Digital Lifescapes

Cybersecurity solutions demand has remained strong during 2018, as more CIOs and CTOs need to ensure that their digital transformation projects have a high degree of digital trust built-in. Data privacy-related legislation has also fuelled the market for expert professional services that are skilled in IT security compliance. According to the latest global market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide spending on security-related hardware, software, and services is forecast to reach $133.7 billion in 2022. Although spending growth is expected to gradually slow over the 2017-2022 forecast period, the market will still deliver a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.9 percent. As a result, security spending in 2022 is anticipated to be 45 percent greater than the $92.1 billion forecast for 2018. IT Security Market Development "Privacy has grabbed the attention of Boards of Directors as regions look to implement privacy regulation and compliance standards ...

The retail sector has undergone dramatic changes within developed markets, which the Internet of Things (IoT) technology adoption is accelerating. The widespread digitization of the market has given rise to an industry that's very much data- and demand-driven, as opposed to supply- and cash-driven. It's important to understand, when analyzing the use of IoT in retail, that it requires more than a bunch of technologies in isolation. It's a transformation in retailer business processes, enabled by a tailored set of purpose-built systems. Retail IoT Market Development According to the latest market study by Juniper Research, revenues generated by IoT retail platforms will exceed $4.3 billion by 2023 -- that's up from an estimated $890 million in 2018. According to the research findings, challenging retail conditions, exacerbated by strong competition in the retail sector, the rise of eCommerce and spiraling store rental costs are acting like a big motivation for re...

In the past, machine vision was limited to highlight-controlled environments, costly sensor technology, and restrictive feature detection. Today, artificial intelligence (AI) is set to change the market, creating new classes of applications and significant new opportunities. Machine vision is in the process of transition and dramatic expansion. Deep learning (DL) techniques are taking machine vision systems to next level, driving the mass adoption in several industries -- including the automotive, retail, consumer, industrial, and surveillance sectors. Machine Vision Tech Market Development DL-based machine vision marks a departure from other approaches used in the sector, which were more limited regarding their application. ABI Research now forecasts that machine vision technology will see a CAGR of 53 percent between 2018 and 2023 -- with $193.8 billion of annual revenue generated from services and hardware by the end of the forecast period. Machine Vision vendors previously ...

Demand for Internet of Things (IoT) devices continues to grow. Berg Insight released new findings of the market for cellular IoT gateways, routers and modems. About 3.2 million cellular IoT gateways were shipped globally during 2017 -- that's an increase of 22 percent from the previous year. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.2 percent, annual shipments are expected to reach 8.6 million in 2023. Cellular IoT gateways are standalone devices intended for connecting M2M applications to a cellular network. Internet of Things Market Development These include primarily general-purpose cellular routers, gateways, and modems that are enclosed in a chassis and have at least one input/output port. Trackers, telematics devices and other specialized devices are excluded from this report. According to the Berg Insight assessment, North American vendors dominate the cellular IoT gateway, router and modem market. Cradlepoint, Sierra Wireless, Cisco and Digi Internatio...

As more CIOs and CTOs adopt mobile-first strategies, mobility solutions revenue from the Asia-Pacific region excluding Japan (APeJ), will record 5.7 percent year-over-year growth, reaching $541.9 Billion in 2018 and $615.4 Billion by 2022. Spending on mobility-related hardware, software, and services is estimated to achieve a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.7 percent during the forecast period, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Mobility Solutions Market Development "The region is leading the charge in becoming a mobile-first society. Favorable government policies for mobile payments, healthcare, connectivity and citizen focus services are propelling overall investments in mobile technologies and ecosystem development," said Avinav Trigunait, research director at IDC . While for many years the mobility discussions focused on tactical issues such as access to resources and device policies, now organizations a...

With rising levels of automobile traffic congestion and its environmental impact, there are now more efforts focused on finding ways to make urban travel more efficient. A catalyst for this change has been the principle of Open Data, which is where cities release as much data as possible about local transport, allowing companies to tailor services that fill gaps in coverage. From this initiative, the concept of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) has evolved. This is primarily conceived as a method of increasing public transit ridership and reducing traffic on the road, thereby enhancing the quality of life for citizens. MaaS Solution Market Development A new study from Juniper Research has found that revenues generated by the use of MaaS platforms, which integrate multi-modal transport services (including buses, taxis, rail and metro), will exceed $11 billion by 2023. This is up from an estimated $100 million in 2018 and is an average annual growth of 156 percent. The new market st...

Do you wonder, are there significant benefits for building a culture of digital trust? New research has uncovered a direct connection between the cause and effect of bad actors in organizations across the globe. Information technology has many uses, but business leaders must be mindful of compliance. Twenty-nine percent of employees observed at least one compliance violation at work in 2016 or 2017, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. The survey, which sampled more than 5,000 employees at all levels, found that these workers are twice as likely to leave their organization. Fifty-nine percent of the sampled employees who observed a compliance violation were actively looking for a new job, compared with 29 percent who did not witness bad behavior. The Business Case for Compliance "While attrition is not an obvious area of concern for compliance executives, it should be," said Brian Lee, compliance practice leader at Gartner . "Employee miscon...

