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Fiction to Fact – in Five years Flat

Today being 31st Dec and the year 2019 is about to end. The decade is about to end, and we are geared up to welcome the next decade of 2020. Got a message on my WhatsApp couple of days ago indicating how do we write date to avoid confusion in year 2020…responded with three options a) write with apostrophe i.e. ’20 or b) don’t complicate as no one has edited the date when we wrote date in current year…the chance of getting the date was equally high when we wrote 2-Oct-19 or c) use digital signatures!!! 😊

We have come a long way; I still remember the day when we transited from year 1999 to 2000. There was a big noise about the millennium bug (aka Y2K bug). People were indeed scared and concerned about the technology in use and our dependence on technology at that point of time. Nothing major incident happened as enough preventive steps had been taken and we sailed into year 2000 smoothly.

First decade post year 2000, was an era of mobility where in we saw rise of mobile networks. The next decade (2009-2019) was of smartphone and cloud compute and we all got hooked to it! Today mobile penetration has crossed 100% in most of the urban markets. Our mobile is more than supercomputer for an individual compared to old computers in 1970. Today, right from train ticket to air ticket to paying bills to paying to a local kirana wala most of our day to day transaction got executed using a smartphone.

In today’s world we are surrounded by disruptive technologies be it Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning or Blockchain or Virtual Reality or Drone or chat bot or Robotics or 3D Printing…now is the era when the confluence of multiple technologies would take shape and more and more new use cases would evolve to our benefit. Many say that machines would rise and take over our jobs. While technology is eating away our jobs, technology is also creating new jobs. Future of work is an interesting topic and is being studied and discussed at length in universities & conferences. If decade of 2009 was known as decade of mobile networks and decade of 2019 was of mobile applications; the next decade would be known as decade of 5G, edge compute and quantum compute.

The solution to a problem which used to be a fiction few of years ago is being converted to reality at the supersonic pace. Thanks to technology and the entrepreneurs around. The amount of trust we have on technology today is much higher than it used to be a decade ago. This rise of technology and innovation is result of uniform availability of internet infrastructure, robust hardware & on demand compute.

Now let us have a look at the technology trends for the years to come. Top 10 technology trends which would drive disruption in 2020 are:

  1. Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
  2. Internet of Things
  3. Robotic Process Automation
  4. Block-chain
  5. Edge Compute
  6. Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality / Mixed Reality
  7. Cyber security
  8. 5G
  9. Voice Compute / NLP
  10. 3D Printing

 

These trends would lead us to confluence of technology and new / improved use cases such as:

  1. Nextgen Commute i.e. Autonomous cars, drone taxi, Hyperloop
  2. Supply of life saving drugs in remote areas using drones
  3. Block-chain enabled electronic health records
  4. Smart Speakers in homes and enterprise
  5. Smart homes
  6. Next level entertainment and sports enabled by Virtual Reality
  7. Streaming platforms providing 4K & 8K video
  8. Auto mitigation of Cyber Attack using Deception technologies
  9. 3D printing in healthcare
  10. Digital Transformation in Enterprise
  11. Edge Compute in Smart Cities
  12. 5G enabled autonomous factories

 

Still there a few challenges (including but not limited to) we need to focus and put more efforts upon:

  1. Clean potable water & air
  2. Food for all
  3. Containing wildfires
  4. Global Warming
  5. Reduction of fossil fuel
  6. Efficient recycling waste and e-waste
  7. Ethics in Technology
  8. Ocean Clean up
  9. Fake news
  10. Prevent Soil erosion

 

However, we are progressing in the right direction and here are few use cases which renews our confidence that with use of technology we can overcome any challenge:

  1. An AI enabled device to detect 90% of diseases in flat 10 minutes
  2. Lab grown meat to overcome food shortage
  3. 3D printed organs & medicines
  4. Biodegradable plastic
  5. Space tourism
  6. Smart Fertilizers and precision agriculture
  7. Super microbes eating oil spills in the ocean
  8. Human Augmentation and Hibernation
  9. Smart IoT sensors to ensure right quality of clean air in smart cities
  10. Time travel
  11. Gene editing i.e. CRISPER
  12. Inter plenary communication network
  13. Holographic Telepresence
  14. 3D Printers in Space to build space colonies
  15. Block-chain enabled Crypto Currencies
  16. Human Head transplant using AI, ML & Robotics

 

Conclusion:

Steve jobs rightly said, “Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have a faith in people, that they are basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they will do wonderful things with them.”

The technology seemed distant is coming to our life at a higher pace solving our problems and making our life more comfortable. Indeed we are in an era where fiction is becoming fact. Let us embrace benefits and continue to learn-unlearn and relearn to progress with technologies and the trends around.

Thanks for your time. Hope you liked our collaborative effort. Feel free to Like/Comment/Share !

Wishing you a Happy New Year 2020 !!!

