Author: Team Ecosystm

This article presents the Top 5 Artificial Intelligence Trends for 2020 for the AI/Analytics market in 2020. It is based on the latest data from the global Ecosystm AI Study, and qualitative research by Ecosystm Principal Advisor Tim Sheedy.

The Top 5 Artificial Intelligence Trends for 2020

Here are the Top 5 Artificial Intelligence trends for 2020 that we believe will impact both businesses and consumers in 2020.

1. Digital Transformation puts Analytics Back on Top of the Tech Priority List

In an effort to help the business operate faster, IT teams are looking to better analytics to drive functions and decisions more accurately. While many business teams deploy their own technologies and systems – only the IT team is in a higher position to gather data from multiple systems of record in order to create the detailed insights that business users demand. Getting a view across the entire customer journey means analysing data across many systems – both front and back-end. Business teams struggle to get these types of insights on their own, which is why IT excels at providing great analytics to help make better and faster decisions.

Just like in previous generations of BI, the analytics market is starting to consolidate. While the ability to display data visually will always be important, it is the analytics that drives automated decisions that will often be of the most business value.

2. Automation will Lead Organisations to AI

RPA is increasingly moving beyond the usual task and process automation, to now being a business transformation lever. Additionally, there is an immense focus on incorporating AI/machine learning within RPA to make automation smart and intelligent. This allows software robots to mimic human behaviour and handle complex use cases, which was earlier not possible without human intervention.

Businesses will spend more money on their simple automation activities (RPA and analytics applications that do not learn) – but those that have already invested in automation are likely to want to take the next steps to AI.

3. AI will Start to be Embedded in Most Business Applications

To date AI has been an overlay to most applications – data is extracted from processes, learnings are made, and then the process is altered based on those learnings. In 2020 we will see mass availability of self-learning intelligent applications. The standard ERP, CRM, SCM, knowledge management solution and other business applications will have embedded intelligence. This will make it easier and faster for businesses to get the benefits of machine learning and AI without the need to hire expensive data scientists, or the requirement to learn the tools and platforms required for creating smart applications.

4. 2020 will see the Democratisation of AI

Typically organisations required data scientists, AI coders, AI platforms and so on to do well in AI but with the increasing availability of AI in business applications, typical business users will begin to get a glimpse of what will be available at their fingertips in the next few years.

We expect templatised approaches to machine learning and associated technologies. Business users and data owners will be able to create algorithms that will improve business and customer outcomes. In some cases, we even expect AI to be available to consumers. We will start to see banking and finance applications that help better money management through learning – not just basic analytics, we will see more intelligent services in the market in 2020.

5. More Businesses Will Require AI on the Edge

In the next decade or two, it is estimated that there will be 100 billion IoT devices generating and exchanging data into the cloud, without any human intervention. With so many IoT devices generating a huge quantum of data, decisions will need to be made in real-time and the current cloud environments will be a bottleneck in data processing due to latency rates, network speed and traditional data architectures. To overcome this, Edge Computing solutions will be essential to work with a variety of sensor and data input devices, information processing and decisions driven by machine learning and AI, and additionally work with cloud for the next level of analytics, decisions and management.

Ecosystm in partnership with SGInnovate, the government-backed organisation that promotes Deep Tech in Singapore, released a series of four reports covering areas of mutual interest: Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, Cities of the Future and Healthtech. ‘Ecosystm Predicts: The top 5 Artificial Intelligence trends for 2020’ report is a part of this collaboration and is available for download from Ecosystm and SGInnovate websites.

Download Report: The Top 5 Artificial Intelligence Trends for 2020

The full findings and implications of the report ‘Ecosystm Predicts: The Top 5 Artificial Intelligence Trends for 2020’ are available for download from the Ecosystm website. Signup for Free to download the report and gain insight into ‘the Top 5 Artificial Intelligence Trends for 2020’, implications for tech buyers, implications for tech vendors, insights, and more resources. Download Link Below ?

The Top 5 Cybersecurity Trends for 2020 are drawn from the findings of the global Ecosystm Cybersecurity Study and is also based on qualitative research by Ecosystm Principal Advisors Alex Woerndle, Carl Woerndle and Claus Mortensen.