More CIOs and CTOs are looking for digital transformation and smart technology solutions to their line of business leader innovation requirements. Blockchain and related distributed ledger technologies are already making an impact outside of the finance and insurance space from which they emerged. Promising new use cases are being trialed in a number of digitally transforming sectors -- notably supply chain management, retail and consumer, arts and entertainment, and public services. Blockchain Applications Market Development ABI Research now forecasts over $10.6 billion in software and services revenue for all combined blockchain related markets globally by 2023. "The success of blockchain in fintech has prompted significant investment in deploying the underlying infrastructure for application development and testing in other industries. Tech giants such as IBM, Microsoft, Amazon, SAP, HPE, and Oracle, among others, are pushing Blockchain-as-as-Service for first movers, o...

Across the globe, the demand for personal computers (PCs) has declined significantly over the last couple of years, as both consumers and businesses invest in other devices. According to one industry analyst, that historically bleak view may be coming to an end. The worldwide PC market will likely experience a slight recovery in 2019, with shipments of desktops, notebooks and two-in-ones set for 0.3 percent growth -- that's after seven years of ongoing declines. Personal Computer Market Development The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region will be a key driver as vendors turn to the market in the face of falling demand within Europe and China. PC shipments to APAC will overtake those to Western Europe by 2021. "Microsoft Windows 10 refresh will continue to be the main driver of commercial demand for PCs in 2019," said Alastair Edwards, chief analyst at Canalys . "This will be buoyed by strong economic performance and business spend in the United States, the largest PC m...

The retail industry has undergone a revolution as a result of eCommerce and its associated technologies. To a large degree, this transformation has negatively impacted physical stores that have tried to compete with less expensive and more convenient online retailers. Meanwhile, many of the major traditional retailers have expanded their online offerings but frequently struggled to compete against the leading pure-play eCommerce innovators. eCommerce Market Development However, there have been several recent technological developments that are both re-imagining the in-store retail experience -- as a service -- and re-tooling it to offer similar features to eCommerce. According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, retail spending at new frictionless payment stores -- such as Amazon Go -- will increase from an estimated $253 million in 2018 to over $45 billion by 2023. Juniper analysts forecast that most of these consumer transactions to be wi...

According to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), vendor revenue from sales of infrastructure products for cloud IT -- including public and private cloud -- grew 48.4 percent year-over-year in the second quarter of 2018 (2Q18), reaching $15.4 billion. IDC also raised its forecast for total spending (vendor recognized revenue plus channel revenue) on cloud IT infrastructure in 2018 to $62.2 billion with year-over-year growth of 31.1 percent. Cloud Infrastructure Market Development Quarterly spending on public cloud IT infrastructure has more than doubled in the past three years to $10.9 billion in 2Q18 -- growing 58.9 percent year-over-year. By end of the year, public cloud will account for the majority, 68.2 percent, of the expected annual cloud IT infrastructure spending, growing at an annual rate of 36.9 percent. In 2Q18, spending on private cloud infrastructure reached $4.6 billion, an annual increase of 28.2 percent. IDC estimates tha...

Some IT organizations prefer infrastructure solutions that offer simplified cloud deployment models for their digital transformation projects. According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide converged systems market revenue increased 9.9 percent year-over-year to $3.5 billion during the second quarter of 2018 (2Q18). "Data center infrastructure convergence remains an important investment driver for companies around the world," said Sebastian Lagana, research manager at IDC . "HCI solutions helped to drive second-quarter market expansion thanks, in part, to their ability to reduce infrastructure complexity, promote consolidation, and allow IT teams to support an organization's business objectives." Converged Systems Market Development IDC's converged systems market view offers three segments: 1) certified reference systems & integrated infrastructure, 2) integrated platforms, and 3) hyperconverged systems. T...

With growing interest in the Fintech market, other related markets are being analyzed to see if technology can revolutionize business processes. One area which has been disrupted by technology is regulatory compliance, primarily within the financial services industry. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) was the first body in the world to recognize and support the growth of Regtech in 2015. However, prior to this, companies were already seeking to leverage technology to help with their increased regulatory burdens. Regtech is defined by the FCA as a subset of Fintech that focuses on technologies that may facilitate the delivery of regulatory requirements more efficiently and effectively than existing capabilities. Regtech Applications Market Development The appeal of Regtech is that financial institutions can utilize new and disruptive technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data analytics, biometrics, blockchain or chatbots to reduce their overall spendin...

