NOVEMBER 2022CIOAPPLICATIONS.COM9Companies willing to embrace and unleash the digital revolution amid the uncertainties will have a competitive advantage and grow significantly faster than their competitorsenergy; firms can mitigate supply-chain disruptions, reducing transportation costs and improving delivery times; farmers can control moisture and light, increasing crop production. Meanwhile, wearable devices help monitor first respondents and patients, anticipating risks and saving lives.Like all technological disruptions, the digital economy implies challenges. Despite more IoT devices than people on the planet, the World Bank estimates that 3 billion individuals remain offline and 43% of the world's population do not use mobile internet. The WEF estimates that 80% of online content is available in just one-tenth of all languages. Uneven access to digital technologies and inequitable distribution of benefits could lead to greater concentration of market power and inequality. In addition, although technological disruption creates jobs it also destroys them. Likewise, automated AI and ML algorithms raise legal, regulatory and ethical concerns related to privacy and human biases. Last but not least, information can be stolen or misused, which can have severe destabilizing effects on financial markets, national security, elections and institutions.Nonetheless, there are also opportunities. A study from MIT shows that data-driven decisions allow companies to reap 5 to 6 percent higher productivity and output growth rates compared to other investments. Businesses also benefit from better organizational management, faster innovation, optimized processes, new products and services, enhanced customer service, and greater value creation. At the aggregate level, economies become more efficient and grow at a faster pace. According to ITU, a 10% increase in digitization boosts labor productivity, total factor productivity and GDP per capita by 2.6%, 2.3% and 1.4%, respectively. Other benefits include energy efficiency, more sustainable growth, lower corruption, fraud detection, enhanced working environments, and greater global trade and interconnectedness. According to McKinsey Global Institute, with open data just seven industries could create $3 to $5 trillion in economic value every year, of which, $1.3 to $2.2 trillion would benefit the U.S.Looking ahead, biometrics, dynamic pricing, hiring and retention analytics, hyper-automation, autonomous vehicles, cryptocurrencies, blockchain technologies & distributed ledgers, quantum & edge computing, bio-chips, nano-robotics, affective computers, the metaverse, virtual reality, human enhancements, nano- & low-orbit satellites, 6G networks, private space travel, green-tech, hydrogen fuel cells, graphene, mRNA vaccines, genetic engineering, and cybersecurity will expand business opportunities.Companies willing to embrace and unleash the digital revolution amid the uncertainties will have a competitive advantage and grow significantly faster than their competitors.
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