Covid-19 has changed the global narrative to such an extent that many companies are feeling distressed and do not know where to turn. It is hard to appreciate this if you do not take a step back and look at the full scale of the problem. For retail companies, sales are down and the prospects of another shut down loom large as the country’s Covid-19 cases continue to grow. For service-based companies, hard decisions need to be made between the continuation of a service and paying rent or school fees.

There are products and services that cannot be cast aside. The challenge of these product and services then becomes the task of trying to innovate so that the product or service does not become a grudge purchase. This was felt in many industries long before Covid-19, and business leader realized that the natural place to focus their innovation was in improving the customer journey.

“GTconsult has always been at the forefront of innovation and we have worked tirelessly to bring our clients the best products and services in the market. But we are also aware that more is needed when it comes to client innovation, and we take the client journey very seriously. We have come up with an important solution which will help clients service their contracts in a convenient and hassle-free manner,” says Craig Tarr, CEO GTconsult who added that this will be a specific focus for 2021.

Growing demand

The motivation behind designing this product came from a growing demand amongst users who approached GTconsult expressing a problem about how they manage contracts as well as the approval of these contacts and then extending this to how they manage their customers and vendors.

“A lot of clients have indicated that they don’t want to use a conventional customer relationship management (CRM) system. The reasons for this are varied and very valid. It may not suit some of our client’s purposes or the licensing of the CRM system is proving to be a challenge. What most of our clients do not realize is that they most probably already have Office 365, so they have already taken the biggest step in taking a different approach,” says Tarr.

Servicing a need

So how do users pull all of their demands together into a system which will enable them to manage their contracts, run through approvals, have more than one relationship that they need to manage and the documents that are associated with that without using a conventional CRM system? Even a small company may find that they have to manage multiple vendors at the same time.

This can be built in Office 365 by using a SharePoint extension and PowerAutomate.

“We first need to establish what the problem that we want to sole is. It is essentially an onboarding problem whether it be contracts, customers, or vendors. At some point, you will want to onboard these parties and all of the documentation that is associated with them. Once this happens, you then have the task of dealing with contracts and service level agreements (SLAs) and documents which you will need to keep up-to-date and compliant with differing legal requirements. The major problem with this is that each of these contracts of SLAs have different workflows that have to be run simultaneously. Approval processes are often a challenge and documents that relate to a customer or vendor may need certifications and will most probably have some form of legal requirement that will need to be managed. Finally, there will also be performance reviews that will need to be conducted at various times,” says Tarr.

Users may also find that they are in a situation where one company has to manage many contacts. This may mean that they have different project managers and stakeholders that all belong to the same organization that they will have to deal with at different times. This is typically something that will be put into a CRM, but it is also something that can be managed by SharePoint using a contacts list.

Making a list and checking it twice

“Speaking of lists. Once a user has gone through the onboarding process, or even during the process, they will typically need to go through a checklist to ensure that they are dealing with the right vendor and that the vendor checks all of the boxes. GTconsult uses a checklist that is dynamic enough that users can go through the process and modify these lists in real time should the needs of the project – or checklist – change,” says Tarr.

Once you have uploaded the customer/vendor, and have approved them, users could run into systemic issues (operational)which are risks that need to be managed and mitigated. Users will also occasionally have performance reviews (depending on the type of contract) that they would need to run on either a quarterly or yearly basis. These are processes that you will need to work through and ensure that they are done properly. Good governance is key.

Innovative solution

“So, how has GTconsult solved the above challenges? We have used Office 365 and the SharePoint extension – along with PowerAutomate – to build a solution that allows GTconsult to manage all of the different aspects that were highlighted above in one go. This is done though the use of a single page app. By using the SharePoint app extension, we have a hosting capability in terms of JavaScript. So, whether you need to fast-track a project by using something that is already tried and tested (and built), or whether you need specific functionality that is difficult to building the first place, JavaScript is the best place to turn to because most of these requirements are inherent in the system,” says Tarr.

He adds that, once you deliver all of this functionality, you will obviously need a workflow functionality that operates behind the scenes.  “Whether it is approvals, or permission structures, or whether you need to reach information that is hard to source, you will always need some form of framework for that workflow. PowerAutomate does this with ease due to its integration capabilities as well as its timing capabilities which is often found to be a specific problem in SharePoint. We now have the capability to set a timer to kick off on a daily or weekly basis,” says Tarr.

Underpinning all of this is SharePoint and GTconsult utilizes SharePoint and several different lists to enable this capability through a single page form using it as a relationship type database. Previously, this functionality would have been provided through lookup lists in SharePoint.

“What we are finding with the SharePoint extension is that it really enables users to take this to another level in terms of relationships and how you store & retrieve data. Yes, there is a lot of learning around specific shortcomings, in terms of the number of items (for example indexing) to make sure that you do not run into problems after you hit a specific number (typically 5 000 items). This is a learning curve that needs to be worked through,” says Tarr.

A step-by-step video walking you through the process is available on our Facebook (https://bit.ly/3ixwZtA) page and LinkedIn page (https://www.linkedin.com/company/2350799/admin/). 

Simplifying workflows

Admin is often a stumbling block for most companies. It can become troublesome and complicated if it not managed properly. The other side to poor administration, particularly when it comes to contracts and SLAs is that compliance becomes a problem.

“What we have shown you today is not just the ability to use charting libraries, but also the frameworks that you could have around navigations and easy list manipulation with data tables. In addition, behind the scenes, all of this is getting mapped using Rest API which makes single page apps viable in terms of performance moving through the application. As you can see, migration between pages using the GTconsult solution (which makes use of Rest API) was swifter as opposed to a page refresh. There is a lot of benefit in all data being managed in a single location,” said Tarr.

Simplification of workflows, particularly when it comes to admin, allows companies to focus their strengths in other areas. Doing the basics well means that you will have a solid foundation to build business plans around that will benefit your company in the long run, particularly in a world that is being defined by the Fourth Industrial Revolution where almost every aspect of everyday life is being driven by technology.

“GTconsult is committed to enabling productivity and helping its clients grow by simplifying workflows and taking stress away from its clients. Contact us today to find the solution that will benefit your company,” concludes Tarr. 

The dust has barely settled from the New Years celebrations and we are already into our first drama of 2021. Whatsapp has decided to update its privacy statement which apparently allows it to sell certain information to Facebook.

Predictably, this has left a sour taste in many peoples mouths with a significant number of Whatsapp users exiting stage left. The world is being run by data and we are very protective of our privacy. So, what are the alternatives to Whatsapp and are they any better? Let us unpack this debate.

Go back to the beginning

To fully appreciate the issue, we need to start at the beginning. I read an interview on Moneyweb where Moneyweb journalist, Dudu Ramela, spoke to Arthur Goldstuck, CEO of World Wide Worx, to unpack the issue. The written transcript of the interview, as well as an audio version, can be found here.

Ramela: What is it that one needs to know to make an informed decision about whether to stay or to go?

Goldstuck: Thank you, Dudu. The first thing to know is that, if you do go, it means that you will not be able to keep in contact with most of your connections – family, friends, contacts – using WhatsApp as the main communication channel. If you use email primarily, if you use SMS or voice, or even Facebook Messenger for that matter, you will find that WhatsApp in South Africa is used by more than half the population. So, you have got to consider that before looking at all the other issues.

There are two main issues that people are concerned about. The one is that people think this means Facebook would have access to the content of the chat – and that is not true. Facebook cannot access the content of any WhatsApp chat because it is encrypted. There are exceptions if you are involved in criminal activity, or [authorities] believe that you are a suspect or a person of interest in a terrorism case. Then they have the right to use various tools and techniques to access those messages. But besides those extreme circumstances, the contents of your messaging are completely secure.

The real issue here is that they are going to allow Facebook and WhatsApp to combine information about usage of the apps and your smartphone. So, if you use WhatsApp, for example, it automatically has access to your entire contacts list. And, in effect, that is what Facebook is telling you to share – from WhatsApp to Facebook – so they can target you more accurately based on how many people you are in touch with, what kinds of communication you have with those people, not what is in it. But the fact that you are involved in video communication, for example, could be used to target advertising at you.

But, generally speaking, they can access your location data, the speed of your phone, or the battery level of your phone, to tell you are the kind of person who often lets your phone run down, for example, or who your real mobile operator is. All of that kind of information starts adding up to create a profile that allows their advertisers to target you more precisely.

Ramela: Is it just WhatsApp, or are there plenty of other applications that actually do this? Dies it really matter.

