Top 5 Trends for Digital Transformation in 2017 (Part 1) Share: ForgeBIT Date Published 21 November 2016 Categories Blog Reading Time 4-Minute Read Digital progress is inevitable and directly affects business. Consequently, digital technology progress changes the way we communicate, cooperate and make decisions. We are bringing trends that will change the world around us as the technology keeps improving. Adaptability Is Becoming More Important Than Ever Before Every single day we are facing new updates on the platforms we commonly use, but a technology just keeps surprising us. Consequently, we have to adapt and incorporate new technology into our daily operations. Not only these operations will become easier to manage, but technology will change the way we do business in general. Some jobs will become unnecessary due to technology progress and will be replaced when companies implement the technology. After all, as Charles Darwin said: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.“ Remote Workforce Millenials prefer working flexible hours and find life-work balance somewhat more important than compensation. It is no wonder that the freelancing economy has experienced epic growth. People are ditching nine-to-five jobs and set their own working hours. A recent study shows that nearly 53 million Americans today work as freelancers. Among these 53 M, almost 25% of them have full-time jobs but freelance as well. Not only that people who decide to work flexible find themselves in a more desired situation, but it’s the companies who can employ more promising individuals. Also, it’s the ability to hire employees in any time zone is what counts in today’s digital surroundings. Internet of Things (IoT) According to Cisco, the number of IoT sensors will grow to 50 billion by 2020, while Intel estimates that we’ll have over 200 billion Internet-connected things by 2030. Most organizations still classically store and analyze data on smartphones, laptops, and data centers, but we can assume that data analytics will move into the periphery, at least partly. Smart machines, for example, ones connected in vehicles would generate a massive amount of data. IoT will change the way customers perceive apps. For example, mobile health apps and remote health monitoring devices will evaluate human body more efficiently and in any occasion. Just imagine how much time would remote monitoring technology save since we’ll be able to reduce emergency department visits due to information provided by IoT devices and apps. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) Augmented reality and virtual reality have so far been limited to the gaming world, but nowadays more and more companies and brands are implementing this technology to interact with customers. It can offer retailers the opportunity to transform the way people shop. For example, a customer can try on shirts without having to travel to the store to try it on there. AR will add virtual elements into the real world, while any smartphone or tablet can be a platform for AR. VR faces a barrier which will be a bit hard to overcome. It lies in the fact that consumers aren’t really accustomed to wearing VR devices. Application Program Interface (API) APIs help us embrace digital transformation. Some of the companies that use this technology are eBay and PayPal, and they are able to manage a very high volume of transactions because of it. APIs will open doors for multiple platforms to implement them in one ecosystem that’s faster and more flexible. If companies are looking for technology which is able to create the best possible user experience, it will often require a source from multiple vendors. Follow our blog because next week we are bringing more trends affected by digital transformation. Should you have any questions, feel free to contact us. Credits: Forbes.