This has in turn put enormous pressure on IT departments to be able to deliver value for their business in quick timeframes. This increased demand coupled with the scarcity of talented developers has brought the rise of Citizen Developers who know the business processes and could develop fit to purpose apps or automation for their department to use.

According to 鈥淥n average, 41% of employees outside of IT 鈥� or business technologists 鈥� customise or build data or technology solutions. Gartner predicts that half of all new low-code clients will come from business buyers that are outside the IT organisation by year-end 2025.鈥�

Software providers like 麻豆原创 have already started to double down on L Strategy for Application Development and Process Automation[LG1] . With over 70% of the world’s transactions touching an 麻豆原创 system, there are more than 230 million 麻豆原创 Cloud application users worldwide. 麻豆原创 is recognising the importance of empowering business users to close the skill gap and enable them as citizen developers.

With the increased demand and popularity of the LCNC topic, we are seeing many LCNC platforms emerging in the market and organisations are starting to prioritise and evaluate how these platforms would help them accelerate the delivery of apps and automation.

Despite its growth, many misconceptions around the LCNC topic are preventing organisations to take the first step.

Low-Code/No-Code platforms hinder collaboration
LCNC platforms provide an intuitive drag and drop visual interface for any business user to build apps. Like any initiative, having the right governance is crucial. If there is no governance, this would lead to each department installing its own LCNC tools and building apps on their own. Often this results in data silos and risks in security & compliance.

It鈥檚 important for IT leaders to partner and collaborate with different lines of businesses to set up the governance model and offer the right set of tools thereby enabling business users to build apps that meet the standards. Apart from setting up the governance, IT teams need to periodically supervise and provide support around integration/APIs for consumption in LCNC tools to ensure apps developed by business users are real-time and provide the single source of truth.

Low-Code/No-Code platforms do not offer enterprise-grade apps and are relevant for small departments
LCNC has evolved over the last few years. There are many platforms out there today which offer a sophisticated set of capabilities that can be used to build enterprise-grade apps. Many platforms offer reusable components which can be easily integrated to build complex applications that span across multiple solutions.

For example, you can build an that monitors assets that are maintained in an 麻豆原创 system and triggers service requests based on information in the CRM system.

Low-code tools provide no flexibility to customisation and locks you down
Contrary to this misconception, many advanced LCNC platforms do offer the ability to customise the apps. Often there is a need to embed reusable business logic and enhance the capabilities of the apps generated using LCNC platforms. These capabilities give more freedom for businesses to be able to rapidly build apps that are tailored for their requirements.

Portability is an important factor when it comes to selecting the right platform. One needs to select the right platform which enables access to the generated code and customize it before deploying elsewhere.

Low-Code/No-Code is only meant for Citizen Developers
LCNC platforms can be used for different skill levels. On one hand, we have Citizen developers who know the business domain and can use intuitive tools to create applications. On the other hand, we also see professional developers using LCNC tools to accelerate their application development.

As touched on in the previous point, often we see the need to extend and customise the output provided by LCNC tools.

This is where Citizen Developers work in collaboration with professional developers to enhance the application to meet the business requirements. Hence, Citizen developers, as well as professional developers, will end up using LCNC tools but for different purposes.

In conclusion, LCNC platforms play an important role in empowering both line-of-business users and IT developers to accelerate the development of apps and foster collaboration. There is no doubt that the topic of LCNC will continue to evolve rapidly in the coming years fuelling innovation and providing more agility for businesses to meet the changing customer demands.

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, AI and Robotics Leader at noted that the presence of was very valuable and complimentary for those participating. 鈥淭here are a number of different things that we could not have done alone. The part I liked the best from this hackathon was having options on both sides.

鈥� and with software development & business processes and streamlining them. My own career is based off 麻豆原创 and a mixture of open-source, so it was quite a good mixture in the end to have so many options present. For example, we wanted to make a dashboard, so we were able to compare, taking some options from the 麻豆原创 side, like a bot, and some things from Microsoft, such as their screen development tools.

