SAP recently hosted Coffee Break with Game-Changers and asked leading experts, academics and business influencers what they see coming in 2017.
What the leading experts are saying…
We’ll see hardware that is thinner and lighter. Dematerialization is going to continue. New materials are coming on the market, like stretchable electronics. Imagine what that could do for wearable technologies. Everything is going to be computing in the future, whether it’s your shoes, clothes, or the temporary tattoo that you wear to monitor your health. – Gray Scott, Futurist, Founder and CEO at SeriousWonder.com and techno philosopher
It’s a different approach; it’s more employee-centric than process-centric. We’re moving away from companies designing processes, and toward creating tools to support more effective relationships, better role definition, and better access to things like training resources. – Steven Hunt, Senior Vice President of Value Realization, SAP SuccessFactors
Artificial Intelligence (AI) – In 2017, we’re going to finally see (AI) components combined with highly sophisticated in-memory platforms melding together. 2017 is going to be the year that brings end-to-end seamless communications and connections of consumers, public, clients, and citizens with business leaders and public officials. This will trigger leaders to take action at the speed-of-thought. – Guillermo B. Vazquez, Specialist Leader / Senior Manager, Deloitte LLP
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are going to balloon in 2017. We’re going to see the blending of the digital and physical worlds come together. We’re going to see a lot more in digital twins: digital documentation of a physical thing so we can understand it better. – Rick Varner, Senior Executive Partner, Gartner Inc.
Internet of Things (IoT) – We see a lot of implications for security in the IoT devices, medical devices, smart TVs, and (even) coffee machines. Those devices are getting more and more connected to the Internet to become smarter. We are already seeing these devices being used to launch attacks and to be targets. In 2017, we will see more attacks and more measures against those attacks. – Alon Kantor, Vice President of Business Development, Check Point
“Real Time” – This journey we’ve had around “real-time” is going to continue strongly … in the direction of real-time, all the time, everywhere. Therefore, in 2017, the cloud is going to continue to have a profound impact on the enterprise. I think that portion of the enterprise that is not real time is going to be under attack. – Mark Noronha, Startup Engagement Lead, Startup Focus Program, SAP
Big Data and Machine Learning will combine to enhance mathematical sociology – enabling us to make sense of what happens to groups of people in society. 2017 is the year that Isaac Asimov’s Psychohistory starts becoming real. – Timo Elliott, VP, Global Innovation Evangelist, SAP
Cognitive Data – In 2017, I see the beginnings of “cognitive” at the personal level – beyond Alexa, Cortana, and Google – by being able to access all data in the cloud in an intelligent way. For example, at the store, you might see a new television and ask your phone to advise you, “Can I afford this?” An intelligent agent will go to your bank account and bring back that information. – Jerry Silva, Research Director, IDC Financial Insights Global Banking
Drones – We’re going to see a lot of drones. We’ll see drones-as-a-service in many businesses where drones are going to be put to work for us. – Sudha Jamthe, CEO, IoT Disruptions
Mobile technology is becoming more ubiquitous. In 2017, mobile commerce will grow more than 50% over 2016. The phones are getting bigger. The bigger the phone, the more people can make purchases on them and the more comfortable they feel. Size seems to be a big hurdle for most people to get by when it comes to mobile e-commerce. – Richard McCammon, CEO, Delego Software
Augmented reality and virtual reality for business use will be an active investment area in the coming year. Companies see this as a clear opportunity. The questions are primarily about cost and usability. – Heather Ashton, Research Manager, IDC Manufacturing Insights
Industrial IoT – This ecosystem will start to formalize. Industrial IoT requires an ecosystem of partners to provide advisory, technology, and services that effectively create solutions for customers. In 2017 we’ll see some of these relationships start to formalize. – Pieter van Schalkwyk, Founder and CEO, XMPro
