Info-Tech Research Group is a global leader that provides IT research, advice, and tools to its clients. It helps organizations address the full spectrum of IT concerns through actionable insights and recommendations combined with ready-to-use templates and tools.
1. Info-Tech Research Group, Inc. is a global
leader in providing IT research and advice.
Info-Tech’s products and services combine
actionable insight and relevant advice with
ready-to-use tools and templates that cover
the full spectrum of ITconcerns.
2. The business has taken over technology adoption decisions.
This is the result of IT’s difficulty in adopting the last set of
mega-trends known as the “SMAC-stack” – Social, Mobile,
Analytics, and the Cloud.
Without a keen awareness of how trends impact the business,
the IT department will always be relegated to the confines of the
server room. The problem is that the next latest and greatest
technology is always on the horizon. But just as one seems like
it’s about to rise, it fizzles and another “hot” trend emerges.
Trend reports can provide an academic outlook of what is
happening in the technology landscape, but not much else. CIOs
need a framework to develop concrete insight into what the
future is likely to bring, and how to act upon it.
3. Time (Years) Required for Technology Adoption by
25 Percent of the US Population
Electricity(46)
1873
Telephone (35)
1876
Radio(31)
The Web(7)
1991
1870
0
10
1897
Television(26)
1926
20
30
40
50
1885 1900 19901915 1930 1945 1960 1975
FIRST COMMERCIAL AVAILABLEYEAR
Tablet(2)
2010
2005 2020
YEARSTOREACH25%ADOPTION
86%
of business executives
anticipate that the pace of
technology change will
continue to increase at an
unprecedented rate in their
industry over the next three
years.
Sources: Singularity & Pew Research Center, Accenture, 2016
PC (16)
1975
Mobile Phone (13)
1983
9. AUTONOMOUS
MACHINES
IMMERSIVE
UX
THE DIGITAL
ECOSYSTEM
03
0201
04
Machines represent the opportunity for humankind to
eventually stop having to do any activities deemed to be
undesirable on the basis of physical difficulty, repetition,
monotony, and danger. Augmenting the human physical
capability can lead to immense benefit in terms of
increased productivity and locomotion.
The external environment, through devices, can now
be re-rendered and fitted with an overlay of information
that technology users can observe and interact with.
This environment can also be totally immersive, where
users no longer view what is external, and their reality
becomes virtual.
New service bundles, cost reduction strategies, ways for
users to self-manage, and opportunities for
collaboration are on the horizon as a result of the insight
gleaned from the ability not just to understand what we
are doing, but how we are doingit.
AUTOMATED
COGNITION
The business is demanding real-time responses to
increasing amounts of data; this is where the
need for an extension of the human mind comes
from. Outsourcing analysis and interpretation of
information to a machine is the response to the
human mind’s finite ability to process and react to
data in an expedient manner.
10. DECENTRALIZED
MAKING
XaaP (EVERYTHING
AS A PLATFORM)
DISTRIBUTED
VALIDATION
07
0605
08
Conventional construction and creation is being
challenged. The world of complex logistics, centralized
manufacturing and the waste it creates coupled with the
desire for more flexibility have given rise to a new trend
toward decentralized making.
When an organization decides to engage
with its competitive environment as a
platform, it has made a decision to be
humble. The decision to become a
platform is essentially an acknowledgement that
not only might you not know how to solve all your
most pressing problems, but you also might not
even know what your problemsare.
From the trend toward peer reviewing goods and
services online to the social sourcing of news media and
information, there is a growing comfort with and
appetite for leveraging the collective crowd to help make
individual decisions. This could replace our current
system for processing transactions, moving assets, and
any and all other cases where an institution is an
intermediary.
ADAPTIVE
IT
Business needs have become very diverse and groups
are consuming technology in different patterns. As
such, an adaptive IT operating model must support and
enable multiple groups of technology service consumers,
while continuously pivoting to meet changing business
conditions andneeds.
11. 04
01 02
06
03
05
Each trend is provided with a
description and key statisticto
demonstrate scale andimpact.
There is a new set of trends
to consider. Stop getting left
behind.
The technology forces that drive each
trend are discussed indetail.
Just because a trend is popular
doesn’t mean that it matters.
Monitor signals to separate fad
from fact and focus on what
matters.
Timing, impact, and forward-
looking analyses are featured
in eachtrend.
Impact and timing are industry
dependent. Understand your
industry’s context to determine
what to focus on next.
Each trend is provided with a set of
scenarios and tactics that address
them.
You can do anything, but you
can’t do everything. Choose
tactics based on the scenarios
that are most plausible and
relevant to your context.
Each trend is complemented with
an analysis of risk and the most
important, least certain variables.
Know the risks involved before
undertaking to adopt a trend.
Focus on a trend’s critical
uncertainties to determine the art
of the possible.
Each trend features a case study
that provides an example and
gives context to what adoption
could mean.
No two organizations are the
same. Take a minimum-viable
approach when considering
trend adoption.
12. The role for the CIO moving forward into 2017 will be to help the
organization become more proactive about competition and
disruption. The CIO can accomplish this by doing the following:
• Scanning the organization's environment for signals in order to
spot trends.
• Focusing on the critical uncertainties pertaining to any given
trend and analyzing them to determine the art of the possible.
• Building agility into the organization’s technology strategy to
make room fordiscovery.
In 2017, IT can become a center of foresight and innovation for
the organization, observing technology trends at their onset and
helping shape business strategy.
Source: Deloitte, “Find Your Disruptive Advantage”
– Shane Saunderson,
VP of IC/Things at Idea Couture
13. For more information on this methodology, see Info-Tech’s
blueprint: Apply Strategic Foresight to Enable IT-Led Growth
SIGNAL GATHERING
Begin with the analysis and gathering of
market signals andstatistics.
SCENARIO BUILDING
Analyze the critical uncertainties
associated with each trend to produce
a set of plausible scenarios.
TRENDS & DRIVERS
Uncover the key casual technology
forces driving each trend you discover.
01
02
03
04 IDEATION
Use the scenarios as a canvas for
ideation to develop a set of potential
tactics to exploit each trend.
14. "Business Analytics Market worth $66,719.8 Million by 2019." Business Analytics Market by Software (Query, Reporting, and Analysis Tools, Content
Analytics, Data Warehousing Platform. and Others), by Deployment Type, by End User, by Vertical, and by Geography - Global Forecast to 2019.
Markets and Markets. Mar. 2015. Web. 06 Oct. 2016. <http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/business-analytics.asp>
Daugherty, Paul et al. "Business Technology Trends Report.” Technology Vision 2016. Accenture. 2016. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insight-business-technology-trends-report
DeSilver, Drew. "Chart of the Week: The Ever-accelerating Rate of Technology Adoption." Pew Research Center RSS. 14 Mar. 2014. Web. 06 Oct.
2016. <http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/03/14/chart-of-the-week-the-ever-accelerating-rate-of-technology-adoption/>
eMarketer, and AP. "Mobile Phone Users Worldwide 2013-2019 (in Billions)." Statista - The Statistics Portal. Statista. Aug. 2015. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
<https://www.statista.com/statistics/274774/forecast-of-mobile-phone-users-worldwide/>
Greenwood, Shannon. "Tablet Ownership, 2010-15." Pew Research Center Internet Science Tech RSS. 28 Oct. 2015. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
<http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/29/technology-device-ownership-2015/pi_2015-10-29_device-ownership_1-03/>
Kurzweil, Ray. "Singularity Is Near - SIN Graph - Mass Use of Inventions." The Singularity Is Near. n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
<http://www.singularity.com/charts/page50.html>
Main, Andy. "Find Your Disruptive Advantage." Deloitte Digital. Deloitte, May 2010. Web. 06 Oct. 2016. http://www.deloittedigital.com/us/blog/find-
your-disruptive-advantage
"Social Network Users and Penetration United States 2016-2020." EMarketer Numbers. Aug. 2016. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
<http://emarketer.com/numbers/dist/index.html#/ussocialnetworkusers20082020/ussocialnetworkusersandpenetration>
Wikibon. "Public Cloud Market Vendor Revenue Worldwide from 2012 to 2026 (in Billion U.S. Dollars)." Statista - The Statistics Portal. Statista. July
2016. Web. 7 Oct 2016. <https://www.statista.com/statistics/477702/public-cloud-vendor-revenue-forecast/>
16. “IoT is transforming the everyday physical
objects that surround us into an ecosystem
of information that will enrich our lives. From
refrigerators to parking spaces to houses, the
IoT is bringing more and more things into the
digital fold every day, which will likely make
the IoT a multi-trillion dollar industry in the
near future.
