Madrid - ICEMD presents the 5 tendencies that will transform the Digital Economy in the next few years

OVER 2,000 COOLHUNTERS DISTRIBUTED IN 54 COUNTRIES THAT COLLECT THE LATEST INNOVATIONS AND BUSINESS IDEAS IN THE MAIN 15 B2C SECTORS DAILY PARTICIPATED IN THIS STUDY

ICEMD – the ESIC Institute for Digital Economy – has presented recently the study “The Most Relevant Tendencies in Digital Economy” in which you can read how this will impact businesses in the next few years. Blockchain, XaaS, Digitalization of the Senses, Diversity Empowerment and Biohacking are the main terms that have been identified in the study by ICEMD and Coolhunting Community, a global company specialized in Business Coolhunting.

ICEMD has presented recently the study “The Most Relevant Tendencies in Digital Economy”

“This report is a compilation of the most relevant newly emerging tendencies for the next few years, those that affect different sectors and industries causing a great impact and that, undoubtedly, we must take into account when we define new strategic plans for companies.” Joost van Nispen, ICEMD founder and president, said during the presentation.

The report has analyzed the latest tendencies and innovations in the most relevant sectors in the digital economy, including ecommerce, education, media, fintech, insurance, health and government, and the public sector. For this purpose, Coolhunting Community had the participation of a whole network of over 2.000 coolhunters in 54 countries that daily collect the latest innovations and business ideas in the main 15 B2C sectors. The coolhunting methodology used for this study comprised of the elaboration of qualitative reports that allow us to decipher the latest tendencies, the most disruptive innovations and the new business models that are transforming the different sectors and industries.

During the presentation, ICEMD highlighted the most relevant tendencies in the digital economy:

• Blockchain is decentralized property registration based on automated and transparent transactions, i.e. the technology behind bitcoins (digital currency), which are already at the center of attention in the FinTech context. Some examples of the application of this technology are UNICEF, which is trying to democratize the technology sector in order to start a venture capital fund for civic open code or TransActive technology, or a Peer To Peer community for the control and distribution of energy through blockchain.
• The second tendency would be the XaaS or “Everything as a Service” concept, in which companies, platforms and applications integrate functionality. The XaaS provider offers different plans depending on the final user’s needs (on demand). The different types of XaaS that were mentioned during the presentation were WaaS (Workspace as a Service), RaaS (Robotic as a Service), CaaS (Cybercrime as a Service) and AaaS (Analytics as a Service).
• The digitalization of the senses is creating a completely new scene with the boom the Internet of Things, but mostly with the advances in investigations on human emotions and feelings to help with Artificial Intelligence. These are areas where innovations are constantly happening. “The challenge is now to create a home robot that will not only help with daily necessities but that will also connect on an emotional level with humans”, declared Lourdes Rodríguez, Coolhunting Community CEO.
• Diversity empowerment (inclusion as a strength) is a reality in many advertising campaigns but it is also present in many big companies’ talent management strategies, looking for a plural and diverse work team. The debate cover three major fields: demolishing borders, eliminating gender inequality and a majority for the minorities.
• Lastly, the report highlights the importance of Biohacking or limitless connectivity. A recent study on tendencies indicates that 80% of the survey subjects (6,000 smartphone users) declared they would like to improve their sensory perception and their cognitive capacities through technology, a whole new world of connectivity for implantable devices. A technological tattoo made with components and conductive ink to create circuits could control temperature, detect stress based on perspiration, heart rate and hydration information, and upload it to net via Bluetooth, for example.

“Knowing, analyzing and interpreting emergent tendencies in all sectors is essential, but the most important thing is to anticipate the change so that we can make the best strategic decisions, in time and with the highest profit. Being ahead of the competitors and aligning the consumers’ new needs at the right time will guarantee success in these moments of great uncertainty” concluded Enrique Benayas, ICEMD managing director.

You can download the executive summary of the report on “The Most Relevant Tendencies in Digital Economy” here.