Digital Lifescapes

The subscription business model has been one of the big success stories of the Internet era. From Netflix to Microsoft 365, more and more companies are moving towards recurring revenue streams by having customers pay for access rather than product ownership. The subscription economy cuts across many industries -- such as streaming services, software, media, consumer products, and even transportation with the rise of mobility-as-a-service. A new market study by Juniper Research highlights the central challenge facing subscription businesses -- reducing customer churn to build a loyal subscriber installed base. Subscription Model Market Development The Juniper market study provides an in-depth analysis of the subscription business model market landscape and associated customer retention strategies. A key finding is that impending government regulations will make it easier for customers to cancel subscriptions, likely leading to increased voluntary churn rates. The study report cites the...

The global mobile communication sector is in the midst of a significant network infrastructure upgrade to support the introduction of new high-bandwidth and low-latency broadband service offerings.  Telecom service provider data centers have an important role in fifth-generation (5G) network deployments. Providers undergoing their transition to Stand-Alone (SA) 5G must understand the technical demands of telco data centers and the key enablers of those offerings. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, the major prerequisites of 5G and the emerging transport solutions would help operators position themselves to successfully capitalize on the new revenue opportunities from delivering differentiated 5G connectivity services. 5G Transport Network Market Development "The rise of the telco data center has a high degree of confluence with the requirements of SA 5G architectures. SA 5G and its increasing reliance on telco data centers can be attributed to the incr...

When governments invest in new infrastructure, information technology (IT) is now a key component of their development plan. Very large municipal governments, in particular, are spending more on Smart City projects that provide their citizens with many unique advantages. Furthermore, the IT infrastructure advancement trend is gaining momentum across the globe, as established and emerging technology applications are adopted by the forward-thinking leaders. Global spending on smart cities initiatives are forecast to total nearly $124 billion this year -- that's an increase of 18.9 percent over 2019, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Smart City Initiative Market Development The top 100 cities investing in smart initiatives in 2019 represented around 29 percent of global spending, and while growth will be sustained among the top spenders in the short term, the market is quite dispersed across midsize and small cities investi...

While traditionally sharing has been an activity between friends and family, the sharing of items as a business model is not in fact a new concept. Previously, we have seen the rise and fall of the loaning of some physical items (i.e. movies on DVD). However, with the introduction of new digital formats, alongside the rapid expansion of the online ecosystem, the sharing of not just physical goods, but also skills and talent, has grown exponentially. Today, the Sharing Economy includes numerous and varied service offerings and business models. Sharing Economy Market Development A new market study from Juniper Research has found that the sharing economy is now primed to experience substantial growth, as players in more established sectors -- such as transport and residential or commercial space -- press their first mover advantage. The market study findings have resulted in a forecast that the sharing economy will reach $40.2 billion in 2022, in terms of platform provider revenue...

Internet of Things (IoT) technologies are enabling municipalities around the globe to implement a series of digital transformation projects. Juniper Research has found that European cities are forging ahead with efforts to become Smart Cities, with 60 percent of the world’s leading smart city projects based in this region. Innovation to reduce congestion and energy consumption were key initiatives across many European cities, according to the findings from their latest worldwide market study. Juniper’s Smart City Rankings have been compiled following an extensive study of numerous cities around the world. Juniper applied forty metrics in their study -- covering technology, transport, energy, open data and the local economy. The top ranking Smart Cities for 2016 are: Singapore Barcelona London San Francisco Oslo "When addressed effectively, the impacts of reduced congestion are substantial -- higher economic productivity, potential for new revenue streams and servic...

Converged devices, such as media tablets, are driving the telematics market with global shipments forecast to reach more than 5 million units by 2020, according to an ABI Research study. Moreover, the introduction of these devices creates the emergence of new business model opportunities and more data applications. The key advantages of utilizing converged devices, such as tablets in commercial vehicles, include the ability to employ automated vehicle inspection in rental car fleets, signature capture for delivery truck fleets, as well as aggregating crowdsourced data and generating customer community feedback. "The adoption of converged devices opens the door for entire application ecosystems and the emergence of dedicated commercial telematics application marketplaces," said Dominique Bonte, vice president at  ABI Research . Case in point: telematics service providers (TSPs) will accumulate crowdsourced data as a means to provide drivers with updated information on r...

While the global automotive and transportation industry seems laser-focused on exploring new upside opportunities associated with the Internet of Things (IoT), another cluster of technology research and development is about to emerge into the mainstream marketplace. Artificial Intelligence (AI) -- in particular, Deep Learning based on neural network computing -- parallel processing and unassisted cloud-based crowd learning are propelling new innovations within the established consumer vehicle and commercial transport sectors. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, two key technologies and associated use-cases are noteworthy. AI technology application areas include machine vision and speech recognition, both of which have huge relevance for the automotive and transportation sectors. Exploring AI Use Case Scenarios Virtual Assistants – Advanced agents knowing the driver's preferences and allowing natural language interaction within the vehicle and dr...