– PwC report: “Sensing the Future of the Internet of Things”
A transformation is coming. Have you felt it?
The digital ecosystem is the new environment that
businesses must compete within. It is an environment of
intensified competition catalyzed by a second coming data
deluge.
Already on an exponential trajectory, the amount of
information is going from “hockey stick” growth to “straight
line upwards.” Our devices have been speaking with each
other, and our objects are about to enter the conversation.
New service bundles, cost reduction strategies, ways for
users to self-manage, and opportunities for collaboration are
on the horizon as a result of the insight gleaned from the
ability not just to understand what we are doing, but how we
are doing it.
02
17. 2015
0.0
1.0
2.0
5.0
Estimated Number of Enterprise & Government IoT Devices Connected to an
Edge Computing Solution Worldwide(Billions)
6.0
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
03
0.57
0.98
1.59
2.48
4.0
3.77
3.0
5.64
Source: Business Insider International, 2016
18. 04
The digital ecosystem is driven by near ubiquitous connectivity,
powered by a meshed network of objects and devices, and the
capacity to have them all access the internet: the Internet of
Things is about to arrive.
What began with a transition to mobile from primarily web-based
technology has continued to progress and converge with the
notion that our objects can in fact get “smarter” and become
better managed by connecting to the networks we increasingly
relyon.
The IoT represents the opportunity not only to improve
operational efficiencies and reduce costs, but also to drive insight
to a new extent. Automation and data collection are the major
opportunities. A wide variety of objects will operate efficiently and
automatically. Additionally, by sharing information, objects can
contribute data and insight that was previously unavailable.
Built on an interconnected system of sensors, analytics (real-
time), advanced algorithms, and inter-machine communication,
this phenomenon will enhance the way business decisions are
made.
“72 percent of organizations feel that IoT is
critical to their competitive advantage.
– Oxford Economics
21. 3. Public Administration
6. Finance and Insurance
2. Health Care and Social Assistance
5. Education Services
Looking Forward
Planning a digital transformation will continue
to be a collaborative effort between all
functions of the business, and the CIO must
engage other business leaders to create a truly
successful strategy. A key component of digital
transformations moving forward will be the IoT.
The IoT has increased in readiness and value,
to the point where most organizations should
consider simple pilots in order to lay the
foundation for upcoming high-value
implementations. The time for speculation
about the IoT has passed; stop talking about it
and start doing something.
Many IoT implementations today are of low
value, but also low cost. However, long-term
value will be very high. The connectivity of
every object is a universal trend, and
organizations that begin projects with
moderate value today will be in a better position
to take advantage of high-value projects in the
next five years.
Industry Impact and
Timing
Legend:
1.Manufacturing
4. RetailTrade
Short Term
Low
TIMING
MediumTerm
IMPACT
Medium
Long Term
High
07
22. Industry: Transportation
SITUATION
Linz AG operates the public transportation
system among many other public
services in the city of Linz, a popular
tourist destination in Austria.
Leaders at Linz AG wanted to upgrade the
tram system to improve safety at their
stations, increase coordination between
trams, and ultimately deliver an innovative
passenger experience.
ACTION
Linz AG decided to develop a more
connected system by upgrading analog
systems and serial connections to digital
and fiber connectivity.
Sensors were installed on trams to
wirelessly monitor temperature, electricity
consumption, breaking distance, and
weight.
• •
RESULT
• Linz AG used sensor data from trams
to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by
98 tons in the first year and decrease
energy consumption by ten percent.
• Data from sensors can be analyzed in
real time, allowing Linz AG to optimize
traffic flow, improve schedule accuracy,
and manage capacity better.
• Linz AG improved passenger
convenience and experiences by
offering free public Wi-Fi access and
real-time updates on delays.
• Sensors on the ticketing systems and
trams allowed remote monitoring from
a central location, reducing
unnecessary maintenance and
increasing uptime for trams.
• •
• Video security monitoring, VoIP
capabilities, wireless network controllers,
and access points on trams and
stations were also added during the
transformation.
08
23. Standards for Interoperability: The major gap in IoT readiness
is in standardization. Larger implementations will require
integration across various IoT ecosystems. Fully integrated
cross-vendor IoT implementations are largely in experimental
stages today, but they are making progress and more
complex IoT projects will be ready in a matter of years.
Analytical Capabilities: A factor of investment in machine
learning and AI, the analytical capabilities of a particular
organization will determine the extent to which it can exploit
the digital ecosystem.
Privacy Concerns: There are concerns about the data being
accessed. No user identification or verification is needed to
run most of these devices. Furthermore, a majority of the
sensors being produced do not have the memory required
to perform these functions.
Lack of a User Interface: This makes it difficult for users to
be aware of any security issues. It might take an event
based on security to cause retraction among end users,
forcing major industry players to build in security controls.
Device Security: Security is not often built into the devices.
Many producers are more concerned with getting products
onto shelves today. We are going to need a security layer
between the sensors and where the data is aggregated to
decide the following:
• What information is real?
• What information is ancillary?
• What information is dangerous?
Network Security: Lack of encryption between the device and
network risks exposing data.
09
24. With high analytical capability and
standardized interoperability between
devices in an ecosystem, new service
bundles can be created that complement
how products are being used.
Enterprise
Interoperability:
Standardized
Analytical
Capability:
Low
Analytical
Capability:
High
Enterprise
Interoperability:
Proprietary
10
Without the capability to analyze the data
from communicating devices effectively, a
good recourse is to present the data in a
dashboard format for self-management.
Opening data for collaboration can
supplement a lack of analytical capability;
however, only trusted non-competitive
partners should be considered.
In this scenario, low interoperability will
restrict consumer applications; however,
industry players with high analytical
capability can explore cost efficiencies
along the supply chain.
25. Bauer, Scott. "Sensing the Future of the Internet of Things." PwC. 2014. Web. 6 Oct. 2016. https://www.pwc.com/us/en/increasing-it-
effectiveness/assets/future-of-the-internet-of-things.pdf
BI Intelligence. "EDGE COMPUTING IN THE IoT: Forecasts, key benefits, and top industries adopting an analytics model that improves processing
and cuts costs." Business Insider International. 18 Oct. 2016. Web. 6 Oct. 2016. http://www.businessinsider.de/edge-computing-in-the-iot-forecasts-
key-benefits-and-top-industries-adopting-an-analytics-model-that-improves-processing-and-cuts-costs-2016-7?r=US&IR=T
Daugherty, Paul et al. “Digital Business Era: Stretch Your Boundaries.” Accenture. 2015. Web. 06 Oct. 2016. https://www.accenture.com/ca-
en/_acnmedia/Accenture/Conversion-Assets/Microsites/Documents11/Accenture-Technology-Vision-2015.pdf
Linhard, Georg. "Internet of Everything Case Study: Linz AG." Cisco. 2016. Web. 06 Oct. 2016. http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/about/case-studies-
customer-success-stories/linz-ag.html
Oxford Economics. "State of the Market: Internet of Things 2016 Report." Verizon. 2016. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
http://www.verizonenterprise.com/verizon-insights-lab/state-of-the-market-internet-of-things/2016/
11
27. “Designing user experiences for
immersive environments is a
fundamentally different process from
creating experiences for flat screens.
Immersive environments leverage cues
derived from ambient sounds or a simple
glance to drive both intentional and
reflexive movements.
– Deloitte University Press, 2016
Our external environment, through devices, can now be re-
rendered and fitted with an overlay of information that
technology users can observe and interact with.
This environment can also be totally immersive, where
users no longer view what is external, and their reality
becomes virtual. These same users can also interact with
their technology, physically, in a broad range of wearable
experiences.
This new immersed individual is using technology in
increasingly complex and different ways, and
organizations are struggling, stumbling, and sometimes
even succeeding in creating desirable experiences that
result in massive profit.
02
28. Global Wearable Tech Unit Sales by Category (Millions)
03
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Watch Wristband Glass Other
Source: Statista, 2016
29. 04
Immersive user experience (UX) is a trend that is driven by
developments in augmented and virtual reality, and wearable
devices.
