Digital Lifescapes

Broadband internet access is an essential enabler of the Global Networked Economy. National, regional, and local government economic development efforts are being supported by new telecom service provider investment in modern infrastructure. The upside growth opportunities in urban and rural areas could be significant, based on recent market research findings. 5G Cellular Services Market Development 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) allows Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to provide Quality of Service (QoS) offerings with higher speeds and unlimited data, creating a demand for 5G FWA, which will continue to grow over the next few years. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, 5G FWA subscriptions will reach 72 million by 2027, representing 35 percent of the total FWA market in 2027. Although LTE FWA services have already been widely deployed worldwide, they often cannot provide the speed needed to compete with wired broadband connections. 5G FWA is set to offer data...

Despite the current economic uncertainty, 72 percent of high technology industry leaders in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe have plans to grow revenue in 2023, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. Furthermore, nearly half of those tech industry leaders believe they will be able to outperform their competition this year, as the upside opportunities for cloud and SaaS vendors continue to grow. Business Technology Market Development Gartner conducted a survey in the second half of 2022 to understand how economic turbulence poses challenges to general managers, how confident they are in their ability to achieve their plans, and the measures planned to tackle the uncertainty. "Outperforming the market through an uncertain market requires an above average ability to execute on revenue ambitions," said Mark McDonald, vice president at Gartner . Moreover, the Gartner survey results indicate that almost half of the firms (46 percent) do not have a s...

Online payment solution development continues to evolve. To date, blockchain has had a mixed impact across payments and banking, but the rise of Stablecoin and Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) will accelerate the impact. Fundamentally, Stablecoins and CBDCs are two ways of solving the same inherent problem -- how to offer a better and more trusted digital payments solution. To date, most existing payment types have been designed around traditional systems intended for in-person or telephone payments, such as credit cards, or even cash. Therefore, Stablecoins and CBDCs are providing a system that's a significant payment use case transformation. Digital Payment Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the value of payments via CBDCs will reach $213 billion annually by 2030 -- that's up from just $100 million in 2023. However, this significant market growth opportunity of over 260,000 percent reflects the early stage of the sector,...

The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector is somewhat resilient to the current volatility in the Global Networked Economy. Forward-thinking CEOs will continue to invest in their high-priority strategic initiatives. For example, here is a case in point on the European continent. ICT spending in Europe will reach $1.2 trillion in 2023 and will surpass $1.4 trillion by 2026, posting a 5.4 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). European ICT Market Development Overall European ICT spending is forecast to grow by 4.2 percent year-on-year in 2023, driven by the Scandinavian countries and the United Kingdom. On the other hand, sanctions imposed by the EU and the growing number of companies leaving Russia will result in the Russian ICT market shrinking by 9.4 percent year-on-year. "While organizations in most countries are anticipating a recession this year, the outlook for European ICT spen...

The 5G Core (5GC) mobile network infrastructure is the first to operate solely in the software layer. A new study finds that cloud-native Evolved Packet Core (EPC) functions and 5GC are key drivers for new telecom value creation and growth. With the ongoing adoption of cloud-based packet core networks, it is the first time the telecom industry has relied on the core network to introduce something above and beyond enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB). According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, cloud packet core revenue will grow from $11 billion in 2022 to reach $16 billion in 2027. Telecom Network Cloud Market Development In a modular and increasingly disaggregated ecosystem characterized by vertical and horizontal openness, technology choices for software, hardware, and services that underpin packet core buildouts are fundamental for CSPs to expand existing MBB business and explore new growth opportunities. ABI Research now forecasts that, for MBB, core network applic...

Nearly half of Human Resource (HR) leaders polled cited technology as their top investment priority. Gartner's latest survey revealed the other top investment areas for HR leaders in 2023 are staffing and recruiting, employee total rewards, plus learning and development. HR leaders reported intense competition for skilled talent, and global candidate supply constraints. Instead of opting for simple cost-cutting measures, leading organizations are focusing on growth and determining which investments will drive competitive advantage in the year ahead. To optimize costs and drive growth, HR leaders will act on a few key investment imperatives. HR technology can trigger cost savings in HR administration, which has seen a drastic uptick in cost due to pandemic-related tasks, and Remote or Hybrid work arrangements. HR Technology Market Development Gartner's research shows yearly spending on HR administration increased from $155 per employee in 2021 to $194 per employee in 2022. Howev...

Digital identity combined with security, privacy, and data management are interrelated requirements, and in some cases, they are indistinct. In the U.S. market, digital identity is described as the online persona of a human subject. The term "persona" means an individual who can present themselves in a variety of ways online. However, the definition varies between countries. This description is further complicated by the current multi-use ecosystem of digital identity. Digital Identity Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the number of digital identity applications in use will exceed 4.1 billion globally by 2027 -- that's rising from 2.3 billion in 2023. This represents a growth of 82 percent over the next four years. The increase will be driven by the use of government-backed digital identities to replace physical identity documents as a source of verification for third-party apps, such as banking and financial services. ...

Enterprise CIOs and CTOs continue to explore the use cases and business applications for cloud edge computing. Moreover, CEOs and CFOs continue to fund IT digital transformation initiatives that support new growth and increased profitability. Worldwide spending on edge computing will reach $208 billion in 2023 -- that's an increase of 13.1 percent over 2022. Spending on hardware, software, and services for edge solutions will sustain this pace of growth through 2026 when new investment is forecast to reach $317 billion, according to the latest global market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Edge Computing Market Development IDC defines edge as the technology-related actions that are performed outside of the centralized data center, where the edge is the intermediary between the connected endpoints and the core IT environment. The cloud computing edge is distributed, software-defined, and flexible. The value of edge is the movement of computing resources to the physical...

Virtual Reality (VR) market growth is now finally coming to fruition. Thanks to current actions and market momentum, VR is approaching what can be considered critical mass. And, not a moment too soon. This growth momentum comes from new hardware and content releases, accelerating enterprise value recognition, and a significant metaverse wild card that could potentially lift adoption and usage. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, over 85 million VR Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) will be shipped in 2027 across consumer and enterprise segments, creating a $100 billion VR market that includes hardware, software, and services. Virtual Reality Market Development "Expectations have been high in VR for years, and even decades, without notable growth to show. That growth is finally coming over the next five years," said Eric Abbruzzese, research director at ABI Research . The barrier to entry is lower than ever, all while content performance and user experien...