Being able to compare them was like being given an unlimited credit card to go shopping, choose what you want from the market, and then bring them together. That鈥檚 pretty much what we did.鈥�

According to Adeel, the development of NTT鈥檚 Digital Concierge hackathon entry stemmed from the organisation鈥檚 own history in developing lifelike avatars. 鈥淚 took some inspiration from that idea and decided to give it more of a COVID theme. We referenced Microsoft and found that you can have IoT representation of the entire building. You could have people moving around, you could have IoT sensors attached, and you could actually mimic an entire building.鈥�

Adeel noted the great support given to his team through Microsoft and 麻豆原创 mentors. 鈥淭hey were a really responsive lot. With their help, we found that we wanted to do some voice synthesis, so we latched onto another API on the Microsoft side, which could convert voices into text.

鈥淭his was another part of the research I was doing in the AI space, where you can give the entire employee guidebook to the avatar and it will use open-source algorithms to search that PDF file and come up with an answer. We fed in the employee guidebook for our Copenhagen office, so when they ask when lunch is served it will tell them the answer, and they can change the location to get a different answer.鈥�

Combining these technologies allowed NTT鈥檚 team to demonstrate various functionalities and benefits at once. 鈥淭o top it off, we wanted to put out something that would be very difficult to compete with,鈥� Adeel added, 鈥渟o we used a photo of Natalie Portman to animate the avatar. Towards the end of our demo, she actually speaks, saying whatever data the system has read back to it.鈥�

Adeel said accessibility was a primary focus when implementing text-to-speech and voice-to-text. 鈥淥ur technology shouldn鈥檛 always be for those that can see and hear at the same time 鈥� other people should be included. That was our main reason, but there was also the coolness factor. You can actually synthesise the voice of a real human.

鈥淐ortana鈥檚 voice is synthesised in Microsoft and those voices sound really mechanical, you can tell that鈥檚 a robot talking to you. Deep learning has progressed to a point where it can listen to you and I talking, talk and begin mimicking one of us. It will be very difficult for a human to tell that it鈥檚 not really a person. That sort of thing has progressed, and we wanted to show that 鈥� it doesn鈥檛 have to be mundane, boring responses from a computer; it can be very lifelike.鈥�

As social distancing practices and restrictions change the ways we interact with one another, they will determine how NTT鈥檚 Digital Concierge solution is implemented across offices, shopping centres, and beyond.

鈥淢ore and more people have gotten used to working from home,鈥� Adeel explained, 鈥渟o we prefer now to not get too close to other human beings we don鈥檛 know. There will be preference, especially with 24-hour service, for an avatar that can dedicate a spot, talk to someone in a lifelike manner, and understand the actions said to them 鈥� that鈥檚 the way this thing is going.鈥�

Adeel also expressed how these lifelike avatars combined with intelligent sensors and AI technologies can be used in car showrooms and for homeschooling, providing more convenience and human connection in the way we access and share information.

To see more from the teams that presented at last year鈥檚 hackathon or to learn about the upcoming

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In normal times, innovation is about doing things differently to achieve a better outcome but in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, innovation has more often been about survival. 鈥淢ost businesses 鈥� including ours 鈥� had to innovate just to carry on,鈥� says Des Fisher, innovation principal at 麻豆原创 Australia & New Zealand.

The most profound change for the enterprise software company was an immediate pivot to all-digital communications with its clients. Ideation is the bedrock of innovation and most of its key tools, such as sticky notes, whiteboards, meetings and workshops, vanished overnight. 鈥淣o face-to-face 鈥� that struck fear into my heart,鈥� says Fisher.

鈥淐hemistry is so useful when you鈥檙e innovating; if you鈥檙e not engaging properly with people it鈥檚 unlikely to amount to much.鈥�

Fisher says that some 麻豆原创 clients were initially slower to embrace ideation with digital tools because they were in pure survival mode. 鈥淲e had to rescue the concept of digital ideation and apply humanity to the technology,鈥� he says. 鈥淓ngagement is still vital, we just deliver it in a different way.鈥�

Companies also needed to find ways to support their staff who were working from home. In a worldwide COVID-19 initiative, 麻豆原创 made its freely available, allowing businesses to do fast and frequent 鈥減ulse鈥� surveys of their employees and customers. Australia Post, for example, coping with weeks of Christmas Eve-level parcel volumes, did regular employee pulse surveys to gauge morale and fatigue.

on how its workforce was feeling and how the management team could help. 鈥淥rganisations are communicating a lot more frequently with their staff and customers, which improves engagement and trust,鈥� says Fisher.

