Digital Lifescapes

The rapid adoption of Generative AI (GenAI) is the top-ranked issue during the next two years for Legal, Compliance, and Privacy leaders, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. In a recent survey of enterprise business leaders, 70 percent of respondents reported rapid GenAI adoption as a top concern for them. "Increases in capability and usability have prompted rapid and widespread company adoption of GenAI," said Stuart Strome, director at Gartner . However, uncertainties and unforeseen risks abound. Leaders will have to contend with these challenges to ensure the ethical and legal use of this powerful technology. Generative AI Market Development Gartner industry analysts have identified four key areas that these leaders need to address. Limited Visibility into Key Risks -- The ease of adoption, widespread applicability, and the ability of GenAI tools to perform a range of different business tasks mean that assurance teams will have limited visibility in...

Are you taking baby steps toward Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption? If so, you're not alone with the enterprise business leaders stuck on the sidelines, while the early adopters gain more momentum. As employees across the globe experiment with Generative AI (GenAI), the most cautious corporate general counsels are issuing guidance that will be valuable to those unsure enterprise leaders. "To craft an effective policy, general counsel must consider risk tolerance, use cases and restrictions, decision rights, and disclosure obligations," said Laura Cohn, senior principal researcher at Gartner . Enterprise Generative AI Market Development Having GenAI guardrails and policies in place will better prepare most slow-moving enterprises for possible future legal requirements. Meanwhile, the market leaders are racing ahead of their peer group. Based on practices in AI policies instituted by companies and city governments, the cautious general counsel should direct organizatio...

Across the globe, government regulators are eager to contain the influence of Big Tech for a number of reasons that pose a significant threat to democracy and the security of a civil society. These include concerns about the companies' market power, their ability to stifle competition, their impact on privacy and data protection, and their role in spreading misinformation.  Regulators are also concerned about the power that Big Tech companies have over their citizens' lives, as they control the information we see and the way we interact with the online economy. Big Tech Global Market Development Over the next few years, regulators will crackdown on some of the world’s biggest tech companies -- including Amazon, Google, Meta, X (Twitter), Alibaba, and Tencent -- according to the latest worldwide market study by GlobalData. The insightful GlobalData survey findings predict that regulators will pursue the most influential Big Tech companies in 12 key regulatory arenas. Those inclu...

Forward-thinking wireless communications policy is essential to every nation's plan to fully participate in the rapidly expanding Global Networked Economy. Faster, more reliable, more efficient, and more widespread Wi-Fi coverage is becoming increasingly vital to progress. Wi-Fi-enabled devices will increase from 3.3 billion annual unit shipments in 2019 to more than 4.6 billion by 2024, a growth that underscores the need for a more robust Wi-Fi network, according to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research. While the growing reach of Wi-Fi will be driven by several advancements -- such as Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi’s expansion into the 60 Gigahertz (GHz) and sub-1 GHz bands through WiGig and HaLow -- the most exciting change is the anticipated availability of 6 GHz spectrum over the next few years. Wi-Fi Innovation Market Development “It is hard to overstate the potential that 6 GHz and Wi-Fi 6E can bring to Wi-Fi networks,” says Andrew Zignani, principal analyst at ABI Re...

The video entertainment market continues to evolve in America. Low-cost, new and improved over-the-top (OTT) video streaming services have made it virtually impossible for the traditional pay-TV providers to justify their high-cost offerings. Meanwhile, the legacy pay-TV service providers can't halt the continued loss of subscribers, as consumers seek and find alternative sources of news, weather and video entertainment online. U.S. multi-channel defections ballooned in the third quarter, amplified by tighter promotions at a time when consumers need little additional motivation to seek OTT alternatives, according to the latest market study by Kagan, a TMT research group within S&P Global Market Intelligence . Pay-TV Market Development Kagan estimates traditional multi-channel subscribers fell by nearly 1.9 million in the three months ended September 30 -- that's a 25 percent spike from the previous largest drop in the second quarter of 2019. The combined tradition...

Billions of people around the world use the internet to share ideas and trade with one another. With worldwide internet penetration at nearly 50 percent, the global digital economy has become a space of immense opportunity. It’s clear that business transactions are becoming heavily reliant on us being connected onlne. Digital flows are now responsible for more GDP growth globally than trade in traditional offline goods and services. Digital transformation is now driving globalization. As such, achieving a competitive advantage in the global digital arena has become a key priority for governments and businesses who strive for inclusion and relevance. It is also clear that trust has a critical role to play when countries look to improve their eCommerce adoption. It's in this context that The Fletcher School at Tufts University, in partnership with Mastercard , present findings from the 2017 edition of the  'Digital Evolution Index' (DEI 17). Exploring National Digital...