Users no longer have to sit near and type into, or simply hold,
technology. A technology user in 2017 will have many more
options through the advent of wearables.
Through virtual reality (VR), a user can experience a completely
manufactured environment that can mirror existing places or
can be completely imagined. Primarily delivered through
wearable headset and visor, VR provides the user a different
world to interact with.
In contrast, augmented reality delivers an information overlay
that displays over the real world. This information can be
represented in an infinite number of ways, from dynamic
characters a user can interact with to informative, contextual
content that enhances a user’s understanding of their
environment.
“The expected size of the dedicated
augmented reality device market will be
$660 million (USD) by 2018.
– Flarrio, Virtual and Augmented Reality
32. 3. Public Administration
6. Finance and Insurance
2. Health Care and Social Assistance
5. Education Services
Looking Forward
Current wearable iterations include
watches/wristbands, headsets,
glasses, and armbands; however, in
the near future, technology will be
woven into the very fabrics we
wear.
Driven by the desire to live longer,
manage disease, and optimize one’s
life, some believe that technology
will likely enter the human body in
the mid- to long-term future.
Industry Impact and
Timing
Legend:
1.Manufacturing
4. RetailTrade
Short Term
Low
TIMING
MediumTerm
IMPACT
Medium
Long Term
High
07
33. Industry: Public Administration
SITUATION ACTION RESULT
• The AR experience allowed people of all
ages, especially younger visitors, to
immerse themselves in civil war history
and experience what Camp Lawton
was actually like.
• This also led to an increase in
partnerships with local schools, which
brought students to the heritage site to
experience history through augmented
reality.
08
• The officials at the Georgia Department
of Natural Resources decided to create
a more interactive and compelling
experience for their visitors.
• They built an augmented reality (AR)
program at Camp Lawton to allow
visitors to view a three-dimensional
reconstruction of the prison stockade
using smartphones and tablet
computers.
• Using AR, the officials also layered
archived photographs, historical
drawings, video, sound, and GPS data
onto Camp Lawton’s physical, real-
world environment.
• Officials at the Georgia Department of
Natural Resources faced declining
visitors at Camp Lawton.
• Historically a Confederate military
prison during the American Civil War,
Camp Lawton is a heritage site at the
Magnolia Springs State Park in the
United States.
• Upon further analysis, an aging
constituency was one of the critical
challenges facing them and the highest
decline in visitors came from the
millennial demographic.
34. Content Creation and Availability: Some would argue
that BlackBerry failed due to a lack of applications,
proving that devices alone aren’t enough. Similarly,
wearables are only as desirable as the content that they
afford users the ability to consume. The creation of this
content requires a new set of capabilities and
developers must rise to the challenge.
Desired Contextual Experience: The extent to which
consumers will want or need a customized experience
will likely differ dramatically based on the context of
each given experience. In an airport, for instance,
experiences will likely be standardized. In contrast, when
it comes to entertainment contexts, a higher degree of
personalization will likely be sought.
Physical Safety: As VR, AR, and wearables become more
ubiquitous, new issues around physical safety will come into
play.
• VR users must be careful not to physically hurt themselves
by not being aware of their surrounding environment. The
next evolution of this technology might see heuristics that
help the VR system sense if you are physically safe and turn
off automatically if you are walking out of a safe area.
• VR and AR users have been intruding on other people’s
privacy by walking onto private properties. In some cases,
users have been mugged.
Security and Privacy Risks: A lot of personal data is collected
through wearable devices and it will ultimately remain up to the
consumer to determine if the risks of wearables are worth the
benefits to them personally. The personal data could be stored
carelessly, stolen through a data breach, and potentially sold to
third-party organizations.
• Wearables are not only easy to steal or lose, but they also
combine various forms of data onto a single device such as
medical, health, work, and location-based capabilities.
09
35. If the current social media dynamic is any
indication, the public’s desire to remix and
share content is only going to continue and
increase. With large amounts of high-
quality AR/VR content made available,
expect this to proliferate exponentially.
Content
Availability:
High
Desired
Experience:
Standardized
Desired
Experience:
Personalized
Content
Availability:
Low
10
The availability of high-quality content in a
standardized format enables users to
experience and interact with entertainment
content simultaneously.
In situations where multiple users need the
same information to either become trained
or educated on a subject,
AR/VR/wearables can provide novel
mechanisms that are also efficient.
As this trend converges with the digital
ecosystem, more relevant and timely
information about an individual’s
surroundings and context can be provided
to enhance decision-making capabilities.
36. IDATE. "Global wearable technology sales by category from 2014 to 2018 (in million units).” Statista - The Statistics Portal. May 2015. Web. 7 Oct
2016. https://www.statista.com/statistics/461548/wearable-tech-sales-worldwide-by-category/
Kunkel, Nelson, Steve Soechtig, Jared Miniman and Chris Stauch. "Augmented and virtual reality go to work: Seeing business through a different
lens." Deloitte University Press. 24 Feb. 2016. Web. 07 Oct. 2016. http://dupress.deloitte.com/dup-us-en/focus/tech-trends/2016/augmented-and-
virtual-reality.html
Mandla, Jitu Singh. "Virtual and Augmented Reality." Flarrio. 2016. Web. 07 Oct. 2016. http://flarrio.com/virtual-and-augmented-reality/
"More than 200 Million Virtual Reality Head-Mounted Displays to be Sold by 2020." Tractica. 18 Jan. 2016. Web. 07 Oct. 2016.
https://www.tractica.com/newsroom/press-releases/more-than-200-million-virtual-reality-head-mounted-displays-to-be-sold-by-2020/
"Wearable Computing Market by Application (Fitness and Wellness, Medical and Healthcare, Enterprise and Industrial, Infotainment, and Others),
by Technology (Computing, Display, Networking, and Others), & Geography - Global Forecast to 2020." Markets and Markets. June 2015. Web. 07
Oct. 2016. http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/wearable-computing-market-125877882.html
11
38. “The technology for autonomous vehicles
has evolved at lightning speed. In 2004,
DARPA sponsored a $1 million (USD)
prize for driverless vehicles to navigate a
course in the Mojave Desert called the
DARPA Grand Challenge. No teams
finished the race. One year later, in 2005,
five cars successfully crossed the finish
line... Today, Google’s self-driving cars
are driving on city streets and freeways.
– McKinsey, Disruptive Technology Report, 2013
Autonomously operating machines represent the opportunity
for humankind to eventually stop having to do any activities
deemed to be undesirable on the basis of physical (or even
cognitive) difficulty, repetition, monotony, and danger.
Augmenting the human physical capability can, and has, led to
immense benefit in terms of increased productivity and
locomotion.
Consumer drones have been widely available for some time
now, and business-focused drones are in the works at
companies such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Sony.
From automated floor cleaners to robot retail associates,
autonomous machines are already in action and they offer the
possibility to go beyond the automation of current tasks
toward revolutionizing how we operate as organizations and
individuals.
02
40. 04
The autonomous machines trend is driven by advances in
robotics automation, UAV/drone proliferation, and the advent of
self-driving vehicles.
The use of advanced robotics is already common in some
verticals, but a new wave of consumer-focused robotics
technologies is finding its way into all businesses.
Robots are supported by artificial intelligence (AI) and their
trajectories are linked; however, even with limited AI, robotics
will soar in readiness and value by automating specific physical
tasks.
The same automation and efficiency seen in the use of robotics
in manufacturing is beginning to apply in other industries as
robots become more general-purpose and powerful.
Self-driving cars have recently reached the public
consciousness, with advancements such as Google’s
autonomous car, and Tesla adding some automated driving to
its cars via a software update. The navigation of these vehicles
is made possible through machine vision, which uses cameras
and sensors to monitor, adjust to, and base actions on what’s
happening in the physical environment.
“140 million miles have been driven in
Tesla’s electric cars with the autonomous
autopilot feature activated as of August
2016.
– Wired, Tesla Autopilot
43. 3. Public Administration
6. Finance and Insurance
2. Health Care and Social Assistance
5. Education Services
Looking Forward
From a business perspective, autonomous
machines will create efficiencies by helping
existing employees with physical tasks,
allowing them to do more in less time or
redirect focus to intellectual tasks and
planning.