Goldstuck: If you consider the extent to which you have been giving permission to Google over the years, then you could say that it does not make a difference because, if you use an Android phone, really Google has access to all your phone information and your current behaviour – not the contents, but certainly the activity. And then if you combine that with Google Search, for example, and Gmail and Google Maps and YouTube, suddenly they have a vast picture of who you are, what you search for, and what you buy. That is where you have really given up your privacy. So, it is the same situation that applies now with Facebook and WhatsApp and Instagram, combining all the data on you so they start taking a big picture.  So, to avoid that, you have got to go to a completely independent messaging app.

Ramela: Facebook has been hacked on a number of occasions. A lot of people are also worried about privacy in terms of security.

Goldstuck: Security of the contents of your messages tends not to be an issue. It is the security of your personal data that becomes an issue. Facebook has not plugged the hole that allowed hackers, for example, to send you a link pretending, for example, that it is a video that includes something about you, or something embarrassing about you. You click on that link and what you really do is give permission to access your account, and that then starts giving access to deeper levels of information about you. Ultimately, they are looking for bank-account information and the ability to access your financial data as well as the actual money.

Ramela: What are the alternatives?

Goldstuck: Of two alternatives on the market at the moment the best known one is Telegram, which was started by Russian developers and in fact is not what you might call a pro-Russian app, because the Russian authorities banned it for two years because they refused to co-operate with them. That is perhaps the most widely used of the more secure apps. It does not share your information with any other application, so it does not allow any advertisers to build up a profile about you. You also have a desktop version of it, for example. So that is a little trick that WhatsApp introduced not too long ago.

The other big one is Signal. Signal was developed by, among others, the person who created WhatsApp, so he understands what it takes to create this kind of application, but also what the issues were. The reason that he left Facebook was because he disagreed with the direction of WhatsApp. And Signal is partly in response to that. So Signal is probably the most secure and the least likely to share your information or make your information available to any other application.

Ramela: Who is regulating all of these social media platforms in terms of making sure that users’ data is not abused, if you will.

Goldstuck: Here is the real problem. Regulators have been asleep at the wheel because it is technology and regulators tend to be the establishment’s real old-timers, even running governments around the world. They tend to have the courts behind the times in terms of the significance of these apps and also how widespread their use is. Only now, for example, are American antitrust authorities starting to look at the issue of whether Facebook should be allowed to integrate Instagram into its services. Because Instagram goes way back to 2011, at that stage the transaction was approved because the regulators had no idea of its significance.

The same with WhatsApp in 2014. So, Facebook is now arguing, hey, this is a moot issue because you already gave us approval back then. The difference is back then they had no idea of the extent to which so much information could be aggregated across all of these apps.

Ramela: Interesting. It has got a lot of people talking, and we will see what happens come February 8, whether people will leave or stay with WhatsApp.

Greener pastures?

So where to from here? It does sound a bit dodgy that Facebook does not want to read your messages but wants to access our personal information such as contact lists and geolocations.

So, what are the alternatives? There are two that seem to be very popular in South Africa, and one that may prove to be popular going forward. A recent article by the Indian Express discussed these in detail.

Signal

The article points out that, currently, the best alternative to WhatsApp if one were to consider the security features and the fact that this is run by a non-profit firm.

-  Security Features. It has end-to-end encryption based on the Signal protocol, built by American cryptographer Moxie Marlinspike, who is also the CEO of Signal. It means no third-party or even Signal can read your messages. The Signal protocol is open source, which is another good thing. Signal does not support third-party backups either, which is actually a good thing. All data remains stored locally on the device, and if you do lose access to the device and try to set up Signal on another phone, your previous chat history is lost;

-  Cross-Platform. Yes, the private messaging app can be used across platforms from Android, iOS, iPad, Mac, Windows and Linux as well. Signal is quite easy to use. The app shows the name of the contacts that are on Signal, which makes it easy for you to connect;

-  Free or paid? Ads? Signal is totally free. The app is run by a non-profit. Former WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton helped found the Signal foundation along with Marlinspike, and has also poured in $50 million to fund the app. It does not sell your data or monetise it and does not have advertisements;

-  Groups, video, and audio calls. Yes, it supports Group features with a maximum of 150 members. It has recently added Group video calls. The app also supports regular video and audio calls, which are also end-to-end encrypted;

-  Disappearing Messages. Yes, you can turn on disappearing messages for each chat, which is great. The time can be set by you ranging from five seconds to one week;

-  Screen Lock, Other features. Yes, there is a screen lock feature. You can also set a PIN to the Signal account to keep your account secure. There is also an incognito keyboard option, which basically does not allow your keyboard to save what you are typing. Other features include fingerprint lock, read Receipts, location sharing, relay calls, archive chats, and more. There is also a feature called Message Requests, which gives you the option to block, delete, or accept messages from an unknown person. Signal lets you react to any message with emojis. You also get the option to not allow a user to take chat screenshots. In order to add anyone in a group, the individual will be required to accept the group invitation, unlike WhatsApp. The storage management of the app is really good and quite similar to WhatsApp. You can clear messages, remove videos or images, and check different files in the storage management tool;

-  Data collected. The key priority of Signal is user privacy, which is why the app does not collect any user data, as per the privacy labels provided on the App Store. The app only stores your phone number or contact information.  When it comes to data collection, this is one of the most minimal apps out there. You can learn more about the Signal app here.

Telegram

The Indian Express article adds that Telegram is another popular alternative Whatsapp and you will likely find a lot of your friends there. A user will not really find it difficult to switch to this app as it is simple to use and has most of the WhatsApp users. In fact, some of the Telegram features are not present in WhatsApp.

-  Security features. Telegram is encrypted, and it is open source, though in the past issues have been raised about its encryption. While normal chats are not end-to-end encrypted, as they are on Signal and WhatsApp, if you start a secret chat on Telegram, it is secured and does not get saved. You can also set a timer to destruct these secret chat messages. To protect the data that is not covered by end-to-end encryption, the company uses a distributed infrastructure. Regarding the issue over end-to-end encryption, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov wrote in a blog, “We rely on our own distributed cross-jurisdictional encrypted cloud storage which we believe is much more protected,” compared to say Apple or Google;

-  Cross-platform. Yes, it is a cross-platform app, which is available on Android, iOS, Mac, Windows. Given it relies on its own cloud backup, Telegram ensures that when you set up the app on a different device, the entire chat history is retained;

-  Free or paid? Ads? Telegram is free. It is an ad-free service for now. But Telegram recently announced its monetisation plans as the company says the project of this “size needs at least a few hundred million dollars per year to keep going.” The service also confirmed that the advertisement interface will be user-friendly, and it will respect user’s privacy, which means no data will be taken. As per Telegram, it will soon launch premium features for business or power users. The current features will remain free for all the Telegram users, but the new ones might fall in the premium plan. The company will also add ads in massive public channels. Note that one-on-one and private group chats will not have ads;

-  Groups, video, and audio calls. Telegram is really popular for groups and allows more than 200,000 users in a group. It also supports audio and video calls as well. Interestingly all video calls are end-to-end encrypted;

-  Disappearing Messages. Disappearing messages are part of the Secret Chat feature and you can set a timer for messages. The time range offered is one second to one week;

-  Screen Lock, Other Features. The best part about Telegram is it is a cloud service, which is why you do not need to worry about backing up chats to other servers to restore them on a new device. With Telegram, you can access your data from any of your devices as the data is synchronised across all your registered devices through cloud-based service. The good part about Telegram is you can send up to 1.5GB of files, create channels, add up to 2 lakh users in a group, forward files without downloading them, schedule messages, archive chats, and more. Telegram allows users to find anyone by username or phone number. Further users can edit messages as well. Telegram even displays the name of the original source from where you have forwarded a message and once you tap on it, you will be redirected to that group or channel. Telegram supports Picture-in-Picture mode, which means that you can video call while using other apps like Instagram. On Telegram, a group admin can set different permissions for every user. Telegram offers really cool and fun animated stickers, which you will not find on any other messaging app. In order to create an account, you just need to provide your mobile number and some basic information;

-  Data collected. The data collected by Telegram includes name, phone number, contacts, and user ID, according to the privacy label on the Apple App Store.

Viber

Viber is the wild card in the South African market as it has not received massive amount of airtime in terms of an attractive alternative to Whatsapp. However, the Indian Express article points out that it may be more attractive than we think.