Wireless communications around the globe has been greatly enhanced by Wi-Fi technologies and the associated unlicensed radio bands. Many consumer electronics devices use Wi-Fi to gain access to the public internet and a variety of cloud-based services. Wi-Fi technology and associated telecom regulation continues to evolve to meet the growing demand. As the 2.4 gigahertz band became saturated in many dense urban markets, vendors and users switched to routers and access-points that utilized the 5 gigahertz band. Wi-Fi access points based on the 802.11ac global standard have steadily gained momentum over the past year, rising to represent 39 percent of total Wi-Fi access points shipped in 2015. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, adoption will continue to accelerate in 2016 as more 802.11ac Wave 2 products enter the market, along with the introduction of tri-band access points. Evolving Market Development for Wi-Fi Innovation "Wave 2 access points are base...

Government leaders in nations that seek to prosper in the Global Network Economy must ensure that they have the broadband internet access infrastructure that enables them to compete -- technology capabilities and retail price -- with the recognized market leaders around the world. Incumbent telecom service providers typically set the pace of infrastructure investment. However, broadband capabilities sometimes don't keep up with market demand and a stimulus is required. In the U.S. market that provocation came from the launch of Google Fiber deployments. In the UK market, the government regulator, Ofcom , has provided the catalyst for progress. One of the keys to economic growth in the 21st Century is access to adequate telecom networks. Raising Expectations for UK Broadband The UK will outperform other major European countries on a range of fixed telecoms measures for the next five years, and become one of the best performing countries worldwide by 2020, according to the l...

The seventeen largest cable and telephone service providers in the U.S. -- representing about 94 percent of the market -- acquired 3 million net additional broadband Internet subscribers in 2014, according to the latest market study by Leichtman Research Group . Annual net broadband additions in 2014 were 114 percent of the total in 2013. These top broadband providers now account for 87.3 million subscribers -- with cable companies having 51.9 million broadband subscribers, and telephone companies having 35.4 million subscribers. Other key findings from the market study include: The top cable companies netted 89 percent of the broadband additions in 2014 – compared to 82 percent of the broadband additions in 2013. The top cable companies added 2.65 million broadband subscribers in 2014 – 123 percent of the total net additions for the top cable companies in 2013. The top telephone companies added about 345,000 subscribers – 72 percent of the total net additions for the top tele...

What strategies are being employed in leading smart cities? What are the key trends shaping the smart city landscape? And, what is the value of cost savings that can be expected from smart city projects? These are the questions that were asked during a new global market study, and an assessment of the resulting findings. Juniper Research has revealed the top ranking Smart Cities globally for 2015. They are (in order of rank), Barcelona, New York, London, Nice and Singapore. The Juniper Smart City Rankings have been compiled following an analysis of the Smart capabilities offered in each city, with particular focus on their use of smart grids, smart traffic management and smart street lighting. Furthermore, the ranking considered other aspects of a Smart city -- such as technological capability and social cohesion, among others. It was found that the leader, Barcelona, performed consistently well across all metrics and serves as an exciting model of success from which others can...

Leichtman Research Group ( LRG ) latest market study has found that 79 percent of U.S. households get a broadband Internet service at home -- that's an increase from just 20 percent in 2004. Broadband adoption reached 95 percent of all households with Internet service at home -- that's an increase from 94 percent last year, 89 percent in 2009, and 33 percent in 2004. The mean reported time spent online at home per day is 2.8 hours among all individuals online at home -- that's up from 2.2 hours per day in 2009. Given these findings, why is President Obama now seeking to increase internet service provider (ISP) competition in America? It's about ensuring that the U.S. is prepared for the next wave of disruption in the Global Networked Economy. In order to compete globally, he believes that America requires infrastructure that's at parity (both capabilities and retail price) with the recognized broadband market leaders around the globe. Challenging the Broadb...

You're going to see many more references to the Internet of Things (IoT) in 2015, and for a very good reason. Industry analysts now believe that this nascent technology and associated ecosystem of vendors and service providers is ready to experience high growth. Together, the IoT ecosystem represents boundless opportunities -- billions of connected things within a wide variety of industries across the globe. The combined revenue opportunities are forecast to be one of the bright spots on the new Internet-related technology frontier. A recent forecast from International Data Corporation (IDC), based upon an extensive global market study, provides insights from their latest findings -- defining the hardware, software, services, connectivity, and security aspects that make up the evolving IoT ecosystem. According to the IDC assessment, the worldwide IoT market is forecast to grow from $1.3 trillion in 2013 to $3.04 trillion in 2020, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1...

According to the latest market study by Berg Insight, shipments of OEM embedded telematics systems worldwide are forecast to grow from 8.4 million units in 2013 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.6 percent to reach 54.5 million units in 2020. Moreover, the number of cars sold worldwide equipped with head-units featuring handset-based telematics capabilities will grow from 7.0 million in 2013 to 68.5 million in 2020. Telematics is a broad term that may be applied to a wide range of connected services in the automotive industry. The basic definition of automobile telematics is an automatic system designed for passenger cars that incorporates some form of cellular communication. Automotive manufacturers can choose between several connectivity options when creating connected car services, which are not mutually exclusive. The main options today are embedded telematics devices, tethered handsets and integrated smartphones. Car manufacturers often use a combination of thes...