鈥淎 data-driven means of understanding how people feel is crucial.鈥� A third major innovation has been using data and digital capabilities to monitor critical infrastructure in hospitals, such as air-conditioner operating pressures and filtration units that keep staff and patients safe. 鈥淢ost organisations collect a vast variety and volume of data.

Listening to what that data has to tell us can help to improve safety and operate assets more reliably and sustainably,鈥� says Fisher. 鈥淭his is the next wave 鈥� to make better decisions using the wealth of data available to us and reinvent the way that businesses run.鈥�

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helps connect siloed processes, systems, and technologies together to provide real-time data analytics and best practices. By integrating every facet of the product lifecycle on a single-platform solution, can be streamlined and embedded with data to highlight opportunities to improve, automate, and expand.

As backend processes communicate with people and equipment in the field, managers can gain greater organisational visibility, gaining oversight of important enterprise data and real-world information that could impact the business, such as traffic, weather, customer demands, and feedback. Furthermore, equipment equipped with intelligent IoT sensors can measure vital usage metrics to improve equipment鈥檚 longevity.

The (IoT) is an idea easily thrown around but often misunderstood in terms of capabilities. IoT sensors provide the capacity to monitor, collect, analyse, and manage data in real time from critical business equipment. This ability to respond and adapt means equipment can and automatically trigger service and maintenance actions to minimise business impact. Business leaders can thereby make decisions when they matter most, planning and forecasting with greater accuracy and broader horizons.

With business transparency that feeds data into a centralised system, businesses have access to tighter resource management and control. This helps minimise waste while optimising processes and resource usage, which is critical at a time when the energy and resources sector must consider more sustainable options to continue thriving 鈥� both commercially and within the experience economy.

As the world becomes more socially and environmentally conscious, our industry needs to be ever mindful of the impact we鈥檙e having in the regions we operate and on the people we service. This shift alongside the digitalisation of communication platforms means businesses are under more scrutinous eyes than ever, which has led to more customer-centric practices across different industries. The amount of competition, communication channels, and information sources ensures customers have more buying power to influence an organisation鈥檚 success.

The digital transformation of supply and communication networks has driven many providers and brands to more personalised offerings, unlocking the value of critical business data to forecast better, service consumers more proactively, and discover best practices by connecting disparate systems to a single source of truth.

integrate all data sources and processes onto a unified system for better organisational oversight and management. This opens the path for next-generation efficiencies across the business, linking different industries, organisations, and data sources to create a more holistic understanding supported by data-rich environments that evolve with changing business needs.

Within that , 麻豆原创 highlighted four areas for introducing more intelligent technologies and practices into the energy and resources sector that I would like to outline and explore further.

1. 鈥楨xtending beyond the barrel鈥� means putting intelligence, data analytics, and best practices into every stage of the resource lifecycle. In centralising these various functions and processes, businesses can simplify order commitment and fulfilment using live-investment management, real-time availability, and faster material replenishment. Data analytics and IoT sensors help extend our understanding beyond standard resource and operational touchpoints.

2. 鈥楧igitalising production and delivery鈥� provides a 360-degree view of businesses and supply networks, making it easier to track and analyse all inputs and outputs. Digital transformation also empowers staff with the technology to work remotely through mobile-enabled applications. With a digitally supported workforce, businesses can operate more seamlessly and safely, especially during restrictive circumstances that require constant connection, communication, and verification.

3. 鈥楥ompeting as an ecosystem鈥� is vital in facilitating collaboration and elevating the quality of our industry鈥檚 practices, technologies, and environmental impact. The energy and resources sector must explore opportunities and partnerships outside of our industry boundaries to development more sustainable solutions. As we connect systems and networks to build a digitally powered ecosystem, our industry can build upon base capabilities and develop best practices. With a collaborative platform for sharing data insights, we can optimise processes regardless of industry sector to elevate the collective efforts towards productivity, profitability, and sustainability.