This article is a collaborative effort by Chintan Oza, Biren Parikh, Ajit Joshi & Chander Wanchoo who are members of TMI group. TMI Community is a professional community of Technology, Management and Innovation enthusiasts. Started in 2016, the community has been growing every year and collaborating on an ongoing basis.

Web3.0 Impact on Banking

Banks have always taken great care to remain competitive in the market despite the other stressors that come with this category of business. The latest one on top of their list is Web 3.0, otherwise known as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Artificial Intelligence — all of which are just different flavors of the same thing: a much closer interaction between people and computers.

 

The main impact of Web 3.0 on the banking sector may not be as pronounced as expected, but it is more likely to be negative than positive. The banking sector has always been technology-driven and, with the help of Web 3.0, these banks may find it difficult to adapt to this environment.

 

Facts and studies done on the impact of Web 3.0 in banking sector

The recent BFA study was commissioned by the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) and the American Bankers Association. It studied how banks were preparing for Web 3.0, which they identified as a major area of concern among banks.

 

The study surveyed over 300 banks and gathered their perspectives on how they were planning to adapt to Web 3.0. They found that most banks had already taken a proactive approach in addressing the future needs of consumers, but some major upcoming challenges need to be considered.

 

This includes technological limitations, operating costs, and legal constraints. One of the biggest worries is that customers will naturally gravitate towards payment methods with better customer service and security, such as credit cards or electronic wallets, instead of using their bank accounts.

 

Blockchain can enhance this process and lower these costs. Using blockchain for KYC purposes could reduce personnel requirements for banks by 10%, equating to cost savings of up to $160 million annually.

 

Web 3.0 will largely be built on three new layers of emerging technologies – edge computing, decentralised data networks and AI.

 

There is a growing application of ML to analyse large data sets in security. As attackers use ML, we need machines that can respond in seconds.

 

The cycle of change is undoubtedly constant, but its speed has certainly sped up during the pandemic. Going forward, Web 3.0 and transition towards decentralization, digital currencies, ability to monetize data effectively and stronger ecosystem collaborations for customer-centric service will continue to drive the evolution of the financial services industry.   

 

Blockchain and crypto tokens can bring many potential benefits, such as faster and cheaper cross-border payments and trade finance, but they need to be more stable in value and have a credible backing. 

 

Decentralized finance (Defi) refers to digital assets and financial smart contracts, protocols, and decentralized applications (DApps). Also based on distributed ledger and blockchain technology, Defi challenges the centralized financial system by disempowering the middlemen and focusing on peer-to-peer networks. The ‘total value locked in Defi’, which shows how much money is currently working in different DeFi protocols, has increased significantly in the last two years. There are several use cases of DeFi and they are continuously growing. It lets one send money around the globe, stream money around the globe, access stable currencies, borrow funds with or without collateral, start crypto savings, trade tokens, buy insurance, and manage one’s complete financial portfolio under one system.

 

There are several benefits of even Defi Insurance as below:

  • Protection of Defi Deposits
  • Protection against crypto volatility and flash crash
  • Immediate redemption of tokenized crypto
  • Protection against the risk of theft and attack on crypto wallets
  • Protection of funds from hacks on exchange platform
  • Identify fraudulent claims
  • Increased reliability of medical history
  • Reduced overhead cost because of efficiency and speed in the claim processing

 

Disadvantages of Web 3.0 in the banking sector

 

Blockchain technology has many advantages, but one prominent disadvantage is that it’s inherently secure without specific third-party support, since the system relies on a “trusted” third party—a node—to make sure the ledger is secure and that no one tries to tamper with it.

 

Therefore, blockchain developers have been working on a method of maintaining security after the protocol itself has been implemented. This is called “consensus,” and it enables the system to be secure even when some nodes operate independently.

 

The problem arises when only one node can maintain consensus and therefore make sure that the ledger remains secure. If that node goes offline or is compromised by an attacker, then the entire system can fall apart.

 

On other side, thefts and frauds are rampant on Web3. In 2021, crypto scams and theft are totally to $14 billion losses. So, security is the biggest threat in the Web3 world for BFSI segment.

 

In an article about Web 3.0, when discussing the impact of augmented reality on society, The Economist also included that “banking would be affected too” (The Economist 2011). The writer said that this technology would allow people to peer into their bank accounts without even logging in. It could also authenticate people remotely and control their finances at the same time.

 

Ending words

 

To fully understand the present banking sector, it is necessary to acknowledge that its nature has always been technology-driven since banking was first formed. As a result, all banks have also invested in new technologies to facilitate the operations and services that they offer to their customers. They have developed faster processing systems, better internet banking platforms, more reliable ATMs, and quicker payment gateways.

 

Realization should temper the urge to dismiss Web 3.0 financial services as fringe efforts that many in banking missed the potential of PayPal and Chime until they became huge competitive threats

 

The future of banking lies in Web 3.0. Someone will felt soon the impact of these technologies on the industry, especially for banks that are still rooted in their traditional business model. Web 3.0 is transforming the financial landscape and will, most likely, affect how banks operate.

Biren Parekh