New possibilities will open up, such as
functioning in locations previously too remote
or dangerous for humans. IT will be expected to
enable and support new functions.
In more advanced knowledge economies, new
opportunities to build and service autonomous
machines will arise, and there may even be a
reversal of outsourced manufacturing as well.
The real question is whether these new
opportunities will offset the loss of old jobs.
Industry Impact and
Timing
Legend:
1.Manufacturing
4. RetailTrade
Short Term
Low
TIMING
MediumTerm
IMPACT
Medium
Long Term
High
07
44. Industry: Finance and Insurance
SITUATION ACTION RESULT
• Using drones to capture a highly
detailed rendering of the site reduced
the amount of time the insurance
company spent at the accident site and
also allowed it to process the claim
faster due to the higher quality of
images captured.
• Ultimately, the 2D map and 3D model
created by the drones helped the
insurance company determine that the
fire did not start on its customer’s
property.
• The insurance company was able to
deny the €100,000,000 claim because it
proved its customer was not
responsible for the fire.
08
• Based on the onsite loss adjuster’s
recommendation, the insurance
company used a drone to collect more
than 300 geo-tagged photographs of
the damaged area to map the entire
site.
• A 2D map and 3D model of the site
were created using the photographs
and uploaded to the cloud to allow the
team of inspectors to easily collaborate
while processing the claim.
• A major fire broke out at a vacation
destination and consumed more than
five acres of property, causing damage
valued at over €100,000,000.
• In this situation, the insurance
company assessing the claims was
challenged by that fact that the
damaged roofs were not strong
enough to support an inspector
climbing on them compounded by the
sheer size of the property.
• Unfortunately, the photos the insurance
company initially captured were not
sharp enough to be of use.
45. Perceived Level of Risk Associated with Automation: To
what extent can we “set it and forget it” when it comes
to automation? This will be a highly impactful variable,
as any automation-related disaster can drastically
shake public confidence given the potential implications
on human life and safety.
Desired Level of Automation: How much control do we,
as consumers, want to give up to our robots?
Movement and mobility are key factors driving the
adoption of other technology trends; automation, to a
degree, stands in contrast with that.
Privacy: As autonomous machines servicing human needs
become more in tune with the user’s likes, needs, and desires,
controls need to be put into place that ensure it does not give
away the user’s privacy and expose them to being exploited.
System Security: Cyber security is another big concern for
autonomous machines such as self-driving cars. The
computer system of these autonomous cars could be
potentially hacked to gain sensitive information or cause injury.
Liability: Allocating liability properly is another major
consideration for autonomous machines. If self-driving cars
share the road with other humans, who would assume liability
if the self-driving car causes an accident?
Threat Models: Currently, manufacturers are concerned about
getting machines to self-automate; however, the dark side of
the technology and its threat models have not been well
thought out.
09
46. Where perceived risk is higher, personal
augmentation (exoskeletons, etc.) may be
viable for those who seek physical
capabilities they’ve lost or never had.
Perceived Level
of Risk:
High
Desired
Level of
Automation:
Low
Desired
Level of
Automation:
High
Perceived Level
of Risk:
Low
10
In this scenario, although desire for
consumer-level automation may be low,
assembly line work automation will
progress to the point where product
ordering systems will catalyze production
efforts.
In this scenario, society’s highly skilled and
most advanced procedures (e.g. medical)
may become automated as a tactic to
increase accessibility to critical
procedures.
A key selling feature of self-driving vehicles
is the perception that they will be safer
than human-driven vehicles. This will have
to be proven in order for a disruption of this
proportion to become real.
47. Billings, Mike. "The Daily Startup: Drone-Tech Investment Breaks Records in 2015." The Wall Street Journal. 30 Dec. 2015. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2015/12/30/the-daily-startup-drone-tech-investment-breaks-records-in-2015/
"Global Market for Commercial Applications of Drone Technology Valued at over $127 bn." PwC Press Room. 09 May 2016. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
http://press.pwc.com/News-releases/global-market-for-commercial-applications-of-drone-technology-valued-at-over--127-bn/s/ac04349e-c40d-
4767-9f92-a4d219860cd2
Lamb, Anya. "Drone Map Saves Insurance Company €99,985,000." sUAS News. 6 July 2016. Web. 07 Oct. 2016.
http://www.suasnews.com/2016/07/drone-map-saves-insurance-company-e99985000/
Manyika, James, Michael Chiu, Jacques Bughin, Richard Dobbs, Peter Bisson and Alex Marrs. "Disruptive technologies: Advances that will
transform life, business, and the global economy." McKinsey & Company. 2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2016. http://www.mckinsey.com/business-
functions/business-technology/our-insights/disruptive-technologies
Stewart, Jack. "Tesla’s Cars Have Driven 140M Miles on Autopilot. Here’s How." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital. 17 Aug. 2016. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
https://www.wired.com/2016/08/how-tesla-autopilot-works/
11
49. “No longer is data isolated in the IT
department, and executives are looking
to Big Data to provide big answers. They
want to discern which external factors
will impact the sales and demand of a
particular product in the next six months
– and by how much.
– AI Trends, Trends Equity Inc. 2016
The human knowledge and information base is growing so
fast that we can’t keep pace right now. Analyzing all available
data – by pulling out what is relevant to your business – is
extraordinarily complex and requires business intelligence
systems that don’t yet exist.
Increasingly, the business is demanding real-time responses
to this data and, at the core, this is where the need for an
extension of the human mind comes from.
Automated cognition, the outsourcing of analysis and
interpretation of information to a machine, is the response to
the human mind’s finite ability to process and react to data in
an expedient manner.
02
50. Global AI Investment History
*NOTE: Only Q1 and Q2 Data Included for 2016
03
Source: CB Insights, 2016
281
415
757
2178
2388
1651
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 *2016
51. 04
Automated cognition is driven by advances in AI (artificial
intelligence), advanced computing resulting in enhanced
algorithms, and machine learning.
Machine learning enables computers to interpret and react to
information and data based on a minimal set of rules and
conventions that have been pre-programmed. More advanced
techniques such as deep learning and neural networks deliver
algorithms that give computers the ability to create rules and
conventions autonomously.
Computing power has been growing exponentially, and when
combined with the reduction in costs of underlying
technologies, automating cognition is rapidly becoming more
feasible and viable. These factors, in convergence with
increases in data storage capabilities and cloud computing,
must be monitored closely to determine when this trend will
become accessible to the mid-market, small business, and
individual.
“More data has been created in the past
two years than in the entire history of the
human race.
– Forbes, 2015
54. 3. Public Administration
6. Finance and Insurance
2. Health Care and Social Assistance
5. Education Services
Looking Forward
Human-like intelligence, combining many
specialized functions together to process
information, is still years away. However, there
are fewer and fewer barriers to human-level AI,
and many believe that machines will inevitably
surpass human intelligence.
On the horizon is the programmed capability of
a computer to test predictive hypotheses and
rapidly close the gap between data and insight
delivery.
Industry Impact and
Timing
Legend:
1.Manufacturing
4. RetailTrade
Short Term
Low
TIMING
MediumTerm
IMPACT
Medium
Long Term
High
07
55. Industry: Retail
SITUATION ACTION RESULT
• Over 50,000 shoppers used XPS over
two months of testing and had an
average engagement of two minutes.
• The company generated promising
results: 75% of the users who gave
feedback said they would use XPS
again and rated the experience a 2.5
out of 3.
• The XPS technology had a 60% click-
through rate to try product
recommendations.
08
• The North Face decided to launch an
artificial intelligence powered Expert
Personal Shopper (XPS) – in
collaboration with IBM Watson and
Fluid – that helps shoppers select the
best jacket based on their individual
needs.
• XPS relies on a natural language
interface and allows online shoppers to
engage in a question and answer
conversation the same way they would
speak to a human sales associate.
• E-commerce and online shopping have
exploded; however, apparel is one area
in retail where consumers still prefer to
buy in person.
• One of the reasons for this is that
knowledgeable in-store associates are
able to guide customers toward
relevant products and services based
on their personal preferences.
• The North Face, an outdoor clothing
retailer, wanted to replicate the
conversation a shopper might have
with an in-store associate to the
internet to give shoppers a more
personalized experience while shopping
online.