4. 鈥楿nlocking value with technology鈥� is a culmination of the other points I鈥檝e discussed here. With intelligent technologies like predictive analytics, machine learning, and blockchain, our industry can reduce wasted time and resources spent on legacy processes and manual tasks. Intelligent technology is the most comprehensive way to create value through efficiencies and data-backed decision making. Using real time collaborative visibility and continuous innovation, these intelligent solutions evolve with our needs and changes.

COVID-19 has had widespread impact across national borders and industries, continuing to restrict the movement of goods and people. Intelligent supply chains present a strong blueprint for digitalising our everyday processes.

Data-embedded functionality sets the foundation for digitalisation and automation 鈥� not only allowing businesses to operate seamlessly and intelligently but helping managers plan for an uncertain future. This is paramount as we adopt the vital lessons and accelerations brought on by COVID-19, using the momentum of this pandemic to make more bold and informed decisions to thrive in time of uncertainty.

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This rapid and unprecedented impact of the virus demonstrated how critical supply chain transparency is to maintaining business continuity, managing spikes in demand, and adapting to the economic and social changes 鈥� such as the increased demand for PPE (personal protect equipment) and responding to fear-driven buying habits.

With the very stark reality of an infectious second wave, it鈥檚 paramount that we use the momentum and lessons gained for the initial outbreak to continue accelerating digitalisation plans. While COVID-19 has driven many organisations towards digital transformation and intelligent technologies, there are many that still don鈥檛 realise its value in maintaining service while ensuring people鈥檚 safety of staff and mitigating the risks of future shock events.

One real-world example that helps highlight the need for digitalisation emerged early during COVID-19. , providing vital support and resources for building a temporary hospital outside New York City. Searching on 麻豆原创 Ariba Discovery helped the client connect with a healthcare provider able to fulfill the order expeditiously.

At a time when supply chains were vulnerable in dealing with shutdowns, legislative changes, and increased demands, this 麻豆原创 client had the cloud-based technologies and subsequent supply-chain visibility to pivot quickly and assist in crisis-recovery efforts.

This virus has shown us firsthand how important it is staying connected to one another, being available to provide the right information and resources as news continues developing rapidly. Real-time data ensures businesses and governments can make decisions when it matters and with the insights to move forward intelligently.

A recent survey of 1,000 supply chain executives stated 49% of supply-chain leaders (the top 12% of respondents) can capture real-time data insights and act on them immediately. The survey also noted 51% use artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to capture insights, which allows supply-chain leader to react in real time to changing conditions鈥攆rom widescale disruptions to individual customer complaints.

Considering the scale and complexity of transnational supply chains, it can be challenging finding network visibility and control. This global pandemic has stressed the importance of supply chain flexibility, resilience, and oversight, particularly as we navigate through ever-changing policies, market demands, and social restrictions all impacting on supply chains.

The key challenges and benefits of real-time insights embedded into supply chains were , listing the following: 鈥淚ncreased resilience; Greater visibility of actual customer demand (customer centricity); Increased operational efficiency; Superior visibility into the entire supply chain; and Seamless collaboration with other functions, partners, and suppliers鈥�

Focusing on that final point, the Oxford Economics and 麻豆原创 survey also noted 84% of supply-chain leaders said they鈥檝e successfully broken down organisational siloes across the complete product value chain, particularly within the manufacturing sector, .

With improved levels of visibility and interconnectivity across supply chains, businesses can minimise exposure to risks, build resilience, and forecast with greater accuracy. The ability to connect disparate systems and processes brings forward best practices and next-level efficiencies. Real-time data supports all business decision making, streamlining functionalities while highlighting areas to improve or automate.

Intelligent technologies feeding data insights into a business IT infrastructure also improves a business鈥� sustainability practices, providing accountability and transparency throughout the supply chain to help reduce waste and improve production processes. 麻豆原创 S/4HANA integrates different processes and systems onto a single solution, going beyond ERP to embed data analytics throughout a product lifecycle to create efficiencies across supply networks.

IoT (internet of things) sensors make data collection more comprehensive and valuable, providing insights across equipment usage and utilising intelligent technologies to trigger critical events such as maintenance and service. The data from these operational touchpoints help inform future planning by improving business visibility into every facet of the supply chain.