1. API Vulnerabilities will Become a Main Hacker Target

APIs grant access and provide transparency for developers – providing access and insights from both internal and external data. But they are inherently insecure. We have already seen several high-profile API breaches and announced API bugs. For example, in October 2018, Google had to shut down Google+ after an API bug exposed details for over 500,000 users.

We believe the problem will get significantly worse in 2020, with API attacks quickly becoming one of – if not the most – frequent target for hackers.

2. Operational Technology Security will Continue to Lag in 2020

Operational Technology (OT) refers to the hardware and software used to monitor and manage how devices that run on an organisation’s infrastructure perform. These devices have become smarter, remotely accessible and increasingly connected to networks. However, they were never designed with this in mind.

With organisations continuing to focus on data breaches – the investment in OT security will continue to lag. This will create a ‘security debt’ over coming years for those that do not invest in preventative controls now.

3. AI Training will Receive Attention from Regulators and the Public as a Possible Infringement of Privacy

News that Amazon’s Alexa was eavesdropping on its users, and that Apple’s Siri and Google’s Assistant, also kept recordings to help train their AI raised many concerns about how data to train AI is collected and stored. Apart from the initial consternation in the press and on social media, nothing much seems to have happened from a regulatory perspective.

2020 will be the year when AI training relying on consumer data will start to become regulated.

4. Major GDPR Fines in 2020 will Force MNCs to Invest in Security Compliance

GDPR came into effect in May 2018, but we still have not seen huge amounts of fines being issued in the EU. Only two fines were issued in 2018, while at least 17 were known to be issued in the first half of 2019, totalling about EUR 52 million. In the third quarter of 2019, at least 12 fines were issued totalling about EUR 328 million.

The trend is clear: Expect to see a magnitude of companies across EU be penalised in 2020. We also expect several fines above EUR 100 million and GDPR impacting countries outside the EU.

5. Mergers & Acquisitions will Ratchet up Significantly in 2020

The fragmented global security market consists of thousands of vendors and consultancies. Every day a swathe of new start-ups announces their ground-breaking new technology. Coupled with significant investments in tertiary education and industry certifications for a growing workforce, the next generation of cybersecurity entrepreneurs are entering with force.

We believe that this creates both threats and opportunities for established cybersecurity providers that need to remain innovative and growing. Similarly, this presents smaller or more niche cybersecurity start-ups with an avenue for funding or acquisition.

Ecosystm in partnership with SGInnovate, the government-backed organisation that promotes Deep Tech in Singapore, released a series of four reports covering areas of mutual interest: Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, Cities of the Future and Healthtech. ‘Ecosystm Predicts: The Top 5 Cybersecurity Trends for 2020’ report is a part of this collaboration and is available for download from Ecosystm and SGInnovate websites.

Download Report: The top 5 Cybersecurity trends for 2020

The full findings and implications of the report ‘Ecosystm Predicts: The Top 5 Cybersecurity Trends for 2020’ are available for download from the Ecosystm platform. Signup for Free to download the report and gain insight into ‘the top 5 Cybersecurity trends for 2020’, implications for tech buyers, implications for tech vendors, insights, and more resources. Download Link Below ?

Here are our predictions on the Top 5 IoT Trends for 2020, that we think, will shape the Internet of Things landscape over the next 12 months.

The Top 5 IoT Trends for 2020

The Top 5 IoT Trends for 2020 are based on the findings of the global Ecosystm IoT and AI studies, and is also based on qualitative research by Ecosystm Principal Advisors Francisco Maroto and Kaushik Ghatak.

1. 5G Providers Will Be Forced to Operate Outside their Comfort Zone

Network and communications equipment providers have much to gain and more to lose as organisations look to leverage 5G for their IoT use cases. Each industry will have their different and distinct use cases – the use cases for Oil & Gas will be different from Retail use cases, which will be different from Healthcare industry requirements.
Telecommunications providers will find themselves depending on systems integrators (SIs) with relevant industry experience, to translate the value proposition of what they are offering. However, the telecommunications providers are not companies with actual skin in the game. If 5G uptake does not take off, the bigger losers will be the network and communications equipment providers – the real investors in the technology.