There's one place where the Internet of Things ( IoT ) already has a proven track record of success, that's the road transportation sector. For more than two decades, numerous Smart Cities and local municipalities around the world have used IP technologies to build systems that help to reduce traffic congestion. Some of the early pioneer projects where in progressive European nations. According to the latest worldwide market study by Berg Insight, the market value for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) deployed in public transport operations in Europe was €1.03 billion in 2014. Growing at a compound annual growth rate of 7.2 percent, investment in projects is expected to reach €1.46 billion by 2019. Berg Insight is of the opinion that the European market for ITS for public transport is in a growth phase which will continue throughout the forecast period. Across Europe, the fluctuating economic climate has had a limited effect on this market, as the public investments whi...

The volume of mobile and online ticketing in both the developed and developing parts of the world is increasing. Online ticketing, along with the increasing adoption of smartphones and tablets, has revolutionized the way consumers purchase e-tickets. Global ticket purchases via mobile and desktop devices -- including smartphones, media tablets and PCs -- are forecast to reach 32 billion by 2019, that's up from an estimated 16.2 billion this year. This represents a two-fold growth over the next 4 years, according to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research. The new study found that with digital ticketing services developing fast across the transport and events sector, mobile handsets will account for more than 50 percent of all digital tickets purchased by 2019. Airlines often use their mobile boarding pass facility as a stepping stone to mobile ticket purchase and further mobile service features. Typical examples include seat selection, actual arrival and depar...

Over 1.5 billion airline boarding passes will be delivered via smartphones by 2019, compared to approximately 745 million boarding passes estimated to be delivered this year, according to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research. This means boarding passes that are presented via a smartphone will represent 1 in 3 boarding passes issued by all airlines at the end of 2019. However, adoption of this approach is not mainstream. Mobile boarding passes are increasingly used by frequent flyers, but less used by leisure passengers who are less familiar with the technology. According to SITA, the airline IT specialist, 53 percent of airlines have already implemented mobile boarding passes via software apps -- which is expected to rise to 91 percent by 2017. Furthermore, Juniper found that the majority of airlines have implemented boarding passes via apps, and the industry is witnessing rapid adoption in markets such as the U.S., Far East and Europe. Some of the early a...

While much of the prior research about applications for the Internet of Things (IoT) tend to focus on the developed nations, we're starting to see more interesting opportunities in emerging markets -- particularly in the Asia-Pacific region and in Latin America. The ongoing development of practical transportation-related use-cases is very promising, given the anticipated return on investment. Commercial vehicle fleet management, specifically the use of sensors and telematics, is an area that's evolving rapidly. According to the latest market study by Berg Insight, the number of active fleet management systems deployed in commercial vehicle fleets in China was 2.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.9 percent, this number is expected to reach 5.9 million by 2019. Track and Trace systems dominate the market and the installed base so far includes a significant share of low-end systems with comparatively limited func...

During the coming year, vague references to the Internet of Things -- and related big data analytics applications -- will start to evolve into very meaningful use-case scenarios. The metamorphosis of road transportation management is one example of this trend. Traditional smart transportation approaches to address traffic congestion, safety, pollution, and other urbanization challenges are expected to encounter scalability and efficiency obstacles by the end of this decade. Traveler information systems -- such as variable-message signs, intelligent traffic lights, camera-enforced urban tolling, and traffic monitoring centers -- will ultimately prove ineffective and prohibitively expensive. This will threaten to stall economic growth, especially in developing regions. Clearly, there's no shortage of investment in this market. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, global yearly spend on traffic management systems alone will exceed $10 billion by 2020. But both...

During the remainder of 2014 there will be more M2M and traditional mobile communications applications introduced for the first time within the American commercial vehicle sector. However, telematics technologies and services were first adopted by the long-haul trucking industry in the U.S. market more than 20 years ago. That being said, new adoption within the non-trucking sector is expected to equal the trucking industry -- in terms of numbers of connected vehicles -- by the end of 2014 and will dominate the commercial fleet telematics industry by the end of 2019, accounting for almost 50 million vehicles globally. The non-trucking sector includes a number of verticals such as services and utilities, private transportation (taxis, private hire vehicles and rental fleets), construction and mining, government and public sectors, emergency services, public transportation, and local delivery markets. "Many of these verticals are facing similar challenges such as the need to ...

As consumer adoption of smartphones increases, usage of mobile devices to purchase real world goods and services has soared. The mobile user base, once cautious of transacting on the mobile phone, now increasingly expects to be able to easily make these purchases. More than 16 billion transport and events tickets will be delivered annually to mobile handsets by 2018, according to the latest market study by Juniper Research. That forecast is three times the volume expected this year. While electronic ticketing adoption on mobile devices will be strong across a range of markets, volume growth will be driven by metro and bus deployments, most notably in the relatively untapped U.S. market. 2D Barcode Solutions to Prevail The resulting Juniper report -- Mobile Ticketing Strategies: Air, Rail, Metro, Sports & Entertainment 2013-2018 -- noted that SMS-based solutions had achieved particularly strong adoption across markets such as Sweden, where mobile now accounts for 65 percent ...