Future Trends And Technology – Insights from Ericsson

Innovation and new thought is what makes the world go round. Behind all the ground-breaking technologies such as AI and automation are human minds that are willing to push boundaries and think differently about solving problems, in both business and society.

Investing in true innovation – how to use technology to do different things, as opposed to just doing things differently – has led to sweeping changes in how we communicate, work together, play and look after our health in recent years. In particular, it has allowed businesses and organizations to get closer to their most important asset – the people who use or consume their services – than ever before. This is thanks to the ever-smarter ways in which we are capturing data and using it to overcome challenges, from understanding customer behavior to creating vaccines.

I was fortunate enough to get the chance to talk to two people who are working on this cutting-edge – Jasmeet Sethi and Cristina Pandrea, of Ericsson's ConsumerLab. This is the division within Ericsson responsible for research into current and emerging trends – with a specific focus on how they are being used in the real world today, and what that might mean for tomorrow.

During our conversation, we touched on five key trends that have been identified by the ConsumerLab, which has been collecting and analyzing data on how people interact with technology for more than 20 years. One thing they all have in common is that every one of them has come into its own during the current global pandemic. This is usually for one of two reasons – either because necessity has driven a rapid increase in the pace of adoption, or because they provide a new approach to tackling problems society is currently facing.

Let's look at each of the five trends in turn.

1. Resilient networks

In 2020, more than ever before, we've been dependant on the stability and security of IT systems and networks to keep the world running. As well as the importance of uptime and core stability when it comes to allowing businesses to switch to work-from-home models, It's been shown that cyber attacks have increased dramatically during the pandemic, meaning security is more vital than ever before.

Many of the international efforts to trace the spread of the disease, understand people's behavior in pandemic situations, and to develop vaccines and cures are dependent on the transfer of huge volumes of digital data. Ericsson believes that the amount of data transferred has increased by 40% over mobile networks and 70% over wired broadband networks since the start of the pandemic. So ensuring that infrastructure is reliable and secure has never been so important. The fact that network operators have largely been successful at this hasn't gone unnoticed, Sethi tells me – with customers thanking them with a noticeably higher level of loyalty.

2. Tele-health

Medical consultation, check-ups, examinations, and even diagnoses were increasingly being carried out remotely, even pre-covid, particularly in remote regions or areas where there is a shortage of clinical staff. However, during 2019 they made up just 19% of US healthcare contacts. Ericsson's research has shown that this increased to around 46% during 2020. This is clearly an example of a trend where the pandemic accelerated a change that was already happening. So it's likely that providers will be keen to carry on receiving the benefits they've generated, as we eventually move into a post-covid world.

Here a key challenge comes from the fact that a number of different technologies need to be working together in harmony to ensure patient care doesn't suffer, from video streaming to cloud application platforms and network security protocols.  

3. Borderless workplaces

We saw the impossible happen in 2020 as thousands of organizations mobilized to make remote working possible for their workforces in a very short period of time. But this trend goes beyond "eternal WFH" and points to a future where we have greater flexibility and freedom over where we spend our working hours. Collaborative workplace tools like Zoom and Slack meant the switchover was often relatively hassle-free, and next-generation tools will cater for a future where employees can carry out their duties from anywhere, rather than just stuck at their kitchen tables.

But this shift in social norms brings other problems, such as the danger of isolation, the difficulty between striking a balance between home and work life, or a diminished ability to build a culture within an organization. Solutions in this field look to tackle these challenges, too, rather than simply give us more ways to be connected to the office 24/7.

4. The Experience / Immersive Economy

Touching on issues raised by the previous trend, Ericsson has experimented with providing employees with virtual reality headsets, to make collaborative working more immersive. Pandrea described the benefits of this to me – "The experience was really genuine, it took us by surprise … we'd seen virtual reality before, but this was the first time where we saw 25 people in the same virtual room, having this experience … when you see the others as avatars you get the feeling of being together, it makes a world of difference."