2. Satellite IoT Connectivity Solutions Will Start to Compete Against and Work with LPWANs

Current satellite communications technologies have not been designed specifically for IoT and may fail to meet the specific requirements of the IoT market, especially when it comes to price and ease of use.
This is set to change as both incumbents and new entrants in the satellite space seek to grow their IoT markets in 2020. Satellite communications companies are designing a spectrum strategy and a go-to-market strategy that include collaboration with Low Power WAN (LPWAN) vendors.

3. IoT Sensor Analytics Will Become the Fastest Growing AI Workload

Many organisations will actually start their digital journey and their investments in AI even before they invest in automation – when they start to analyse the data from their IoT sensors and make sense of the ‘data sprawl’ that is created as the number of data collection points proliferate. Organisations’ desire to transform, starting with automation, will further drive the adoption of IoT. The global Ecosystm AI study reveals that organisations investing in IoT sensor analytics also look to invest in computer vision and automation solutions. IoT adoption will enable organisations to focus on incorporating AI/machine learning to make automation smart and intelligent.

4. Construction Will Become the Unsuspecting Influencers for IoT Adoption

The construction industry is fast emerging as the arena for end-to-end IoT-driven services especially as new-age companies link architects with contractors with building managers with facilities management to create a new meaning of ‘Smart Buildings’. Realtors become unsuspecting influencers as they establish Smart Building ecosystems. According to the findings of the global Ecosystm IoT study, the top solutions that construction companies have implemented and are evaluating, are primarily aimed at ensuring operational and employee safety. However, the industry will also see an uptake of customer management IoT solutions aimed at providing better customer experience (CX).

5. The Edge Will No Longer Be at the Edge

2020 will mark the end of the hype around the Edge and the way we think about it. Real-time analytics will be performed at so many places along with the network and infrastructure that IT management will be forced to rethink their distributed and enterprise computing strategies. The main industries that will see a growth in Edge uptake in 2020 will be Manufacturing, Retail, Energy, Healthcare, Transportation and Logistics.

As the Edge technology develops, the application of AI will steadily move away from centralised servers (on-premise or cloud) to the edge devices themselves. There are two important benefits to this – Firstly, it minimises time lag between data acquisition and secondly, any targeted hacking attempt can be immediately identified and mitigated, rather than being at the mercy of the security systems implemented by the cloud provider.While AI-enabled edge devices tend to be costlier than
their “dumb” counterparts, the value they can bring in terms of being able to immediately act upon the data, and the additional security they can potentially provide, can be significant factors that offset the high initial cost of deployment.

Download Report: The Top 5 IoT Trends For 2020

The full findings and implications of the report ‘Ecosystm Predicts: The Top 5 IoT Trends For 2020’ are available for download from the Ecosystm website. Signup for Free to download the report and gain insight into ‘the top 5 IoT trends for 2020’, implications for tech buyers, implications for tech vendors, insights, and more resources. Download Link Below ?

To this end, in order to provide data processing closer to where it is needed, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Verizon recently announced a partnership to bring the power of cloud computing closer to the edge with 5G network edge computing.

Edge computing brings various cloud services such as computing, networking and applications closer to the devices for local processing. It allows complex processing at the point where the data enters the network and eliminates round-trips involved in sending data from the edge, to the data centre where it gets processed and back to the edge again. To accomplish this, Verizon will offer 5G network and high-volume connections between users, devices and applications and will use AWS’s Wavelength service to deploy applications and process data at the edge. It will then seamlessly connect back to the AWS cloud.

The providers are piloting the project and aiming to deliver a wide range of services which depend on millisecond latencies.

New Demand, New Markets

By using AWS Wavelength and Verizon 5G Edge, the resulting edge computing solution will enable developers to build applications that can deliver enhanced user experiences like near real-time analytics for instant decision-making, improve services such as immersive game streaming, and automate robotic systems in manufacturing facilities.

The Ecosystm top 5 IoT Trends For 2020 report authored by Ecosystm Principal Advisors Francisco Maroto and Kaushik Ghatak stated that organisations are currently generating about 10% of their data outside a traditional data centre or cloud. This is predicted to dramatically increase in 2020 with IoT deployments fuelling investments in edge computing. The next year will see a sharp increase in IoT adoption as 5G rollouts gather steam, and this partnership is another indication of the increased interest in edge computing.