56. Level of Trust in AI Capability: From analyzing molecular
compounds to making determinations based on
massive amounts of historical legal data, can we trust
machines to do the job correctly?
Impact on Labor: As automated cognition proliferates,
people who previously performed those capabilities will
no longer have a job. Even intellectually demanding jobs
may eventually be threatened.
Effective Controls: With powerful automated cognition
systems, it is important to build in controls if the system
exhibits undesired behavior. In fact, redundant pathways need
to be constructed into the systems to ensure control can be re-
established if necessary.
• It is also important that the automated cognition systems
have verification and validation capabilities. These systems
will ensure that AI programs conform to formal
specifications and that there are no side effects from the
predetermined specifications.
Data Security: It is also important to ensure the AI systems are
secure and cannot be hacked. If the system is hacked and bad
data is input to the system, it could change the algorithm’s
anticipated outcomes.
09
57. Knowledge professionals can seek to apply
prescriptive analytics to automate
strategic decisions themselves and thus
delegate certain decision-making
responsibilities entirely.
High-
Knowledge
Workforce
Public
Trust in
AI: Low
Public
Trust in
AI: High
Low-
Knowledge
Workforce
10
In this scenario, human strategists will look
to intelligent machines to identify relevant
scenarios based on real-time data in order
to augment and speed up decision-making
processes.
Where machines won’t be trusted to carry
out advanced job tasks autonomously,
they can still be put to use in providing a
first layer of customer service, expediting
the time-to-resolution for informational
requests.
Particularly in areas where communication
may be difficult, an AI-powered computer
could deliver onsite guidance and advice to
physical laborers.
58. “Funding to Artificial Intelligence Startups Reaches New Quarterly High." CB Insights. 17 July 2016. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
https://www.cbinsights.com/blog/artificial-intelligence-funding-trends-q216/
Gaudin, Sharon. "The North Face Sees A.I. as a perfect fit." Computerworld. IDG. 26 Jan. 2016. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
http://www.computerworld.com/article/3026449/retail-it/the-north-face-sees-ai-as-a-perfect-fit-video.html
Manyika, James, Michael Chiu, Jacques Bughin, Richard Dobbs, Peter Bisson and Alex Marrs. "Disruptive technologies: Advances that will
transform life, business, and the global economy." McKinsey & Company. 2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2016. http://www.mckinsey.com/business-
functions/business-technology/our-insights/disruptive-technologies
Marr, Bernard. "Big Data: 20 Mind-Boggling Facts Everyone Must Read." Forbes. 30 Sept. 2015. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2015/09/30/big-data-20-mind-boggling-facts-everyone-must-read/#c962ab6c1d35
Marshall, Matt. "The North Face to launch insanely smart Watson-powered mobile shopping app next month." VentureBeat. 4 Mar. 2016. Web. 06
Oct. 2016. http://venturebeat.com/2016/03/04/the-north-face-to-launch-insanely-smart-watson-powered-shopping-app-next-month/
Wagner, Rich. "A new era of predictive analytics: 2016 trends to watch." Bloomberg For Enterprise. Bloomberg, 17 Feb. 2016. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
https://www.bloomberg.com/enterprise/blog/a-new-era-of-predictive-analytics-2016-trends-to-watch/
11
60. “More than 40 top financial institutions
and a growing number of firms across
industries are experimenting with
distributed ledger technology as a secure
and transparent way to digitally track the
ownership of assets, a move that could
speed up transactions and cut costs
while lowering the risk of fraud. Some
companies see an opportunity to use
blockchain to track the movement of
assets throughout their supply chains or
electronically initiate and enforce
contracts.
– Wall Street Journal, 2016
The financial crisis of 2008 severely shook the
public’s confidence in our institutions. Since then,
there has been a lasting impact on trust. But what if
the public didn’t have to trust their institutions?
From the trend toward peer reviewing goods and
services online to the social sourcing of news media
and information, there is a growing comfort and
appetite for leveraging the collective crowd to help
make individual decisions.
In terms of verification and authentication, the whole
is truly greater than the sum of its parts. This new
whole could replace our current system for
processing transactions, moving assets and any and
all other cases where an institution is the
intermediary.
02
62. 04
Distributed validation is driven by the convergence between
crowdsourcing, tokenization, and the blockchain.
The blockchain refers to a distributed ledger structure combined
with the dispersion of consensus building. Consensus is built by
sharing a transaction with a distributed network of computers that
independently run algorithms to verify that the transaction has
occurred. Once a transaction has been confirmed by the network,
a “block” of data is added to the chain, at which point, it becomes
nearly impossible to change or remove.
Each blockchain implementation works differently; however, they
all feature a unique set of network-approved rules by which
transactions must be validated.
Tokenization – a security measure that improves the integrity of
physical/digital transactions – is a powerful counterbalancing
force when considering a distributed model of authentication and
validation. Tokenization secures transactions by issuing a
randomized identifier to a payer’s info, rendering it impossible for
their personal info to be accessed during the transaction.
This measure is currently being applied by payment processing
entities and emerging formats are being leveraged by tech giants
like Apple.
“$1.2 billion (USD) has been invested
in 120 start-ups related to
blockchain technology by venture
capitalists.
– Coindesk, Bitcoin Venture Capital, 2016
65. 3. Public Administration
6. Finance and Insurance
2. Health Care and Social Assistance
5. Education Services
Looking Forward
Given the implications around circumventing
the need for a central authority to verify,
evaluate, and validate transactions, the
blockchain may be poised to disrupt the
concept of the institution as we know it.
Financial and professional services have
been early to the gate on this trend and
commercial applications have already hit the
market for less critical services as a way of
piloting this technology.
Looking forward, this trend may begin to
impact other institutions, particularly where
consumers have been unsatisfied with the
level of credibility and integrity they’ve
witnessed thus far.
Industry Impact and
Timing
Legend:
1.Manufacturing
4. RetailTrade
Short Term
Low
TIMING
MediumTerm
IMPACT
Medium
Long Term
High
07
66. Industry: Finance and Insurance
SITUATION ACTION RESULT
• The prototype simplifies the letter for
credit process down to four steps, and
results in a more transparent process
overall for all parties involved.
• With a 0% error rate, the time required
to process the letter of credit can now
be cut down to between five and ten
minutes.
08
• Microsoft worked with Bank of America
Merrill Lynch to solve this problem
together.
• They calculated that a customer, a
beneficiary, and each of the
counterpart banks would need to
conduct 15 steps in total for a standby
letter of credit transaction.
• The team developed a prototype built
on a multi-node private installation of
the ethereum blockchain to address
this issue.
• Letters of credit are a typical measure
used to mitigate risk in large
transactions. This process can take up
to five business days.
• Marley Gray, the principal program
manager and lead blockchain engineer
at Microsoft, wanted to make this
complex process simpler.
• Due to factors such as poor data entry
and illegible handwriting, the team
identified an error rate as high as 50%.
• In international trade, fixing errors
would take especially long, due to time
zone issues.
67. Legal: From a legal perspective, the identity and
accountability issues associated with blockchain are
going to potentially limit its mass adoption.
• Due to blockchain’s design, it is not possible to track
issues back to an auditable or verifiable source, making
the blockchain itself difficult to use as evidence.
• If identity cannot be verified, it cannot be used as
evidence in the legal system, limiting where and how
blockchain may be used in business.
Regulatory: Since distributed ledger technology is going to
be used to remove intermediaries from established
systems, it is important that new regulations and controls
are put in place.
System Overhauling: For businesses to adopt blockchain
solutions, they will need to make significant changes, or in
some cases, even completely replace their existing
system for a successful transition.
09
Enterprise Standards: As of yet, there are no clear rules
that govern blockchain implementation in an enterprise
context, and networks can be public or private.
Regulations and Liability: The concept of distributed
validation is inherently opposed to our current systems
of governing and managing liability. Currently, our legal
system necessitates a central point of accountability so
that a “head will roll” in the event of a breach of trust.
68. In certain geographies, blockchain
implementations that impact the
management of records are being piloted.
Again, currently only feasible insofar as the
information is not used for reasons of legal
proof provision.
Accountability:
Centralized
Network:
Private
Network:
Public
10
Some sensitive information can potentially
be exchanged between institutions using a
distributed ledger system. However,
currently, this is only feasible in industries
that do not require non-repudiation in their
processes.
