Dell Technologies released the Future of Connected Living – new research exploring how emerging technologies will transform how we live by the year 2030. The research, conducted in partnership with Institute for the Future (IFTF) and Vanson Bourne, surveyed 4600 business leaders across 40+ countries. The findings detail a future brimming with opportunity as advancing technologies hold the potential to drive human progress across the world.
Emerging technology driving major shifts
IFTF and forum of global experts forecast that technologies such as edge computing, 5G, AI, Extended Reality (XR) and IoT will combine to create five major "shifts" in the coming decade. These shifts will have the power to change lives across the globe.
IFTF forecasts the following shifts between now and 2030:
"Currently, a new era of human-machine alliances is on the horizon. Over the next decade, the most powerful and successful relationships between people and computers will be those that are symbiotic and make use of their respective complementary strengths. We can envision a world where everything around us will be more intelligent, communicative, and connected. Innovations such as artificial intelligence, networks, and devices will help us in enhancing and optimizing our lives." said Mr. Alok Ohrie, President and Managing Director, Dell Technologies, India. "However, to ensure that tomorrow's technology enables a smarter and a better life for everyone, we need to think systematically about what the future may hold and then make better decisions in the present. These strategic decisions will create an opportunity for a more balanced, equitable and enjoyable life for ourselves, as our world becomes more alive with intelligent devices."
Anticipating Change
Many businesses are already preparing for these shifts. For example, the survey of 4600 businesses found that:
Navigating Challenges
These major technology-led shifts may challenge people and organizations that are grappling with change, according to the research. Organizations that wish to harness the power of the new emerging technologies will need to take steps to effectively collect, process and deploy data to keep pace with rate of rapid innovation.
Additionally, concerns around the fairness of algorithms that do everything from decide how companies hire to who is eligible for loans must be addressed, as will growing concerns from the public about data privacy. Governments will need to learn how to work together to share and deploy their data if cities are to go from digital to sentient.
Business leaders are already anticipating some of these challenges:
To execute the research, IFTF relied on its decades-long study on the future of work and technology, the latest Dell Technologies research, and experts from across the globe. The Future of Connected Living is the third and final part in a three-part research series that includes The Future of the Economy and The Future of Work, both of which were released earlier in 2019.