Moving towards a synchronized society for the connected generation

Innovation is not an option; it is necessary to keep improving the way we do things. Our roles are constantly changing, not to maintain but ultimately to improve our “overall” experience and processes in an ever-changing environment.

Identifying technology trends is an ongoing process which guides us through an endless path of improvement, constantly adopting new ways to optimise internal operations and innovate existing methods to best serve consumers.

Lwazi Piti is a PR ICT and B2B consultant

The connected generation: me time, screen time, we time

In the digital age, "me time" is "screen time" and for companies, this means finding creative ways to turn it into "we time".

Albert Einstein cleverly said, “One must take what nature gives as one finds it.” But there is also such a thing as a spirit of the times, an attitude of mind characteristic of a particular generation - I believe we are at the inception of the connected generation.

The synergy advances beyond the corporation and consumer relationship. We are now seeing the connected world augment government regulations with GDPR to protect the public’s personal data and enable technology to operate in a way that best serves society. This is a clear indication of the developing dependency to keep man and machine connected in a way that can be managed and mediated.

Virtual handshakes and faceless “welcomers”

Companies such as Amazon have moved from interaction with their consumers being restricted to "screen time" to personal interactions with "Alexa" assisting their customers with day to day activities; the introduction and acceptance of home-based AI such as Alexa show a stride from experimental to an operational mindset.

It doesn’t end there, Amazon is becoming an integrated part of family life. Your home is essential to the physical aspect of a connected generation; the business has gained enough consumer trust to welcome guests into their homes in their absence. With the rollout of the Amazon Key home kit, the “user” can grant access to people they trust with the Amazon key app on your screen, wherever you physically might be.

It literally is “mi casa es su casa” for the American electronic commerce and cloud computing company - you get to monitor who enters your house when you’re not home - schedule permanent access for your family members, or give temporary access to recurring visitors like dog walkers and house cleaners ; you just don’t have to be there to welcome them.

This goes to show just how inseparable the consumer and business are going to become in the connected world.

Source: pixabay.com

The connection: what does it all mean?

There is a global shift in how we do things, Accenture’s technology vision 2018 report, forecasts five technology trends to unfold in the next three years.