Trends Identified
Banking-as-a-Service Economy Emerges
Juniper expects the emergence of banking-as-a-service to be a key driving force in the world of finance in 2019. With PSD2 applicable as of January 2018, we expect 2019 to be the year that products based on the regulation’s open API requirements to have a significant effect on the market. Most particularly, this will enable new types of banking services to be offered by new players, who can handle the cross-platform requirements for banks unfamiliar with the technological requirements. The main opportunity here is for new technology-focused players to offer services across a wide range of new platforms. With compliance established in 2018, 2019 will see banks and technology players look beyond mere compliance and build on the opportunities the directive presents. The newer fintech start-ups stand to be the biggest beneficiaries of this development, as they can provide white-label services to a wide variety of financial institutions wanting to offer more services to customers. In time, this will extend to PaaS and SaaS providers more generally, as financial transactions becomes another form of secure data to transact through the cloud. As a result, we have seen Oracle among one of the early movers in this space; extending their cloud expertise into a new sector. This will also benefit banks, as it gives them more platforms through which to engage their customers. More types of product will give them a larger presence, and thus more ways to make their products more sticky to customers. However, the Open data requirements of PSD2 also means that consumers should benefit from increased competition as dedicated BaaS players emerge to serve customers, in the way that Monzo and other fintech companies have become prominent. Juniper expects that, while this movement has begun in Europe, later in 2019, other banking players will bring out BaaS services to customers. This will not be mandated, but a drive to increase competitive differentiation, and with the PSD2 as a de facto framework, a global BaaS market will form, although banks themselves will remain largely national. In tandem with this, we also expect IoT-based services to make an appearance in 2019. With several companies explicitly targeting this space already, it will become a key competitive benefit for several BaaS players. Related Research: Retail Banking: Digital Transformation & Disruptor Opportunities 2018-2022
2019
Top Tech trends 2019
Juniper Research
RCS Messaging to Contest Chatbots & OTT Business Platforms
RCS has undergone a significant transformation from previous iterations of the messaging technology. Support of RCS will continue to grow over 2019 – amongst both operators and handset vendors. At present, there are over 60 operators supporting the service globally – with more operators expected to announce their support in 2019. 2019 will shape up to be a crucial time for operators wishing to curb the migration of mobile messaging traffic to OTT messaging apps and chatbots. Accessibility and management of the service for brands will be provided by CPaaS vendors, leaving little to no investment needed into infrastructure from operators - just a flat fee to the CPaaS provider. Using RCS for business messaging, or application to person messaging, will provide new revenue streams if the technology is implemented correctly. As a result, this places increased pressure on these OTT messaging apps, their business platforms and in-app chatbots as brands gravitate to the superior capabilities and reach of RCS. As the reach of RCS increases so does the value proposition for its usage in contacting customers, thus increasing adoption of the service further. This will create a virtuous circle, in which the value of RCS only continues to increase. Thus, the timing of implementation is crucial, or operators risk losing A2P messaging traffic to other messaging services in addition to P2P traffic. We anticipate advertising and retail to be the first industries to adopt RCS messaging on a large scale; further encouraging a number of other industries to look into the service. Additionally, we can expect a large amount of focus of MWC 2019 to be on RCS, notably on the revenue potential that the technology will bring operators – and what role the technology will play in the wider CPaaS ecosystem. Related Research: Mobile Messaging: Operator Strategies & Vendor Opportunities 2018-2022
2019
Top Tech trends 2019
Juniper Research
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
Voice Assistants Become a Service-Led Market
The key opportunity here is for voice assistant providers and their partners to use the platforms to deliver a range of digital services. This follows the somewhat lacklustre uptake of voice commerce, and will provide a firmer basis for monetisation of a rapidly growing platform; Juniper expects 93 million smart speakers to be in use by the end of 2019, providing a large base for the use of these products. We expect these to be used in 9% of households worldwide by the end of 2019, reaching over 40% in some developed markets. While these devices have been rapidly adopted, they have not become the payment and commerce gateways some had hoped for. Instead, we expect vendors to turn to services as a means of monetising the platforms and further differentiate between voice assistant ecosystems, locking people into hardware. The biggest name in the market so far has been Amazon, and following the recent explosion in Echo devices, we expect the company to further differentiate between Echo and Alexa devices. This means that their own version of the voice assistant will become more appealing; forcing other manufacturers to compete by offering hardware-linked services in other areas, such as premium music subscriptions and other types of service. We expect software providers to benefit the most from this, as speaker hardware vendors will seek out premium deals to drive hardware sales; allowing the software providers to upsell existing users more easily. We also expect Amazon’s hardware sales to increase further, as difference between Echo and Alexa becomes more apparent, driving up sales throughout the year. As a result, Juniper expects more granular speaker-based services to be offered, both by software providers and speaker makers. Gating off content in this way will increase ecosystem lock-in and encourage further spending from smart speaker users. Related Research: Smart Audio Devices: Strategies & Forecasts 2017-2022
2019
Top Tech trends 2019
Juniper Research
Automotive OEMs to Disrupt Established Business Models
