Tech Trends 2020: Double Feature, Part I [5 Reading Tips]

tech trends, 2020, digital strategy — Photo by PixxlTeufel from Pixabay

A new year is always a chance to open up new horizons, implement new business ideas and develop innovations. In order to fulfil these resolutions, it is mandatory to identify the technologies that have development potential and to understand which effects they can have on the digital economy and society.

For this reason, we have already published an entire series of articles on Handelskraft, in which we discuss key topics such as artificial intelligence, marketing, SEO, user experience, social media, customer relationships and product data.

(Tech) trends alone do not create innovation. The symbiosis of humankind, space and technology is what makes a digital strategy successful. This is why we will present and explain in our Handelskraft double feature which strategic tech trends are the key to digital success in 2020 according to Gartner and how people can use these for their respective field of application.

Tech Trends 2020 – Human-Centred Focus is Essential

The technological progress has reached such a state of development that – depending on the use case – it either aims at developing human capabilities or replacing them. There are technologies that have more of an effect on humans while other technologies influence the places where these people live. Gartner has sorted the ten most important tech trends for 2020 accordingly. Which of them have a clear human-centred approach and should thus be kept in mind?

1. Hyper Automation

Even in the new year, the automation of processes is one of the key issues on the digitisation agenda of companies. However, the level of aspiration is rising. Next level automation is now called »hyper automation«. It does not only focus on the purely operational side, but also on the degree of complexity it reaches. Its goal is nothing other than promoting decisions in an AI-driven way.

You need a combination of tools and AI technology to create this hyper automation as a digital strategy. In this regard, the Digital Twin of an Organisation (DTO) plays an increasingly important role because it enables real-time information as well as continuous intelligence and creates attractive business opportunities.

How automated is your company?

2. Multiexperience

Customer experience is far up the agenda – not only on online platforms, but also in stationary retail. The latter heavily relies on digital and technological solutions in stores to offer unforgettable, more entertaining shopping experiences.

Nowadays, the focus also lies on the creation of immersive experiences through AR, VR, mixed reality, multi-channel human-machine interfaces and sensor technologies. In the future, this trend will turn into a so-called ambient experience.

The customer experience that Domino’s Pizza has created will pave the way there. The pizza delivery service offers an experience that is completely different to a classic app-based order. The process also involves autonomous vehicles, a pizza tracker and intelligent speaker communication.

How well do you entertain your customers?

3. Democratisation of Technology

The empowerment of the user as an expert is without a doubt another trend that will intensify in 2020. The software becomes more and more user-friendly and its operation no longer requires advanced and specific knowledge. As a consequence, employees with basic training will be able to cope with other areas as well. One of the roles that has become more important recently is the so-called »citizen data scientist« who can create data models without having the specific knowledge of a data scientist.

Do you cover user requirements better than the competition?

4. Human Augmentation

Another area of application of technology that is still being researched is obviously the improvement of the cognitive, physical and sensory abilities of humans. In particular in the medical field, but also in retail and industry, there are already use cases in which sensors, implanted chips or wearables are used to either increase safety at the workplace, improve a patient’s state of health or increase productivity.

How eager to try out new things is your corporate culture?

5. Transparency & Traceability

In 2020, companies have to stand by their word more than ever – not only because consumers become increasingly aware of how their data is collected and used, but also because artificial intelligence is increasingly used to make decisions in place of humans. And from an ethical-moral perspective, these decisions are not always the right ones.

In fact, the majority of consumers do not understand how these intelligent systems work and on which basis they make decisions. Upcoming buzzwords that expand on these types of questions are: explainable AI (XAI) and AI governance.

How comprehensible, trustworthy and GDPR-compliant are your processes?

In the second part of this double feature, we will explain in detail which tech trends in 2020 will have an effect on the places we live in and what companies should pay attention to in order to master the digitisation of their own business.