We are about to see experience-centric products driving new behavior not only in consumer goods but also in the B2B space. And as information technology becomes more enmeshed in the overall product experience and hence the product’s technology footprint, CIOs will play an increasingly important role in the development of this crucial driver of business success. However, this can happen only if CIOs expand their horizon to encompass the entire customer experience.

Creating a product that delivers a great end-to-end user experience requires a much more integrated approach to engineering, one in which information technology is embedded in a product ecosystem from the initial design stage. Take the automobile. Increasingly, a buyer’s choice of car is based on the software on board and its ability to manage the overall driver and passenger experience through multiple systems — entertainment and communications, remote diagnostics, driver and passenger safety.

This will become increasingly true as traditional products become more like services. For example, an intelligent car will know if its fan belt is likely to break in the next 50 miles. Using its 4G or LTE communication chip, it will check the inventory at the nearest repair center, tell you that they have the part, book an appointment for you, and order a replacement part to replenish the repair center’s inventory.

One less obvious but crucial aspect of automobile user experience is safe travel, and software-centric technology is central to achieving this. For example, many in-vehicle amenities related to telecommunications, entertainment, and gaming will have to be redesigned so they don’t create a distraction for drivers — known in the industry as “distraction-free convergence.” Next-generation “connected cars” will talk to each other and provide drivers with such safety enhancers as parking assistance and lane departure warnings. The ultimate software-driven customer experience, of course, will be the driverless vehicle — now being tested in several states in the U.S. — which will make the issue of driver distraction irrelevant.

In fact, an automobile is no longer simply an automobile; it’s an automobile with an overlay of telecommunications, consumer electronics, and other elements of the driver and passenger experience. This convergence of industries in a single product is leading many companies to ask what business they’re in. It may not be the company’s traditional business or in fact any of the traditional industries. Companies in today’s automotive industry instead will need to look at what value they can create for customers and what partner ecosystem they must develop to make that happen.

Automobiles are just one of numerous products and services in which user experience is becoming paramount. Smart lighting in commercial airliners is reducing the jet lag of long-haul passengers. Sensors in homes and assisted living facilities are improving the quality of life for elderly residents by monitoring their well-being. Mobile telephones, with a penetration in emerging markets that is many times higher than that of credit or bank debit cards, are serving as payment portals that bring financial services to traditionally underserved populations.

Creating such experiences requires complex online platforms that can analyze vast amounts of data to facilitate decision making. And this is an area that’s in the CIO’s area of expertise. But if the IT function is to aggressively adopt a product development — and thus business-crucial — role, it will have to think beyond software applications and become more focused on consumers. Collaboration between CTOs and CIOs will have to significantly increase. And for both the CIO and the CTO, technology will be only a means to an end — that is, an experience that will delight the users of their products.

(This article is also published in HCL’s CIO Straight Talk, Issue Number 3, April 2013 edition)

Also, with the huge growth of mobile devices market taking place globally, it is not unusual to note that more than two thirds of the apps session now take place outside of the US. Games are the top and most popular mobile apps across all platforms and all regions. Social networking, entertainment, video, news, emails, productivity apps, mobile transactions, etc. are the other main categories of mobile apps. The movement in content consumption has become extremely interesting as it rapidly gravitates towards mobile devices from laptops at work and televisions in the living room.

IDC forecasts that 2013 will see, for the first time ever, more smart phones being shipped globally than traditional feature phones. 918.6 million smart phones are expected to be shipped in 2013, and with 65% growth expected over the next 4 years, shipments will cross 1.5 billion by 2017. IDC has also revised the forecast for tablet shipments in 2013 to 190 million units. Both categories of mobile devices have become pervasive as part of BYOD phenomenon in the enterprises.

Mobility is mainstream and one simply cannot afford to miss a heartbeat here. Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO appropriately commented on these movements as a “seismic change in consumer behavior that is linked to technology such as social and mobile platforms”. Whether it is consumer-oriented applications or enterprise, mobility is pervasive.