-  Security Features. This is yet another privacy messenger app, which supports end-to-end encryption. All types of messages, photos, videos, voice and video calls and group chats are encrypted. The company says that everyone will have to make sure that they are using the latest version of Viber to get maximum protection. Similar to WhatsApp, all your chats can be backed up to Google Drive, from where you can restore your chats. Viber says that once you upload your chats to Google, it will not be responsible for your data protection and privacy will depend on Google’s policy;

-  Cross-Platform. Yes, Viber can be used across platforms from Android, iOS, and Windows as well;

-  Free or paid? Ads? Like all the other apps, Viber is also free. However, you will witness a few ads in the popular messaging app. The company says, “Showing you these tailored and relevant offers help us keep the app free for you to use.” “Since we do not have access to your chats, neither advertising providers nor brands can access your chats. The content of your chats stays in your chats always and never will be used for showing your relevant ads,” Viber said in a blog post;

-  Groups, video, and audio calls. Yes, it supports Group features with up to 250 members. One can only add members by sending an invitation to a Viber user. This feature works similar to Signal. The app also supports regular video and audio calls that are also end-to-end encrypted;

-  Disappearing Messages. Similar to Telegram, you get a secret chat mode here too. You can set the timer, and screenshot/forwarding feature is disabled. The time can be set by you ranging from one second to one week;

-  Screen Lock, Other features. The screen lock feature is available, but not for the mobile version. You can send stickers and GIFs, delete, or edit messages, share location, voice messages, and share files. You can create your own GIF, search, and send YouTube videos in the app itself and do a lot of other things. However, the privacy features that Signal offers are not present in both Telegram and Viber;

-  What data does Viber collect? Viber collects location and device ID identifiers. It also collects device ID identifiers. It collects phone numbers, user ID, product interaction, purchase history, other contact information such as email ID, name, and contacts.

In the end, privacy matters

Privacy does matter. We want to be able to use these social media platforms confident that we can do so without any concerns about where Big Brother is watching. Privacy does matter.

There are a few interesting questions that need to be asked at this juncture.

The first is, can we live without Facebook and other social media platforms in the modern age? While there are a lot of people in the world without a social media presence at all, there is a reason why Facebook has so many users. If Facebook were a country, it would be the third most populous country in the world. Facebook is mostly used to communicate with people in far flung corners of the world, to provide people with a platform to publicise their lives (vomit), and for people to consume news. It is also increasingly being used for people to do business and to connect with small businesses. If this is the case, why does Facebook have such an obsession with a free user model. Let us answer this. Facebooks current user base is 2,7 billion users. If Facebook charged its users $0.50 a year, it would generate an annual income of close to $1,3 billion. This is significantly less than what it made from advertising revenue in 2019, which was $69 billion. To get close to the last benchmark, Facebook would either have to reach 7 billion users, which is impossible considering that the world population is 8 billion (as of 2020), or it would have to charge its 2,7 billion users about $25/year.

Therefore, the advertising model is significantly more profitable. So how long will Facebook get away with this. In order to get more advertising revenue, advertising needs to be more relevant. In order for it to be more relevant, it needs to be targeted. In order for it to be targeted, it needs data.

Facebook could just ask people about what their expectations are when it comes to advertising. But would they get a genuine answer? No. They only way to guarantee proper data is to use the methods discussed earlier in the blog. So, when will Facebook finally stop this? When the US will finally catches up with the rest of the world and entrenches the right of privacy as a Constitutional Right thereby forcing Facebook to take data privacy seriously. The UK led this with the GDPR, and many countries followed in its wake. By entrenching this right into the constitution, you are guaranteeing that companies cannot take advantage of the public’s right to privacy and it is punishable by law. Companies who do not comply with the GDPR face massive fines and a restraint of trade that is debilitating. A recent report showed that Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) has fined Twitter €450 000 (around $546 000) over a data breach it disclosed back in January 2019, the regulator announced today. The security flaw exposed some supposedly private tweets from the service’s Android users for over four years. Twitter was found to have violated the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) because it failed to notify the regulator within 72 hours of discovering the breach, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The fine is notable because it is the first time a US tech giant has been hit with a GDPR fine in a cross-border case, meaning one in which the Irish regulator consulted its EU counterparts as part of the decision. The investigation was headed by Ireland’s DPC because Ireland is where Twitter’s international headquarters are based.

The major problem

There are a few problems which sees Facebook, and Whatsapp, sitting in the pound seats.

The first is that Whatsapp are technically not doing anything wrong. Whatsapp is owned by Facebook and until the US has privacy laws which governs what companies can do with private data, companies will do what they like because they are not breaking any laws. Further, Whatsapp is telling you that this is happening and that you have to agree to these new updates (opt in), failure to do so will see you deleted from Whatsapp (forcibly opted out). This is taking compliance to a new level.

The second problem is that almost half of the world’s population uses Whatsapp. Teleporting all of your contacts to a single platform is going to be a mission. The strength of Whatsapp – and they know this – is that the public has proven that Whatsapp is the best messaging software in the market, and until another platform can make same claim, the userbase will be fragmented in terms of multiplatform as opposed to the current single platform we see now. People also do not like having to communicate with half of their contacts on platform and half on another, so we will probably see a lot of people accepting the new terms come February 8.

What is the fuss about?

What is Facebook going to try and do with this information? Sell you stuff? Put more adverts on your timeline for stuff that you never told Facebook you were looking for? I have been doing some research for my wife on my birthday present for this year and guess what, Facebook placed adverts for those items on my timeline. So, Facebook does not need Whatsapp to spy on people. People would also like to think that their data is not being used in advertising. The spoiler alert here is that Facebook and Google are using your data for targeted ads.

People are also waiting in anticipation for smart devices that help you live your life. Run out of milk, your fridge will send you a message about this and will inform you about all of the specials that grocery stores are having regarding milk. Will these devices not be using your data for targeted advertising purposes? Will it be ok for these advertisements to be targeted but others not? MMMMM…

Data is running the world. It is what is making technology smarter, more convenient and life changing. Yes, companies will be chomping at the bit to get hold of this kind of data, and that may not be a bad thing. Would you rather see 100 worthless advertisements on your Facebook timeline of items that you do not actually want, or would you rather see 10 advertisements about things that you want and will make a difference in your life? And if you have such an issue with how Facebook uses your data, delete Facebook. Whatsapp is just doing what its owner is telling it to do. 

Welcome back from the Festive Season break. GTconsult would like to take this opportunity to wish all of its employees, clients, and business partners all the best for 2021.

I have no doubt in my mind that there not one single person who can comfortably say that Covid-19 did not impact their lives in some way or another. From remote work to self isolation and the loss of many family members and loved ones, 2020 is a year that most people will want to forget.

There are a lot of people who are very optimistic about 2021. While optimism is goo, there is a fine line between being optimistic and unrealistically so. Most if the world is dealing with a second wave of Covid-19 infections, and until a viable vaccine is produced, the first half of 2021 may just be the third episode of 2020.

Fortunately, tech is changing the world and is making it easier to do your job. With the South African governments plans to increase access to spectrum, we are positioning ourselves as a country that could find itself at the epicentre of the explosion of the Gig Economy in Africa.

Tech will obviously play an important part in this and I read a few interesting articles about the tech that will shape the world in 2021.

A massive step

We will start in India which has long been a country that has been at the forefront of digital innovation. The Indian Express points out that some of the tech that will shape the future will be a massive step for mankind.

The article points out that We will be pushing the envelope in optimism if we expect to be back in office soon. Even with a vaccine, work from home has got acceptance across the world and businesses have not really seen a drop in productivity. So if last year #WFH was an act of desperation, in the new year you will see more technologies that act as enablers for remote employment at scale. We already have a host of companies that help collaboration among colleagues in real time, but we could see startups emerge with out-of-the-box ideas on creating virtual offices that take away the requirement for being in a physical space.

There is already lot of talk about extended reality, or XR, being extended to fill the gaps in our work environment. XR is a mix of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) that combine the realms of the real and virtual. In a few months, you could be back sitting next to your colleagues in office, though they are spread all over the country, thanks to a 5G-powered XR headset you are wearing to work from home. Or explaining a new project to customers in a virtual boardroom as they walk around scaled-down models, moving them with virtual swipes. Companies like Qualcomm are already close to this rather confusing reality, which is already used to train people before they get to work on high-value assets.

The article adds that then a lot of bells and whistles that are impacting the very experience of work from home could get polished. For instance, laptop makers might finally start making a Full HD camera a standard feature because it has suddenly become the most important feature in the device. You could also see laptops with wireless connectivity become more common as these try to unfetter from Wi-Fi and offer a connectivity backup to those working remotely. This is where 5G could become an important part of enterprises in the coming year.

Better homes

The article points out that as people the world over spend more time at home, there is a huge opportunity to offer them indoors what they are missing outside. This is why you could see a boost in how home entertainment technologies improve in the coming months. Television screens could become larger, offering immersive experiences and theatre-quality sound. We have already seen a bit of this with projectors that can create cinematic sound. This push will also come with increased affordability of better technologies. While this would mean curtains on many cinemas, new streaming services will try and cater to all kinds of content demands to cash in on the urge to be entertained.

