Accenture Technology Vision 2017, the annual technology report from Accenture that predicts the most significant technology trends that people will apply to disrupt business over the next three years has deduced that people hold the power to shape and apply technology to create positive change, improve lives, and transform business and society.
The theme of this year's report, 'Technology for People', is a call to action for business and technology leaders to actively design and direct technology to augment and amplify human capabilities.
The report states that we are beginning to see the emergence of technology for people, by people - technology that seamlessly anticipates our needs and delivers hyper-personalized experiences.
"The pace of technology change is breathtaking, bringing about the biggest advancements since the dawn of the Information Age," said Paul Daugherty, Accenture's chief technology & innovation officer.
"As technology transforms the way we work and live, it raises important societal challenges and creates new opportunities. Ultimately, people are in control of creating the changes that will affect our lives, and we're optimistic that responsive and responsible leaders will ensure the positive impact of new technologies," said Daugherty.
As part of the Technology Vision, Accenture surveyed more than 5,400 business and IT executives worldwide. Nearly nine in 10 respondents (86 percent) said that while individual technologies are rapidly advancing, it is the multiplier effect of these technologies that is creating innovation breakthroughs.
The report details how humans can now design technology that is capable of learning to think more like people and to constantly align to and help advance their wants and needs. This human-centered technology approach pays off for businesses, as leading companies will transform relationships from provider to partner and simultaneously transforming internally.
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CVS Health is one example of a company that has established a people-centric approach to improve healthcare. Its smart watch-compatible mobile app sets customers' personalised reminders for taking medication, snaps pictures of their prescriptions to expedite refills, and scans their insurance card so that store clerks are prepared with up-to-date information. In an industry long associated with impersonal interactions and unbearable wait times, companies like CVS Health are enabling individual empowerment over personal healthcare while simultaneously building closer patient-doctor relationships.
The Technology Vision identifies five emerging technology trends that are essential to business success in today's digital economy:
· Artificial intelligence (AI) is making interactions simple and smart. AI is becoming the new user interface (UI), underpinning the way we transact and interact with systems.
· Technology design decisions are being made by humans, for humans. Technology adapts to how we behave and learns from us to enhance our lives, making them richer and more fulfilling.
· Platform companies that provide a single point of access to multiple services have completely broken the rules for how companies operate and compete.
· The number of on-demand labor platforms and online work-management solutions is surging. As a result, leading companies are dissolving traditional hierarchies and replacing them with talent marketplaces.
· Instead of focusing solely on introducing new products and services, businesses should think of seizing opportunities to establish rules and standards for entirely new industries.