Forrester in a very insightful and recently published report discusses the future of mobile apps development. It talks about systems of systems including engagement (devices, etc.), record (applications, etc.) and operations (carriers, controls, info capture media, etc.) to provide the overall context and ubiquity of a new way of thinking for mobile apps.

Discussion among the technology, product, business and IT teams in most enterprises center around development of native mobile apps or retrofitting web apps with mobile front-end. For enterprise mobile applications, it is critical to provide a seamless flow between front-end apps and enterprise back-end systems without any loss of user experience, functionality and response, all of course, in a secure manner. The first phase of enterprise mobile apps have been around productivity and with BYOD becoming fast ingrained, mobility apps are now rapidly moving towards bringing mission critical and business applications across industries onboard these platforms.

Much like consumer mobile apps, the movement of enterprises towards mobile apps is an irreversible trend, and the faster companies move towards this, the better.

The wide and rapid adoption of smartphones is a global phenomenon, accounting for 40+% of total mobile phone shipments in 2012, and according to Zenith Optimedia, smartphone penetration in the 19 advanced markets will reach 72% by 2015. In 2012, mobile apps generated $12 billion in revenue, and the 46 billion downloaded apps brought the aggregated all time downloads to 83 billion. Smartphones and tablets have created the BYOD (bring your own devices) phenomenon across global IT enterprises, forcing them to adopt and align to innovation at the edge. How rapidly and significantly mobile devices have changed our world…

If we believe this is the most exciting innovation witnessed in recent times… Well, it seems our lives will change yet again… with wearable computing devices… coming our way soon. Google Glass was publicly displayed in high profile events in 2012 and the recently launched explorer program is seeking inputs on its usage, and last week, the industry also talked about another cool Apple device, the “iWatch”. Wearable computing is surely coming to us soon with some interesting applicability. The possibilities which wearable computing devices could bring to our lives will be fascinating, and as with smartphones, let’s get ready for an incredible ride with them…

How good would it be to have a watch which can run apps, control music, measure speed & distance, make video calls, has caller id, provide email and message alerts, and of course, tell time through a customizable interface? Welcome to the world of wearable computing where a smartphone is truly hands-free and interacts with you seamlessly. Wearable computing devices, whether a watch or a pair of glasses, etc. will do much more in the next 2 to 3 years, and analysts expect a wave similar to that of smartphones. Experts are already putting significant ramp up in expected volumes: ABI Research forecasts that half a billion units of wearable computing devices will be sold in 2018.

The expected onslaught of wearable computing devices will be mainstream soon, not only because cheap, small and low power consuming processors and sensors are available today, but also because we have at least 2 extremely good mobile operating systems. iOS and Android can adapt to various form factors and devices, creating excellent platforms which devices and sensors can exploit to their advantage. There is also a large community of developers creating incredible solutions to everyday situations and opportunities through simple applications. The smartphone revolution is largely enabled by these app developers and it is no wonder Google expects the same crowdsourcing of ideas to happen for its Google Glass project.

Wearable computing will rapidly move human-machine interaction to NUI through voice, gesture and multi-touch recognition. This will be a huge jump in itself as it will enable us to interact with these devices seamlessly and intuitively. Wearable computing will significantly increase the usage of NUI in the development community as the only meaningful way to communicate with these devices. They will bring NUI development mainstream in much the same way that iPhones and iPads gave identity and scale to the multi-billion mobile apps industry. They will also eventually become a part of BYOD in enterprises, and hence the IT industry must start to bring both wearable computing and NUI-based development into its environment.

Wearable computers will always be live, interacting with us, tracking our needs and augmenting our senses. They will also interact with device-specific computers through M2M and similar technologies, customizing them to our needs, and retrieving the necessary services and information as and when required. The data explosion is already there around us with smartphones and tablets; imagine the magnitude of big data when the Glass or “iWatch” goes mainstream. Harnessing information on a real-time basis through wearable computing devices will open up phenomenal opportunities across many industries.