Hosting these data insights on a cloud-based solution not only helps digitally transform a business into an intelligent enterprise but sets the foundation for further automation and newfound efficiencies. As organisations continue digitalising and using data insights to make business decisions, they contribute to the development of a more intelligent ecosystem that connects different organisations, industries, and nations together.

COVID-19 has driven us into isolation, but has also amplified our need to connect, to share, and to respond quickly to changes. The importance of interconnectedness only increases with the capabilities of intelligent digital technology, especially during these times of uncertainty.

While this virus was and remains a challenge to economies globally, we should use this critical junction to adapt, improve, and build resilience to potential disruptions. It鈥檚 much more than just being able to respond and recover 鈥� we need to utilise the right technologies to help organisations, public and private, ensure people鈥檚 safety, maintain service continuity, and excel beyond our current crisis.

Discover how to help your business with 麻豆原创鈥檚 range of

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In our , I was fortunate to speak with 麻豆原创 Vice-President and Global Innovation Evangelist, . We discussed the ever-shifting world in the light of COVID-19 and the technology solutions that are helping business adjust, adapt, and evolve.

Due to the rapidly developing situations across international governments and businesses, Timo acknowledged that change is not optional for most organisations right now. 鈥淎round the globe, people are being forced into more digital transformation in a tighter timeframe than they had ever imagined,鈥� he explained.

鈥淓verybody is facing the same issues: how to embrace the changes with as much confidence as possible. How can companies minimise the risks and maximise the opportunities, to stay resilient now and reinvent themselves in the future.”

鈥淲hat is important are the same things they鈥檝e always been 鈥� how do companies define and focus on their core competency, how can they drive deeper customer relationships, the advantage of new business models, how can they streamline operations, and ultimately emerge stronger than ever before?鈥�

Timo noted that the most critical element at times like this is transparency, which stems from good data. 鈥淭o make decisions we need to take the data we have available and turn it into reliable insights,鈥� he explained.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been talking about the data value equation, in general, 鈥榓mount times quality times usage equals value鈥�. The more data you have, the better the quality, and the more people get to access and use it, the more value you鈥檒l get. I think that鈥檚 a good basis for thinking about how organisations can move forward in this environment.鈥�

According to Timo, cloud-based data orchestration allows business to connect that data to create a holistic view of business networks without physically moving it. 鈥淭hese data pipelines connect to business applications, or a data warehouse, or your suppliers鈥� data, a data lake, or some spreadsheets someone鈥檚 pooled together, and you can bring that information together to get a single view.鈥�

At the heart of all this is the breakthrough technology of machine learning, Timo expressed. 鈥淧redictive analytics, advanced statistics, machine learning 鈥� these technologies have been around for decades, but really in the last few years they鈥檝e made a breakthrough in terms of the computing power available and the quality of the algorithms and the amount of data available.”

鈥淢achine learning technologies are more powerful when you鈥檝e got lots of data to build the models. It鈥檚 basically sophisticated pattern matching 鈥� it鈥檚 not magic or anything like human intelligence. It really is automating complex and repetitive decisions in new ways. This is a huge opportunity for any kind of data leverage. It means, firstly, that we can automate applications.鈥�

Timo noted that automation is not about eliminating roles rather freeing people from repetitive tasks and instead focus on core competencies. 鈥淧eople are the technology you should be maximising right now in your organisation,鈥� he added. 鈥淭here is nothing more intelligent than people, they鈥檙e the only ones that can understand what鈥檚 going on 鈥� the full context of the environment 鈥� and what needs to be fixed to move forward with solutions.鈥�

For times of uncertainty, Timo said, the keys to success are agility and flexibility. 鈥淭his is an era of constant change, so fast adaption and innovation has to become core competencies for all organisations. Technology is a huge advantage; the organisations that embrace the cloud are undoubtedly better off right now than the companies that still have to have people working on their on-premises data system.鈥�

According to Timo, the biggest area of benefit is taking the power of cloud and integrating it with business processes. 鈥淭he idea is that you can rapidly adapt and change your business processes without having to wait for new functionality in your core systems. Running your systems in the cloud, you just want to spin up a quick application where you can add new functionality on top of your core foundation quickly and easily.鈥�

Timo said, 鈥淔or example, you may need a lot of visibility in your supply chain, so you quickly create a mobile application that takes sensor data from your manufacturers, combines it with some core business master data, maybe some location data, and gives you visibility in the end-to-end supply chain.

