15 Jun Intelligent World of 2025
Unprecedented growth is in the future as we move towards a more intelligent world. Omnipresent sensing, high-speed connections and the communication of knowledge will be drivers in the way we interact with each other, as businesses, as global citizens and within cities across the world. Data will become an inexhaustible resource. Intelligence will decide how the value of data is transformed and delivered. Connections will carry massive lots of data and enable the exchange of data and smart value creation. The digital world is (not so slowly) being integrated to every person, home, organization, and city, having a revolutionary impact on life, business and society.
Increasingly inexpensive and capable mobile computing devices combined with internet connectivity of the cloud is estimated to have a massive impact on both the global economy and a large wide range of day to day activities. The integration of the internet of things (IoT), cloud computing, artificial intelligence among other technologies will combine to create business rules that make data-based decisions on people, things, energy, funds, and regulations. The platforms will create enormous potential and value for industries through three paths:
- Cloud and AI becoming the underlying driving forces for progress
- Sensing and Connectivity aggregating massive data into the cloud
- Computing power and intelligence turning data resources into an intelligent source of large-scale innovation
A 2013 Mckinsey and Co. Study estimated the economic impact of this would amount up to $10.9 trillion USD, but recent data shows that this estimate is actually low and with the combination of artificial intelligence and the internet of things, the combined digital economy will be worth $23 trillion USD by 2025.
Things Sensing Things
Ubiquitous sensing will drive a gradual integration of the physical and digital worlds. Things sensing other things, and connectivity will lay a smart platform for an integrated world for every person. Whether it is consumption, education, travel or work, intelligent services derived from sensing will be found everywhere. Today, we can see the beginning of this occurring. Our smartphones sense wifi and bluetooth, we get live updates of traffic, weather, and these technologies are becoming more and more adept to connect by themselves, with the connection and sensing getting stronger and faster on both ends.
It is expected that there will be 40 billion smart devices worldwide. On average each person will own 5 devices, with 20% of people who own 10 or more. This can be broken down into sub-sections of wearable devices, smartphones, tablets or PC’s, and real-time online smart home devices.
Cloud-Based Computing and Intelligence
Cloud is the core element of an intelligent or futuristic platform and will be the basis of data, computing power, and algorithms. The idea of the cloud is to move all the data and processes that currently occur on a single physical device, and have it moved to a supercluster of smart computers that is far away in the cyberspace. This cloud will be much more powerful than any tangible device that data or information is currently stored on. Think about Apple and the evolution of the smartphone over the past 10 years. The information on your smart device used to be only able to save on the smart device or some other device (laptop, hard drive ect). They among many other companies have moved towards the cloud for a much more powerful, seamless and efficient method of storing or moving data between devices or people (“restore iPhone from cloud”). Now imagine this same concept, except with much much more than just the pictures and contacts on your smart device. Millions and millions of data pieces being collected through sense, then stored and analyzed within the cloud, put into useable and useful data for society.
It is estimated that by 2025, 100% of companies will be connected to cloud services, and 85% of enterprise applications will exist on the cloud. Other developments include the addition of blockchain, and it’s integration with the cloud. It will have a massive impact on healthcare, education and logistics among others. As both blockchain and cloud technology improve, the seamless interaction between the two will be unprecedented and will result in benefits across all industries.
Data Assets
Among businesses, a reported 95% of data is currently unstructured, and most of it is not being analyzed. As computing power increases, intelligent algorithms gain popularity, this data will be converted to into useable assets. Data will become the “new oil”, with every connection acting as a well, pumping out data. It will be channeled to the intelligent refineries of the cloud and AI and made available for “consumption” to the end user (you, me a business etc.). Quantum computing will play a big role in how quickly data is processed. The applications of quantum computing range far from climate simulation to chemical modelling and will be a powerful tool to bring innovation breakthroughs and lead flows of intelligence. In 2016, leading computer scientists, designers and engineers agreed that with the direction and speed computing is going, Moore’s law may run its course by 2025.
Business and Entrepreneurship
For businesses, organizations and entrepreneurs the impending advancements in technology should be evaluated with a beautiful combination of optimism and opportunity. Cloud based intelligence platforms is shown in the potential for a leapfrog effect for organizations. Meaning that companies who are caught lacking cloud capabilities may not survive as this reality sneaks up. We may see some companies hurdle ahead as frontrunners in an industry. IBM’s Azure Cloud and Oracle Blockchain Cloud are just two that have been invested in heavily over the past year. We should expect many partnerships and heavy competition as the technology landscape evolves. With that being said, there’s also a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs and startups to thrive as industries mesh together and agile teams of high-skilled people innovate with the information technology landscape. In the end, organizations, people, old or new, who are able to develop and make use of this technology for efficient operations, decision making, and innovation will be able to tap into the opportunities of the intelligent world has to offer.
Considering all of the above, we’re truly in for major changes in the technological landscape of our entire world. In this post we’ve only scratched the surface of what is to come. These basic drivers (internet of things, AI, cloud, computing) will lay the groundwork for so much more. Incorporating virtual reality, implementing financial technology, innovating in the energy, manufacturing and agricultural sectors will show changes in our world and society like never before. The result will be massive intelligence flows that benefit everyone and everything in the global community.