“As devices multiply and become smarter, 5G technology will become progressively more important to transfer data at a faster rate and drive edge computing. Real-time analytics will be performed at so many places along the network and infrastructure that IT management will be forced to rethink their distributed and enterprise computing strategies,” the report states.

Another Ecosystm report, the Top 5 Cloud Trends for 2020 report authored by Ecosystm Principal Advisors Claus Mortensen and Craig Baty mentions that “with IoT being a major part of the business case behind 5G, the number of connected devices and endpoints is set to explode in the coming years, potentially overloading an infrastructure based fully on data centres for processing the data.”

Edge computing will allow Cloud providers such as AWS to better cater to companies that need low latency, quick access to data and data processing. On the mobile side, it will allow them to push workloads to the device, reducing the backend workload and potentially enhancing data privacy.

The full findings and implications of the report ‘Ecosystm Predicts: The Top 5 IoT Trends For 2020’ and  ‘The Top 5 Cloud Trends for 2020‘, implications for tech buyers and tech vendors, insights, and more are available for download from the Ecosystm platform.

Google recently announced its ‘Google Cloud Acceleration Program’ to support SAP customers in simplifying their transition to the cloud.

Earlier this year, Google initiated a program known as Lighthouse, in partnership with system integrators, to streamline its customers’ SAP journeys to the cloud. The Google Cloud Acceleration Program is a progression of Lighthouse and will provide technical resource, blueprints, employee training and consulting services to partners and customers for migrating SAP to the cloud, as well as upgrading to SAP S/4HANA.

Google Cloud Acceleration Program Partners’ contributions

Several ISV’s and technology providers are already participating in the program. One of these providers, HCL Technologies, recently announced plans for a 5,000-employee division which will focus entirely on helping enterprise customers plan and execute large-scale migration of workloads and applications to Google Cloud. Accenture and Google set up a similar collaboration earlier this year.

Google’s Cloud Acceleration Program will be supported by partners such as Accenture, Atos, Deloitte, and HCL to help migrate workloads. In addition, these partners will also work alongside Capgemini, DXC Technologies, Hitachi oXya, Infosys, NTT, TCS, and Wipro, to create SAP centres of Excellence for Google Cloud.

Commenting on Google’s Cloud Acceleration Program for SAP platform, Principal Analyst at Ecosystm Claus Mortensen said, “Migrating SAP to the cloud has proven to be a notoriously complex task over the years. To help the migration to Google’s Cloud, Google launched its SAP Lighthouse program. The Cloud Acceleration Program can be seen as an evolution of Lighthouse.”

Mortensen added, “Google Cloud Acceleration Program is intended to make migration as simple as it can be under the circumstances – but I don’t think it will ever be easy to migrate SAP to the cloud – it is too complex a system to become simple to migrate. Whether it will succeed in convincing SAP customers to migrate much depends on how well the program partners perform.”

The primary aim of the Cloud Acceleration Program is to boost the adoption of Google cloud services and benefit customers with greater innovation, operational efficiency, and risk mitigation. Google has been active in promoting the programme and in the same spirit, Google recently acquired CloudSimple, a provider of secure, dedicated environments to run VMware workloads in the Cloud. Many organisations are running VMware in their on-premises environments to run a variety of workloads and this acquisition will boost abilities to run VMware on Google Cloud Platform.

As we recently stated in our predictions for ‘the top 5 cloud trends for 2020′, the ability for even the top cloud players to compete will increasingly come down to their ability to expand their service capabilities beyond their current offerings. Ecosystm expects these players to further enhance their focus on expanding their services, management and integration capabilities through global and in-country partnerships. One particular area might be partnerships focusing on Cloud migration between Clouds and from Cloud to on-premises. Google’s Cloud Acceleration program is a prime example of a framework, that has such partnerships in mind.

Speaking on the benefits of Google Cloud acceleration program for SAP customers, Mortensen said “cloud offers a lot of flexibility and agility that would be hard to achieve using an on-premises deployment. So, from that perspective, the Google Cloud Acceleration program should be good news to both new customers and existing customers, who see a benefit from migrating partly or fully to the cloud.”

