Technology Trends South Africa

Moving towards a synchronized society for the connected generation

Technology trends and changes in human behaviour are inseparable and synonymous with innovation - with that in mind; to understand innovation is to understand evolution.

Innovation is not an option; it is necessary to keep improving the way we do things. Our roles are constantly changing, not to maintain but ultimately to improve our “overall” experience and processes in an ever-changing environment.

Identifying technology trends is an ongoing process which guides us through an endless path of improvement, constantly adopting new ways to optimise internal operations and innovate existing methods to best serve consumers.

Lwazi Piti is a PR ICT and B2B consultant
Lwazi Piti is a PR ICT and B2B consultant

The connected generation: me time, screen time, we time

In the digital age, "me time" is "screen time" and for companies, this means finding creative ways to turn it into "we time".

Albert Einstein cleverly said, “One must take what nature gives as one finds it.” But there is also such a thing as a spirit of the times, an attitude of mind characteristic of a particular generation - I believe we are at the inception of the connected generation.

The synergy advances beyond the corporation and consumer relationship. We are now seeing the connected world augment government regulations with GDPR to protect the public’s personal data and enable technology to operate in a way that best serves society. This is a clear indication of the developing dependency to keep man and machine connected in a way that can be managed and mediated.

Virtual handshakes and faceless “welcomers”

Companies such as Amazon have moved from interaction with their consumers being restricted to "screen time" to personal interactions with "Alexa" assisting their customers with day to day activities; the introduction and acceptance of home-based AI such as Alexa show a stride from experimental to an operational mindset.

It doesn’t end there, Amazon is becoming an integrated part of family life. Your home is essential to the physical aspect of a connected generation; the business has gained enough consumer trust to welcome guests into their homes in their absence. With the rollout of the Amazon Key home kit, the “user” can grant access to people they trust with the Amazon key app on your screen, wherever you physically might be.

It literally is “mi casa es su casa” for the American electronic commerce and cloud computing company - you get to monitor who enters your house when you’re not home - schedule permanent access for your family members, or give temporary access to recurring visitors like dog walkers and house cleaners ; you just don’t have to be there to welcome them.

This goes to show just how inseparable the consumer and business are going to become in the connected world.

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Source: pixabay.com

The connection: what does it all mean?

There is a global shift in how we do things, Accenture’s technology vision 2018 report, forecasts five technology trends to unfold in the next three years.

  • From the trends we can look at, “AI being raised to benefit business and society” with the introduction of virtual AI assistants to helps businesses and consumers alike with day-to-day tasks.

  • The end of distance through augmented reality and the rollout of software such as Amazon Key home kit, which allows us to welcome guests in our absence.

  • The importance of trust with policies such GDPR coming into play to strengthen data protection, increase transparency and give us greater control over our personal information.

  • Building to partner, isolated systems are outdated and a hindrance to the “connected world” and businesses are now adopting microservices architectures and blockchain/ smart contracts to build foundation strong technology which enables and promote partnerships

  • Finally, “creating intelligent distributed systems”, the introduction of emerging technology is preparing us to use robotics, machine learning, artificial intelligence and connected enhancing technological sophistication to the real world.

    Furthermore, what stands out is a pattern from the trends and deriving meaning from it.

    We are looking at the complete annihilation of the middle-man/authority and direct interaction between provider and end-user, more trust and accessibility to ensure people and technology move cohesively - lo and behold all the trends taking us on a path to the connected world.

  • About Lwazi Piti

    Lwazi Piti is a PR ICT and B2B consultant with over four years experience. He started off doing consumer PR and Communication, consulting for a broad spectrum of clients. He spent a year working on a Multinational National Telecommunications client, Angola Cables, which helped him find his niche - tech. Currently, he is working as a Senior Account Executive on at WE Communications, working on a South African mobile communications company, providing voice, messaging, data and converged services.
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