Global technology consultancy DataArt recently released its predictions for technology trends in 2019, road-mapping the areas that will see a significant growth.
Finance – Digitalisation is the Word of the Day
- With worldwide open banking initiatives now providing authorised fin tech firms with open-API access to customer bank accounts, 2019 will be the year when true digitalisation finally arrives in the industry. Customer-centric, omni-channel products and services that demonstrate real understanding of multiple customer personas and journeys, built on leading edge digital platforms, will start to appear in banking, insurance, and investment management. It’s only a start, but at least it’s a start. Now the industry can start to catch up with e-commerce, social media and taxi hailing in terms of delivering digital services to customers.
- Crypto currencies boom will spread, from digital currency exchanges to crypto derivatives contracts. Over-the-counter trading in crypto assets will continue its steep upward trend. Asset managers will increasingly add crypto-assets to their portfolios. At the same time, distributed ledger technology on the blockchain will increasingly become a force for good in stripping out effort, time and cost from labour-intensive error-ridden processes, such as settlements, reconciliations, and trade finance. Strong interest and support for all blockchain use-cases in 2018 – from Fidelity; NYSE; Nasdaq; CBOE; CME; JP Morgan, Société Generalé (and all of the 75 institutions in the Interbank Information Exchange) and many others, will ensure a record year in 2019.
Healthcare and Life Sciences – Life-Saving AI Will Launch
“As Healthcare technology trends like AI and Telemedicine continue to mature we will start to see them converge into holistic data driven smart platforms that accelerate the delivery and precision of medical care.” – Daniel Piekarz, SVP, Healthcare and Life Sciences
- Artificial intelligence will be of major interest, both for investors and healthcare practitioners, as projects move from testing stage to real-world integration. Algorithms will evolve further, becoming faster and more accurate. While currently, in most cases, AI is used within pilot projects and has yet to be deployed, more will be used in live scenarios. Only a few pharmaceutical companies have integrated AI-based solutions in their processes so far, but as data (the locomotive that pushes AI-based healthcare forward) develops, we will start to see the first deployments of potentially life-saving AI-based solutions.Telemedicine will broaden its reach. Telemedicine systems will start to take off from a few pilots, and will become available to more people, which will have strong positive impact on standards of healthcare as queuing in surgeries becomes less commonplace.
“The scene has been set for the 2019 technology landscape to evolve at unprecedented pace, propelling businesses and its leaders forward to create the industries of the future,” said Eugene Goland, President of DataArt. “While innovation has felt sometimes breakneck over the past decade, this year will see many mainstream businesses leapfrogging the initial disruptors to deliver the change that will significantly impact the way we conduct business.”
Media & Entertainment – “Choose Your Own Adventure” will become the go-to approach
“Music and sports companies need to invest in modernising their core systems to support agile, evolving business models, leaving behind the legacy workflows. It’s all about contextualising data to bring meaningful personalised offerings to users.” – Sergey Bludov, SVP Media & Entertainment
- “Choose your own adventure” will be trialled in television, inviting viewers of drama, action and other series to take part in designing plotlines to suit their preferences, offering the option of different scenarios. This revolutionary technology will rock the core of how entertainment works. Want to choose your own hero of a film? Want to choose which character wins the day? Next year the entertainment world will begin trialling a technology that will change the way we view forever.
- The sports ecosystem will concentrate on bringing more fan-centric offerings to the market. With more states passing sports betting bills, a legalised gambling market will fully emerge. More professional sports leagues will enter into data sharing deals with betting operators, following the recent NBA and MBL announcements. Smart clothing, artificial intelligence, computer vision, augmented (and virtual) reality will be driving the next generation of viewing and stadium experience for both athletes and fans, empowering a data-driven sports culture.
- The music industry is taking its fight against the value gap and outdated business models into the New Year. Technological innovation will play a crucial role in building systems for new revenue models, data collection and transparency. Wider adoption of music recognition technology (MRT) will be the next frontier for fair royalty distribution. New music formats such as VR performances and AI-generated music will demand continuous modernisation of copyright laws and rights administration systems.
Travel & Hospitality
“A new balance will be reached between enhanced personalisation and security, powered by maturing data analytics and heightened need for universal data protection.” – Max Zhdanov, VP, Travel and Hospitality
- AI travel solutions will skyrocket. We’ve already witnessed great successes with the deployment of AI solutions in the travel and hospitality industries, and we expect this progression to exponentially increase. The technology’s ability to significantly improve customer service while saving human resources makes AI perfectly suited to the sector, with new innovative applications forecast to arrive at a rapid pace in 2019.
- Self-service will significantly ramp up leading to long-term success. Research indicates a growing consumer interest in self-service solutions, and the industry will meet this evolution through expansion of technology that eliminates the need for customers to interact with a human to complete a transaction. Voice assist technology will surge, along with consumer expectations.
Retail & Distribution
“Global retail leaders will invest heavily into connecting physical and online shopping, thus online-to-offline tracking and attribution tools deserve most attention.”- Dmitry Bagrov, Managing Director, DataArt UK
- Retailers will invest more in winning customers by delivering an outstanding and highly personalised shopping experience across all channels – Web, mobile, in-store, outdoor, everywhere.
- Personal voice assistants will become more prominent, sped up by the introduction of 5G, which will foster an even faster pace of growth for voice commerce for companies such as Amazon, Google, Apple and Microsoft.
- Voice recognition will become the Holy Grail. We predict that most companies will prioritise the deployment of voice recognition over image recognition functionality. All eyes will be on voice commerce.
Blockchain
- Blockchain is set to transform the insurance industry. We expect to see a surge in this area, focused on exploring “permissioned blockchains” and the application of smart contracts that target inefficiencies and delays related to checks, controls and reconciliation.
Internet of Things
- Devices will become more and more powerful, enabling local data processing and AI capabilities. It will reduce data transfers volumes and cloud dependencies and will provide more flexibility and agility for business.
- Edge computing will significantly affect those industries where immediate action is needed, based on complex real-time data analysis (manufacturing, public security) and where cloud connectivity may be restricted (shipping and logistics).
iGaming
“Data analytics will be increasingly important in staying ahead of competition. Mergers and partnerships create new opportunities for more customisation. Utilising the data will enable success in testing new models.” – Michael Brett, VP, iGaming
- The end of the federal ban on sports betting in the U.S. undoubtedly creates significant opportunities, but this gold rush has its limitations and isn’t for everyone. Firstly, it’s not yet clear which states will give the green light to sports betting. Secondly, the costs associated with entering the market are high. Therefore, everyone is looking to benefit through partnerships or takeovers. Smaller industry players can choose to partner up or wait and see how the situation unfolds.
About DataArt : DataArt is a global technology consultancy that designs, develops and supports unique software solutions, helping clients take their businesses forward. Recognised for their deep domain expertise and superior technical talent, DataArt teams create new products and modernise complex legacy systems that affect technology transformation in select industries.
DataArt has earned the trust of some of the world’s leading brands and most discerning clients, including Nasdaq, Travelport, Ocado, Betfair, Regus, Meetup and Apple Leisure Group among others. DataArt brings together expertise of over 2,500 professionals in 20 locations in the US, Europe, and Latin America.