A private network where accountability is
distributed can be leveraged to validate the
identity/credibility of individuals to be
added to specific digital social networks
where the collective acknowledgement of
the network is important.
Value can still be exchanged in a public
network, but perhaps not in the form of
actual currency. The digitally enabled
bartering of new/used goods could be
accelerated by blockchain technology.Accountability:
Distributed
69. "Bitcoin Venture Investments." Bitcoin Venture Capital. CoinDesk RSS. 30 Sept. 2016. Web. 06 Oct. 2016. http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-
venture-capital/
"Blockchain Startup Investment Bounces Back." CB Insights Blog. N.p., 15 May 2016. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
https://www.cbinsights.com/blog/blockchain-startup-funding-q1-2016/
Castillo, Michael Del. "Inside Bank of America’s New Microsoft-Powered Blockchain Project." CoinDesk RSS. 29 Sept. 2016. Web. 07 Oct. 2016.
http://www.coindesk.com/bank-of-america-blockchain-microsoft-trade-finance/
McWaters, Jesse. "The Future of Financial Infrastructure An Ambitious Look at How Blockchain Can Reshape Financial Services." World Economic
Forum. Deloitte. Aug. 2016. Web. 6 Oct. 2016. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_future_of_financial_infrastructure.pdf
Norton, Steven. "CIO Explainer: What Is Blockchain?" The Wall Street Journal. WSJ, 02 Feb. 2016. Web. 07 Oct. 2016.
http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2016/02/02/cio-explainer-what-is-blockchain/
"The Fintech 2.0 Paper: Rebooting Financial Services." Santander InnoVentures. Oliver Wyman, Anthemis Group & Santander InnoVentures, 2015.
Web. 06 Oct. 2016. http://santanderinnoventures.com/fintech2/
11
71. “We are now at the beginning of
something new, something different.
There is a new wave of platform-based
disruptive enterprises that will not only
change industries but also bring a deep
societal change. It will change how we
live, how we make money, and how we
interact with each other, and it will give
us many new opportunities.
– Harvard Business Review, 2016
When an organization decides to engage with its
competitive environment as a platform, it has made
a decision to be humble.
The decision to become a platform is essentially an
acknowledgement that not only might you not know
how to solve all your most pressing problems, but
you also might not even know what your problems
are.
XaaP, or “Everything as a Platform,” represents the
proliferation of this type of thinking. Enabled by
critical advancements in, and popularization of,
foundational technologies, organizations can now
share their challenges, pain points, and opportunities,
and in doing so, extend their capabilities far beyond
the confines of their “four walls.”
02
72. Number of Public APIs by Year
03
Adapted from Accenture Technology Vision, 2015
73. 04
The XaaP trend is primarily driven by the convergence between
the concept of open data – the idea that all information should be
freely available to work with, analyze, and manipulate – and the
proliferation of the application programming interface (API).
The API provides an interface, tools, and protocols that specify
how applications interact and communicate with each other.
As organizations continue to transition from client servers to
mobile and cloud, APIs provide the missing link or “glue” that
facilitates integration needs at the new required speed of
business.
There has been an economy built around the API, as organizations
have begun to turn profits resulting from activities related to
becoming platforms.
Major players such as Salesforce, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, and
Google have been able to exploit this technology successfully to
open new streams of revenue, and in 2017, this will likely begin to
trickle down further into the mid-market and small-business
domain.
“The combined market value of
the top 10 public platform
companies is (approximately)
$3.1 trillion (USD).
– Center for Global Enterprise, 2016
76. 3. Public Administration
6. Finance and Insurance
2. Health Care and Social Assistance
5. Education Services
Looking Forward
When leveraged correctly, the API makes
developing web applications faster, easier, and far
more efficient.
Driving this trend further, and faster, is the notion
not only that organizations can be more open, but
also that they should.
Open data concepts began with the public’s desire
for increased speed and capability from their
governments.
API proliferation has been accelerated by
enterprise profitability.
The two will now meet in convergence to deliver on
new consumer expectations of impact, experience,
and speed.
Industry Impact and
Timing
Legend:
1.Manufacturing
4. RetailTrade
Short Term
Low
TIMING
MediumTerm
IMPACT
Medium
Long Term
High
07
77. Industry: Education
SITUATION ACTION RESULT
• With a total savings of over $500,000
so far, Southeastern’s decision to
switch to an open-source platform has
led to an average annual savings of
over $100,000.
• The university also achieved higher
user satisfaction after switching to
Moodle.
08
• Southeastern Louisiana University
decided to switch to Moodle, an open-
source course management system
with no subscription cost.
• Moodle was chosen over other open-
source learning platforms because it
had the highest evaluation score on the
Southeastern campus and in the larger
higher education community.
• After the decision was made,
Southeastern started a Moodle pilot,
and after a year, it completely replaced
the old system with Moodle.
• Southeastern Louisiana University was
spending a large amount of its IT
budget on a subscription-based course
management system.
• The increasing cost of its existing
system and the additional cost for its
mobile version were the main reasons
Southeastern decided to look for
alternatives.
78. Privacy and Sharing: How open is too open? This is the
current debate as governments seek to leverage
external expertise to deliver social good by opening their
data, and organizations seek to extend their capabilities
to drive revenue. Neither can afford to violate the
public’s trust or give up too much and lose their
competitive advantage.
The (Consumer’s) Need for Speed: The extent to which
the modern consumer is expectant of speed-to-market
is very likely increasing in a commensurate fashion with
the pace of business. The level to which an organization
must cater to these expectations in order to remain
competitive is not yet certain.
Data-Level Security: Data protection is being
taken down to the level of the data itself. Security
at data level is influencing open platform
adoption: it allows for the encryption of data to
let the data itself decide whether it can be
accessed or not.
Policy Set by Data: As a result of current
heuristic capabilities on devices, data can self-
assess whether it wants to delete onsite, stay
encrypted, or be accessed based on the person
trying to access it, as well as the device being
used to assess that data.
09
79. This scenario will promote licensing data
to trusted third parties in order to deliver a
solution in a timely manner.
Problem
Urgency:
High
Information
Sensitivity:
Low
Information
Sensitivity:
High
10
Solution development can be incentivized
and catalyzed through competition and
prizes when urgency is high.
Making non-sensitive information freely
available to work with and manipulate is
appropriate when time is not an issue.
With less urgency, partnerships for open
collaboration between trusted parties can
be an effective mechanism to develop
solutions.
Problem
Urgency:
Low
80. Daugherty, Paul et al. “Technology Vision 2015.” Accenture. 2015. Web. 06 Oct. 2016. https://www.accenture.com/ca-
en/_acnmedia/Accenture/Conversion-Assets/Microsites/Documents11/Accenture-Technology-Vision-2015.pdf
Daugherty, Paul, Marc Carrel-Billiard, and Michael J. Biltz. "Business Technology Trends Report -- Technology Vision 2016." Technology Vision
2016. Accenture. n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2016. https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insight-business-technology-trends-report
Evans, Peter C., and Annabelle Gawer. "The Rise of the Platform Enterprise." The Emerging Platform Economy Series No.1. The Center for Global
Enterprise. Jan. 2016. Web. 6 Oct. 2016. http://thecge.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/PDF-WEB-Platform-Survey_01_12.pdf
Sampere, Juan Pablo Vazquez. "Why Platform Disruption Is So Much Bigger than Product Disruption." Harvard Business Review. Harvard, 08 Apr.
2016. Web. 07 Oct. 2016. https://hbr.org/2016/04/why-platform-disruption-is-so-much-bigger-than-product-disruption
11
82. “Today, 3D printing can create objects
from a variety of materials, including
plastic, metal, ceramics, glass, paper,
and even living cells. These materials
can come in the form of powders,
filaments, liquids, or sheets. With some
techniques, a single object can be
printed in multiple materials and colors,
and a single print job can even produce
interconnected moving parts (such as
hinges, chain links, or mesh).
– McKinsey Global Institute, 2013
Conventional construction and creation is being
challenged.
The world of complex logistics, centralized
manufacturing, and the waste it creates, coupled
with the desire for more flexibility, has given rise to a
new trend toward decentralized making.
Although initially met with much hype, the fervor has
been diffused around this trend. A more mature
pragmatism has emerged with a focus on
addressing key barriers so that makers can take an
idea straight from design file to finished product.
