Tipping Point Technologies: Key Insights

The massive growth trajectory of the internet from being a business support tool to becoming the business itself has been phenomenal. Besides being a great leveler, the internet has been a disruptor across industries, touching billions of lives across the globe. The rise of new technology ranging from the Cloud, Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a massive propeller of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity in the world. Disruption is always around the corner and business juggernauts can no longer tread unmindfully and bask in their past success. It is on this note of staying relevant and fresh throughout, Manipal ProLearn in association with Nasscom conducted an event called – ‘Tipping Point Technologies’.

What’s Tipping Point Technologies?

In the business context, Tipping point technologies is defined as “that point at which a series of small changes or incidents becomes significant enough to cause a larger, more important change.” The focus on technology is getting sharper today as it is not only our businesses that the impacts will be restricted to but life at large.

Explaining the growth of Tipping Point Technologies over the next decade, Bhaskaran Srinivasan, Director of Academics at Manipal Global Education Services (MaGE) pointed out at this slide sourced from the Global Agenda Council on the Future of Software and Society at the World Economic Forum.

During his session, Mr. Srinivasan pointed out VUCA’s impact on the real world with a few examples and threw light on the exponential growth of knowledge, information and technology which is expected to spur a change like never before.

Key Shifts in Technology and Their Tipping Points

He explained the importance of understanding how new technology will have an impact on the products and services of the future and how product owners will have to incorporate such changes into their businesses. He also pointed out 10 key shifts that are going to take over the world as ‘Tipping Point’ technologies. Here’s a look at these key shifts:

Shift 1 – Implantable Technologies:

The tipping point: The first implantable mobile phone available commercially.

Expected Date: 2023

By 2025: 82% respondents expected this tipping point will have occurred.

Shift 2 – Our Digital Presence

The tipping point: 80% of people with a digital presence on the internet.

Expected Date: 2023

By 2025: 84% of respondents expected this tipping point will have occurred.

Shift 3: Vision as the New Interface

The tipping point: 10% of reading glasses connected to the internet

Expected Date: 2023

By 2025: 86% of respondents expected this tipping point will have occurred.

Shift 4: Wearable Internet

The tipping point: 10% of people wearing clothes connected to the internet.

Expected date: 2022

By 2025: 91% respondents expected this tipping point will have occurred.

Shift 5: Ubiquitous Computing

The tipping point: 90% of the population with regular access to the internet

Expected date: 2024

By 2025: 79% respondents expected this tipping point will have occurred.

Shift 6: A supercomputer in your pocket

The tipping point: 90% of the population using smartphones

Expected date: 2023

By 2025: 81% respondents expected this tipping point will have occurred.

Shift 7: Storage for All

The tipping point: 90% of people having unlimited and free (advertising supported) storage

Expected date: 2018

By 2025: 91% respondents expected this tipping point to have occurred

Shift 8: The Internet of and for Things

The tipping point: 1 trillion sensors connected to the internet

Expected date: 2022

By 2025: 89% of respondents expected this tipping point to have occurred.

Shift 9: The Connected Home

The tipping point: Over 50% of internet traffic delivered to homes for appliances and devices (not for entertainment or communication)

Expected date: 2024

By 2025: 70% of respondents expected this tipping point to have occurred.

Shift 10: Smart Cities

The tipping point: The first city with more than 50,000 inhabitants and no traffic lights

Expected date: 2026

By 2025: 64% of respondents expected this tipping point to have occurred.

 

A Broader View on the Tech Transformation by Dr. Yogesh Kumar Bhatt

Sharing his insights at the event, Dr. Yogesh Kumar Bhatt, VP and Director of Manipal ProLearn ( Manipal ProLearn) said that most of the jobs that exist today might well disappear within decades. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be one of the key drivers of this massive change that will outperform humans in numerous tasks. He also pointed out that the major problem will be in creating jobs that humans perform better than algorithms. He said, “By 2050 a new class of people might emerge – the useless class. People who are not just unemployed, but unemployable.”

“By 2050 a new class of people might emerge – the useless class. People who are not just unemployed, but unemployable”

Dr. Yogesh Kumar Bhatt, VP and Director of Manipal ProLearn

 

Ending his session on an interesting and forward looking note, Dr. Bhatt said that the same technology that renders humans useless might also make it feasible to feed and support the unemployable masses through some universal basic income scheme. The key challenge then for the administration will be to keep the masses occupied and content.

 

Event Takeaways

In the interactive event, participants were handed over worksheets where they listed out the key challenges rising out of the VUCA atmosphere and how that affects business verticals. These were further discussed during the course of the event and participants got a chance to get their key concerns addressed. The participants found the event to be ‘thought provoking’ and an enabler of ‘360 degree thinking’.