As we move forward with the recovery of economic activity and daily life in the post-coronavirus era, the world is exhibiting new trends. Human resources have become an increasingly valuable resource, sustainability has become a higher priority, and digital transformation has become the norm.
IT, which is the driving force behind change, is also undergoing new evolution. Based on our conversations with executives and consumers around the world, and our insight into the advanced IT that will be put into practical use in the future, we believe that a world where experiences, processes, and IT environments that go beyond existing frameworks will integrate the real and digital. I think it will produce.
Digital services that utilize cloud technology and mobile devices have appeared, and from the stage of reproducing some of the services in the real world, services unique to digital have been developed and made available one after another. The way we behave has also changed significantly, as we are now able to receive proposals that match our preferences, and are no longer limited by time or location when using services.
However, from the user’s perspective, the services provided are divided by provider (company), digital and real services are separate, and the purposes for the user are seamlessly completed. I haven’t reached the point where I can do it yet.
In the next stage, we believe that the real world and the digital world will be integrated, and services created across companies and industries will become mainstream. These are experiences that are truly optimized from the user’s perspective and will be a source of competitive advantage for companies in the future.
The borderless era architecture advocated by IBM uses advanced IT to accelerate the utilization of a wide range of data and co-creation with partners, supporting industry transformation that transcends all boundaries.
10 advanced IT trends IBM technology leaders are paying attention to
An IBM Fellow/Distinguished Engineer, who holds the highest technical position, focuses on 10 advanced IT technologies that will reach the widespread adoption stage around 2025. These advanced IT will eliminate the various boundaries mentioned above and envision a world in 2025 where the real world and the digital world become one.
Further down the road, the practical application of quantum computers is expected to take industry transformation to the next level.
Technology that connects digital and real
- total experience
In addition to experiences that seamlessly connect the digital world and the real world (multi-experiences) that utilize virtual spaces and AR/VR technologies that are attracting attention in the Metaverse, we also offer total experiences from various perspectives, not just service users and providers. From a unique perspective, we create the optimal and most appealing experience for everyone involved. By utilizing technology that integrates IT into the living environment (ambient computing), it will be possible to provide even more advanced experiences, which will become an element of differentiation.
Technology to connect and co-create across organizations
- hyper-automation
- industry platform
- sustainability platform
An experience that can be called optimal from a total perspective cannot be achieved without co-creation across companies and industries. To this end, it is important that players participating in co-creation can easily utilize business functions and data with each other, and that business processes through collaboration flow seamlessly and quickly.
Hyperautomation makes full use of technologies such as AI to achieve advanced automation that transcends organizational boundaries. Industry platforms modularize enterprise functions and facilitate interoperability in ecosystems. In addition, the Sustainability Platform provides functions to address the demands of sustainability, which have become an important theme for companies in modern times, across industries and common functions to quickly respond within a company.
Technology that autonomously makes decisions and optimizes
- enterprise AI
- Intelligent data fabric
- Low-code development/no-code development
To achieve advanced automation and mutual collaboration of functions that support cross-company and cross-industry co-creation, we need AI and data utilization mechanisms that can autonomously optimize operations without human intervention. , and the ability to quickly combine and systemize the functions of a componentized company.
Enterprise AI solves the difficulties of AI learning and maintaining AI operations because AI can be used in all business areas of a company. Intelligent Data Fabric streamlines access to all of a company’s data for a wide range of data utilization, including AI. Additionally, low-code development/no-code development provides a means to develop systems by combining various parts with little or no source code.
Techniques for not being bound by the IT environment
- Cloud-native platform
- IoT & Edge
- autonomic security
To properly share and widely utilize the services and data provided by companies, differences in IT environments become a barrier, and in addition, a high level of security is required.
Cloud-native platforms and IoT & Edge can commonly utilize the latest cloud-native technologies that have been developed in public clouds, even in traditional on-premises, IoT, and edge computing environments, realizing autonomous operation in any IT environment. To do. In addition, autonomic security provides the ability to implement advanced security measures autonomously and automatically, rather than countermeasures that were previously handled manually.
Achieving change through three “thorough measures”
In a world where the physical and digital are integrated, industry transformation will transcend various frameworks. Through cross-industry co-creation and automation that extends into the realm of creativity, we will provide a customer experience that is refined from a total perspective, and at the same time, technology evolution and co-creation will lead to a circular (resource recycling) economy. The transition has been made, and efforts toward realizing a sustainable society are progressing.
To realize this kind of industry transformation, we believe that three “thorough measures” are necessary.
- Thorough personalization
Based on a variety of data, we personalize every element of the experience, including touchpoints, communication style, amount of information, and timing. In addition, to focus on high-value-added customer contact operations, we will combine automation and data utilization to create operations tailored to each employee.
- Thoroughly master the increasingly sophisticated AI
Reduce the effort and cost of building AI, such as creating large amounts of learning data, and utilize AI in all business areas. In addition, by visualizing in-house AI and monitoring its accuracy, we ensure the reliability of AI and then incorporate it into a wide range of operations to accelerate autonomy.
- Thoroughly collaborate with external forces
To collaborate with businesses across organizations and companies, we visualize your company’s workflow and divide it into parts for each business function, making it easier to connect with the outside world. To achieve seamless cooperation between different industries, we will actively promote the creation of standards and rules that transcend industries.
IBM has defined for each of the 11 industries what business will look like in a few years (use cases) when industry transformation is realized from the above perspectives by utilizing 10 advanced IT technologies.
Architecture in the borderless era
To achieve industry transformation using advanced IT through three “thorough measures”, we must overcome various obstacles such as the following.
- “Organizational walls” that prevent the creation of a total experience
- The “monetization wall” that impedes reform efforts
- The “agility wall” that prevents you from responding to change
- “Learning data and skill barriers” hindering the use of AI
- “Walls of existing systems” that prevent connections
- “Data format wall” that prevents the utilization of linked information
These barriers have not been faced or have been avoided in efforts to digitally replace traditional organizational structures and business methods.
However, in an era where the real world and the digital world are integrated, and experiences created across companies and industries that are truly optimized from the user’s perspective are the source of competitive advantage, how can we overcome these barriers as quickly as possible? is the key to success.
The state of IT also needs to evolve to the next stage to promote transformation through co-creation that goes beyond traditional frameworks.
” which integrates existing core systems with the digital world, is defined for each of 11 industries, similar to what business will look like in a few years (use cases), and is designed to expand the boundaries of traditional frameworks. We will accelerate co-creation beyond the limits of our capabilities and the realization of new experiences.