A lot of the smart home technology so far has been worked around scenarios where the residents would want to control gadgets from their places of work. Now with all these users stuck inside the homes, smart home software will have to improvise and improve the experiences of people who have nowhere to go, keeping them entertained, informed and healthy.

Also, expect gaming to enter our homes like never before. And no, it will not be limited to the younger ones. The segment is already in the midst of a boom thanks to the pandemic and now there will be new consoles and services that make gaming the vent for all your indoor frustrations, irrespective of age.

Health for all

The article points out that your doctor is now more accessible than before, often just a tap away on an app. But these virtual consultations hit a hurdle as soon as there is a need to look at data. While smart watches and other gadgets now offer more data on different aspects of the user’s health and wellness, the quantified self is going to get more attention now. In early 2020, for instance, the Consumer Electronics Show had a lot on show around sleep technology. These products are now becoming available to people, tracking their vitals as they sleep and alerting them of anomalies as they wake up.

Expect more wearables and smart gadgets near your body keeping a tab in not just the vitals, but also alerting you of what could be the early symptom on an underlying condition. There will also be a lot more assistance in the wellness space, especially with stress management.

Boutique tech

The article adds that, as our dependence on technologies increases, at least those who can afford it will start pulling out of the mainstream to subscription-based services that are niche, but offer a better quality and experience because of this. Companies are already working on products that offer a different experience from what the Internet offers for free. So you will see companies like Neeva that offer an ad-free search service and more publishers and production houses offer premium content behind a paywall.

The movement towards niches will also be a reaction to big tech, which is slowly losing user trust. While governments try to regulate how big and powerful these companies can be, the lack of trust is already moving users to scaled down environments where they are more confident of not being exploited as just a data binary.

Intelligent data

The article points out that, while we have been hearing about artificial intelligence for decades, the pandemic has presented these models with use cases at unprecedented scale. As countries try to figure out how to vaccinate sizeable chunks of their populations, intelligent systems like IBM’s Watson will come into play in helping figure out the rollout of the vaccines. Since we are literally talking about everyone in the world, these are not figures that are easily manageable without help of AI-driven models. And it is not just about the vaccines: AI is already being used to alert about new Covid-18 hotspots based on early trends that are plotted against patterns seen elsewhere. Also, when there will be the question of how to tackle the surge in information demand from people as vaccinations starts, here too it could be computers that answer queries because of the sheer scale.

A new set of gadgets

the Indian Express article ends off by predicting what may change when it comes to gadgets. 2020 has been a weird year of makers of smartphones and other technologies. After a few weeks when sales dried up, most experienced a surge because of the pent-up demand. There was also the new opportunity created by online education. At the same time, a lot of the product thinking went out the window at least for a couple of years as it went down in the priority list.

In 2021, expect smartphones and all other devices to pack more computing power because that will be what they need to focus on, more than cameras and battery life — which are not such big pain points if you are not stepping out. With Apple entering the silicon space with its M1 processor, you will see the personal computing segment undergo some revolutionary changes with rivals trying their best to catch on the processing power and battery life this new entrant can offer. So by end of the year, expect more laptops to offer all-day battery life.

You will see folding, rolling, swivelling smartphones in the new year too, but they will stay well within the fringes and the consumers will be more bothered about the devices that will work long hours without tiring, offering good screen clarity and front cameras for video calls. There will also be a spate of affordable computing devices that try and offer a viable alternative to the budget smartphone that is now being used for online education in many households. Clearly the focus will be on the functional and not the gimmicky.

An article on livemint.com has pointed to the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic has inspired tech innovation.

The article pointed out that one key area, better webcams for our constant video calling, was significant. Samsung has already announced that its forthcoming Galaxy smartphone, expected in early 2021, will improve video recording and calling. We anticipate laptop makers will do the same and finally ditch their crappy, low-resolution webcams.

Portable versions of UV sanitizers for cleaning your phones and gadgets are on the way to keep in your car or your pocket. Another thing we may eventually never leave home without? High-tech masks. Expect a range of built-in features: Bluetooth and microphones (see Maskfone), a fan-powered wearable air purifier (see LG PuriCare), a mask with a UV LED (see the UV Mask). Look for air-quality sensors, contact-tracing assistance and more.

Laptops Arm Up

The article pointed out that, suddenly, laptops aren’t the most boring gadget in the world. Our reliance on them for at-home work and school spurred demand the category hadn’t seen in years. (“Children, let me tell you about the Great Chromebook Shortage of 2020.") Then, in November, Apple released a MacBook Air and MacBook Pro that ditched Intel inside for Apple’s own M1 chips. The result? Machines that have never been so quiet and cool, and lasted so long on one charge.

The move from chips based on Intel’s x86 architecture to ones based on lower-powered Arm technology, like the ones inside phones, is setting the entire computing industry on a new course. Lenovo, Acer and Microsoft have begun releasing Windows or Chrome OS laptops with chips from Qualcomm, whose processors power the most popular Android phones. This will only accelerate in the coming year, with nearly every major Windows PC maker working with Qualcomm on laptops and some models even gaining 5G, said Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon.

The article added that Apple, which plans to transition its entire Mac lineup to its own processors by 2022, is also expected to release a long-anticipated new iMac, among other things. And it won’t come as a surprise when more tech giants, including Amazon and Microsoft, embrace their own custom chips in everything from laptops to servers to wearables.

Reality: Assisted, Not Augmented

Remember the ambitious Google Glass concept. The world was either so excited for it that they were prepared to invest heavily in a pair, or the world was bemoaning how tech was becoming massively intrusive.

Ultimately, the Google Glass project failed, but that didn’t mean the end for artificial intelligence (AI). The Live Mint article rightly points out that AI will only get better over the years. When will Apple release a pair of smart glasses? Probably not 2021. And while Google made a big step in this category this summer by acquiring North, a pioneer in projection glasses, it canceled the second version of North’s glasses as it plots its future. It’s actually Facebook that declared it will launch smart glasses in 2021—and they’ll be Ray Bans.

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerbergsaid in September these glasses will be “the next step on the road to augmented reality." They won’t feature virtual objects that appear to interact with the real world. AR headsets like Microsoft’s HoloLens might deliver an immersive experience, but they’re still expensive and cumbersome.

The article adds that assisted reality glasses—which project text, images and even video feeds into a person’s field of view—are of more value now, says Brian Ballard, CEO of remote-expertise company Upskill. Businesses have found utility in remote video conferencing that hovers in workers’ field of view, or turn-by-turn directions they don’t have to look down to follow.

E-commerce ≠ Amazon

The article pointed out that the pandemic packed 10 years of consumer e-commerce adoption into a single quarter, and forced every company that wasn’t Amazon—especially those with large retail footprints—to scramble to offer consumers new and better ways to shop from home.

Target saw an explosion in curbside pickup from online orders, while warehouse retailer Costco reported unprecedented growth in e-commerce. Walmart launched a Prime-like membership program called Walmart+, and rapidly added features to keep up the competition. (Walmart recently eliminated order minimums and shipping fees on Walmart.com orders, and provides no-fee delivery on grocery carts totaling $35 or more.) Shopify, which powers payments for many small businesses online, expanded its own network of fulfillment centers so those businesses could get goods to customers more quickly and efficiently, without turning to Amazon.

The article added that, now that fast, free shipping is table stakes and retailers recognize they won’t see the foot traffic they counted on pre-pandemic, consumers finally get an online version of an old retail staple: comparison shopping. In 2021, Amazon’s value proposition—that if it isn’t always the least expensive way to shop, it’s at least the most convenient—will be tested. Meanwhile, its market power—along with Google’s, Facebook’s and Apple’s—will continue to be the focus of regulatory scrutiny.

Return of the Trust Fall

Remember doing these exercises at work team building outings. You would spend a significant amount of time praying that you didn’t have to do this exercise with the creepy man/woman four desks down from you.

The Live Mint article points out that while remote work has many advantages, building trust between employees isn’t one of them. Online, there is no water cooler, no nearby coffee shop for informal brainstorms, no place to grab a drink after work. But companies whose employees worked remotely long before the pandemic already had a solution: the off-site retreat.

Buffer, a fully remote company, gets its entire, globe-spanning team together at least once a year. Dozens of other companies whose employees work mostly or entirely at home do the same thing, which has led to a cottage industry of firms that will plan these retreats for you.