鈥淯sing cloud platforms makes it easier to adopt agile development. Using things like Design Thinking, you can quickly create programs and tests and iterate, so you can learn as you go, based on the feedback of users.鈥�

You can join Timo with other industry experts for a virtual event for businesses looking to build resilience and reinvent during this turbulent time.

鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to be as helpful, optimistic and forward thinking as possible, Timo explained. 鈥淲e鈥檙e absolutely going to be talking about technology and how it鈥檒l be helping them to the extent that鈥檚 possible. We鈥檒l be investigating how the technologies can help people do their jobs better. And then we鈥檙e trying to be helpful, look forward to the future.鈥�

To learn more about how this unlock the power of Business Technology Platform and data-driven insights 鈥� check out this , visit the , or today. Listen to the .

This article originally published on

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In this modern era of continuous technological improvement and instant gratification, keeping up with customer demands is proving increasingly challenging for everyday businesses. Customers now expect easy ordering, faster delivery times and a personalised level of service. Evidently, in the last few months, we have seen the closure of large retailers in Australia who have failed to meet customer needs and expectations.

is becoming more important as customers are not just looking to buy the products alone but rather the experience around them. The perfectly illustrates this point, while the mode of transportation is the same, what airlines primarily compete on is customer experience. Emirates, one of the highest ranked airlines clearly understands the value of customer experience.

As well as being the first to install TV screens on every seat on every aircraft, they offer a number of small customer perks that really add up. They offer great flexilibilty, with online flight check-ins opening 2 days in advance and convenience, as customers travelling across all classes can check in their luggage from anywhere in Dubai.

So, how can we bring an exceptional customer experience to our brand and products?
To answer this, we need to first better understand what our customers want and why they want them. There are two main approaches to better understand your consumer needs. One is to look at the myriad of Operational data (O-data) the businesses have collected.

This operational data may include past transactions, customer demographics, purchasing behaviour, and many more. Many organisations are now analysing and leveraging customer data to make informed business decisions. Many have also gone a step further by setting up a data division headed by a whose role is evolving.

The other approach is to directly ask customers for feedback whether it be through customer surveys, interviews, focus groups, etc. The collected data, also known as the Experience data (X-data), helps businesses to understand customer sentiment and values. By combining the O and X data, it provides powerful knowledge to the businesses to understand what their customers really want and why they want it.

Many businesses are becoming aware of the and so they have started their eXperience Management (XM) journey. For example, through Qantas鈥檚 Voice of Customer (VoC) program, it has introduced new innovative products such as wifi on board, project sunrise, world鈥檚 first waste free flight, etc.

Qantas has just brought all disparate platforms and processes across its business units in a single Qualtrics platform. Moreover, Qantas brought together their experience and operational data to help them better understand how its customers interact with the check-in systems and to personalise the experience offered. There are more examples on how XM enables businesses to innovate.

Now that we have both O+X data, how can we realise its benefits?
The key here is to understand what鈥檚 possible with this data and how to effectively process and turn raw data into actionable insights that support business processes. Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are that allow you to mass crunch large datasets in a short period of time.

Below are common use cases across various industries, where companies have been able to leverage their O+X data to gain a competitive advantage.

Text Analytics
It is quite common nowadays for organisations to employ machine learning techniques to analyse qualitative data such as customer surveys, product feedback, and social media. This Experience data enables organisations to discover core customer values and needs. The feedback is even more effective when we analyse them against demographics data.

For example, if a shoe company knows that a demographic group places a high emphasis on comfort. Then they would focus more on the quality of the materials rather than creating stylish outward appearance for such group. A better understanding on your target market can directly translate into tangible financial rewards like increase in sales and revenue. Additionally, it can improve intangible aspects of an organisation such as reputation and customer satisfaction.

Predicting and Understanding Customer Behaviour
Operational data from customer transactions enable organisations to understand buying patterns of their customers. By applying intelligence technologies on top of O+X data, organisations can predict the future buying behaviour of their customers like which new products will appeal to particular demographics. Early and accurate prediction allows organisations to be at the forefront of trends and take advantage of them.