Although we are now only talking about augmented reality glasses and watches, these wearable computers can and will soon be in our clothes, shoes and on our skin as well. When it comes to possibilities, a whole new revolution will open up and allow us to explore new opportunities which we cannot even imagine today. It will be fascinating to be part of another computing evolution, happening before our eyes, while we are still coming to terms with many of our smartphone features!!!

In March 2011, Toyota unveiled “the future of mobility” plan under Toyota Global Vision, which elaborated on the company’s approach to the future of the automotive industry. It sketched the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) and its roadmap towards a better driving experience and a safer vehicle at the same time. It touted predictive driving support based on the history of the driver behind the wheels; the location and time; communications exchange system – between vehicles, the road and ecosystem of pedestrian and infrastructure; and an information network for disaster response which would push towards a goal of zero casualties. At the recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2013, Toyota displayed its self-driven cars, bringing the future a step closer to reality.

When we reflect upon the industry a decade ago, and now consider the software platform, connectivity, user experience, active safety, network grid, etc. recently leveraged by auto manufacturers, it has certainly been a giant step for the industry. The trend is not limited to Toyota; other auto companies such as Ford, GM and Audi have also discussed amazing technology initiatives such as self-driven cars, app development platforms, open source cars, etc. The Connected Car Consortium, made up by more than 80% of the world’s auto manufacturers, has created common standards for smartphone and in-vehicle connectivity. Auto companies not only talk about enhanced driving experience, driverless car, etc. at auto shows, but also at a Consumer Electronics Show! Convergence is mainstream now.

At a primary level, new technologies are enabling more and more industries to have an overlap zone. There are earlier posts about convergence in the auto and medical devices segment. With significantly increasing healthcare costs and increasing life expectancy, preventive care is moving into patients’ hands. Today, more than 3.4 million US senior citizens use sensor-based network care monitoring solutions at home; this figure was just 0.1 million 6 years ago. Even devices designed for physicians aim at simplifying jobs by either handling complexity better or by providing real-time decision support information. IBM’s famous supercomputer Watson not only defeated two of Jeopardy’s best players in 2011, but is right now learning more at Cleveland Clinic to help physicians reduce diagnosis errors in the future and effectively handle medical information which doubles every 5 years.

Core elements to enable technology convergence are miniaturization, sensors, connectivity, imaging and platform-based development. Computing devices are becoming smaller, lighter and faster with miniaturization of processors. Sensors are becoming cheap enough to be used more commonly across industries and products. Connectivity is becoming more reliable and faster, and pervasive smaller devices enable convergence. Imaging as a technology is maturing with better algorithms, camera resolutions and processing powers, making it a core element to drive convergence. Platform-based development at embedded and application levels is providing a new dimension to leverage the technology foundation.

Convergence and new technologies have not only helped users significantly by making products and devices more customer-centric with improved user experiences, better services and reduced prices, but also by breaking traditional monopolies and strongholds. Amazon is a classic example: it cannot be classified into a traditional industry. Its ecommerce business is challenging traditional retailers while providing rock bottom prices to consumers with amazing customer service. It has now vertically integrated book distribution with book publishing, creating an open market for writers. In Sept 2012, Amazon mentioned that 27 of the top 100 Kindle books were created using its system for direct publishing. Moreover, with the publishing industry moving towards ebooks (Amazon announced in 2011 that for every 100 printed books, it sells 105 Kindle books), Amazon has now further extended its range of Kindle e-reader and tablet devices, which are also among the most affordable in the market. In addition, the market-leading Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud platform which was originally created for internal purposes today runs both its own video streaming service as well as that of Netflix’s. In fact, AWS alone is expected to top $3.8B in revenues in 2013 up from $650M 3 years ago. Now Amazon plans to create its own content for the streaming service through the Amazon Studios where it plans to crowd source scripts. Amazon has the thinking, platform, appetite and long-term vision to drive the services convergence. Apple also drove the same strategy by owning the complete experience stack which revolved around iTunes and iOS, and leveraging it across multiple product and market categories with significant domination. Google is another example, with its various online properties, Android and its acquisition of Motorola Mobility, which is primed to take significant advantage of services convergence.