Telematics services is fast becoming ubiquitous within all new models of vehicles; owing to both automotive OEM efforts in inclusion and – in some regions – legislation mandating the technology’s inclusion. As the development of autonomous systems progresses, 2019 will be the year in which automotive OEMs begin to explore monetisation models beyond the initial sale of the vehicle. Given that 5G network launches are anticipated experience commercial launches in 2019 – the capabilities of vehicles are likely to increase further, enabling new services such as Vehicle-to-Everything. Juniper anticipates that growth of data from automotive services is anticipated to grow 700% over the next 5 years – driven by the increase in the number of vehicles that have access to connected car services and said emerging new services. However, the challenge of monetising this data remains for automotive OEMs – a challenge that must be considered in 2019 given said impending launches. In turn, we can expect these new business models to include leveraging subscription models for new services. Whilst we can exclude safety features, such as vehicle to vehicle from any subscription – as these will be offered for free – there are a number of consumer-oriented services that can be offered to consumers through the dashboard infotainment screen. Offering subscriptions will help prepare OEMs for the monetisation of autonomous vehicles including lessening the dependence on the vehicle ownership model. Juniper anticipates that the continuing rise of smart mobility services will continue to have an impact on how automotive OEMs plan future services, with the focus shifting to playing a role in smart mobility solutions. Additionally, the rising usage of MaaS (Mobility as a Service) will provide automotive OEMs with an opportunity to leverage their experience in the automotive sector to provide new solutions that require subscriptions for use of public vehicles. Related Research: Consumer Connected Cars: Telematics, InVehicle Apps & Connected Car Commerce 2018-2023
2019
Top Tech trends 2019
Juniper Research
Blockchain Moves into the Food Chain
Blockchain provides a tamper-proof way of tracking the source of foods. The indelible nature of the blockchain record, linked to technologies like RFID for automated tracking of food pallets and items, means that foods can be tracked and linked easily from place to place. The Blockchain record is intended to provide a single electronic point of reference for the whole food supply, from farm to processing to stores. The irrevocable process, tied to automation, can provide huge cost savings for the food tracking process, as well as making the food audit trail both digital and robust. We believe that 2019 will be the year this technology begins its worldwide roll-out; tracking around $150 million worth of food by the end of the year. We have also seen several pilot projects carried out and brought to satisfactory completion by a wide range of platform providers throughout 2018. 2019 will see the first deployment of these technologies at full commercial scale and used for producers. We expect solutions from IBM and Alibaba to be used next year, as well as a ramping up of deployments from IP Australia and the UK’s Food Standards Agency. Related Research: The Future of Blockchain: Key Vertical Opportunities & Deployment Strategies 2018-2030
2019
Top Tech trends 2019
Juniper Research
Loot Boxes to be Banned Across Europe & North America
Found in video games, loot boxes are in-game packs often gifted to players as a result of completing in-game tasks and achievements. Increasingly, these are made available to purchase with real-world currency. As this practice involves a degree of luck, cases are being made that this constitutes a form of gambling and public bodies have requested that it be regulated. Notable action has been taken in the Netherlands and Belgium against the game publisher, EA Sports, regarding their FIFA titles, in which loot boxes are a prevalent feature. The most pressing issue that law makers face is the ability for these services to be accessed by minors. Juniper Research believes that 2019 will be the year in which loot boxes are banned. This will leave games publishers with the task of developing and distributing game updates that remove this functionality with immediate effect. Related Research: The Future of Sports Content: Technologies, Broadcast Strategies & eSports 2018-2023
2019
Top Tech trends 2019
Juniper Research
Chatbots to Play Central Role in Insurance Claims Process
Chatbots aid insurance firms, and the finance industry, to offer personalised answers, give greater automation during claims processing and reduce response times. AI and machine learning enable the insurance industry to deliver high quality levels of customer satisfaction and engagement, as well as sell better tailored products to consumers. The costs saved by chatbots compared to implementing an insurance agent operation is the highest out of all chatbot verticals. However, the overarching issue when trying to implement chatbot technology is the highly stringent regulations of the insurance space. This slows down chatbot implementation, as a case to case regulatory screening on products will need to be carried out before application of any insurance bots. However, Juniper sees 2019 as the year in which chatbots come of age in the insurance sector for the following reasons: · The insurance claims process is particularly vulnerable to disruption, as it is a process that requires significant amounts of time and manual effort to resolve. Chatbot technology allows for a significant reduction in response times to insurance claims. · The insurance industry is very data-centric; it holds large and significant sums of information which presents a strong case for the use of efficiently programmed bots to identify trends and conduct repeated related actions when presented with certain keywords, questions or phrases. · Chatbots deliver personalised responses (to common customer insurance claims made via email and/or telephone) in real-time, based on programmed algorithms; allowing greater automation throughout their processing of claims. · Chatbots have been identified by the insurance industry as useful in helping to deliver high quality levels of customer engagement and satisfaction via real time engagement with customers while processing their insurance claims. Already, leading peer-to-peer Insurtech start-up, Lemonade, has leveraged chatbots for account openings and claims since its launch in 2017, reaching a user base of 70,000 in just one year of launch. Chatbots have helped it cut down lengthy paperwork and great numbers of unhappy customers, who had to wait months before having their insurance claims investigated. Related Research: Chatbots: Banking, eCommerce, Retail & Healthcare 2018-2023
2019
Top Tech trends 2019
Juniper Research
Wireless Charging Market Moves Up a Gear
With Apple supporting Qi, the wireless charging standards war is over for smartphones. With smartphones across both major operating systems now supporting Qi, businesses can invest in wireless charging provision without the risk of leaving out a key demographic.
2018
Top Tech trends 2018
Juniper Research
Smart Toys Educating the Masses
An emerging focus on coding provides mass market opportunities. Big toy makers moving to offer coding on all smart toys as a USP.
2018
Top Tech trends 2018
Juniper Research