Digital Lifescapes

A Digital Twin is a virtual representation of a connected physical product, process or service across its whole lifecycle. The virtual replica uses operational real-time data to enable the detection of issues and advance learning. It's also used in simulation scenarios for the physical model counterpart. Digital business enablers, such as big data, machine learning, artificial intelligence, software analytics and cloud solutions, as well as the growing demand for sensors to capture and process data, have been significant drivers for the adoption of Digital Twin applications. Digital Twin Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, revenues from Digital Twin applications will reach $13 billion by 2023. Recent market growth is estimated at $9.8 billion in 2019 -- with an average annual growth rate of 35 percent during the forecast period. The research found that increased deployments of advanced sensors to capture data, and technolog...

Smart Data is generated by filtering out the noise from Big Data that's generated by media, business transactions, Internet of Things (IoT), and data exhausts from online activity. Smart Data can uncover valuable commercial insights, by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of data analytics. Furthermore, vast amounts of unstructured Big Data can be converted into Smart Data using enhanced data analytics tools that utilize artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms. Advancements in data processing tools and the adoption of next-generation technologies -- such as augmented analytics used to extract insights from Big Data -- are expected to drive the Smart Data market toward $31.5 billion by 2022. Augmented Analytics Market Development Augmented analytics automates data insights gathering and provides clearer information, which is not possible with traditional analysis tools. Companies such as Datameer, Xcalar, Incorta, and Bottlenose are already f...

Hyperscale cloud service providers continue to leverage their low-cost advantage to drive growth. According to the latest worldwide market study by Canalys, Google Cloud was the fastest-growing cloud infrastructure vendor last year -- up more than 90 percent year-on-year -- increasing its share of the total market from 6 percent in 2017 to 8 percent in 2018. The top four hyperscale cloud service providers accounted for 61 percent of the total market in 2018. Amazon Web Services (AWS) remained the leader on 32 percent, followed by Microsoft Azure with 17 percent, Google Cloud in third place with 8 percent and Alibaba Cloud with 4 percent. Hyperscale Cloud Market Development Canalys reports that hyperscale cloud infrastructure services are in a period of sustained growth, with spending up 46 percent in 2018 to more than $80 billion. Expenditure is also forecast to surpass $143 billion in 2020. More businesses are deploying a hybrid multi-cloud strategy, integrating multiple provi...

Distributed ledger solutions have the capability to ensure the provenance of any asset, via consensus. Blockchain could ensure that the original inspection certificates are not false and, if a problem did develop, could show that the provenance of the materials used by vendors is known. Several retail industry applications are a perfect fit for this emerging technology. Blockchain versatility offers retailers transparency in the supply chain, customer loyalty management and operational efficiencies, among other significant benefits. Retail Blockchain Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research , annual revenues from blockchain retail asset tracking will reach $4.5 billion by 2023. Juniper’s new study findings uncovered that retailers can opt for different types of deployment approaches for their preferred blockchain applications. It pointed out that some retailers -- such as Alibaba or JD.com -- are launching their own BaaS (Blockchai...

Business leaders that anticipate market demand opportunities or risks -- and then respond quickly in a dynamic way -- will gain a significant competitive advantage. Today, agility is a key benefit of a modern supply chain. Global revenue from demand planning applications will generate over $8 billion by 2025, as Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities offered by forward-thinking IT vendors and service providers continue to improve data-driven supply chain transformation. Supply Chain AI Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, the growing e-commerce sector and the need for supply chain AI solutions in the Asian market are also responsible for this forecasted growth. With the volume and variety of valuable data proliferating inside and outside the typical enterprise, AI and machine learning capabilities are becoming integral to successful supply chain planning. Only with these cognitive computing technologies can companies leverage d...

Despite having existed for more than a decade, virtual cards have been applied to a limited range of business cases for much of their history; primarily Business to Business (B2B) travel purchasing and commercial vehicle fleet management. However, the benefits of card virtualization are starting to evolve outside this narrow application, which is already having an impact on adjacent sectors -- including a move by several fintech players into the business to consumer space, thereby augmenting online account security through the use of their virtual cards. Virtual Card Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the annual value of virtual cards (e.g. temporary card numbers only available for a single transaction or limited time) used by businesses will grow by 90 percent over the next four years -- exceeding $1 trillion by 2022. This is up from an estimated annual value of $568 million in 2019. However, Juniper analysts believe that the...

Cybersecurity investment continues to be a top priority for most IT organizations. Worldwide spending on security-related hardware, software, and services is forecast to reach $103.1 billion in 2019 -- that's an increase of 9.4 percent over 2018. The pace of growth will continue as industries invest heavily in IT security solutions to meet a wide range of cyber threats. According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide spending on IT security solutions will achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.2 percent over the 2018-2022 forecast period and total $133.8 billion in 2022. IT Security Market Development Three industries will spend the most on security solutions in 2019 -- banking, discrete manufacturing, and federal or central government -- will invest more than $30 billion combined. Three other industries (process manufacturing, professional services, and telecommunications) will each see spending greater than $6 billion this ...

