Random & Unfounded Digital Predictions for 2016

The past year has been a wild ride when it comes to digital change, but as I have been saying for many years we are still only at the beginning of the digital revolution.

So when you consider the interruption, innovation and transformation that we have already seen in the last twenty years it is not hard to get a little pumped up about whats coming in the next twenty years or so. (Or maybe that is just me)

I truly believe we are about to head into the “hyper” stage of a digitally lead economy where today's common place devices, services, tools, platforms and technologies will undergo a rapid directional shift as we truly realise what we can do that we "have never done before".

The true power of the industrial revolution was not that it allowed us to do the things we where already doing faster or with more efficiency (although that was definitely part of it) it was that it allowed us to do things that we had never done before.

So when you think about it what are today’s mobile devices, social channels, 3D printers, robots, touch screens, satellites, self drive cars and all manner of other digitally lead technologies going to give birth to in the future?

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Ok to be honest I have no idea..

But in the mean time lets have a quick look at some of my unfounded and completely off the cuff predictions for 2016,  this list ensures I have something to look back at in a years time and say “what the hell was I thinking”

1: The end of 2016 will see the common use of 3D printing within most businesses

I would have really have put this in the 2018 bucket, but as we see the prices drop and the functionality increase I see this as something that consumers as well as businesses may start use on a everyday basis sooner rather than later, that said I still think 3D printing has to get over the novelty hurdle.

When 3D printing becomes a functional cost saver for everyday use either in the home or at the office the technology will explode even further and may well change just about everything.

2: We will finally lose the open web to vested interests

This is a little off topic but I believe the relentless work being done around the world by businesses, governments and other invested parties over the past five years (rightly or wrongly) to normalise and gain full control over the internet, while attacking net neutrality will finally come to a head by the end of 2016.

Likely in the name of state protectionism, the ability to track terrorists or in the name of protecting our now digital economies.

3: Programmatic marketing / buying will lead to a further unified internet

I personally see a rapid rise in the use of programmatic marketing tools by all businesses and eventually consumers as the importance of “real time” engagement finally sinks in!. We will start to track and manage things like spend and ROI in real time on a second by second basis which will require a more unified consumer experience of the internet.

These platforms still have a long way to go when it comes to providing a truly holistic real world and real time content, marketing and communication solution, but its definitely coming.

4: Digital Transformation will be the buzz term for 2016, no one will know what it means

We have had this before with Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing, Big Data, Mobile first and so on, now its the turn of Digital Transformation. I personally hope to secure at least a few speaking engagements around the topic in the new year!

So I won't go into explaining it in any detail here, just drop me an email if you want to know more.

5: Big Data and Investment in Infrastructure will become all to hard

Ok this I am sure will upset a few people I know, but in all honesty the rush to big data and the implementation of IoT data infrastructure or large cloud based data solutions will start to slow down as businesses realise there is a missing piece to the Big Data jigsaw puzzle.

The ability to use this data in "real time" and also prove a return on investment is still missing and will become even more difficult as the data tidal wave increases in size.

Add to this the increasing need to eventually monetise the data collected in an already over saturated marketplace and you will find some companies putting their foot firmly on the big data brakes, while they wait for the next wave of innovation.

An innovation wave that should hopefully include more real time and highly scale-able data management solutions, rapid analytics and more powerful consumer engagement tools.

6: Non traditional partners will be getting into bed together

I believe we will see more non traditional companies teaming up to provide packaged solutions for mobile devices and in store consumer digital touch points. This will be in effort to claim market share away from the likes of Apple and Google as they rapidly move in to soak up eCommerce transaction fees in local markets.

We have already seen non traditional players completely disrupt market areas and entire industry sectors that they where not even a part of even five years ago(Uber for example). I think companies have now learned a valuable lesson from this, understanding that alone they might not survive the digital revolution but together they may just stand a much better chance of holding on to their existing market share.

We will see Telco's, Bank's, Credit card companies, Shopping centre's, Hotels, Airlines and other rewards scheme providers teaming up to offer all in one solutions like loyalty apps, payment gateways and shared points schemes for mobile consumer.

7: Robots start to become part of our everyday experience

This one I think will really depend on the state of the global economy as the technology is already available, as with most things. But I do think in 2016 we will see the very first public service robots and I am not talking about machines but actual robotics.

What do I mean by this? to more precise, we are currently surrounded by machines of all types be they ATM's, Ticket machines or Vending machines but we do not yet interact with real robotics. We have robots in factories all around the world that have humanoid looking features and preform human based tasks, but as yet they are not in our train stations, restaurants or parking lots.

I think in 2016 we might just start to see the first semi conversational, functional and human interaction based robots in our public domain.

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Of course there are many more unfounded and most likely wrong predictions to be made...  but I have run out of time and really should be getting back to figuring out how I am going to monetise this whole Digital Transformation thing.

Have a great weekend