But for convergence driven by new and innovative technologies at the intersection of multiple industries, who would have thought that Google would be the first to develop the driverless car and not a traditional auto company? As always, the best is yet to come. We are just scratching the surface of what a converged world could be. As the human machine interface grows smoother, devices become smarter, and sensors become ubiquitous, human life will become better and safer.

Looking around, you will find several other global leaders (e.g. 100+ years world-famous jam, jelly & preserves company, Smucker’s, based in Orrville, Ohio) across industries which have dominated their segments while keeping their roots in their origins, and the town where they started still remaining a close-knit community. Driving global leadership while maintaining strong local connect on a long-term continuous basis in these towns is an amazing commitment. In today’s world, where big cities take the lime-light, these gutsy global companies from small towns remind us that location does not matter for you to lead and be the best. Their conviction to lead and their courage to commit to small towns is truly admirable.

(2) To stay connected in this mobile world has now almost become a fundamental right for people all over the world. One can hardly imagine how we ever managed without our smartphones! While we see it as being pervasive in advanced economies, the rate of mobile adoption in many emerging economies is blazing fast. According to a techcrunch report, mobile penetration in Africa is currently 76.4% and Africa is expected to drive 13.9% of the global cellular market by 2017.

During my travel to Kenya this summer, I was amazed to see its wide adoption, particularly in villages, and how quickly the locals are moving to leverage mobile infrastructure. Though most of them are still traditional feature phones, it is a matter of a few years or even sooner before smartphones start their massive adoption here as well. Our safari driver had casually mentioned that people in his village would miss a meal or eat less to ensure that they could buy the mobile phone talk-time and be connected whenever they wanted to be! His casual statement strongly reverberated with me. It is amazing how quickly the mobile phone has become such an integral part of their daily lives. Imagine the potential to create substantial impact: with pervasive broadband, localized content and innovative pricing, mobile phones have the power to uplift the remotest and poorest corners of the world.

(3) To keep listening to how Gen Zs are thinking and communicating, I often ask middle or high-school students whom I meet socially on what their interests are, and what they plan to pursue in college or in their professional careers. Many answers are not surprising, although it is amazing to listen to their rationale for wanting to become a software engineer, doctor, lawyer, start his/her own company or the occasional scientist as well. One such high-schooler, with an outstanding all-around talent in academics and sports, astounded me when recently asked the same question. She blew me away with her reasoning on why she wants to become a science teacher in school. Her response, “more girl students are needed to study science and technology. I have a choice to become one such person or create many more who can be even better than me.”

In this fast-paced world, where we are all chasing the daily rigamarole every single day, many a time we forget the larger purpose of life. We need people who can give much more to all than that which we receive from others. Kudos and salutation to this young lady… The world looks bright, lit up and full of aspirations.

As we close on the year 2012, these three independent observations which impact us as businesses, communities and individuals have remained with me as big impacts.

Wishing you all a Wonderful New Year…

These companies seek to create significant business impact through new products in the global market with increased acceleration enabled by new and upcoming technologies. Even if established in a defined market with a set of mature and proven products for decades, they are embracing change with the advent of omnipresent connectivity and new technologies. Embedded and platform engineering have become one of the most invested areas in industrial companies products and associated road-maps. In many of these companies, embedded, platform and software engineering now account for almost 40-50% of the R&D investment, which is a massive jump from just a few years ago. In the recently concluded Embedded Technologies event in Yokohama, Japan, more than 40% of the participants were industrial companies – a shift from the earlier dominance of consumer-oriented companies as early adopters. Higher growth in emerging markets compared to mature markets in the medium to long term is the opportunity no-one wants to miss, and this certainly calls for innovative and competitive products across all industries, be it auto, medical, consumer, industrial, etc. Acceleration in product development and engineering is equally critical in mature markets such as the US, which must seek new ways of market competitiveness, i.e. digital manufacturing, robotics, energy efficient systems, M2M, etc.