The article adds that one reason companies have embraced remote work is that it makes employees happier, but another is that it saves companies money on office space. In 2021, expect to see many of the millions of employees who have permanently shifted to remote or hybrid work piling into party buses, doing group yoga and seeking inner peace in the presence of their bosses—for far less than the cost of the rent on the offices they left behind.

The platform contributor

We have given significant focus to the gadgets what with shape 2021, and the innovation that certain companies are planning, but we cannot forget the role that technology based platforms played in 2020 and the influence that they will have in 2021.

Blockchain

The article points out that it has taken a long time for blockchain to shift centre stage, but as people increasingly trust algorithms, which it’s based on, its time has come. Decentralised finance will continue to grow over the next few years because of the increased demand for online financial products, but it will need to continually address the balance between decentralisation, security and scalability.

Increasingly, government bodies are leveraging blockchain for their activities, moving from incredulity to embracing the technology. With this, we’re going to see regulation surrounding blockchain become ever more pronounced. Our client Block.one reported this year that Google Cloud is taking steps to become a network block producer, a sign that the world’s largest companies are committed to ensuring that information on public blockchains is secure. In five years time, using blockchain could feel about as edgy as banking with HSBC.

Customer learning experience

The article adds that consumer sales have seen major disruptions in 2020 due to Covid-19 and new restrictions the pandemic has brought to in-person interactions. Businesses have been pushed to accelerate adoption of digital solutions as replacements for traditional aspects of the sales cycle. Attracting and educating customers on the benefits of specific products and features has required a digital-first approach, with e-commerce solutions integrating video, webchat and even augmented reality.

For complex products that require training, including consumer electronics, automotives and software, companies are investing in Learning Management Systems - or tailored equivalents designed to meet the goals of their specific learning experience- to provide customers with instructive content. These LMS solutions allow businesses to create custom branded courseware, training programs, documentation and video guides to deliver complete digital learning experiences. The article adds that, with big data and analytics, companies can implement in-depth tracking of customers on their learning journeys to rapidly gain insights and improve their offerings.

As restrictions on in-person shopping and in-person learning begin to relax in the post-pandemic future, digital learning experiences for customers will continue to grow in popularity, with new opportunities to enhance e-commerce and post-purchase experiences.

Cloud-based tech

The article points out that the world shifted irreversibly in 2020 as so many of us migrated from our old workspaces to predominantly work from home. Beyonders scattered far and wide; I now head up technology from our Lisbon hub. That, of, course, is only possible with greater use of cloud-based technology, including workplace applications.

With the rise in ecommerce we’re seeing cloud-based platforms pushed and we’ll see their full potential through 2021 and beyond. Cloud native technology will continue to power digital transformation: by the end of 2021 60 per cent of companies will leverage containers on public cloud platforms and 25 per cent of developers will leverage serverless, according to predictions from ForresterNow Predictions 2021: Cloud Computing report.

The article adds that technology design is evolving in tandem and we’re building modular, composable architectures that can shift and transform in an agile way, not dissimilar to how we build multi platform, multi stack software. As Google Cloud Partners, we design our composable architectures with plenty of flexibility, but primarily with people in mind.

Cautious optimism

We mentioned at the beginning of the blog post that most people will need to manage their expectations of 2021. And this is not a bad thing as it is likely going to be a challenging year. However, there are some global tech leaders who feel that 2021 will be a good year for tech innovation.

Magdalena Balazinska, professor and director of the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington

How will this year’s events — the pandemic, social justice movements, economic recession — affect the technology industry in 2021? While the COVID-19 vaccines are rolling out and providing us with hope that 2021 will be a better year than 2020, we are not out of the woods yet and we should plan for 2021 being fundamentally a highly disrupted year.

That said, if we consider 2021 and perhaps a little beyond, I would say that:

-  2020 really demonstrated that working from home can be effective in many industries. I expect that the tech industry will be rethinking their long-term policies regarding working from home and hiring remote employees;

-  Diversity, equity, and inclusion will remain high priorities for the technology industry, and for academia;

-  The tech industry has contributed to polarization through the various social media platforms that we developed. Our next step in 2021 needs to be on developing tools to help bring people together;

-  The tech backlash is real. The industry needs to take this challenge seriously — to become a rising tide that lifts all boats, not just the captain’s barge.

Software engineers will increasingly question the technology they are developing and the business models of the companies they are working for. Graduates will consider not just the salary but also the type of product that a company is creating, their DEI statement, and more when they choose their employment.

Leslie Alexandre, president and CEO of Life Science Washington

What will be the most pressing issue facing the tech industry in 2021? Again, speaking from a biotech/life science perspective … we are witnessing breathtaking innovation in new treatments — and even some cures — for horrible diseases and conditions thanks to a new generation of platform technologies, such as gene editing and other cell therapies. These treatments are improving the quality of life for thousands of Americans every day, but come at a very high price tag, commensurate with the costs of their development.

As a society, if we want broad access to these life-saving treatments, we must figure out how to pay for them. And as an industry, we must come to the table with sound policy options that facilitate continued investment in innovation and a resolution to drug pricing issues that are becoming barriers to that investment.

Peter Lee, CVP of Research and Incubations at Microsoft

The most overhyped technology of 2021: I guess three of the technologies that are always mentioned on these “most overhyped” lists are blockchain, virtual reality, and self-driving cars. Blockchain and VR are getting a lot of new hype, with blockchain mentioned in areas like vaccine credentials, and VR to make home isolation more fun. But as great as they are, both probably need more time to flip from hype to hot. And self-driving cars, well, while we may actually see some really interesting products hit the market in 2021, there is a lot less driving going on nowadays. We’ll want to revisit all three in 2022…

Advice to startups and entrepreneurs for 2021: Think of the three phases of a global crisis: Response – Recovery – Resilience. If 2020 was about Response, 2021 will be about Recovery. Your company/investment needs to be relevant to that. But even more important is to think about the technologies you are developing for the next long phase, which is about Resilience for the future.

GTconsults view

From a GTconsult perspective, we are convinced that Cloud Computing and AI will be big innovators during the year. With this comes the need to increasingly trust technology and see it as innovative and enabling rather than intrusive and overbearing. We applaud Governments view on spectrum and hope that this project can gain significant momentum. This will see new tech startups and entrepreneurs who can not only grow our economy, but provide a future for their families.

We also hope that technology will improve access to healthcare as well as innovative ways to diagnose and treat diseases. We are seeing how tech is playing a role in the Covid-19 vaccine, but we need to see these advancements take place more rapidly.

Finally, technology must play a role in education. We have already seen the beginning of it in remote teaching and many students have adapted well to the new normal that has been placed on them. We now need to advance this. Coding needs to be taught at school and students need to be given the skills to prosper in the Gig Economy. If we can get this right, 2021 will be a good year. 

About a year in Donald Trumps Presidency, he found himself embroiled in a major war of attrition with China. While no violence was committed, relations between the two countries was precariously balanced on a knife edge with major allegations (from Trump) that China was embarking on a major espionage campaign that was being driven by Huawei. Later, there were allegations of coordinated cyber attacks from Beijing that affected high level US targets.

Chinese President, Xi Jinping, denied all of Trumps accusations saying that the reason behind the war of attrition is vastly different from the presented facts. Xi pointed out that the war of attrition was over China’s Made in China 2025 programme. At this stage, China had become the worlds second biggest economy and the country laid out a growth plan that would sustain the economy’s growth. Part of this plan was that 80% of the worlds technology would be produced and distributed by Chinese companies by 2025. This obviously has major ramifications for Silicon Valley which is a significant driver of the US economy. Xi went on to add that Huawei was being targeted because it was pioneering tech that Apple and Samsung were not; the fact that the company faced opposition in Australia and New Zealand over its 5G expansion plans suggests that Xi was not far off the mark. Would Apple or Samsung have faced similar opposition had they been the pioneers?

US sanctions aside, the Chinese economic beast is large enough to be self sustaining and Chinese companies have the whole of Asia as a possible market to drive its ambitions. Where to now for the Made in China 2025 programme?

Shadow games

One of the ways that China is approaching its world domination is through subliminal influencing. Changing behaviours and making it acceptable is almost a passive way of asserting your dominance and not drawing attention to the fact that you are influencing the global market. I recently read an article by the BBC which showed how this is taking place.

The article points out that for more than 30 years, a small parcel of land covering about 45 square miles (116sqkm) has had an outsized impact on the way we work, live and play.

California’s Silicon Valley shapes our lives. From the websites where we do our household shopping to the video-streaming services we watch to the companies which provide our email, almost all are based in this corner of the United States.

The article adds, until recently, that is. The rise of TikTok, an app whose parent company is the Chinese firm ByteDance, has struck at the heart of Silicon Valley’s supremacy. Along with other digital products coming out of China, TikTok has the potential to reshape the future of technology – a future in which the culture, and the interests, of Shanghai or Beijing could mould the industry more than that of San Francisco Bay.

