Frost & Sullivan's five big technology predictions for 2016

Frost & Sullivan’s Audrey William, head of ICT Research, Australia & New Zealand shares her insights into the five big technology predictions into 2016.

Security will be the biggest issue in the ICT industry, driven by rapid adoption of cloud, mobility and the Internet of Things

As platforms become more open due to the rapid adoption of cloud, mobility and the Internet of Things technologies, security threats will rise, and this will become the single biggest issue to tackle in the ICT industry. The Ashley Madison incident was an example of how hackers broke into the company’s network and leaked customers’ personal information. The incident brought about greater awareness of cybersecurity threats amongst organisations. Cyber insurance will rise in the coming years. We will witness more insurance companies step in to offer cyber insurance policies that will offer more than just compensation and protection from liability in the event of a cyber attack.

In the home environment, as ‘smart home’ solutions increase in adoption, this will mean that users will use their mobile phones and tablets to control power, cooling, heating, lighting and security. By allowing one interface to control the various applications of the smart home, security challenges will be a big issue for industry players to grapple with.

Targeted attacks on computer industrial control systems (ICS) are the biggest threat to a nation’s critical infrastructure. Such attacks have the potential to bring down critical systems, which can then lead to damaging a customer’s brand and reputation. Many of the attacks in recent years on industrial control systems have not been publicised.

The examples above demonstrate how security attacks are getting more sophisticated and can eventually lead to costly consequences. In 2016, we will witness vendors and service providers acquire specialist security vendors or grow their own practices internally to tackle the diverse issues of security that will be impacting organisations.

The enterprise communications market will witness disruption from an emerging class of start-ups

Cloud and mobility are driving discussions around what the office of the future will look like. The use of the mobile devices will take greater precedence in the years to come. While it will still be compulsory or necessary for many organisations to have a desk phone, several organisations are eliminating the need for a desk phone. Microsoft’s Skype for Business is set to disrupt the traditional communications market. Although the traditional vendors still dominate in the voice market, Microsoft has started taking market share and, with the recent innovation to its Skype for Business platform, Frost & Sullivan expects them to be a greater disruptive force in the marketplace. We have also witnessed how well Microsoft has done with its Office 365 solution. Frost & Sullivan expects more companies to embrace Skype for Business as a replacement for its legacy communications platform. New start-ups such as Acano, Pexip and Slack are disrupting the traditional conferencing and collaboration market. Frost & Sullivan expects more start-ups to emerge, offering new ways of delivering voice, video, contact centre and collaboration capabilities to organisations by taking advantage of the cloud architecture and making the platforms more dynamic, collaborative and social in nature.

Increased use of sensors across various industries will lead to a tsunami of data, driving massive developments in big data

We are starting to see sensors being embedded in physical objects, ranging from medical devices and wearables to highways, cars, industrial machines and mobile phones — which are linked to very high-speed and powerful networks. The volumes of data generated will lead to a huge repository of data. In farming and agriculture, for instance, sensors can help gather information about the condition of the crops and humidity, which will eventually assist in understanding water and fertiliser requirements. In the healthcare segment, when doctors need to analyse the traces of a disease that could be arising within an individual, it could mean swallowing a pill that has a camera attached to the pill; these cameras, through sensors, can help doctors determine the cause of the disease or what should be done to prevent the condition from worsening. In smart city initiatives such as Songdo in South Korea, nearly every device, building or road is equipped with wireless sensors or microchips. The data generated will help the government make decisions about lighting, traffic, waste and other segments of a smart city initiative. All these examples point to what the future of big data will mean for organisations.

Smart machines will disrupt the marketplace

Smart machines, including drones, driverless vehicles and robots, are set to introduce efficient ways of delivering output. As costs pressures rise in developed economies and emerging economies, smart machines will negate the need for staff in certain segments of the business. Rio Tinto recently rolled out fully automated driverless trucks at two of its iron ore mines in the Pilbara in Western Australia. The company is also trialling driverless trains and will be deploying other technologies to cut costs. Wal-Mart Stores recently announced that it has applied to US regulators for permission to test drones for home delivery. Amazon was also trialling the use of drones for its online delivery business. The biggest challenge for the drone industry has been the ability for organisations to get approval from the respective aviation authorities. Robots are starting to be used in several Asian markets in hotels and restaurants to eliminate the need to have front desk staff or waiters. Toyota recently announced that it would be investing US$1 billion over the next five years to build Toyota Research Institute, a new company based in Silicon Valley focused on artificial intelligence and robotics. These recent developments point to a time when we will see how smart machines will be in widespread use across various industries — but while it will drive efficiencies and help reduce costs, it will also start having a negative impact on jobs.

Cognitive computing and artificial intelligence platforms to become big across industries

Cognitive computing is technology that attempts to mirror closely how the brain works, and is based on how humans make decisions. The computer systems do not follow a specific pattern or fixed programming protocol. The computer intelligently identifies patterns, thinking like a human brain. We can expect more cognitive computing platforms to bring about a new way of delivering services. We are starting to see that in health care, for example. Memorial Sloan Kettering clinicians are partnering with IBM to train Watson Oncology to interpret cancer patients’ clinical information and identify individualised, evidence-based treatment options for its patients. In business, we are starting to see contact centres using various technologies to create efficiencies such as cloud computing, self-service applications, web-based platforms and analytics. Last year IPsoft unveiled ‘Amelia’, which is an AI contact centre agent. Amelia is designed to think like a human and can help answer complex customer queries. While artificial intelligence solutions will gain in adoption, it is worth noting that the human element is still important, as not all services can be taken over by AI. Intelligent personal assistants are also making their way in the market with Facebook’s M and Baidu’s Duer. The battleground for intelligent personal assistants will increase, with nearly every large technology company investing in developing an intelligent personal assistant platform. Other popular solutions in this area that are vying for a share in the market include Siri, Cortana and Google Now. These platforms will offer a wide range of services, which include ordering a taxi, food, groceries and other online goods.