The age of digital transformation is continuously proving to be nothing short of rapid and far-reaching. It is characterised by an ever-accelerating pace of technological developments for a host of uses. The case for the capabilities and performance of exponential technologies as set to revolutionise how business processes are carried out is becoming quite apparent.
While it is a term that is increasingly made use of in discussions around new developments in 'game-changing' technologies, defining exponential technologies is by no stretch of the imagination an easy task. One way of outlining this technology is along two core aspects. Firstly, as per the self-explanatory name, it is technology that doubles in capacity and performance. Alternatively, its cost is lowered at each point it evolves. This, essentially, is technology that brings with it from these two features a revision of the way in which certain mainstream functions are carried out, including in businesses. This is made possible because of the impact to human lives and the ability of this technology to scale rapidly.
An interesting idea that captures the logic behind exponential technologies is Moore's Law, which reasons for the overall processing power of computers as doubling every two years. Computers are in fact a classical and ubiquitous example of this digital reality, which follows the conduits of this assertion in that they double in terms of upgrades every 18 months. In order to understand and place the value of exponential technologies with regards to its immense potential for disruption in the commercial sector, it is quite helpful to be able to differentiate between exponential technologies and a related concept: emerging technologies.
Emerging technologies are essentially new technologies that are currently being developed or will be developed within the next five to 10 years. These could also be viewed as technologies that are receiving considerable attention, but not necessarily in widespread use. As with exponential technology, emerging technology is a relative term for the reason of the differing views that people may adopt concerning what exactly constitutes a technology as 'emerging'. What sets these two technologies apart is that the latter are those that already exist, while the former are somewhat more about prospects and concepts of the future. Significantly, exponential technologies have the power and/or potential to disrupt entire industries, especially in the South African space.
A case in point of exponential technology is blockchain. This is a is a technology that has been gaining increasing popularity and is most commonly referred to in conversations around Bitcoin. The use of this distributed ledger technology (DLT) is not limited to the financial services industry, where it has applications in trade finance or cross-border finance. It can be also useful in other areas such as healthcare. For instance, an individual could manage access of his/her health records and data that could be temporarily made available to and used by healthcare facilities and professionals when necessary. Personal information such as an ID number, address, contact details among other things could be stored on a 'block'. This would effectively do away with the pen and paper process and pointless duplicates of this information, especially in the public sector when dealing with various government departments.
While no large South African companies have deployed a large-scale blockchain solution, some are piloting it in small scenarios. Although blockchain is an attractive technology with considerable potential for growth in terms of applications, the challenge for businesses is thinking around what capacity they use it for to fulfil business needs. Another example of the scope of exponential technologies has to disrupt business processes is artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) in the mining sector. As one of the most prominent mining areas in the globe, South Africa's core economic activity is in large part driven by this industry.
Innovative data management platforms are creating better ways to manage, store and make sense of mining data. Artificial intelligence and machine learning applications are being put to use in analysing data in order to identify patterns that allow for better use of resources and planning. Other developments in the country include a start-up company collaborating with the platform SpliceWorks in developing virtual reality training in the mining environment, which simulates the experience for trainees while sitting safely in a meeting room. These are some of the ways in which technologies of this scope are and will effectively create more efficient mining with less risk for harm.
To a large extent, exponential technologies are best suited for data-driven industries, which in the modern age, are most, if not all, businesses. Younger entrepreneurs and companies have capitalised on disrupting traditional business models across different industries through fostering capabilities that allow for the leveraging of these new technologies. This interestingly presents both a challenge and opportunity for large companies to follow suit to remain relevant in the digital revolution going forward. A sensible way to achieve this is being able to identify exponential technologies with vast potential early on. To this end, companies like BCX have deployed an innovation radar, a map of what is happening in the world of technology specific to their clients' industry. Among some of the exponential technologies on their watch list include robotic process automation (RPA), augmented reality (AR), chatbots, virtual assistants and natural language processing (NLP).
While the dramatic growth and maturity of technology is an unquestionable occurrence, it has also created a scenario where organisations can both embrace the digital revolution and discover the ways in which to remain ahead of the curve or get left behind. In this regard, exponential technologies have impressive potential to meaningfully impact on the manner in which business is done in the foreseeable future. The numbers of developments across different industries demonstrate significant possibilities for disruption by this phenomenon.
Notably, the increasing drive to increase operational efficiency, profitability and therefore sustainability across different areas of business further reinforces the case for disruption in business by way of exponential technologies, and is both an entry point and boon for the South African business of the future.
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