It’s hard to overstate just how much of a switch this is.

“The narrative previously was about China coming up with its own versions of [Western] digital products,” Elaine Jing Zhao, Senior Lecturer in the School of the Arts and Media at the University of New South Wales in Australia told the BBC.

“Nowadays, you see the narrative shift towards how Western social media platforms are learning from Chinese social media platforms.”

And Chinese apps, platforms and services currently look quite different from those in the West.

The rise of Chinese tech

The BBC article points out that the most famous, of course, is TikTok – which has 690 million monthly active users worldwide, 100 million of whom are in the United States and a further 100 million in Europe.

Like other apps of Chinese origin, TikTok’s owners have tried to downplay the app’s background. “They want to give international users the impression they are not Chinese platforms, but global platforms,”  Jian Lin, Assistant Professor at  the University of Groningen in the Netherlands told the BBC, an author of multiple books on the Chinese influencer industry and technology platforms. “They really want to transmit this impression to the public that they’re not necessarily Chinese. They’re just like others, a global platform.”

The article adds that their fear of backlash has been borne out by the hard stance US President Donald Trump has taken against the app, who claimed without significant evidence it’s a national security risk. Other countries to oppose TikTok include India, where the app was banned in June 2020, and Pakistan, which banned it for 10 days in October.

But these challenges seem unlikely to dissuade other Chinese tech companies from following TikTok’s lead, Lin told the BBC. “I do believe Chinese companies will become even more ambitious and stronger in the coming years,” he says.

The article points out that he also expects these companies to increase their global ambitions: since the Chinese domestic tech market is highly saturated, with strong levels of competition, they may see more opportunities coming from the overseas market.

Changing Western tech

The article points out that, already, the way Chinese-launched apps interact with users, and the services they offer within the apps, are influencing Western platforms. One example: the “superapp”.

“In China it’s very common to become a superapp, where you do a lot of different things within the same app,” Fabian Ouwehand, Founder of Many, a Dutch social marketing agency that advises companies and influencers on how to use TikTok and its Chinese version, Douyin told the BBC.

Perhaps the most popular combination? Social media and commerce. “In China people are used to the commercialised version of social media entertainment, and do a lot of ecommerce and business through their apps,” says Lin.

The article adds that, on Douyin, for example, users can buy products directly from the app as they watch the shortform videos that creators post onto the platform – something TikTok in the West is mimicking through the introduction of integration with online shopping platform Shopify, launched in October 2020. WeChat, which is often described solely as a chat app, is far more: it’s also a payment platform and a way to keep up to date with friends.

The reason superapps have become so popular in China is simple, says Zhao. “People feel it’s really convenient to have every part of their life organised by social media platforms and superapps,” she says. “From shopping online to hailing taxis, socialising with friends and meeting up with strangers, everything you can do within one app.”

This kind of approach requires handing over more data to link up disparate systems into a single, convenient place for users – something that not everyone might be comfortable with. But experts believe that the demographics are on the side of app developers. “Younger users will accept it quicker than the older generations, who are a little bit wary,” says Ouwehand. “They value convenience over privacy.”

The article points out that western companies are taking note. Platforms like Facebook have begun to bring various features and services under a single umbrella: in recent years, Facebook has integrated online video (Facebook Watch) and shopping (Facebook Marketplace) into its core social network. Instagram, owned by Facebook, has added TikTok-like shortform repeating videos, called Instagram Reels, in recent months, and also has a connection with Shopify so fans of influencers can buy products their favourites wear directly in the app..

“I’m seeing more and more companies trying to add more features into their apps,” Rui Ma, a Chinese Tech Expert based in Silicon Valley told the BBC. “That’s probably the biggest overt move that looks a little bit more like Chinese tech.”

Enhanced moderation

The article points out that, behind the scenes, there are other differences that could also make meaningful change.

TikTok has been criticised for its approaches to disabled and overweight creators, whose videos it has been alleged to de-prioritise – a legacy of moderation policies drawn up by staff in China. The app says it has since redrawn its policies on moderation to accommodate a more open, less censorious Western taste and culture.

The article adds that, despite localising its content moderation policies, TikTok remains much more proactive than Western social platforms in intervening where it sees potentially troubling content. The company’s September 2020 transparency report shows that, of the 104 million videos removed from TikTok in the first half of 2020, 90.3% were removed before they received any views – and 96.4% were taken down by the app itself, before being alerted to infringing content by another user.

Compare that to the content moderation policies of, say, YouTube. Until the coronavirus crisis compelled YouTube to rely far more on automated moderation rather than human intervention, the app lagged a little behind TikTok on its proactive takedowns of videos. In the three months between April and June 2020, the most recent data available, 95% of videos were taken down by “automated flagging”, though only 42% had no views before they were removed.

Algorithmic recommendations

The article points out that another way in which Chinese social media platforms are influencing Western ones is in how they present and filter information.

While Facebook and Twitter recommend posts based on what your friends are posting and sharing on your news feed, TikTok and other Chinese apps like it try to learn as much as it can about you, and then direct content to you they think you’ll like. “In China you see a lot of different platforms coming up that are way more focused on exploration, and here it’s a lot on your social circle,” says Ouwehand.

The article adds that this model understands our preferences based on prior behaviour with videos we’ve already seen, rather than assuming our interests based on those we interact with or via our past search terms. It’s a meaningful difference that is shaping the way we consume information, and changes the economics of those creating the content.

Under the Chinese model of algorithmic exploration and recommendation, users are less beholden to the individual content creators they follow. On YouTube, for examples, big personalities have become celebrities because of their ability to build a loyal fanbase. But on TikTok, anyone can become a star overnight because of a single video that proves popular with the app’s algorithm – and that fame can disappear almost as quickly when the next big video is surfaced through the app’s code.

The article points out that, given how popular that strategy has been, it could signal a broader change among other social media platforms, as well.

The future of tech

The article adds that if Chinese companies continue to play an increasingly influential role in tech, our online world could look very different by, say, 2030.

For one, it could be much more diversified than the Silicon Valley standard we still, largely, see now. And while Chinese apps are best-known right now, that could change. “It’s not just Chinese companies, but other companies in Asia,” says Zhao. “These regional giants might want to have a slice of the global market pie as well. We’re seeing Facebook and Google competing for a slice of the Asian market, but at the same time local giants are entering the US market as well.”

The article points out that we might also see apps having an increased emphasis on localisation, something we already see with TikTok. “If you want to be a global company, you’re serving different consumers with different cultural tastes,” Zhao told the BBC.

And we may see Western products taking more of a lead from successful strategies or services out of China, and the rest of Asia. “That’s where the West is going to copy a lot,” says Ouwehand. “In terms of functionalities and the expansion of their own apps to do more.”

The article adds that the future of technology in the next decade will certainly look a lot less like the Silicon Valley-designed ideal we’ve been used to in the last 20 years. But it seems likely it will evolve through small steps and minor influences – as evidenced through the way TikTok differs from Douyin, and the lag in changes in the Chinese version of the app making their way to the Western one.

This is, after all, how a globalised world works, Zhao told thew BBC. “It’s an example of cross pollination. Doing business is always about drawing inspiration from each other,” she says.

More insight

What more can we expect form this plan? An article by Al Jazeera provided some additional insight.

Dual circulation; the Al Jazeera article pointed out that this is a concept Xi first mentioned in May, and has now become part of the plan for the next five years.

In essence, Beijing is saying it wants its future growth to be based mostly on internal cycles of production, consumption and distribution of goods and services.

The article added that, faced with a punishing trade war with the US and a government that wants to contain the rise of Chinese technology giants like Huawei – the global leader in the latest generation mobile telecommunications equipment – it is little surprise that China is turning inwards for its economic progress. With a middle class of about 400 million people, it can afford to do so.

The article pointed out that it acknowledged that China now faces a “complicated international situation”, something that is unlikely to change whoever wins the US presidential election on November 3.

But China is also keen to stress that it is not turning its back on the outside world and that it wants to continue to engage in international trade, the now de-emphasised, less well-defined second part of the dual-circulation strategy.

Technology

The article added that a cornerstone of the current 13th plan has been “Made in China 2025”, a push to nurture and develop high-tech industries.

The new plan calls for a continuation of that strategy, putting innovation at the heart of China’s modernisation drive.

“Making major breakthroughs in core technologies in key areas, China will become a global leader in innovation,” Xinhua said.