Personalisation
Personalising customer experience includes offering products and services tailored to customer preferences. Many online platforms such as Amazon, Netflix and Marriott International employ machine learning to offer personalised recommendations based on customer past buying patterns. Furthermore, we also see personalisation embedded in every aspect of the customer journey.

For example, a chatbot that does not only answer customer queries but has an intelligence to combine Operational and Experience data to provide a unique customer experience. It combines and stores your past information, such as past product complaints and purchases, brand preferences, product enquires and which staff served you. Equipped with this information, it can tailor its responses to resolve your current issue quicker and more hassle-free.

Augmenting Shopping Experience
Artificial Intelligence is now becoming ubiquitous in a retail environment to improve customer satisfaction. A number of retailers have started looking into implementing Smart Mirrors in their stores. A smart Mirror uses computer vision, touch and recommendation technologies to augment customer buying experience, for example, the option of trying on clothes digitally.

The mirror can automatically detect customer sentiment on the digital clothes they try and collect this Experience data. If combined with Operational data such as customer past transactions, the smart mirror can recommend products that customers are likely to purchase, thus, creating a seamless, easy shopping experience.

Get more insights on how

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5G is the marketing term for the fifth generation of mobile networks and will offer much higher speeds (download speeds of 20Gbps) and lower latency (faster response time, less 鈥渓ag鈥�) than is currently available on 4G, which on average has a latency of around 50 milliseconds, where 5G can be as low as 1 millisecond. This is very relevant when it comes to scenarios where your response time can impact the outcome, like in online gaming and streaming, virtual reality (VR) and the growing number of

Our world is already mobile, with over 30 billion connected devices and with use cases for IoT technology expected to keep growing, the existing spectrums will continue to get congested by network traffic which will lead to maintenance and reliability issues. 5G will allow more simultaneous device connections, and towers are significantly smaller and can be installed in a wider variety of places which wouldn鈥檛 have been possible in the past (think, every lamppost in metro areas). The catch is, to benefit from the 5G spectrums you will require a 5G compatible and enabled hardware or device.

5G will be instrumental across several industries and help speed up advancements in connected technologies. These advancements will enable connected cars and autonomous driving, smart cities with transport, and infrastructure; enhancement in connected healthcare from use cases to wearable technology; industrial internet of things and smart factories; and the more extended use of augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality.

While these technologies have been around for some time, the 5G network is expected to drive exponential development, scalability and adoption of these technologies.

So how do businesses prepare for 5G?

Businesses must prepare for the technology now in order to harness the benefits and operational efficiencies offered by 5G.

Budget for investment: Initially, 5G hardware will be more expensive than 4G, and a requirement to harness the 5G benefits. It will be important to be well equipped with the correct technology once 5G is fully launched.

Planning: For the new wave of automation and artificial intelligence. Lower latency speeds will provide new opportunities for businesses to leverage automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence across more of their operations.

Education: Leaders and employees need to have a sound understanding of what 5G is and increase their awareness around how it can support business goals, including where to find the latest 5G application to benefit their business.

Strategy: Businesses should implement or incorporate a 5G strategy into their overall business strategy to ensure that product or process changes that need to be made to facilitate 5G adoption.

It is expected that it will take up to five years for significant 5G adoption and it is set to quickly bring smart technologies and IoT into the consumer and business mainstream.

In the meantime, business leaders and CIO鈥檚 are being tasked to form a strategy for a new technology, which in itself is challenging given we don鈥檛 yet fully understand the potential implications and opportunities it may present.

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Here are my top five:

1. Geopolitical unrest will require resilient and agile supply chains

World events and markets show no sign of calming down any time soon. This means we will continue to be affected by uncertainty which will require even more resilient and agile supply chain processes. From trade wars between the US and key suppliers located in China to Brexit, we鈥檙e still navigating uncertain waters.

When the US and China announced a聽聽in December it was billed as a 鈥減hase one deal鈥�. To date it is estimated that the US has imposed tariffs of $360B on Chinese goods, and China more than $110B on US products. When two of the world鈥檚 largest economies are immersed in a trade battle there鈥檚 a significant impact on how and where we source and manufacture products, not to mention what they cost.