"Artificial Intelligence (AI) promises to drive growth of the United States economy, enhance our economic and national security, and improve our quality of life. The United States is the world leader in AI research and development (R&D) and deployment." Those words are from the U.S. President's executive order issued on February 11, 2019. Will the U.S. government's IT organizations be ready to play their part in assuring the nation's eminence in cognitive computing? Clearly, they must evolve. By 2023, about half the roles that government CIOs will oversee do not exist in government IT organizations today, according to the latest market study by Gartner. Digital Government Market Development Meanwhile, the transition to digital government is slowly gaining momentum. Gartner analysts also found that 53 percent of digital initiatives in government organizations have moved from the design stage to early stages of delivering digitally-driven outcomes. This is...

Ever since the advent of computer use by established banking and insurance organizations in the early 1950s, financial services has been a sector that generates an enormous amount of customer transaction data. That's why they've adopted analytics tools for big data use cases, and it's why they've been one of the first sectors to pilot the deployment and applications of artificial intelligence (AI) systems. AI Chatbot Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the operational cost savings from using chatbots within banking will reach $7.3 billion globally by 2023 -- that's up from an estimated $209 million savings in 2019. This tremendous productivity improvement represents 862 million hours potentially saved for banking business operations by 2023 -- that's equivalent to nearly half a million working years. According to the new research, chatbots can now reduce excessive operational costs in financial service...

Commercial buildings are getting smarter. They now include a growing variety of technologies that are part of the Internet of Things (IoT) phenomena. Across the globe, new buildings are being constructed with both wired and wireless IoT infrastructure that enables innovation. According to the latest worldwide market study by Berg Insight, the installed base of sensors, actuators, modules, gateways and other 'connected devices' deployed as part of IoT-based automation in smart commercial buildings was an estimated 151 million units worldwide at the end of 2018. Commercial Building Automation Market Development Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33 percent, the installed base will reach 483 million units in 2022. About 4.5 million of these devices were connected via cellular communication networks in 2018. The number of cellular connections in the building automation market will grow at a CAGR of 44 percent to reach 19.4 million in 2022. In terms of reve...

As more CIOs and CTOs focus attention on selecting the best-fit IT infrastructure for their particular cognitive computing needs, vendors of semiconductor technologies are exploring new ways to optimize their investment in solutions at the edge of enterprise networks. Revenue from the sale of Artificial Intelligence (AI) chipsets for edge inference and inference training will grow at 65 percent and 137 percent respectively between 2018 and 2023, according to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research. During 2018, shipment revenues from edge AI processing reached $1.3 billion, and by 2023 this figure is forecast to reach $23 billion. While it's a massive increase, that doesn’t necessarily favor current market leaders Intel and NVIDIA. AI Chipset Market Development According to the ABI assessment, there will be intense vendor competition to capture this revenue between established players and several prominent startup players. "Companies are looking to the edge...

According to the latest findings in the BCG report, "The Most Innovative Companies 2019" -- savvy business leaders are the early adopters of artificial intelligence (AI). "All of the ten highest-ranking companies -- and many in the top 50 -- use AI, platforms, and ecosystems to enable themselves and others to pursue new products, services, and ways of working." Worldwide spending on AI systems is forecast to reach $35.8 billion in 2019 -- that's an increase of 44 percent over the amount invested in 2018. International Data Corporation (IDC) expects spending on AI systems will more than double to $79.2 billion in 2022 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38 percent over the 2018-2022 forecast period. Artificial Intelligence Market Develpment Global spending on AI systems will be led by the retail industry where companies will invest $5.9 billion this year on solutions such as automated customer service agents and expert shopping advisors & produ...

Savvy CIOs and CTOs at innovative retailers and other progressive organizations are piloting and deploying new cognitive technologies that enhance their customer experience. This is an acceleration of the ongoing trend that's very likely to transform legacy online support applications. According to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner, 37 percent of customer service leaders are either piloting or using artificial intelligence (AI) bots and virtual customer assistants (VCAs), and 67 percent of those leaders believe they are high-value tools in the contact center. Virtual Customer Assistant Market Development In recent years, no other channel technology has piqued customer care and support leaders’ interest more than AI bots and VCAs, according to Gartner’s Technology Roadmap Survey. In the survey of 452 service leaders across all industries and business types, respondents showed that confidence is leading more companies to adopt the technologies -- with 68 percent of...

