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Relentless pace of change in ICT industry a challenge for tech firms

The relentless pace of change in the ICT industry is proving to be a daily challenge for modern tech companies, as they struggle to remain competitive in an ever-changing environment.
With the increase in the adoption of wearable technology such as smart watches, and the subsequent rise in users being connected to the Internet almost everywhere that they go, many companies are finding that their traditional models of operation are fast becoming outdated. In addition, several companies are finding it hard to attract younger customers such as millennials.
The Arab Knowledge Economy Report 2015-2016 recently revealed that the number of Internet users in the Arab world is poised to climb to about 226 million by 2018. To capitalise on a myriad of opportunities presented by such growth, many businesses, especially SMEs, are transitioning their strategy to cover the digital world in their efforts to cost-efficiently reach out to their intended market. One of the ways that companies can remain ahead of the curve is by focusing on innovation and monitoring key technology trends in the market.
According to Ericsson, the key to long-term success lies in a company's ability to understand change almost before it occurs, and seizing the opportunity to shape evolving technologies.
"Tech companies often gain competitive advantage by causing market disruption through their ability to understand and act on technology trends. Like waves in the ocean, it's much easier to ride these trends if you can see them coming and read them right. But of course, true technology leadership happens when you start making your own waves," said Ulf Ewaldsson, Ericsson Group's chief technology officer.
Ewaldsson has identified five key technology trends that will stimulate innovation within the ICT industry in 2017, which include connected smart devices and AI techniques.
"As I see it, there are five key technology trends that will stimulate innovation within the ICT industry in the coming year, creating new value streams for consumers, industries and society. All five pivot around a technology-enabled business ecosystem made possible through a universal, horizontal and multipurpose communications platform," explained Ewaldsson.
The first trend involves spreading intelligence throughout the cloud. Connected smart machines, such as robots and autonomous vehicles, are fundamental to the evolving networked society; and enhanced cloud architecture, that can distribute and share machine intelligence, will enable smart connected machines to work on an increasingly higher level. The second trend involves combining sensory data with AI techniques, which ultimately enables the data from massive numbers of sensors to be merged and processed to create a higher-level view of a system.
The next trend focuses on communication and how it will evolve in a highly remarkable way over the coming years, as interaction between human beings and machines evolves to include additional experiences and senses. The internet you can feel is on the horizon, according to Ewaldsson. The fourth trend focuses on the development of communication networks, and how fundamental technologies are reshaping what networks can do.
The fifth trend involves weaving security and privacy into the Internet of Things (IoT) fabric. Ewaldsson explains that in a world where everyone's personal and financial information is available online, cyber security and privacy are very serious issues for consumers, corporations and governments alike. And the rapid rise of wearables, smart meters, and connected homes and vehicles makes security and privacy more vital than ever.
"Operators have digital transformation as part of their business agenda, whether as network enablers, service creators, or even service enablers. Throughout the transformation, they are always looking for ways that could help them best optimise their business, acquire licenses in some countries, divest or consolidate. We need to see what fits them better. We need to be sensitive to their needs and plans. Second, understanding our customers' culture is very critical. In different parts of the world, operators conduct business in different ways. We need to understand that, and we respect the sensitivity of that issue," said Rafiah Ibrahim, head of Ericsson Middle East and East Africa.
- rohma@khaleejtimes.com