The article pointed out that developing homegrown technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence is at the heart of China’s shift towards greater self-reliance [File: Aly Song/Reuters]According to analysts at global banking giant HSBC, the 14th plan will aim to strengthen industrial supply chains that were disrupted during the early stages of the pandemic, using technology to become more self-reliant in this respect.

“In our view, this means there will be more of a policy push for higher [research and development] spending in the coming years, especially in strategically emerging sectors such as biotechnology, semiconductors and new energy vehicles,” Qu Hongbin, chief China economist at HSBC, said in a research note sent to Al Jazeera.

A new frontier

If we are being honest, Chinese tech has already taken over the majority of the world and is having a major influence on the way that we do things and live our lives. In this space, China has achieved its goal and we will use Chinese tech if it is safe, well made and comparable to tech that is produced elsewhere in the world.

So where does China go next? I recently read an article which points out that Beijing is targeting the automotive sector. 

The article points out that China aims to have vehicles with partial self-driving technology account for 50% of all new-auto sales by 2025, double its previous goal, as the country encourages local companies to pull ahead of the U.S. in the field.

Under a plan released Wednesday, new vehicles with "level 2" or "level 3" automation are to make up 70% of sales by 2030. Level 2 assists the driver with steering, acceleration and braking, while level 3 means vehicles drive themselves under certain conditions such as on highways.

The article adds that China in 2017 called for level 2 and 3 vehicles to make up 25% of new-car sales in the world's largest auto market by 2025. Beijing considered raising the target to 30% last year, but is hitting the gas pedal now as China positions autonomous and "new energy" vehicles as a strategic emerging industry.

About 10% of new vehicles sold in China during the first half of 2020 carry level 2 automation, local media report.

The new plan also seeks to have level 4 autonomous vehicles, which require no human input except in emergencies, on the market by 2025 and account for 20% of sales in 2030. China looks to expand use of high-level self-driving technology nationwide by 2035 and integrate such vehicles into so-called smart cities.

The article points out that China will enact policies and legislation based on this road map, released by the National Innovation Center of Intelligent and Connected Vehicles at the direction of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Beijing is counting on Chinese tech companies to make this vision a reality.

Search engine company Baidu has received state support for its Apollo self-driving technology project, launched in 2017. Trials of an autonomous taxi service are underway in Hunan and Hebei provinces and parts of Beijing. Didi Chuxing, China's largest ride-hailing company, is testing a similar service in Shanghai.

Tech names ranging from startups like Pony.ai to giants such as Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings are increasing development in the field.

The article adds that though Tesla and Toyota Motor have led the way among automakers, Chinese players such as Geely Automobile Holdings, part of the group that owns Sweden-based Volvo Cars, are pushing into the fray as well. Nearly 100 new models with level 2 technology reportedly were rolled out in the first nine months of 2020, according to Chinese media.

On the regulatory side, with the commercialization of level 3 vehicles on the horizon, China is considering easing rules as early as next year to allow self-driving vehicles on public roads.

The reason why the US went to war in Vietnam, and the reason that it engaged in the Cold War, was that it was vehemently opposed to communism. For that, the US was seen by many as a beacon of hope and freedom. Is this not influence?  Throughout history, there have been international influencers that have shaped the way that we live. Perhaps it is China’s turn. 

If we go back over the centuries, the biggest impact of the various industrial revolutions that the world has been through is that there has been a significant change in the workplace.

Technology enables productivity but also creates various opportunities that were not present in the past. This has been at the heart of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and its impact has only been enhanced by the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Changing landscape

If we go back to the industrial revolution, many skeptics were unconvinced that inventions such as the car and the printing press would replace horse drawn carriages and conventional forms of media.

Industrialization saw the mass printing of newspapers and books and the mass production of motor vehicles. This caused unemployment for many who filled these rolls in the past. While technology enables productivity, it also is a catalyst for social change. Many of the jobs that exist today will not exist 20 years from now.

While there will be significant social change, the role of humans will never totally disappear. While technology is becoming more self-governing, it will not be independent. Humans still need to govern the process.

So, what does the future of the workplace hold?

Accelerated change

I recently read an article which pointed out that the automation and digitization of the workforce has accelerated, partly due to Covid-19, but new jobs are coming and may be more accessible than you think.

The article pointed out that workers around the world are facing "double disruption": not only is the global workforce automating faster than expected, but the Covid-induced global recession has reversed employment gains, making it even harder for workers, especially those already disadvantaged, to make the transition to new types of jobs.

This is the core message of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2020 Future of Jobs report, a survey of mostly big, white-collar companies across 26 countries.

Hitting the breaks

According to the report, the bad news is that, in contrast with previous years, job creation is slowing while job destruction is accelerating.

By 2025, the so-called robot revolution is set to disrupt 85-million jobs globally, according to the report. By then the average employer expects to divide tasks roughly equally between humans and machines.

Referencing the report, the article points out that, astonishingly, even half of the lucky ones who retain their jobs will need reskilling. Fortunately, the report finds that 73% of South African firms would look to retrain current staff to meet their changing requirements.

"Of course, it depends on the choices we make today," notes WEF MD Saadia Zahidi. "It depends on the kinds of investments governments make today and the investments workers make in terms of their own time. And it depends on the choices that business leaders make when it comes to retaining and protecting jobs vs shorter-term decisions that are more focused on quarterly results."

The article points out that the report warns that in the absence of support from governments and employers, inequality is likely to worsen because of the double whammy of technology and the pandemic, which has disproportionately affected millions of low-skilled workers.

Key investment

The article points out that improving access to online learning is an investment all countries should be making. According to US online learning provider Coursera, there has been a fivefold increase since the start of the pandemic in employers offering online learning to their workers, and a nine fold increase in people accessing it through government programmes, including in developing countries.

In Costa Rica, for example, the government has worked with employers to identify the skills in demand, partnered with Coursera to build the required online learning programmes, and helped match graduates of these programmes to available jobs.

"No matter what prediction you believe about jobs and skills, what is bound to be true is [a] heightened intensity and frequency of career transitions, especially for those already most vulnerable and marginalised," says Hamoon Ekhtiari, CEO of FutureFit AI, a Canadian reskilling firm that contributed to the report.

New roles

Refencing the report, the article points out that the good news is that 97-million new roles are expected to emerge over the next five years in existing fields such as the care sector, as well as in newer industries such as those involving big data, artificial intelligence, the green economy, cloud computing and product development.

"We think the future of work is digital, but it’s also human," said LinkedIn chief economist Karin Kimbrough at the report’s launch. Kimbrough believes the world will increasingly value tasks that involve collaboration, managing and caring. In fact, the pandemic has taught society to revalue in-person, frontline services such as nursing.

Moreover, getting into new digital fields isn’t as difficult as people may think. According to LinkedIn data, about half of all people making career shifts into these new industries come from unrelated fields.

"So, you can come from just about anywhere and manage the transition," says Kimbrough.

Advanced skills not necessary

The article points out that you also don’t need advanced levels of digital literacy to make the jump, which is important for a country such as SA where, according to the report, less than 30% of the population has digital skills.

Coursera’s head of data science, Emily Glassberg Sands, points out that, for those without university degrees, there are still lots of opportunities in administering technology, including, for instance, as Google IT support specialists (who are employed by thousands of firms to help debug Google every day).

The article added that it takes just six to eight months to train online as one, she says, and is a useful stepping-stone to unlocking more formal IT qualifications over time. "It’s difficult and requires support, but it’s less the exception than we think."

Kimbrough says if policymakers could identify the small clusters of skills with an outsized effect on opening more sustainable career paths, it could make a real difference to reducing global unemployment.

But the window of opportunity for managing this change is closing fast, Zahidi warns. "In the future, we will see the most competitive businesses are the ones that have invested heavily in their human capital — the skills and competencies of their employees."

Enhanced thinking

When James Cameron brought us The Terminator in 1984, we thought that giving machines the power of enhanced thinking was a bad idea. It really was not a good portrayal of the benefits of technology.

However, a recent article, referencing a report by Forrester, points out that its not all bad news though. I read an article which points out that artificial intelligence (AI) and automation will help organizations rethink the future of work.

Automation, not surprisingly, is aimed at the employee experience. In 2021, digital transformation initiatives in more than three-quarters of enterprises will focus on automation, the firm said.

"The 'great lockdown' of 2020 will make the drive for automation in 2021 both inevitable and irreversible,'' according to Forrester's Predictions 2021. "Remote work, new digital muscles, and pandemic constraints will create millions of pragmatic automations in 2021; document extraction, RPA (robotic process automation) from anywhere, drones, and various employee robots will proliferate; and, as expected, the mad dash to automate will bring trouble."