AI-enabled IoT devices are helping to enhance Customer Experience. The sensors in IoT devices such as wearables or personal assistants produce data which can be processed to derive useful insights, activity patterns and develop personalised communication. AI is improving the ability to take IoT generated data to personalise and customise actions and communication. For example, customers in gyms and fitness clubs can share their wearables data with their fitness trainers to customise their exercise routine and provide dietary recommendations.

Similarly, cars can be embedded with sensors which assess the users’ driving habits. This can then be used to suggest improvements to driving style or adjust insurance premiums based on how they drive.

Progressive Insurance, for instance, offers its customers discounts based on their driving through its “Snapshot” program. Progressive is using its usage-based-insurance (UBI) telematics programme to monitor how its car insurance customers drive. Using an ODB telematics dongle and machine learning, the insurer is able to judge how a driver is performing on each journey.

Location-Based Targeting

With location-based tracking technology and GPS systems on smartphones and devices, more businesses are working to enable and provide geo-location services to customers. This presents opportunities to offer personalised shopping experiences and customised promotions and offers to the customers. Businesses are already using geo-location services to extend offers to customers – such as cinemas and theatres pushing notifications on movie timings and available discounts when customers are in the vicinity.

Location-based services also help to enhance the actual shopping experience. Lowe’s has an app which allows their customers to navigate the large warehouse-like stores, helping them find products faster and easier. The app called The Lowe’s Vision: In-Store Navigation app works using a combination of VR and location-based services.

Customer-Centric AR and VR

AR and VR technologies are enhancing the way customers engage with businesses. Companies adopting AR/VR can distinguish themselves from the competition by introducing higher touchpoints and deeply personalised experiences designed specifically for their customer journey. The retail industry has been at the forefront when it comes to experimenting with AR and VR technologies, in the customer space. Retailers have rolled out applications and services that lets consumers virtually try makeup, clothing, accessories and seek out the best look for them.

Financial institutions are also leveraging AR and VR to build customer-centric solutions for self-service and user training. Citibank worked with a mixed reality technology company to develop a trading platform combining 2D and 3D working environment to extrapolate insights from data. Traders work with hundreds of financial instruments, and with the mixed reality workstation, they can quickly identify market hotspots that they should be focusing on. The consequences – better trades!

The hospitality industry is also leveraging AR to improve CX, AR-based menus is a good example.  Various fine dining restaurants have started offering AR based food menus which can display virtual food items and live 3D models of food to accurately represent both the appearance and the serving portion.

Obviously, the entertainment industry will leverage mixed reality to the fullest. For instance, The New York Times leverages VR for storytelling where readers can visualise the events described in some editions of the newspaper. The technology thus allows the description of the setup of a story making the viewers witness an emotional connect with the characters.

Voice capabilities for a seamless experience

With the advent of digital voice assistants and voice recognition AI, voice recognition has opened up avenues and opportunities for businesses to enhance the way customers interact with them whether through mobile apps or their call centres.

Nowadays, voice-capable apps enable customers to interact with services very easily. A good example is Starbuck’s My Barista app, which allows customers to order via voice command or messaging. The coffee chain expanded its application by incorporating voice features to boost speed and convenience for placing and processing orders.

In conclusion, implementing technologies in a business could help businesses change the way the customers see and respond to a business. In addition to this, Improving customer service and using technologies can significantly reduce human inaccuracy, improve employee confidence and rapidly improve the character of a brand. By bridging the gap between a company and its client’s, businesses are becoming CX oriented and are dedicating themselves to enhance CX.

Besides the above, which technologies do you think are beneficial in enhancing your CX?

Let us know in your comments below.

This article presents the Top 5 Cloud Trends for 2020 for the Cloud market in 2020. It is based on the latest data from the global Ecosystm Cloud, IoT and Cybersecurity studies, that are live and ongoing on the Ecosystm platform, and qualitative research by Ecosystm Principal Advisors Claus Mortensen and Craig Baty. 

The Top 5 Cloud Trends for 2020

Here are the Top 5 Cloud Trends for 2020 that we believe will impact both businesses and consumers in 2020.

1. Major Cloud Providers Will Push for Open Source

Open Source has always played a big role in Cloud and as we move into 2020, its role will only grow bigger. Infrastructure and Platform Clouds may not have been dominated by Open Source in the past, but all major Cloud players such as AWS, Microsoft, and IBM have been focusing on Open Source recently.