Whether it鈥檚 trade wars, changes to tariffs or Brexit, supply chains will need to be resilient, agile and ready to respond to ever-changing conditions, regulations and opportunities.

More recently, the coronavirus outbreak has demonstrated the potential for global crises to cause massive disruption to international trade. Throughout history, international health risks have spawned a trend towards isolationism, and COVID-19 is yet another example of this.

The impact of the coronavirus continues to deepen each week with companies importing materials from major manufacturing hubs in Asia forced to find alternative supply routes as their suppliers become uncontactable due to the forced closure of factories.

2. Consumer demand for ethically sourced products will drive sustainable supply chains

When Greta Thunberg was named聽, it highlighted the influence and power that individuals in particular, and consumers in general, have on businesses today. Consumers are increasingly demanding ethically sourced products that are manufactured and delivered through sustainable processes from sustainable and ethical companies.

Australia is striving towards more ethical supply chains with the enactment of the Modern Slavery Act, requiring businesses to report each year on the risks of modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. The legislation is a great step towards not only clamping down on modern slave labour but ensuring businesses deliver on the growing desire for ethical products.

3. Balancing rising populations and limited natural resources, require circular economy

As the world鈥檚 population grows and natural resources decline, we are challenged to minimise waste and recycle products and materials.

There is a greater demand than ever before for businesses to create products that are biodegradable, environmentally sustainable, and ethically sourced, as well as generating minimal waste of natural resources and complying with fair trade policies.

With more and more businesses adopting a waste-free philosophy, supply chains will need to adapt to reflect this value. 聽Behind the scenes, the invisible supply chain is also changing to accommodate demand for a more circular economy. Programs like 麻豆原创 Ariba鈥檚 鈥淧lastics Cloud鈥� is one example, helping businesses easily connect with plastic-free suppliers for their procurement purposes.

4. The experience economy demands 鈥渁s-a-service鈥� supply chains

Examples of the 鈥渁s-a-service鈥� or subscription models are appearing across all industries. When was the last time you bought a CD or DVD? It is now the norm to pay a monthly subscription for unlimited access.聽Consumers can now buy everything from contact lenses to clothing, shaving supplies to sneakers through a monthly subscription.

And this is not only a B2C play. Usage-based or fixed subscription options are now offered in the B2B space, including for industrial machinery such as compressors, drills, diggers and more.

But to offer an 鈥渁s-a-service鈥� model means rethinking your business all the way from the design of the product or asset, to how it is used and operated by the customer. Delivering a service based on metrics like 鈥渉ours of usage鈥� requires not only knowing how long it ran for, but also how well it is performing. If it breaks down and the customer has a negative experience, you won鈥檛 be paid.

Whether you are delivering streaming, a subscription, or pay-for-use, these 鈥渁s-a-service鈥� models all have one thing in common: to keep customers coming back for more you need to offer a great customer experience and that鈥檚 directly linked to a great product experience.

5. Convergence of new technologies (AI, ML, IoT, 5G) will enable intelligent supply chains

In the 2020s, technology will evolve from simply capturing real-time data to enabling聽data-driven business decisions.聽An increasing number of聽intelligent products and assets are being designed, manufactured and implemented. Employees聽will be empowered to leverage the data from these intelligent products and assets to make predictive, prescriptive and automated decisions across the entire supply chain.

The availability of 5G networks will lead to an even greater push in the adoption of IoT solutions. This will accelerate the creation of a digital twin of the supply chain, which in turn will provide the opportunity and information for machine learning and AI across the supply chain, leading to more efficiencies.

We have seen this trend already take flight in forward-thinking businesses such as聽, which recently underwent a digital transformation journey to adopt 麻豆原创 Ariba鈥檚 鈥淕uided Buying鈥� capability, helping the business move to a new generation of procurement. The intelligent solution enables Accenture鈥檚 procurement department to be faster, more cost-effective and more compliant in their purchasing activities. This move will open the door for more artificial intelligence (AI)-powered automation.

We are in exciting and challenging times. With shorter product cycles, more design variability, changing demand, shorter speed to delivery and greater calls for sustainability, the key is having the business processes and solutions that will help you adapt to whatever the future may bring.

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