Takeaways and Tech Trends at Davos ‘19
The World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, is an annual gathering of business leaders, journalists, government officials, and — now more than ever — technologists. Besides important discussions on climate change and rising inequality, this year’s unofficial theme to WEF itself, was heavily tech-oriented: tech regulation, the “future of work,” and emerging technologies.
The conference in the alps, known as the magic mountain, features a week of discussions of industry leaders in the world of technology. Last year’s events saw an influx of blockchain excitement: The meteoric rise of digital currencies and the technology that powers them, blockchain. The focus on emerging technologies has birthed events like “Digital.Davos” or the “Future of 5G.” Davos provides a platform for evangelists and technologists to convince leaders where trends in technology are headed.
With Capitol Foundry represented and in attendance at events in Davos for a second year, here are some of the takeaways for companies understanding what’s new in tech:
Human-first technology: Technology aims to solve problems that people encounter, but often in its creation, it unleashes even more problems. Too often algorithms embed biases, some adverse and others much more innocuous. Yet, other examples are much clearer: Blockchain technology, if not designed and built with the expectation of trust and understanding, will not be adopted. What better is technology that solves a problem but still becomes unusable or creates additional problems? In these cases, digital innovation requires an immersive understanding of digital product design.
Design and technology for “Good”: Discussions around inclusivity in the workforce using technology and the orientation towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, or SDG’s, for NGO’s and global nonprofits, was a highlight this year. It shows that the process of building technology, and the ecosystem of that process, should have “utopian” goals in mind. It isn’t just the outcome that is meaningful.
Artificial Intelligence: Healthcare algorithms like Benevolent AI, which uses computational intelligence to develop drugs for the pharmaceutical industry, AI enclosed within the blockchain for the finance industry, and predictive supply chain management are some of the exciting movements in tech. Machine learning has advanced for the goal of efficiency and efficacy, and the next milestone may very well be empowerment and democratized AI.
2019 and Beyond: What is on the horizon for other emerging technologies? With the growth of Alexa and Siri, this year will likely emphasize smarter Voice Technology. As the next billion user interact with voice recognition software driven by artificial intelligence, the future may not just be with consumer use. Even more impactful implementation of Voice Technology, will spotlight global use cases for healthcare, hospitality, and education. Consequently, like all technologies, this interaction with voice as a platform or medium will need to be designed. It will require understanding the user experience and the interface of sound.
Though technology may be created in silos within laboratories or warehouses, it serves a human purpose. That objective shouldn’t be lost in the digital product design and engineering. Technology needs to be thoughtfully designed and built for inclusivity, trust, adoption and freedom.