Communications infrastructure investment is having a substantive impact on economic development within Latin American. By the end of 2013, Latin American cellular mobile phone subscriptions are expected to grow by 3.9 percent to reach 709.4 million, according to the latest market study by ABI Research. An expanding population base and positive economic indicators for a number of Latin American markets means the region continues to stimulate the interest of foreign and regional telecommunications companies and other investors. At the end of 3Q-2013, while the mobile service prepaid ratio stood at 79.5 percent, the smartphone user base was just 16.1 percent. But smartphone adoption is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 31.7 percent between 2013 and 2018. "Smartphones are presenting mobile carriers with an opportunity to upgrade prepaid subscriptions to postpaid subscriptions," commented Jake Saunders, VP and practice director at ABI Research . An example of this mobile inter...

Today, securing all devices with mobile internet access has become an ever increasing concern. People want to be protected during their daily activities involving email access, online banking or simply browsing content. Meanwhile, corporate stakeholders are much more concerned about their organisational network integrity and business data protection. The number of employee owned smartphones and tablets used in the enterprise will exceed 1 billion by 2018, as the growing trend of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) redefines business connectivity, according to the latest market study by Juniper Research . This represents almost 35 percent of the total installed base of consumer owned tablets and smartphones. However, the Juniper study uncovered that there are a number of issues and implications that need to be addressed and a single policy or measure may not be sufficient while devising future BYOD strategies. Assessing the BYOD Pros and Cons The study found that while BYOD has th...

Using mobile devices -- such as smartphones and tablets -- in the workplace creates new data protection challenges for the IT manager. As a result, the Mobile Security Management (MSM) market is emerging as a strong, fledgling sub-market of Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM). As Mobile Device Management (MDM) evolves into application and content management, the core driver for this evolution is the demand for greater security around corporate assets -- wherever they may reside and regardless of format. Concerns for data leak prevention, access control, compliance reporting, and monitoring are pushing EMM providers to increasingly provide more security-based mobility features to their existing solutions, according to the latest market study by ABI Research. The increasing demand for security is enabling vendors to differentiate their offerings and stand out from the competition. But the window for MSM is short -- security will become a basic requirement for all EMM solutions and...

​Cyber security for critical infrastructures has become an issue of primary importance to nation states. Policy is playing an increasingly important role alongside the deployment of technical measures. The cornerstone of implementing a viable digital society relies heavily on the concept of ensuring trust in the underlying infrastructure, according to the latest market study by ABI Research. Energy, telecoms, healthcare, and transport systems and other critical sectors are making use of Internet connectivity and next generation technologies to boost productivity and improve efficiency. Protecting these networks from cyber threats requires a national approach. Governments have a duty to ensure the digital security of critical infrastructures. This requires accompanying technical efforts with policies in order to implement a coherent cyber security strategy across all sectors. From national defense through to water management, all connected networks require strategic planning and...

More employees are using their own smartphones and media tablets at work, and they expect to connect them to the enterprise wireless network. Some IT managers still wonder if this is merely a fad -- it isn't. According to the latest market study by Ovum, Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) is here to stay. Moreover, they have revealed the findings of a 2013 multi-market BYOX (bring-your-own-anything) study to help the doubters understand that the time for decisive action is now. With corporate BYOD activity by full-time employees (FTEs) remaining steady at almost 60 percent over the past two years, Ovum tells business leaders to respond and adapt to this change in employee behavior -- rather than resist the growing demand. Launching the research at its "BYOX World Forum" in London, Ovum revealed that the BYOX phenomenon shows no signs of disappearing, as nearly 70 percent of employees who own a smartphone or tablet choose to use it to access corporate data. The personal ...

To what degree are business travelers using mobile device technology? What types of mobile offerings disrupt legacy corporate travel policies, and in what ways? How frequently are guidelines for mobile usage communicated? These were the key questions that eMarketer considered during their latest assessment. Granted, mobile devices have enabled more productive business travel, allowing people to stay in touch and adapt to changing schedule needs -- among the many other apparent benefits. The same devices can also create challenges for typical corporate travel managers trying to contain their organization's expenses. According to a new eMarketer study, many travel managers are therefore evolving their travel policies to address the current environment. Moreover, according to an AirPlus International study during 2012, 95 percent of travel managers worldwide said they were either making policies more stringent or keeping them the same going forward. Managed corporate trave...

Mobile broadband now represents the leading edge in innovation and development for computing, networking, Internet technology and software. "The mobile broadband market has continued to explode thanks to widespread adoption, powerful new networks, stunning new handheld devices, and more than a million mobile applications," said Peter Rysavy, President of Rysavy Research and author of the latest market study for 4G Americas. The resulting report discusses the evolution of HSPA and LTE, as well as the capabilities of these technologies and their position relative to other primary competing technologies. It explains how these technologies fit into the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) roadmap that leads to International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced) and beyond. Their new white paper notes that major developments this past year include not only HSPA ubiquity, but rapid deployment of LTE networks; deepening smartphone capability; the availabilit...