manufacturing today.
2015
Nine Technologies Transforming Industrial Production
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
Robotic Process Automation Ramps Up
RPA has, for many years, been used to automate very simple, repetitive business tasks. However, owing to advances in machine learning algorithm modelling, RPA software systems can be trained to automate a wider set of tasks than ever before. This effectively enables a workforce of software agents to manage dynamic data inputs. Previous processes to automate a task involved creating APIs for third parties that can enable the creation of physical actions to execute. In contrast, RPA systems leverage the application’s Graphics User Interface to observe and then mimic the process through robotics. This level of automation can deliver a new degree of efficiency as tasks that were typically time consuming and repetitive, which could thus be automated. Introducing it will also reduce costs and minimise operational errors in business practices. However, its biggest strength lies in its ability to leverage existing systems, rather than requiring a complete overhaul of existing infrastructure. Juniper expects that the public sector will find the greatest benefits from RPA – providing time and cost saving efficiencies that will enable public bodies to offer citizen-centric services. With industries such as manufacturing and financial services investing in RPA solutions, key development focus will be towards more effective machine learning algorithms to increase automation levels. This is in addition to machine learning as a mechanism for defending against new security vulnerabilities introduced by RPA as a result of agents’ ability to access and process across multiple systems. SAP announced their intention to push AI and cloud-based RPA services in late 2018; joining incumbent players including Automation Anywhere, OpenSpan and Blue Prism. Juniper anticipates that in 2019, we will see a number of service providers continuing to invest in AI-based RPA services; releasing solutions that will further drive down cost of adoption. . Related Research: Banking Automation & Roboadvisors: Cost Analyses, Impacts & Opportunities 2018-2022
2019
Top Tech trends 2019
Juniper Research
The End of the “Death of ERP”
Rumors of ERP’s death have been greatly exaggerated Every few years we see headlines with proclamations of ERP’s imminent demise. Similar to the long-rumored “death of COBOL,” the noise could continue for decades. Part of the problem starts with the name ERP itself. In the current world, the more proper description is probably Enterprise Applications. Enterprise resource planning harkens to a time when integrated financials and payroll were first being linked to production planning and inventory controls. Over the years, however, the impact of enterprise application players like SAP and Oracle has grown substantially, well beyond automating core back-office processes. This growth was achieved first by tackling the front-office functions like customer service, sales and procurement; then by adding workflow and reporting; and finally by refactoring platforms for better integration. Throughout this evolution, the underlying problem has remained the same: allowing large, complicated organizations to profit from standardized business processes and standardized data.
2011
Tech Trends 2011 The natural convergence of business and IT
Deloitte
Space based services
Satellite navigation, Earth observation, telecommunication satellites are giving rise to an increasing number of services down on Earth. These services are pervading the daily life of citizens at unprecedented levels and will continue to do so.
2015
Preparing the Commission for future opportunities - Foresight network fiches 2030
European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS)
The Rise of Messaging
Say hello to a new age of conversation with Facebook Messenger.
2018
Most contagious report 2018
Contagious
IT worker of the future - A new breed
Scarcity of technical talent is a significant concern across many industries, with some organizations facing talent gaps along multiple fronts. The legacy-skilled workforce is retiring, and organizations are scrambling for needed skills in the latest emerging, disruptive technologies. To tackle these challenges, companies will likely need to cultivate a new species—the IT worker of the future—with habits, incentives, and skills that are inherently different from those in play today.
2015
Tech trends 2015 - The fusion of business and IT
Deloitte
Scarcity
Scarcity the unsustainable consumption of our natural resources.Middle class angst: Propelled by growth, urbanization, and a concentration of wealth, a global middle class has emerged with varying sets of values and needs. This group still faces significant barriers in the way of economic resources and a result of wealth inequities, and a pervasive frustration has emerged with the social status quo. Innovation: Scarcity is a tale often told which results in negative consequences but in the case of technology, the scarcity of resources is prompting new and innovative ways of managing, saving, and in some cases creating new resources to mitigate growing challenges. Innovation prizes are offered to teams who can come up with unique solutions to societal challenges (e.g., Water XPRIZE). Sustainability: The limitation of natural resources has led to a significant focus on environmental sustainability, resulting in the rise of new markets, an active lobbyist and political base, and renewed efforts in social responsibility. “Going green” has become a business strategy, and new players specifically targeting environmental concerns have risen in prominence. Consumer watchdog groups such as Greenpeace continue to lobby for change. Qualitative growth: In a market-driven economy, growth is often synonymous with progress and high performance. However, unbridled growth over the past several decades has placed a high toll on our resources and capacity, necessitating more efficient and quality-oriented means of production in order to sustain current levels of consumption. Wealth distribution: As families continue to pull themselves out of the global recession, the stark truth remains that the socioeconomic order has tilted further towards inequity as 1% of the population is now as rich as the rest of the world combined. As the rich have grown richer and the poor have grown poorer, a new global middle class has emerged with a new set of values and priorities which now dictate political discourse. Politicians’ platforms globally contain policies and proposals to affect the inequities in wealth.
2017
Beyond the Noise- The Megatrends of Tomorrow’s World
Deloitte