The evolution of the smart and connected home has created new revenue growth opportunities for consumer electronics vendors and telecom service providers. According to the latest worldwide market study by Berg Insight, the number of smart homes in North America and Europe reached 45 million in 2017. The most advanced smart home market is still North America, having an installed base of 22.3 million smart homes at the end of 2017. This represents a market penetration of 15.9 percent. Smart Home Market Development Between 2016 and 2017, the smart home market grew by 40.7 percent year-on-year. Furthermore, the strong market growth in North America is expected to continue during the next five years. By 2022, Berg Insight forecasts that more than 63 million homes in North America will be smart -- that's estimated to be 44 percent of all homes in the region. That being said, the European market is still behind the North American market, in terms of penetration. There were a tot...

A relatively small group of savvy executives have strategies in place to harness new business process automation technologies and thereby advance their digital transformation agenda. Meanwhile, a much larger group is closely following the market leaders, to explore their lessons-learned from pilot projects. According to the latest worldwide market study by 451 Research, new survey results suggest most organizations are adopting or considering artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) due to its commercial growth benefits, rather than the potential to cut jobs. Despite being somewhat new, there's adoption momentum for the technology. Machine Learning Market Development Almost 50 percent of their survey respondents have deployed or plan to deploy machine learning in their organizations within the next 12 months. Therefore, this paints a more optimistic picture of machine learning adoption than is often portrayed by other industry analysts. "Out of man...

Many business leaders have a much better understanding of blockchain technology than just a couple of years ago. There's been a surge in R&D, both internally and in partnership with third parties, and a recognition that blockchain has the potential to be deployed in a variety of commercial use cases. As the number of blockchain research projects increased, awareness among the pilot participants and elsewhere in their industries gained momentum. Now other companies are beginning to consider whether they, too, should seek to gain a competitive advantage from a proof-of-concept deployment. Blockchain Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, 65 percent of survey respondent enterprises with over 10,000 employees are considering or actively engaged in blockchain deployment. This marks a significant rise from 2017 when the corresponding figure was 54 percent. Moreover, nearly a quarter of companies considering deploying blockchain ...

Upgrading electrical grids and water infrastructure around the world with new capabilities -- such as network communications, remote and automated management of elements in the field, and new utility management functionalities -- continues to gain momentum. However, smart infrastructure demand means increased dependence on new technology and communications connectivity, which greatly introduces IT security risks. Smart Utility Market Development The new infrastructure can expand the number of threat vectors, rendering smart utilities vulnerable to cyber attacks. Maintaining resilient electrical power generation and transmission -- as well as water distribution and treatment -- are key to protecting the public utility environment. Therefore, effective cybersecurity must be a function of hardware, software, data, and networks. The modernization of utility infrastructures is enabling increased efficiencies and reliability through digitization, connectivity, and IT-based approach...

Advances in both the consumer and business technology sectors have driven the adoption of mobile internet access and associated service delivery.  Applications of mobile devices -- by customers, business partners, or employees -- delivers unprecedented access to information, improved collaboration, and increased productivity. Worldwide investment in mobility solutions is forecast to reach $1.8 trillion in 2022, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). While annual growth will vary somewhat, IDC expects the overall five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) will be 2.8 percent. Furthermore, mobility spending is already on track to reach $1.63 trillion in 2018. Mobility Solutions Market Development Consumers will likely provide more than 70 percent of worldwide mobility spending, with slightly more than half of this amount spent on mobile connectivity services and most of the remainder going toward new devices, such as smartph...

With password-based personal identity solutions becoming increasingly impractical, device vendors and mobile network service providers have begun implementing an alternative second factor -- using a fingerprint, iris, facial feature or vein pattern to establish an individual's identity. Biometric identifiers provide the user an additional layer of smartphone security. There is increased reliance on biometric user identification in the security industry itself -- iris and fingerprint scanning are commonplace in the U.S. market, as well as Europe and some other parts of the world. In the mobile communications arena, biometric recognition technologies are increasingly being deployed to identify mobile subscribers and to allow them to unlock their handsets, as well as being used as a method to authenticate the user when making a payment through mobile devices. Mobile Payments Market Development Juniper Research now predicts that the biggest shift in mobile payment security will...

After two years of collecting data from payment networks, payment processors, financial institutions, digital wallet providers and retailers worldwide, 451 Research has launched its Global Unified Commerce Forecast. Here's a summary of their findings. "The confluence of new technologies, new entrants and new consumer demands has catapulted retail into a state of flux," said Jordan McKee, research director at 451 Research . "These market shifts are influencing not only the way in which shoppers choose to obtain their desired goods and services, but also how and where they spend their money." Digital Commerce Market Development Their new research report provides quantitative guidance on these shifts in purchase activity in developed and emerging markets around the world. Among many findings, the latest 451 Research market study found several unique trends that will transform the retail sector in the years ahead. One out of every ten dollars spent global...