In 2020, major cloud providers will switch to Open Source to create a development environment that can achieve more than they would be able to develop fully in-house.

2. Open Source will Drive the Adoption of Serverless Computing

Serverless computing is a cloud model where the Cloud provider runs and manages the server and the allocation of machine resources. Beyond just the individual servers, many vendors are now offering to totally replace the data centre with a virtual version that runs in the Cloud.

It has the potential to become a widely used solution for mid-range businesses. A dynamically scaled and priced data centre could offer them a much more flexible IT environment where they do not have to worry about capacity planning and scaling – even when compared to a more traditional Cloud environment.

3. Cloud and IoT Will Drive Edge Computing

Edge computing has been widely touted as a necessary component of a viable 5G setup, as it offers a more cost-effective and lower-latency set up than more traditional infrastructure. Also, with IoT being a major part of the business case behind 5G, the number of connected devices and endpoints is set to explode in the coming years, potentially overloading an infrastructure based fully on data centres for processing the data

Although some are touting Edge computing as the ultimate replacement of Cloud, we believe it will be complementary rather than a competing technology – at least in the foreseeable future and certainly as far as 2020 is concerned. Edge computing will allow Cloud providers to better cater to companies that need low latency, quick access to data and data processing. On the mobile side, it will allow them to push workloads to the handset, reducing the backend workload and potentially enhancing data privacy.

4. ‘Cloud Creep’ Will Get Worse Before It Gets Better

What we have previously referred to as “shadow IT” is rapidly spreading – and worsening – as organisations move to the Cloud and many organisations are now suffering from what is referred to as “cloud creep”. There are several implications of cloud creep – the most significant ones being security issue and cost.

As the use of stand-alone Cloud services grows, the risk of sensitive data being used, stored and shared in non-compliant ways increases. As for cost, while LoB sourcing of Cloud services may save the strain on the IT department’s budget as the money may come from a different “bucket”, it makes it very difficult to get a true picture of the organisations total IT spend and it may mean that consolidation benefits from well-managed sourcing and usage cannot be achieved. A third and increasingly important factor is energy footprint and savings. A fall-out from cloud creep is increased “server sprawl” whereby virtual machines (VMs) and applications remain under-utilised, leading to poor productivity and proficiency.

5. Alliances and Partnerships Will be Formed as the Battle for the Top Heats Up

The global Cloud market has been consolidating around 5 players: AWS, Microsoft, Alibaba, Google and IBM. Nothing really suggests that this trend will change in 2020.

But even for the current top 5 players, their ability to compete will increasingly come down to their ability to expand their service capabilities beyond their current offerings. Ecosystm expects these players to further enhance their focus on expanding their services, management and integration capabilities through global and in-country partnerships. One particular area might be partnerships – focusing on Cloud migration between Clouds and from Cloud to on-premises.

Download Report: The Top 5 Cloud Trends For 2020

The full findings and implications of the report ‘Ecosystm Predicts: The Top 5 Cloud Trends For 2020’ are available for download from the Ecosystm website. Signup for Free to download the report and gain insight into ‘the top 5 Cloud trends for 2020’, implications for tech buyers, implications for tech vendors, insights, and more resources. Download Link Below ?

To remove the hurdles of information created by different cloud providers, AWS, Genesys, and Salesforce have come together with the Linux Foundation’s joint Development Foundation (JDF) to create a Cloud Information Model (CIM). This program comes shortly after Microsoft, SAP and Adobe announced the Open Data initiative.

The operation of these two data models is quite similar. Indeed, they allow both to store data and to apply a common open model.

Cloud Information Model vs. Open Data Initiative

What’s Cloud Information Model (CIM)

Cloud Information Model (CIM) is based on open-source standards that will standardise data interoperability across cloud applications and the environment. CIM will work on MuleSoft’s open-source modeling technology which will provide various file formats to work with varying applications. The new open-source data model will reduce the existing complexities of migrating data across cloud applications. The model aims to form interoperability guidelines to improve the working of POS Systems, digital marketing platforms, Contact centres or CRM platforms.

Instead of creating custom code, developers can implement the CIM and quickly be able to create data lakes, generate analytics, train machine learning models and translate data across systems. The model will be backed by an open-source community that will assist with faster and consistent development.