In 2011, Global R&D spend by commercial organizations and governments was ~$1300 billion. While R&D investment has increased in absolute terms over the past 3 years, it has lagged as a percentage of the revenue increase for the top 1000 R&D companies in the world. This trend is also reflected in a recent report from Booz & Co. Although overall R&D is expected to be ~$1700 billion by 2020, Global R&D at a macro-level is expected to decline from 2.2% of Global GDP at the beginning of this decade to 1.9% by 2020. This implies that companies must become more effective in managing their engineering and R&D spend to maximize returns. They will need to deliver much higher business impact through better value creation by shifting focus and investment into high yield products and cutting investment in low cash generation products with low market shares. With several hundred billion dollars at stake, higher engineering efficiencies are needed to drive this portfolio optimization to fund newer areas of growth, and operations maturity need to be extremely high and proven with virtually no risk of failure.

Our world enabled by the adoption of new technologies and products, such as self-driving cars, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, sensor-based products, internet of things, smart devices, 3D printers, cloud, everything mobile, natural user interface, etc., is rapidly changing all around us. In a fascinating and recently published report, GE talks about the industrial internet and how the combination of intelligent machines, advance analytics and people at work has the potential to impact the global GDP by $10 – 15 trillion over the next 20 years. This is ~15-23% of the current global GDP and has the potential for huge impact.

Successful product and technology companies will drive higher engineering experiences which create significant business impact through accelerated product launches, and drive value through innovation and improved engineering efficiencies, all by leveraging and adopting new and disruptive technologies.

Having lived through that era, the same group project syndrome has started again this year with my daughter now in high school. Interestingly, the difference is that this time the collaboration is virtual. Google docs, Skype video and Facebook chat are in, cramming into a room is out. We are living in an age of rapid technology evolution which is changing the way children study, collaborate and build their personalities. The digital world is their second nature, collaboration their first.

We are seeing the beginning of how technology impacts and will change our education system. Its rapid infusion is fundamentally driving the change across educational content creation, distribution and instruction methods. Content creation is no longer limited to a few authors or publishing houses. It has adopted a crowd sourcing model where anyone with expertise in any subject is capable of creating written or multimedia content and publishing it on the internet. It has become a great source of supplemental knowledge in addition to what is taught via traditional methods in school. The very genesis of Khan Academy lies in the model, which is expected to revolutionize the education sector by creating a virtual schooling system which is free. The potential of this model is evident in Khan Academy’s video library with 3,500 videos on various topics such as math, science, humanities, finance, economics and more. They have delivered a staggering 203+ million lessons. It is fast becoming second nature for high school students to refer to Khan Academy on any given and relevant topic, to better understand the concept or to simply reinforce the learning. It is on track to become their first source much sooner rather than later.

The internet is also challenging the traditional instruction methods at high schools in which teachers would explain a topic in the classroom and students would reinforce the concepts through homework after school. With video lectures available on the net, instruction is leaning towards students to prepare for a topic beforehand and then solve problems in the classroom assisted by the teacher. Flip teaching is already making inroads into the K-12 education system with encouraging results. In a survey of teaching trends, 43% of respondents currently use or plan to try the flipped classroom model and 13% plan to completely adopt it within the next 5 years. Furthermore, in terms of assessing student performance online, 46% of schools plan to implement an online system within the next 5 years. The same survey also captured that 37% of K-12 schools will move to completely digital textbooks within the next 1-5 years, while 57% are either already using or would start to use digital textbooks within the next 12 months.