Mobile roaming allows customers of one network operator (home network) to use the network of another network operator (visited network). The visited network is normally outside the geographical coverage area of the customer’s home network. Mobile roaming has traditionally provided network operators with an opportunity to gain additional service revenues. However, regulatory policy interventions, such as the EU law to abolish roaming in member states, is having a negative impact on roaming revenues for many network operators across the globe. Mobile Roaming Market Development According to the latest market study by Juniper Research, mobile network operator revenues from international mobile roaming are expected to recover slightly, following a decline in 2017 after the introduction of RLAH (Roam Like at Home) in Europe and other markets. However, overall mobile roaming revenues are expected to stay flat over the next 4 years, representing around 6 percent of total operator b...

The manufacturing sector will undergo a transformation as new technologies enable innovative factory automation solutions. The 'Digital Factory' market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 33 percent to reach $673 billion in 2026, according to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research. These new technology investments include the actual hardware for entire industrial robots, collaborative robots, connected PLCs, intelligent industrial battery management systems, electric motors, pumps, tank management systems and smart glasses. Digital Factory Market Development It also includes data and analytics service, device and app platform, device interconnections, network service, professional service and security service revenues for all the above applications plus asset tracking and other equipment monitoring. Of these applications, only asset tracking solutions include connections both on and off the factory floor. “Currently, most manufacturing equipment s...

Fintech solutions that incorporate distributed ledger technology continue to gain momentum. Worldwide spending on blockchain solutions is forecast to reach $2.9 billion in 2019 -- that's an increase of 88.7 percent from the $1.5 billion spent in 2018, according to the latest study by International Data Corporation (IDC). IDC expects global market blockchain spending to grow at a robust pace over the 2018-2022 forecast period, with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 76 percent and total anticipated spending of $12.4 billion in 2022. Blockchain Market Development "Blockchain is maturing rapidly, and we have reached an inflection point where implementations are moving quickly beyond the pilot and proof of concept phase. That is why data on the actual spend on the technology is so vital: it provides the context in which blockchain is evolving," said James Wester, research director at IDC . Global blockchain spending will be led by the financial sector, ...

Augmented analytics, continuous intelligence and explainable artificial intelligence (AI) are among the top trends in big data and analytics that have significant disruptive potential over the next three to five years, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. "The size, complexity, distributed nature of data, speed of action and the continuous intelligence required by digital business means that rigid and centralized architectures and tools break down,” said Donald Feinberg, vice president at Gartner . “The continued survival of any business will depend upon an agile, data-centric architecture that responds to the constant rate of change." Gartner recommends that data and analytics leaders collaborate with senior business leaders about their critical business priorities and explore the ten top related trends. Augmented Analytics Augmented analytics is the next wave of disruption in the data and analytics market. It uses machine learning (ML) and AI t...

Fintech innovation continues to disrupt the Global Networked Economy. The value of consumer spending on remote payments for digital and physical goods is estimated to have surpassed $3.3 trillion in 2018 -- that's up 10 percent on the 2017 total of $3 trillion. A recent worldwide market study by Juniper Research found PayPal already accounts for 20 percent of all transactions made outside China, while the success of Alipay and Weixin Pay within China means that these two players combined now account for 45 percent of global payment volumes. Mobile Payments Market Development Mobile payments impact on eCommerce’s growth cannot be overestimated. The emergence of an app-based economy in the wake of Apple’s App Store launch in 2008 made many online retailers -- such as Amazon, eBay and Alibaba -- recognize the channel’s potential. When digital and physical goods are taken together, mobile devices (including media tablets) are expected to account for nearly 51 percent of online ...

Business spending on information and communication technologies (ICT) may evolve over the next five years as the global economy puts pressure on organizations to increase technology investment because growth and competitiveness are increasingly dependent upon digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI), and data analytics leadership. Worldwide ICT spending on hardware, software, services and telecommunications will reach $4.6 trillion by 2022, representing average growth of 4 percent per year. Commercial customers will represent around 63.5 percent of total spending by 2022 ($2.9 trillion), while consumers will still account for 36.5 percent ($1.7 trillion), according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Global ICT Market Development Consumer spending growth will lag behind business and government spending due to increasing saturation in smartphones and media tablets. The fastest growth will come from the professional services segment (7 pe...

The worldwide cloud computing infrastructure market had another strong quarter in Q4 2018, as spending grew 46 percent to nearly $23 billion. The total outlay on cloud infrastructure in 2018 exceeded $80 billion -- that's up from $55 billion in 2017 according to that latest market study by Canalys. This investment makes cloud computing services one of the most important sectors in the IT industry, not just by the rate of growth, but also due to its expanding size. Cloud Computing Infrastructure Market Development Amazon Web Services (AWS) remained the dominant cloud service provider in Q4 2018; its market share of customer spend unchanged at 32 percent. Microsoft Azure grew its share to 16 percent against 14 percent in the same period a year ago. Google Cloud reached 9 percent for the first time, while Alibaba Cloud maintained its 4 percent share. IBM, Salesforce, Oracle, NTT Communications, Tencent Cloud and OVH rounded out the top 10 cloud service providers. "Cloud...