02
84. 04
Decentralized making is a trend driven by advances in 3D
printing and the desire to move toward a more distributed
system of manufacturing.
Labeled as the catalyst for an impending neo-industrial
revolution, 3D printing has suffered from massively inflated
expectations and speculations.
3D printing is a technology that facilitates the creation of
objects in an additive process, which builds them in layers. This
technology has the potential to avoid the barriers of traditional
manufacturing through techniques that melt and deposit the
layers before solidifying them to finalize the object’s creation.
This process circumvents the need to assemble, weld, carve,
mold, and procure individual parts.
At the present moment, the 3D printing market is held afloat by
uptake in consumer electronics and automotive industries
(each contributing 20% of the total 3D printing market revenue
– according to UPS).
Primarily a tool used for prototyping, the use cases are
increasing; some of the component parts of our smartphones
have been 3D printed, and soon, some of our cells might be
through inkjet bio-printing.
“5% of global manufacturing capacity will
be captured by 3D printing.
– Wohler’s and Associates
87. 3. Public Administration
6. Finance and Insurance
2. Health Care and Social Assistance
5. Education Services
Looking Forward
The future may be customized to
the individual. Mass customization
is the outcome and potential that
3D printing presents, and the desire
of consumers to create objects that
are unique to them will strongly
influence how far this trend will go.
For the most part, the most
significant potential impacts this
trend may have, namely on health
care and the extension of human
life, will not be realized until the
mid-2020s.
Industry Impact and
Timing
Legend:
1.Manufacturing
4. RetailTrade
Short Term
Low
TIMING
MediumTerm
IMPACT
Medium
Long Term
High
07
88. Industry: Manufacturing
SITUATION ACTION RESULT
• By using 3D printing, Opel was able to
achieve significant time and cost
savings. In fact, it was able to design
and print a new tool within 24 hours
and reduce its costs by up to 90%.
• Since 3D printers can create a variety
of forms and shapes, Opel was also
able to create tools better adapted to
the workers and automobiles.
08
• Opel is Europe’s third-largest
automobile manufacturer and its
International Technical Development
Center produced 40 manufacturing and
assembly tools in-house using 3D
printing technology.
• While designing the assembly tools in-
house, Opel incorporated the practical
experiences of line workers from the
factory floor to further improve the
tools.
• In automobile manufacturing,
assembly tools are used to precisely
attach different components to the car
during the production process.
• Due to changes in design every year on
a variety of models being
manufactured, automobile
manufacturers constantly require new
assembly tools.
• Conventional methods to produce or
acquire these tools are expensive and
time consuming.
89. Public Safety: 3D printing is currently not regulated. In 2012,
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had to request that
a CAD file for a 3D printable gun be taken down. The lack of
legislation and regulation puts public safety at risk. Moving
forward, there needs to be a licensing architecture built into the
3D printing industry for downloading/creating the content itself
that is maintained by a party that can be held liable.
Personal Health: 3D printers release ultrafine particles that
when inhaled can cause adverse health effects, including an
increased risk of asthma, stroke and heart disease. Therefore,
printers need to be used in well-ventilated areas to minimize
exposure.
Intellectual Property: There are already CAD files on the
internet that infringe on existing design rights and patents.
Companies will need to find new ways to protect their
intellectual property because piracy will likely be difficult to
police and widespread throughout the internet.
Maintaining Quality within Supply Chain: Manufacturers must
ensure that the quality of the products they are sourcing from
the upstream supply chain meets safety standards.
Considering 3D printing and CAD files are likely to be
widespread, there could be defective products being produced
by certain parties. 09
Printing Speed: Expected to increase 88% by 2023 (UPS,
2016), the speed by which an object can be 3D printed
has huge implications on volume, capacity, and the
supply chain.
Unit Costs: Rapid progress is reducing the cost of
materials and 3D printers themselves; this will be a
primary driver for uptake in consumer markets.
90. Where cost may prohibit household
ownership, speed can enable the purchase
and manufacture of goods at the same
location.
Per Unit
Cost:
High
Printing
Speed:
Slow
Printing
Speed:
Fast
Per Unit
Cost:
Low
10
Particularly well suited for product
innovation, physical solution prototyping is
suitable in this scenario, where scale is not
yet achievable due to cost.
As costs decline, the prospect of every
home having a 3D printer becomes more
realistic; household printing is also feasible
if printing speeds remain slow as users
can print while they are out at work, etc.
3D printing can be applied in scenarios
where unique components are required at
low volume.
91. Consumer Technology Association. "3D Printing: The Next Revolution in Industrial Manufacturing." 3D Printing UPS. United Parcel Service. n.d. Web.
7 Oct. 2016. https://www.ups.com/media/en/3D_Printing_executive_summary.pdf
Manyika, James, Michael Chiu, Jacques Bughin, Richard Dobbs, Peter Bisson and Alex Marrs. "Disruptive technologies: Advances that will
transform life, business, and the global economy." McKinsey & Company. McKinsey Global Institute. 2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/business-technology/our-insights/disruptive-technologies
Schmidt, Nico. "Tools from 3D Printer Make Car Manufacturing Easier at Opel." Media.gm.com. OPEL. Aug. 2014. Web. 07 Oct. 2016.
http://media.opel.com/media/intl/en/opel/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/intl/en/2014/opel/08-20-3d-printer.html
Uppada, Sahiti. "Expiry of Patents in 3D Printing Market to Decrease Product Costs and Increase Consumer Orientation." 3D Printing. Industry ARC.
24 Sept. 2015. Web. 07 Oct. 2016. < http://3dprinting.com/news/expiry-of-patents-in-3d-printing-market-to-decrease-product-costs-and-increase-
consumer-orientation/>
“Wohlers Report 2015: 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing State of the Industry Annual Worldwide Progress Report.” Wohlers Associates. 2015
11
93. “CIOs are fast realizing that their carefully
crafted enterprise-wide technology
infrastructure and talent base built over
the years are falling short in light of
disruptive forces. The growing need to
cultivate an agile organization that can
quickly respond to market disruptions
makes it imperative for organizations to
intertwine their IT and business
objectives.
– Cognizant, 2015
Adaptive IT refers to an operating model that is non-
static; instead, it is constantly evolving according to
changing business needs.
Organizations are increasingly looking to drive efficiency
and scalability through cloud, SaaS, and service-oriented
architectures, and striving to establish a consistent
speed through models such as DevOps.
Business needs have become very diverse and groups
are consuming technology in different patterns. As such,
an adaptive IT operating model must support and
enable multiple groups of technology service
consumers, while continuously pivoting to meet
changing business conditions and needs.
Co-sourcing agreements with vendors are emerging as
well. These provide the IT organization with specialized
skills and are currently being applied to address
variation in demand for resources and drive the
improved use of internal resources.
02
94. 7%
12%
29%
21%
31%
Don’t Know Not Adopting DevOps
Adopting DevOps for projects or teams Adopting DevOps company-wide
Adopting DevOps for Business Units or divisions
Enterprise Adoption of DevOps
03
Source: Right Scale, 2016
95. 04
Adaptive IT is driven by the interplay of governance, sourcing,
processes, and organizational structure, which facilitate the
delivery of technology services to internal and external
consumers.
Structurally speaking, matrixed groups with dotted line
reporting to the consumer have enabled joint responsibility for
the delivery of a service. Roles and responsibilities for these
teams can be fluid and need not be rigidly defined. This has
encouraged meaningful collaboration with peers, and focuses
the team’s attention on delivering the business benefit from the
customized service.
IT strategic planning functions have seen an increase in the
level of flexibility allotted in unpredictable business
environments. This sort of governance is generally led by a joint
decision-making body between IT and the consumer group, and
is frequently disbanded following a project, program, or other
initiatives.
The forum for hybrid governance will vary organization to
organization, but project, program, or portfolio governance is
led by executive committees with technology and business
consumer representation.
“The top two reasons for adopting Agile for
the last three years has been to accelerate
product delivery (62%) and enhance their
ability to manage changing priorities
(56%).
– VersionOne, 10th Annual State of Agile Report
98. 3. Public Administration
6. Finance and Insurance
2. Health Care and Social Assistance
5. Education Services
Looking Forward
A bi-modal IT operating model might sound
great in theory, but in application, this model
often fails to account for the complexities of its
implementation. Thus far, embedded business-
technology teams have provided the best
approach to running complex customized
services.