Technology-enabled high school education also has far-reaching potential to change the world around us for the better. The potential impact to developing economies is significant. Many of them have heavily invested in network and telecom infrastructure, and today have pervasive basic cell phone coverage. High-speed broadband access will certainly be the next step, followed by the availability of educational content in local languages. Making self-learning through online methods an integral part of secondary education will bring about far-reaching change and promote faster development. The vast availability of educational content has the potential to expand curiosity and interests much earlier in life for many, and will drive more informed career choices as well.

The advancing world of secondary education certainly has tremendous possibilities for the citizens of tomorrow… They enable seamless collaboration, across groups, regions and cultures, and this learning will hopefully translate well for them in the professional world.

High-impact engineering partnerships create significant business momentum through improved product launch and market acceleration, and drive substantial value through both innovation and operations, while deploying cutting-edge and disruptive technologies to create uniqueness and differentiation.

Global R&D is being distributed and decentralized, giving rise to an open network innovation model spread across continents. This not only facilitates leveraging of country, region or partner-specific strengths, but also ensures the best ROI and idea generation for collaborative product development. As an engineering and R&D partner for some of the most respected global brands, we collaborate in creating many innovative products and platforms across industries and technologies. These intense engineering and product programs call for extremely rigorous and mature processes, and effective customer-partner collaboration across all phases of the product development and life-cycle management.

Innovative and market-leading companies continuously drive technology innovation, leverage it in introducing new products and maintain a strong focus on engineering operations. We trust these are some of the most important attributes for great technology companies, and partnering with our customers to help them achieve these objectives is the cornerstone for our relationship with them.

Our Heartiest Congratulations to Meggitt, Symantec and Cisco, the recipients of Frost & Sullivan and HCL Engineering Excellence Awards 2012.

A herd of 25 elephants with 5 baby elephants stroll by, an amazing sight to observe them quietly crossing the huge plains and romping among the tall grass. The thousands of black and white zebras and monochromatic wildebeests create a picture-perfect blend against the yellowed grass and blue sky. The lofty giraffes cannot be overlooked even from a distance in this flat land. The huge herd of buffalos with parasite-eating birds perched on many of them enjoy their grassy meal, oblivious to the vigilant lions, cheetahs or leopards who are ready to pounce. While you see many wild animals at Maasai Mara, the real thrill is to observe the king up close. It was fascinating to watch the 30+ lions and lionesses in the wild. Their combination of power, self-confidence and elegance is truly majestic.

Driving through the wilderness has a new meaning at Maasai Mara National Reserve. Situated in south-western Kenya, its 583 square miles of stunning landscape makes it one of the largest and most beautiful wildlife reserves in Africa. July through October is full of action and excitement as the wildebeest migrate between Maasai Mara and the contiguous Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. Every year, two million animals migrate during this season and the entire animal food-chain of herbivores and carnivores moves with this ecosystem.

It is a rare sight to watch hordes of wildebeests migrate across the Mara River, wary of the crocodiles. Thousands of them congregate near the Mara River, sense the water flow, check for crocodiles, the first one jumps in and then several thousands follow. Such an amazing sight! Many succumb to the carnivores but still, that does not deter them from crossing. Their intense search for food and the greener pastures on the other side drive them to a leap of faith into the river, rushing across and out of the river before the crocodiles get them. Their survival instincts are so engrossing and chaotic that wildebeest calves are separated from their mothers while crossing the river. Intense sound-bites are used by the wildebeests and their calves to identify and reconnect with one another. The medley of sentiment and sound immediately after the river-crossing and calves running back to look for their mothers is a heart-wrenching scene to watch.

The solitude of solo trees sparsely scattered across Maasai Mara is simply captivating. Constantly battling the wind, it is amazing to see them standing tall, alone in the wilderness. Their shapes reflect the inherent strength and deep roots against the primary direction of the wind. There is something magical about these trees as their isolation continually draws your attention.