Driving efficiency and elasticity

The article points out that, while AI didn't predict the pandemic, it will help businesses rethink the future of work; drive more efficiency, elasticity, and scale in operations; and reimagine customer and employee experiences, Forrester said. AI is driving the growth of automated processes, helping them become smarter. Companies that adopt machine learning, a subset of AI, "will massively multiply their number of AI use cases, including for employee augmentation and automation,'' the firm said.

Forrester expects "hypergrowth in AI, along with the proliferation of artificial data and the beginnings of a Blockchain-based approach to data trust."

AI adoption grew 15 percentage points in the past year, and maturity is rising as firms move past small, incremental deployments, according to Forrester. "In 2021, the grittiest of companies will push AI to new frontiers, such as holographic meetings for remote work and on-demand personalized manufacturing. They will gamify strategic planning, build simulations in the boardroom, and move into intelligent edge experiences."

The article adds that Forrester also believes there are many deterrents to AI success: A lack of trust, poor data quality, data paucity, a lack of imagination, and a dearth of the right power tools to scale.

"But 2021 will see companies tackle these head on, not because they want to or suddenly have the wherewithal to overcome these in this unprecedented year--but because they have to,'' Forrester maintained. "They have to rebuild their businesses not for today or even next year but to prepare to compete in an AI-driven future. 2020 has given leaders the impetus, born out of necessity, and coincidence to embrace AI, with all its blemishes."

Don’t shy away

The article points out that Forrester advises firms not to shy away from AI. "Plan to quadruple your investment next year. Build your internal AI team, engage consultancies to implement domain-specific solutions, and upgrade your data, analytics, and machine learning platforms to rethink how you use AI."

Automation is also a top priority now, and thanks to the pandemic, it is aimed at the employee experience, Forrester said. In 2021, digital transformation initiatives in more than three-quarters of enterprises will focus on automation—whether for core records, customer operations, or engagement, the firm said. Advances in AI, changes to work patterns as a result of the pandemic, and a fierce global recession have made this drive for automation inevitable—and irreversible, according to Forrester.

The article adds that other predictions Forrester is making in AI and automation in 2021:

- No-code automated machine learning (AutoML) will be used to implement more use cases. AutoML can dramatically accelerate ML model development versus the traditional coding approach. In 2021, lucky laggards will use AutoML to implement 5, 50, or 500 AI use cases faster, leapfrogging their competitors. AutoML lets data scientists configure parameters and run hundreds or even thousands of experiments in one go. With AutoML, Forrester estimates that these teams can implement eight times the number of use cases aimed at operational efficiency or personalized customer experience—and greatly amplify the impact of digital transformation;

- A fifth of enterprises will expand investment in intelligent document extraction. Even before the pandemic, there was strong investment in intelligent document extraction platforms (IDEP) as firms wanted to use it to classify many types of documents. Combining computer vision with advances in machine learning has made platforms more valuable and easier to build and maintain;

- A notable failure will occur as a result of the rush to automation. The pandemic accelerated investment in various forms of business process and IT automation. Two-thirds of enterprise organizations that encountered broken processes during the pandemic were pressured to patch in automation solutions. But rushed and haphazard automation exposes systems and the business to serious risk. This can lead to monumental failures that not only damage a company's reputation and customer trust but also limit broader public trust in automation (specifically AI) as a result of media scrutiny. In 2021, up to 30% of organizations will ramp up their focus on quality by better planning and testing automation before deploying it to production or exposing it to employees;

- Intelligent automation suites will provide a quarter of all RPA solutions. Commoditization, major enterprise software acquisitions, new entrants, specialization, and public market ambitions are resulting in a diverse RPA market. Like machine learning, RPA will become an embedded feature of many platforms by the end of 2021;

- A fifth of enterprises will use commercial drones to automate business operations. Recent rapid growth in the consumer drones industry has sparked momentum in the commercial drone market. While social distancing is a factor in drone usage, two forces will accelerate adoption in 2021. First, governments are crafting better regulations to facilitate drone adoption and commercialization. Second, the rapid evolution of computer vision and 5G will enable real-time drone intelligence over ultra-reliable, low-latency communications; and

- Intelligent automation will advance to support one in four home workers. Three times as many information workers will work from home all or most of the time, while many companies will institute hybrid models. As a result of the pandemic, new forms of automation will support one in four remote workers either directly or indirectly by 2022. Direct support in the form of giving a bot to individual workers to support their daily journey will be rare. But indirect support will blossom, with intelligent automation handling employee benefits, questions, and supporting documents, customer service, and line-of-business tasks that are often invisible to the home worker.

Another report, which was the result of a joint study by Citrix, futurist consultancy Oxford Analytica, and business research specialist Coleman Parkes,  revealed the expectations of over 500 C-Suite leaders and 1,000 employees.

The report pointed out that:

- Three-quarters (74 per cent) believe that in fifteen years, artificial intelligence (AI) will significantly speed up the decision-making process and make workers more productive;

- New jobs will be created, including roles such as: Robot / AI Trainer, Virtual Reality Manager, and Advanced Data Scientist;

- Work will be more flexible and fuelled by technology. 75% of the study’s respondents believe that tech platforms will provide instant access to highly specialized, on-demand talent;

- 57% of respondents believe AI has the potential to make the majority of business decisions by 2035 and potentially eliminate the need for traditional senior management teams; and

- “AI-ngels” – digital assistants driven by AI – will draw on personal and workplace data to help employees prioritize their tasks and time and ensure mental and physical wellness.

Efficiency is key

One of the advantages of technology replacing human skills (according to employers) is efficiency. Robots are programmed to carry out a task and can do so without error, provided that the inputs are correct. Further, these tasks are carried out more efficiently and technology does not take leave days.

However, as pointed out at numerous points in this article, human skills will never be fully replaced. This was reinforced in a recent article by the World Economic Forum.

The article points out that, to do this, we must mobilize the best of human capabilities, technologies, innovative policies, and market forces in service of a new vision.

Moral and economic imperatives

The article points out that, to imagine the future of work, we must start with defining how human beings can adapt and grow.

Every person has the right to a productive life. Every person has the right not just to work, but to realize their purpose so they can participate fully in society. Every business has the moral and economic responsibility to help protect people’s livelihoods, even when they cannot always protect the jobs they do.

The article adds that you cannot have a healthy business in a sick world. For businesses to thrive, society must also thrive: from employees, to consumers, to suppliers, shareholders and other stakeholders. When you leave some people to fall through the cracks, you lose all the benefits they bring to society, from their skills and talents, to their experience and unique understanding. And yes, their buying power too.

It isn’t just a moral imperative, it’s also an economic one. Take gender equality. McKinsey estimates that if no action is taken, global GDP growth could be $1 trillion lower in 2030. Conversely, immediate action to advance gender equality could add $13 trillion to global GDP in 2030.

Re-imagining work

The article points out that, to reimagine the working landscape we need to attempt something that seems almost impossible: we must imagine not just what the world of work is going to look like in 10, 15, 20 years, but what we want it to look like. We must imagine what it will look like if human beings are thriving.

This means involving people as part of the solution rather than as a problem to be solved. Only by doing all this can we continue to build a better business and a better world - for everyone.

Actionable change

The article points out that there are three actions that businesses can take to facilitate this change.

- Support people to find their own sense of purpose and realize their full potential by working with them to develop a purpose-led, future-fit development plan. This is more than just running reskilling programmes. This is  about equipping people to lead the change, rather than having change done to them;

- Pioneer new forms of employment to provide flexibility with security. This is about enabling people to choose how they want to work depending on their life stage. A socially responsible alternative to the gig economy; and

- Putting mental health and wellbeing at the forefront of preparing for the Future of Work with meaningful action (not just ‘raising awareness’ campaigns’). This is about providing practical support and coaching to people as they figure out their future options.

The article adds that, while the jobs of tomorrow may be resetting, people are not. People are not widgets; they are the soul of any successful business. Businesses can help people to follow reskilling and other career pathways by: putting them at the heart of the future of work; ensuring they understand their own personal purpose; providing the support they need to feel happy and healthy; and giving them a sense of belonging.

This will ensure that people are able to thrive, adapt and grow as they are empowered to proactively shape the future of work.

Where does GTconsult fit in?

“GTconsult has been at the forefront of innovation and embracing enhancing productivity through technology. GTconsult started off as a small company with a big heart and grew because we knew where the future of tech was heading, and the impact that it would have on society. We continuously strive to drive change and focus on how trends impact our journey,” says Craig Tarr, Co-Founder of GTconsult and newly appointed CEO.

GTconsult has always focused on how technology can drive change and is involved in a number of projects which are helping clients improve efficiency and productivity. Stay tuned to find out more about these exciting projects.