Instead of dividing an IT organization and its
people between activities – which are seen as
either boring or static – forward-thinking CIOs
are organizing and mobilizing in a dynamic
manner to meet the technology service needs of
consumers who move at different speeds and in
various business directions.
Industry Impact and
Timing
Legend:
1.Manufacturing
4. RetailTrade
Short Term
Low
TIMING
MediumTerm
IMPACT
Medium
Long Term
High
07
99. Industry: Oil & Gas
SITUATION ACTION RESULT
• IT service disruptions decreased
significantly, and operational
efficiencies increased. As a result,
business satisfaction increased.
• Increased co-operation with the
business units led to the improved
identification of innovative
opportunities and improved
relationships.
08
• Having realized that the current one-
size-fits-all approach wasn’t working
anymore, the CIO created a sourcing
strategy focused on the elements
below:
1. Outsource commoditized
services and minimize
disruption by relying on a
selected set of preferred
vendors.
2. Insource strategic
services/applications and
acquire/retain top talent to
support the services.
3. Provide a platform to co-
source and crowd-source
ideas/services to support
innovation within the
organization.
• As the pressure on earnings increased
due to low oil prices, ABC, an oil & gas
major, was looking at investing in
innovative technologies, but ABC’s IT
organization was struggling to keep
pace with the business’ tactics.
• Business units had actively started
acquiring innovative technology by
circumventing the IT procurement
process, which led to a drastic increase
in integration costs and increased
security vulnerabilities in the
technology landscape.
100. Access Control: IT managers need to focus on identity
and access authentication control for given services in a
universal format. Services and workloads will be
completely movable from physical data centers to
outsourced ones.
Workload: Manage workload dissemination and rotation
visibility. Where the workloads sit is becoming more and
more ambiguous for the IT manager.
Data Visibility: Managing data visibility at the data level, to
understand where data is going, who is going to be
accessing it, where it is going to be accessed, and on
what.
09
Business Unpredictability: Refers to the likelihood of
unforeseen changes in an operating environment. High
unpredictability usually results in shorter planning
horizons, frequent changes, and a higher appetite for
risk and innovation.
Reliance on IT for Competitive Advantage: Refers to the
extent to which technology supports the customer-
facing (core) capabilities of the organization.
101. In this scenario, IT must push to spin up
new services to address changes and help
maintain the organization’s competitive
advantage.
Business
Unpredictability:
High
Reliance on IT
for
Competitive
Advantage:
Low
Reliance on IT
for
Competitive
Advantage:
High
10
IT will be considered a cost center in this
scenario and as such, must consider
outsourcing infrastructure assets as a
measure.
In this scenario, the business will expect a
high level of elasticity from IT to help it
maintain a comparative advantage.
Through techniques such as value stream
mapping, IT will be expected to help
maintain a better customer experience
than the competition.Business
Unpredictability:
Low
102. "10th Annual State of Agile Survey." The Largest, Longest-Running Agile Survey. VersionOne. 2016. Web. 07 Oct. 2016. .
http://stateofagile.versionone.com/
Anand, Amit. "Why New-age IT Operating Models Are Necessary for Enhanced Operational Agility." Cognizant. July 2015. Web. 7 Oct. 2016.
https://www.cognizant.com/whitepapers/why-new-age-it-operating-models-are-necessary-for-enhanced-operational-agility-codex1399.pdf
Khan, Naufal, and Johnson Sikes. "IT under pressure: McKinsey Global Survey Results." McKinsey Insights. McKinsey & Company. Mar. 2014. Web.
07 Oct. 2016. . http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/business-technology/our-insights/it-under-pressure-mckinsey-global-survey-
results
Weins, Kim. "New DevOps Trends: 2016 State of the Cloud Survey." Cloud Management Blog. Right Scale. 11 May 2016. Web. 07 Oct. 2016.
http://www.rightscale.com/blog/cloud-industry-insights/new-devops-trends-2016-state-cloud-survey
11
103. Shane Saunderson, VP
IC/Things at Idea Couture
A veteran of the start-up space, Shane has a background in product design,
mobile robotics, connected devices, and automation. Shane holds an MBA in
Technology and Innovation from the Ted Rogers School of Management at
Ryerson University in Toronto and a B. Eng., Mechanical from McGill University
in Montreal.
Wayne is an experienced executive who assesses complex IT & business
environments, then develops tactical and strategic plans to transform IT into
a strategic asset. Wayne has experience managing rapid growth & changes in
business strategy and technology.
Wayne Sadin, Chief Information & Digital Officer
Affinitas Life
104. Tom brings over 25 years of experience as a global business and
technology executive. Those years have been spent in a variety of
roles ranging from a business transformation leader for a multi-
billion dollar enterprise to a global CIO with staff around the world to
being employee #1 of a new business.
Tom Andriola, CIO
University of California
Mike has over 25 years of experience in higher education. As an IT
professor and CIO, he has extensive experience balancing the
demands of multiple stakeholders for the IT organization.
Mike Asoodeh, CIO & IT Professor
Southeastern Louisiana University
105. Cynthia has been helping companies and non-profit organizations
grow through sound strategy, investment, and market positioning for
over thirty years. She supports clients and partners in areas including
digital transformation, real-time communications, Internet of Things,
artificial intelligence, cognitive computing, platform as a service, and
mobile applications across a number of industries.
Cynthia Artin, President
Artin Arts
John is an IT professional with over 25 years experience in the design,
implementation, operation, and maintenance of technology products,
services, and processes. He is certified in all of the major industry
standard process frameworks (CMMI, ITIL, COBIT, 6 Sigma, TQM), and
has implemented process improvement programs to increase
operational effectiveness and efficiencies in both the private and
public sector.
John C. Martin, CIO
Georgia Department of Natural Resources
106. Lorie is currently an AVP at Canadian Western Bank. She has a broad
background in IT, including being a CIO at the Government of Alberta
for 12 years. Some of her specialties include strategic planning,
continuous improvement programs, building strong client
relationships, and implementing IT and business initiatives.
Additionally, Lorie is a transparent leader with the ability to engage
staff, foster teamwork, and lead toward a vision.
Lorie Baddock, AVP – Client Services
Canadian Western Bank
Ken is a retired senior IT professional with 35 years of industry
experience. He has functioned in the roles of CIO, senior performance
manager, enterprise/systems architect, and IT management
consultant at many organizations in Canada and the United States. He
has leadership experience in performance management and
implementing numerous business application systems in private,
public, and academic sectors.
Ken Bainey, Former CIO
Alberta Government
107. Yu is an accomplished IT leader and technology strategist with more
than 15 years of experience at GE. He is currently working on
managing the design, development, and launch of GE Measurement
and Control software as well as IT systems to meet the needs of
various stakeholders.
Yu Bai, CIO
GE Oil & Gas
Yusuf has over 20 years of experience in IT encompassing a wide
range of experience focusing on business process automation and
lean manufacturing. He served as a CIO for two different companies,
CST Industries and CleaverBrooks. He also recently founded YAH
Solutions Consulting Practice, to pursue his passion for helping
companies leverage IT.
Yusuf Abu-Hatoum, Consulting CIO
NABCO Entrances, Inc.
108. Tom is a respected technology strategist in consulting, product
development, and corporate IT. He is currently the CIO at National Life
Group, based in Vermont. Prior to that, Tom led the business
applications and enterprise software systems groups at USAA. He has
also held IT leadership positions with Bloomberg in New York and
several consulting firms.
Tom Anfuso, CIO
National Life Group
Steve has successfully led business and technology organizations
that have used large complex global projects with JDE, SFDC, Oracle,
and SAP as the impetus to drive significant cultural and operational
change in their entire enterprise. Steve’s key strength is creating a
culture of empowerment, transparency, and accountability.
Steve Strout, VP Corporate Systems
Sabre Corporation
109. Having spent the better part of the past two years working
exclusively in the blockchain space, Matthew has committed his
professional career to seeing this technology achieve its potential
within enterprise markets. Matthew has worked closely with some of
the world's foremost leaders on this topic.
Matthew Spoke, CPA, CA, CBP
CEO, Co-Founder at Nuco