IDC Philippines Reveals TOP ICT Predictions for 2019 and Beyond.

IDC Predicts for 2019 and beyond by 2020, at east 30% of organizations and companies will push for "digital determination" by re-imagining the future through innovative business models and digitally enabled products and services transformation their respective markets, operations and businesses.

"To be digitally determined, Philippine organizations require more than just resilience; they need a 'blueprint' that consists of a unified enterprise strategy, a long investment plan based on the principle that digital is inherently valuable to the business, and a single digital platform to scale technology innovations," said Sudev Bangah, Managing Director for IDC ASEAN. "But aside from these technical aspects, digital determination involves having the will to make the required organizational and cultural changes to better adapt in today’s digital transformation age," he added.

Bangah added, "New technologies are changing paradigms for individuals, businesses, industries, economies, and governments. The race to the future enterprise has begun. And with digital disruption becoming the new normal, no one and no entity will be spared of the need to at least reset or reboot themselves, if not reinvent."IDC puts together 10 Key Trends Opportunities and Challenges for IT Managers for 2019 and Beyond.

IDC puts together 10 Key Trends Opportunities and Challenges for IT Managers for 2019 and Beyond:

#1: Digital determination. By 2020, at least 30% of organizations will be digitally determined, transforming markets and reimagining the future through new business models and digitally enabled products and services.

#2: Digital trust. By 2020, 40% of CIOs will initiate a digital trust framework that goes beyond preventing cyberattacks and enables organizations to resiliently rebound from adverse situations, events, and effects.

#3: Digital KPIs. By 2023, 55% of entities will have incorporated new digital KPI sets – focusing on product/service innovation rates, data capitalization, and employee experience – to navigate the digital economy.

#4: Data monetization. By 2021, 40% of large enterprises will create data management or
monetization capabilities, thus enhancing enterprise functions, strengthening competitiveness, and creating new sources of revenue.

#5: BizOps. By 2021, 45% of CIOs will expand agile/DevOps practices into the wider business to achieve the velocity necessary for innovation, execution, and change.

#6: Digital twin. By 2023, 30% of the Philippines' top 1,000 companies will have implemented advanced digital twins of their operational processes, which will enable flatter organizations and onethird-fewer knowledge workers.

#7: AI-driven edge. By 2023, over 30% of organizations' cloud deployments will include edge computing, and 15% of endpoint devices and systems will execute AI algorithms.

#8: Blockchain-enabled DX platforms. By 2023, prominent in-industry value chains, enabled by blockchains, will have extended their digital platforms to their entire omni-experience ecosystems, thus reducing transaction costs by at least 30%.

#9: AI is the new UI. By 2024, AI-enabled user interfaces and process automation will replace onethird of today's screen-based applications. By 2022, 30% of enterprises will use conversational speech technology for customer engagement.

#10: AI governance. By 2022, 30% of enterprises will task CIOs to transform and modernize governance policies to seize the opportunities and confront new risks posed by AI, machine learning, and data privacy and ethics.

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Asia, Next Frontier Artificial Intelligence Development

Today, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the center of the digital transformation of organizations and even nations. By 2019, IDC predicts that 40% of digital transformation initiatives in the region will be supported by AI.

(Read here about how digital transformation will contribute more than US$1 trillion to Asia Pacific GDP by 2021, where AI is a primary catalyst for further growth)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been thrust into the tech limelight – elevating itself from science-fiction topic to one that is currently dominating conversations of today across Asia. The convergence of big data, ubiquitous and powerful cloud computing, along with breakthroughs in software algorithms and machine learning, have made exciting new scenarios in AI deployment a possibility.

With imagination and plenty of data, AI can create vast benefits at scale. In Japan for example, where Miko, an AI-power chatbot and the star of new mobile travel app Japan Trip Navigator, is helping tourists in Japan navigate its streets. Created by Microsoft in partnership with travel agency JTB Corp and navigation firm NAVITIME Co, Miko provides travelers in Japan with real-time information from official sources as well as insights from other users of the apps. Miko can also help with hotel and other bookings on the app.

What’s more, one of the more advanced and interesting capabilities of Miko is that it is imbued with image recognition functions using Microsoft’s Cognitive Services AI platform, enabling her to provide information to users through the photos that they have taken.

Asia will be key to AI Development Globally. There are three reasons why Asia:

1. AI needs data: AI is dependent on data to perform; the more data that is fed into an AI system, the better it gets. Not only does Asia have the world’s largest population, it continues to be a region that is more digitally-connected than other parts of the globe and hence can provide the massive amounts of data that AI systems need to grow.