What’s the Open Data Initiative?

Open Data Initiative is a common data model to eliminate costly and complex disconnected data silos. The three partners, Microsoft, Adobe and SAP will drive this by improving interoperability and data exchange amongst their platform and applications; Adobe Experience Cloud and Adobe Experience Platform, Microsoft Dynamics 365, SAP C/4HANA and S/4HANA.

The program partners can easily leverage an open and extensible data model to extend solutions. This integrated data store will let customers explore more choices on applications development, building, and deployment.

Phil Hassey, Ecosystm Principal Advisor, says “whilst every partner brings along its own expectations and capabilities, the initiatives are looking to make the connection and flow of data easier through using open source models. In theory, this will accelerate solutions for clients and enable faster business outcomes if they are executed effectively and with positive intentions”.

Two Competing Models, do we need both?

We currently have two separate models involving a competitive and closed environment, with Microsoft, Adobe and SAP supporting Open Data Initiative on one side whereas AWS, Genesys, and Salesforce backing up the Cloud Information Model (CIM) on the other end. They are both aiming to bring standardisation for data interoperability across various products. With two competing models, we can see some friction developing between these projects.

“When it comes to the crunch competitive pressures within the two models, it will not be eliminated, for example, Microsoft and SAP partner in key areas, but also have competitive overlap in CRM and analytics,” said Hassey. “It might be positive to think that open source will provide some standards, unfortunately, the reality is different. Execution is often difficult in these types of attempts partly due to the inherent nature of the Open Source community. At best, it will create two different standards, that may be a progressive step.”

The two models may bring opportunities for the developers, open source community and adopters. “The open-source community is very strong as is the developer market aligned with both platforms. If the models commit to investing in the developer community then the opportunity is very strong for positive and desired outcomes, but a lot of success is reliant on developer community investment on top of already existing investments” said Hassey.

Hassey further added, “It is also interesting to see what the likes of Oracle, IBM and Google will do, do they join one of the existing groups or establish yet another branch of the overall environment.”

Both models have the potential to provide common standards and open source codes to the adopters and community thus working on methods to connect data across multiple cloud platforms and disparate systems. They might help but only time, ease of implementation, adoption and support by the community will tell the whole story.

Do you think that these two competing models will merge or only one out of both will be triumphant? Let us know in your comments below.

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++Update: A few days after we added this story, Australia released its AI roadmap focused on future investment in AI and machine learning, and Artificial Intelligence: Australia’s Ethics Framework.

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Over the last few years, many countries have created plans to harness Artificial Intelligence (AI) for better citizen services. At this week’s SFFXSWITCH (Singapore FinTech Festival and Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology), Singapore announced the next step in its Smart Nation initiative with the release of the “National AI Strategy”. The AI strategy will focus on social and economic benefits by providing modern infrastructure, intelligent services, and an excellent education system to citizens.

Commenting on Singapore’s AI adoption and implementation strategies, Ecosystm Principal Advisor, Tim Sheedy said “being a smaller country, Singapore is one of the few around the globe that can make investments into AI at a ‘country level’. Singapore has the luxury of having a progressive public sector that operates at the same speed as the private sector, and has the opportunity to become one of the leading economies in the world for both the deployment of AI in everyday services AND in ensuring the economy has the required skills.”

The key approach of the AI strategy

Singapore is aiming to position itself as a global hub for the development and implementation of AI solutions. National AI Office established under the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO) will be heading Singapore’s AI initiatives.

To begin with, the SNDGO will be initially working on key high-value sectors:

• Transport and Logistics: Intelligent Freight Planning
• Smart Cities and Municipal Services: Infra management and smart services
• Healthcare: Chronic Disease Prediction and Management
• Education: Personalised Education
• Safety and Security: Seamless border clearance operations

Speaking on AI strategies devised for transportation, smart cities, healthcare, education and safety and security in Singapore, Sheedy said “all of these investments are ones that you would make as an economy if you had the opportunity. They are all logical and will all benefit the lives of citizens and the success of the overall economy.”

