Trends Identified
Blockchain
A blockchain is a form of exchange that is permanent and transparent between parties, which does not rely on a central authority (Mulligan, 2017). The premise of the exchange is that each party on a blockchain has access and means to verify the entire database. Further, all transactions are visibly recorded across a distributed peer-to-peer network (Mainelli, 2017). Applications include the following: (a) “Smart contracts”25 are a form of a trusted third party which can automate transactions such as licencing, revenue collection and social transfers, significantly lowering costs. (b) approximately 1.5 billion people who lack it, which would otherwise leave them vulnerable to legal, political, social and economic exclusion.26 Blockchain has been used in identity management, which aids in validating individual identities. For example, Estonia offers citizens a digital identity card based on blockchain, which allows citizens to access public, financial and social services, as well as pay taxes.27 (c) Blockchain is increasingly being used in land and property registration, to validate government related property transactions, reduce paperwork and potentially to reduce property fraud. Examples of countries that are using blockchain for land registration are Ghana,28 Georgia and Sweden.29 (d) Blockchain has been piloted with WFP30 through a humanitarian aid project of cash and food assistance transactions in Jordanian and Syrian refugee camps. The aims are to reduce overhead, improve security and speed up aid in remote areas. (e) In trade finance, which is characterized by many stakeholders and largely paper-based documentation, blockchain can simplify processes, reduce settlement times, errors, fraud and disputes, and increase trust between all parties to a transaction. A group of banks has partnered with blockchain service provider IBM on implementing a new blockchain-based global system for trade finance. Similarly, IBM has teamed with another set of banks to build and host a new blockchain-based system for providing SMEs with trade finance.
2018
Technology and Innovation Report 2018
UNCTAD
AI is the new UI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is about to become a company’s digital spokesperson. Moving beyond a back-end tool for the enterprise, AI is taking on more sophisticated roles within technology interfaces. From autonomous driving vehicles that use computer vision, to live translations made possible by artificial neural networks, AI is making every interface both simple and smart – and setting a high bar for how future interactions will work. It will act as the face of a company’s digital brand and a key differentiator – and become a core competency demanding of C-level investment and strategy.
2017
Technology vision 2017, amplify you
Accenture
Ecosystem power plays
Companies are increasingly integrating their core business functionalities with third parties and their platforms. But rather than treat them like partnerships of old, forward-thinking leaders leverage these relationships to build their role in new digital ecosystems – instrumental to unlocking their next waves of strategic growth. As they do, they’re designing future value chains that will transform their businesses, products, and even the market itself.
2017
Technology vision 2017, amplify you
Accenture
Workforce marketplace
The future of work has already arrived, and digital leaders are fundamentally reinventing their workforces. Driven by a surge of on-demand labor platforms and online work management solutions, legacy models and hierarchies are being dissolved and replaced with open talent marketplaces. This resulting on-demand enterprise will be key to the rapid innovation and organizational changes that companies need to transform themselves into truly digital businesses.
2017
Technology vision 2017, amplify you
Accenture
Design for humans
What if technology adapted to people? The new frontier of digital experiences is technology designed specifically for individual human behavior. Business leaders recognize that as technology shrinks the gap between effective human and machine cooperation, accounting for unique human behavior expands not only the quality of experience, but also the effectiveness of technology solutions. This shift is transforming traditional personalized relationships into something much more valuable: partnerships.
2017
Technology vision 2017, amplify you
Accenture
The uncharted
Businesses are not just creating new products and services; they’re shaping new digital industries. From technology standards, to ethical norms, to government mandates, in an ecosystem-driven digital economy, one thing is clear: a wide scope of rules still needs to be defined. To fulfil their digital ambitions, companies must take on a leadership role to help shape the new rules of the game. Those who take the lead will find a place at or near the center of their new ecosystem, while those who don’t risk being left behind.
2017
Technology vision 2017, amplify you
Accenture
3D printing for development
The current ‘tipping point’ moment, where 3d printing is ‘coming of age as a manufacturing technique’ and is considered to be the cornerstone of a decentralised manufacturing revolution.
2016
Ten Frontier Technologies for International Development
Institute of Development Studies (IDS)
Collaborative economy tools
Collaborative economy tools leverage the power of social networks and technology to promote new models of consumption, novel employment and income generation opportunities.
2016
Ten Frontier Technologies for International Development
Institute of Development Studies (IDS)
Alternative internet delivery
Affordable access to the internet remains one of the major challenges to getting more poor people online. The poorest people in the least developed countries pay more for internet access than citizens in developed countries in absolute and relative terms.
2016
Ten Frontier Technologies for International Development
Institute of Development Studies (IDS)
Internet of things
The internet of things (ioT) provides the opportunity to radically improve the efficiency of all kinds of public sector, business and community processes and infrastructure, thanks to a growing network of low-cost sensors, actuators, and data communications technology embedded in physical objects
2016
Ten Frontier Technologies for International Development
Institute of Development Studies (IDS)