Endless trails in this huge wildlife reserve, wandering around with explorer-led thinking and incredulous belief at watching the wild in action… It is amazing how deep into the high-grass land and how without any GPS, the local guides know the exact route out to one of the main roads. Without any road signs, it is fascinating to watch the guides navigate through marked and unmarked trails based on memory, ultimate understanding of the local environment and directional help from the sun’s movements.

The adage of ‘you see what you want to see’ in every object is especially true when on a safari… The shape of far and few scattered clouds, the bushes in the vast land, and the spots on the trails start to resemble the animals you have seen or want to see. It is the beauty of nature, and all are in perfect symphony.

As the sun sets and eerie quietness descends on this vast land of Maasai Mara, nature is preparing for a gorgeous sunrise tomorrow with a new set of beauty and charm when the wild will be on the move again…

Smart devices are form-fitting, computing platforms with highly integrated communication interfaces and sensors. These sensors capture events, and with the help of defined algorithms to process information, execute required actions. Devices may have user interfaces and local intelligence, or be headless devices connected to back-end systems. Ubiquitous and seamless connectivity, mostly wireless, are key for smart device systems to function. Most of the smartness in devices are derived from the installed software/applications on them or from the back-end system, which drives the decision-making based on defined parameters.

Among the most common smart devices are smart phones, which have driven adoption and mobile usage dramatically ever since their launch a couple of years ago. Forrester predicts there will be one billion smart phone users by 2016; although judging by Samsung’s recent second quarter results, during which they shipped over 50 million smart phones, the global billion users of smart phones may be reality much sooner.

Cloud will be key to the implementation of the smartness in the devices. M2M gateways and middleware solutions to convert data into intelligence are critical aspects of making the devices smart. Higher adoption of smart devices and services will be directly dependent on how very large numbers of inputs can be combined to make decisions. Smart devices are now visible across all industries such as consumer & hi-tech, home automation, medical, energy & utility, food & agriculture, automotive, aerospace, industrial, transportation, etc. At home, devices such as white goods, entertainment systems, security and surveillance equipment, energy monitors, health management devices, etc. are becoming smarter. Imagine a day, when your smart alarm system set to wake you up very early in the morning to catch a plane, picks up your flight delay notification and adjusts itself to give you a couple more hours to rest!!

Harbor Research, in an article about the potential opportunities for industrial companies around smart systems argues, “The era of Smart Systems will cut across traditional product P&L and market boundaries like a machete. If the major diversified, industrial behemoths don’t see the implications of this soon, a new category of player may emerge to fill the crucial role.”

The internet of things which encompasses all connected systems is driving at an extremely fast pace. According to Cisco, there will be 50 billion connected devices by 2020. IDC forecasts in the next five years, one third of all electronics systems will be smart devices and the market for smart systems will double to $2 trillion.

What will the year 2020 look like? Will smart devices surround us, execute decisions on their own, drive cars and perform complex medical operations? An interesting report from Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project indicates, not so fast. The recent report found views to be evenly split on the potential of smart systems on homes. Half of the people surveyed agreed that by 2020, smart systems will make a connected home a reality, whereby resources (electricity, water, food, etc.) will be smartly managed. 46% of the people surveyed did not believe IP-led smart devices would live up to their expectations due to a lack of consumer trust and the complexities involved with using new services.

Towards the end of this decade, there will surely be significant enhancements on smart devices to gain people’s trust and confidence. In the interconnected world of smart devices, privacy and hacking concerns of these systems must be thoroughly addressed as such concerns should not become the deterrent for their wider adoption.

As for after 2020? It is certain that the software platform on cloud and smart devices will provide greater intelligence for complex decision making. Could these devices become Super Smart and learn to handle exceptions as well, rather than only rule-based decisions? Could this be another form of “Collective Intelligence”, which can influence a better living, a better world of tomorrow…?