Transport and Logistics: To optimise the freight and delivery services, a common data platform will be built. The aim is to bring in efficient transportation and logistics with intelligent AI systems in place by 2022 and further AI developments will scale deployment, enable optimised delivery processes and routing of services for freight planning.

Smart Cities and Estates: The country aims to launch AI powered chatbots by 2022 to record municipal issues and allocate them to the responsible authorities. AI powered services will be introduced to better serve the residents. By 2025, efforts will be established to optimise estate maintenance through AI and sensors and by the year 2030, data driven insights will be used to improve the infrastructure and living environment in Singapore.

Healthcare: An all-new AI system known as SELENA+ will be in place to screen and detect diabetic eye disease. SELENA+ is a first artificial intelligence algorithm which performs automated retinal photo analysis to detect retinopathy and systemic complications in diabetics. In addition to this, AI capabilities will also be used to predict cardiovascular diseases and create personalised chronic risk scores. All of these will help to detect diseases and take early preventive measures by the healthcare teams for the welfare of country and betterment of the economy.

“This could detect chronic issues early, and reduce the impact of them on individuals, families and the economy. Being able to make investments at a macro level – like this happening in Singapore – will make sure everyone benefits” said Sheedy.

Education: AI in education will bring the benefits of automated marking systems for English language in primary and secondary education. Further, AI-enabled learning systems will help students on learning and mastery of topics. The government has planned to expand automated AI and adaptive learning systems to more subjects at a later stage.

Sheedy said, “with the government being able to influence and change the syllabus in schools and universities, as well as the skills in the public and private sector, Singapore is uniquely positioned to drive real economic benefit from their investment into AI.”

Safety and Security:  AI systems will help in border security and clearance procedures. AI will enhance travel experience with automated immigration clearance systems involving face and iris scans. The immigration processes will develop into seamless self-clearance systems and become faster.

“A few countries have the ability to drive this level of planning – most countries have many levels of government which make this planning – or execution of plans – difficult.” said Sheedy. “Many are also leaving the investment to the private sector, which means it will happen eventually, but may see many competing initiatives or different capabilities emerge that only benefit a single company, not an entire economy.”

Smart Nation drive

Singapore’s government is highly active in transforming the country into a smart nation. Singapore was working with the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution (WEF C4IR) in order to come out with a framework for ethical and responsible AI adoption and deployment by the Asian governments.

Singapore is also set to invest US$ 360 million on AI and other digital technologies through 2020 and has invited Chinese and American companies to be a part of this.

According to Sheedy, there are many benefits of having deep investments in AI and AI capabilities in an economy.

It will make Singapore a more attractive investment location. If access to government and other services are seamless, then the barriers to entry to starting a new business or creating a new business capability will be much lower. It will mean that it is easier to build a business case for businesses to move to Singapore or start in Singapore – attracting investment funds and employment into the island state.

It will boost export capabilities – both for the skills that will be in demand through technology and business service providers and for the intelligent products and services that will likely emerge from the early AI investments. If Singapore can make more of the products and services that they produce “smart” – then these products and services will see increased demand – both locally and outside of Singapore.

It will make Singapore a better place to live and visit. With seamless government services, easier travel into and out of the country, and a government that anticipates the needs of its citizens, the quality of life for residents will increase.

The country can get ahead of the challenges and downsides of AI – and legislate or plan for these challenges, to ensure these challenges are understood and managed before they become problems.

In the escalating initiatives to become an AI superpower, Singapore has clearly indicated they are fully committed to leveraging AI to drive growth and citizen services.

++Update
An AI roadmap report was published by the Australian Government in November 2019, co-developed by CSIRO’s Data61 and the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. The report identifies the opportunities and benefits of AI that Australia could capture.
The report classifies the strategies to help develop AI capabilities to boost the productivity of industry, generate jobs, bring economic growth, and enhance the quality of citizens’ life. To drive this, Australia has identified 3 key areas where it has the best opportunity to create new value-

Health, Ageing, and Disability – To develop AI to improve healthcare, aged care, and disability services while reducing healthcare costs.

Cities, Towns, and Infrastructure – To develop an AI system for the cities and infrastructure to provide better services, safety efficiency in a smart and cost-effective way.

Natural resource and environment management – Develop AI for better natural resource management and improve the productivity of agriculture, mining, fisheries, forestry, and environmental management.