2. AI needs talent: Whilst we anticipate the mass adoption of AI this year, there is still a long way to go for more powerful and sophisticated AI programs to be developed. To do that will require a large and strong pool of science, technology, engineering and mathematical (STEM) talents that technology companies and research bodies can tap into to advance AI capabilities. And this talent is increasingly likely to originate from Asia. According to UBS, by 2025 the combined AI talent pool of China and India alone will exceed that of the US.


3. AI needs adoption: As stated, the more data that is fed into an AI system, the better it gets. One of the unique aspects of Asia is its large youth population, that have been born into a digital world. The UN estimates that 60% of the world’s youth population is in Asia Pacific. These “digital natives” are more receptive to digital technologies enhancing their lives. Not only that, but many Asian countries are, historically, late adopters of legacy technology, enabling them to leapfrog other nations dependent on old infrastructure and embrace new ways of living and working.

Xuedong Huang, technical fellow in charge of Microsoft’s speech, natural language and machine translation efforts. (Photo by Scott Eklund/Red Box Pictures)

Microsoft’s AI investment in Asia

With the immense growth potential of AI in Asia, Microsoft has identified four key building blocks  to harness AI optimally.

1. Developing AI capabilities: The AI revolution will not happen without world-class STEM talents driving R&D, and creation of programs and applications. Collaboration among governments, industry bodies and organizations to develop AI capabilities in this region will need to be a focus. A good example of this is Microsoft’s investment of US$33 million in partnership with the Taiwanese Government to create a AI R&D Hub in Taiwan to help transform the island’s technology and industrial sector.

2. Developing partner ecosystem: Microsoft is focused on transforming IT partner ecosystem across Asia to enable them to bring AI capabilities to the markets. In fact, they are committing $500m over the next two years to offer joint sales engagements with startups, along with access to our technology, and new community spaces that promote collaboration across local and global ecosystems.

3. Creating the AI platform: Microsoft continues to strengthen its hyper-scale cloud platform – Microsoft Azure – and its ability to deliver AI programs at scale securely across the world. Today, Azure is available to customers in 140 countries worldwide via 50 Azure regions across the world, more than any other cloud provider, which includes 15 here in Asia. This offers customers and partners the platform needed to deliver

4. Re-skilling Asia’s workforce: Microsoft is committed to working with public and private organizations to help re-skill existing workforce to thrive in a new AI-driven digital world. For example, the recently launched National Skills Program in South Australia provides digital skills to automotive supply chain workers whose roles were displaced by the closure of the Holden manufacturing plant in Elizabeth in late 2017.

Industry experts believe this to be Asia’s century. And Artificial Intelligence offers the region an unprecedented opportunity for growth, productivity and innovation, as well as the potential to solve some of the region’s most important societal challenges.

The revolution has begun! so strap in... It will certainly be an interesting ride.

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Gamma x POKKT Integrated Brand Experience for Marketers and Intelligent Ads for Gamers

Singapore, 26 July 2017 - Gamma, a fast-growing Southeast Asia-based ad selling platform, announced a partnership with POKKT that will bring high quality rewarded video advertisements and spur increased revenue for mobile game developers and publishers in Asia Pacific. This augments Gamma’s inventory with 90% of the top games in the region, both local and global game developers. Gamma’s supply-side platform also connects advertisers to over 5,000 regional publishers, offering premium ad inventory in Southeast Asia. Using a single platform, advertisers can run integrated regional campaigns across online publications, mobile games, social and other digital channels.

According to Newzoo, the Southeast Asia games market is said to double its revenue to US$2.2 billion in 2017, with key markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam accounting for 99% of the total revenue generated. Conversely, Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) predicts that advertising spend in these key markets will hit double-digit growth in 2017 as the consumer demand for mobile, video and social increase in spending.

Game publishers are facing an uphill challenge with in-app purchasing, with the most popular games in app purchases accounting for approximately only 1%-2% of daily active users. Through POKKT’s rewarded video ads solution, gamers will only need to watch a video ad to progress to the next level, benefiting publishers, brands and advertisers at the same time.

Dirk Jacobs, Managing Director, Gamma said: “Southeast Asia’s mobile gaming and advertising industry is seeing massive growth. Our trusted partnership with POKKT will allow us to increase our audience targeting capabilities and accurately connect with gamers. We remain committed to optimising revenue for developers through programmatic targeting and increasing in-app inventory supply to brands, and ensuring that their monetisation goals are achieved.”

Purwa Jain, Senior Vice President, POKKT, said: “We chose Gamma as our partner here in Southeast Asia based on their regional expertise, ability to scale and solid partnerships. Through this collaboration, we are able to grow exposure for our publishers and help marketers and brands in Southeast Asia better target and manage their campaigns efficiently with premium video inventory.”

Gamma previously announced a partnership with MediaMath to increase programmatic ad yield for publishers as well as to provide advertisers access to premium ad space in Asia Pacific.

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