This trend involves creating experiences that mean as little as possible is lost when you move an interaction or event from the real world to the virtual world. Virtual and augmented reality have an important role here, but Sethi points beyond this to an idea he calls the "internet of senses," where devices can feed information to us through all of our five senses. Breakthrough technologies such as the Teslasuit use haptic feedback to greatly increase the feeling of presence in virtual spaces, and is used by NASA to train astronauts. Other innovators in this field are working on including our sense of smell, by dispensing fragrances from headset attachments.

Another interesting change related to this field that's been predicted is the rise in the value put on virtual commodities and status versus material goods. Children these days are just as likely to talk boastfully about a rare Fortnite skin, Rocket League car, or Roblox pet as they would about any physical product or status symbol. "If you look at young millionaires they're already driven by virtual status – who has the best status in esports, the number of followers … this trend will be accelerated as we move into the virtual experience economy", Sethi predicts.

5. Autonomous Commerce

Two massive changes to the way we live our lives due to the pandemic have been a big acceleration in the uptake of online retail, and a move away from cash towards contactless payment methods. Cashiers were already being replaced by self-checkouts at a rapid pace pre-2020. But the pickup in speed this year brings us to a point where KFC is operating fully autonomous mobile food trucks in Shanghai. The trucks pilot themselves to customers and serve up socially-distanced meals with no human involvement.

The rush to keep up with changing consumer behavior has also sped up the adoption of cash-free and contactless retail, particularly in emerging markets where cash has traditionally been king. Financial services businesses tapping into technology like 5G networking and AI-powered fraud detection tools are responding to new expectations from customers in this field and, if they are able to predict that behavior accurately, are likely to see strong growth in coming years.

Investing in innovation

Remaining on the cutting-edge of these trends means investing strategically in new ideas and innovation. So we also talked about Ericsson's Startup 5g program, which Pandrea heads up. Here the business looks to be at the head of the pack when it comes to creating the $31 trillion in revenue that it predicts will be generated by 5G platforms and services before 2030.

Pandrea tells me that it is expected that a lot of this will come from services that telcos can bundle with their 5G offerings to help make their customers' lives better. One of the star players is XR Space, which is building a social VR platform using its own hardware that could effectively allow workers to take their office (and entertainment world) with them anywhere they go.

Another is London-based Inception XR, that enables AR experiences to be created from books to help create more immersion and gamification in children's education.

And a third that Pandrea recommends keeping an eye on for a glimpse of the future is PlaySight. It uses AI-powered 360-degree 8k cameras at sports or entertainment events, capable of capturing the action in greater detail than ever before. That data can then be delivered to an audience in any number of ways, including putting them inside VR experiences that let them view from any angle as well as pause and rewind what they are seeing. 

Underlying technologies

Clearly, we can see the common threads of broader tech trends that run through these very relevant trends Ericsson is identifying today. AI technologies, as well as extended reality (XR), which includes VR, AR, and mixed reality (MR), are behind the tools that secure our networks, enable us to work efficiently from anywhere, receive remote healthcare, create immersive experiences and conduct autonomous commerce. High-speed networking is essential to every one of them too, and the quantum leap in upload and download speeds of 5G is necessary to make them all possible.

And it's certainly also true that much of the technological progress that is driving real change in business, commerce, society and entertainment has happened in response to the dark times we are living through. But as we start to cautiously look ahead to hopefully brighter days, these trends will go on to play a part in building a safer, smarter and more convenient future.  

To learn more about any of the trends we've covered here, you can watch our conversation in full here. And you can also take part in the Ericsson Unboxed virtual event that will take place on Wednesday, December 9th. Register or find out more here.

Thank you for reading my post. Here at LinkedIn and at Forbes I regularly write about management and technology trends. I have also written a new book about AI, click here for more information. To read my future posts simply join my network here or click 'Follow'. Also feel free to connect with me via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Slideshare or YouTube.

About Bernard Marr

Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, blockchains, and the Internet of Things.

LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that reaches millions of readers.