Digital Lifescapes

Senior executive demand for digital transformation that incorporates business process and workflow automation has motivated leading organizations to double their investment in artificial intelligence (AI) projects. According to the latest market study by Gartner, 80 percent of executives think automation can be applied to any business decision. As automation becomes embedded in digital business, a recent survey revealed how organizations are evolving their use of AI apps. "The survey has shown that enterprises are shifting away from a purely tactical approach to AI and beginning to apply AI more strategically," said Erick Brethenoux, VP analyst at Gartner . Business Process Automation Market Development For example, a third of organizations are applying AI across several business units, creating a stronger competitive differentiator by supporting decisions across business processes. The Gartner survey was conducted online in the U.S. market, in Germany, and in the UK, within ...

Across the globe, many enterprise CIOs and CTOs have already deployed several use cases that deliver effective customer care applications through cloud-based contact center solutions. Today's contact centers allow customers to interact online with service representatives within an organization. Historically, customers were only able to reach organizations via voice telephone calls. However, after legacy call centers developed into modern 'contact centers', this enabled customers to communicate via their preferred method online. As companies continue to develop contact centers and invest in prominent technologies such as cloud services, contact centers began to adapt their architecture from on-premises to cloud-based solutions due to their increased flexibility, reliability, scalability, and security. CCaaS Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the global Contact Center-as-a-Service (CCaaS) market revenue will reach $15.6 bill...

Across the globe, business leaders and government policymakers are exploring applications for human augmentation. These enhancements are described as the natural, artificial, or technological alteration of the human body in order to improve physical or mental capabilities. The European human augmentation market -- including augmented and virtual reality, biometrics, exoskeletons, wearables, affective computing, and other human augmentation technologies -- will reach over $62 billion by the end of 2022 and more than $100 billion by 2026. According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), businesses are increasing their investments in these technologies, and the overall human augmentation market will grow 37 percent in Europe by the end of 2022. Human Augmentation Market Development Companies are adopting a digital-first model and adapting to new realities and work policies that require support for use cases such as remote work collaboration, virtualized presen...

Urban dwellers have seen shared bikes and scooters popping up around their city. Initially, there was untapped demand. As traffic congestion increased, legacy public transportation couldn't keep up with the needs of a growing population. Micro-mobility operators were eager to expand, paying minimal attention to developing a sustainable business model. However, now they're forced to evolve from 'growth at any cost' strategies. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, by reformulating business models, operations, and strategic goals, shared micro-mobility companies can unleash the potential of a market worth $9 billion in ride revenues by 2030. Micro-Mobility Service Market Development Most service providers have high idle rates and low profitability in several markets, due to a mismatch between vehicle supply and demand. To thrive in the shared micro-mobility market, operators must now optimally relocate or expand operations based on data-driven insights and...

More organizations across the globe are investing in business technology that streamlines enterprise workflow. The quest for business process automation is gaining new momentum, due in part to the increased demand for digital transformation. Global robotic process automation (RPA) software end-user spending is projected to reach $2.9 billion in 2022 -- that's an increase of 19.5 percent from 2021, according to the latest market study by Gartner. "By achieving a growth rate of 31 percent in 2021, the RPA market grew well above the average worldwide software market growth rate of 16 percent,” said Cathy Tornbohm, VP analyst at Gartner .  Robotic Process Automation Market Development Organizations are leveraging RPA to accelerate business process automation initiatives and digital transformation plans, with the anticipated intent to improve their operational efficiency. Although growing at a slower pace than in previous years, the worldwide RPA software market is projected to con...

Protecting online payment data is integral to the security of the digital payments ecosystem. In an increasingly interconnected world, with a growing number of payment options, the need for strong security solutions is paramount. Payments currently fall under four main categories: card present transactions, eCommerce payments, mobile payments, and Internet of Things (IoT) payments. With so many digital payment methods now in use, the need to ensure that consumer data is protected across all channels is growing rapidly. According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research , the total number of tokenized payment transactions will exceed one trillion globally by 2026 -- that's rising from 680 billion in 2022. Tokenized Payment Market Development This trend represents a growth of 58 percent over the next 4 years. Juniper attributed this growth to the rise of ‘one-click’ solutions -- such as Click-to-Pay -- that use card-on-file tokenization to store a customer’s payment c...

In uncertain times, such as the post-pandemic economy, smart business leaders will consistently invest the time and effort to gain a competitive edge. Moreover, these savvy leaders have a keen sense of the need for ongoing digital transformation. The worldwide artificial intelligence (AI) market -- including software, hardware, and services -- will post a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.6 percent in the 2022-2026 forecast period to reach $900 billion in 2026, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). "The COVID-19 pandemic quickly revealed that our current systems are not as resilient as we thought they were," says Martin Nuska, AI analyst at IDC . Artificial Intelligence Market Development The quest for substantive digital transformation became an urgent necessity, due to disrupted supply chains, and a critical need for fast and accurate insight to support key decision-making processes. This is expected to lead to huge opportuniti...

Business technology investment no longer follows a predictable path to growth. The global venture capital (VC) investment in artificial intelligence (AI) was close to its peak in 2021 reaching $22.3 billion, according to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research. This is just $400 million shy of the historical high of $22.7 billion recorded in 2019. Compared to the $15 billion recorded in 2020, the market made a remarkable recovery, with a 48.5 percent year-on-year growth. Will the future AI marketplace return to stable growth, or will it remain volatile? Artificial Intelligence Market Development "COVID-19 greatly accelerated the speed of digital transformation within the enterprise. Businesses are looking for solutions to work processes automation, customer care, due diligence, transcription and translation, and sales and marketing enablement tools," said Lian Jye Su, research director at ABI Research . At the same time, COVID-19 led to the Great Resignation of 2021...

Looking ahead, many Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) continue to selectively invest in new strategic digital transformation projects that enable a significant competitive advantage. Some additional investments may go towards improving existing IT infrastructure and operations.  Worldwide IT spending is now projected to total $4.5 trillion in 2022 -- that's an increase of 3 percent from 2021, according to the latest updated estimate by Gartner. For now, most CIOs will be relieved that their budget is safe from major cuts. While IT spending is expected to grow in 2022, it will be at a slower pace than in 2021 -- partly due to a 5 percent cutback on spending for personal computers, media tablets, and printers. Digital Transformation Market Development "Central banks around the world are focusing on fighting inflation, with overall inflation rates expected to be reduced through the end of 2023. However, the current levels of volatility being seen in both inflation and currency exch...