What May Be: Predictions for the Future Digital Economy
Mr Benny Chung, Senior Manager | 11-min read
24 July 2023 — Back before the turn of the millennium, Bill Gates’ The Road Ahead was required reading in one of my undergraduate classes. The book contained Gates’ predictions for where technology would be headed in the future, and I remember vividly how he described the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT). His foresight has proven correct, as today an array of smart devices flood the market, from lightbulbs that can be activated and controlled via mobile applications to refrigerators that will automatically order cartons of milk through the Internet when supplies run low. I am not Bill Gates (I wish I were—after all, who does not want to be a billionaire?), but I would like to think that the chances of my being able to correctly predict what may happen in the not-too-distant future are statistically better than zero.
Let me insert a caveat here: I do not hold formal academic qualifications in digital technology, so I identify as a “non-techie”. What follows is simply a sharing of my personal opinion based on my own experience and background (full disclosure, I currently work in content marketing for the National University of Singapore (NUS)).
As a member of Generation X, I have more or less had a front-row seat watching the digital revolution unfold, and I am an experienced user and consumer of digital technology. I picked up basic HTML programming way back when Yahoo! reigned as king, Hotmail sent out email updates to users about which of its staff was pregnant or had given birth, and Victoria’s Secret had just streamed its first online fashion show.
More than two decades ago, when I was working in a dotcom (now more commonly referred to as a “technology start-up”), I had suggested to my Chief Technology Officer that software and working files would one day reside on the Internet and not on our computer hard drives.
Dial-up modems were still the rule of the day, so the concept was difficult to describe—the necessary terms and ideas had yet to be formalised (I am not sure if the technology and infrastructure even existed yet). Today, mention “cloud computing” and most folks will know what you are referring too. This same challenge in describing what I foresee is likely to affect the following discussion to some degree.
Beyond the Road Ahead
With business activities and transactions becoming increasingly commonplace on the Internet, I believe the next big areas of growth will be in digital security and digital identification/authentication. Live, adaptive encryption using artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain will likely contribute to this in some way, as we try to make financial and other value-based interactions on the Internet safer and more difficult for bad actors to exploit. Beyond biometrics, the way we express ourselves physically (through our speech, actions and behaviours) will likely be used as some form of security measure. Sensors will have a big part to play in this becoming a reality.
Sensors will also be used in conjunction with virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and AI to advance user experience and user interface design. Human-machine interfaces will shift towards more natural modes like haptics, voice activation and gesture control. Technology will grow increasingly more intuitive over time as we try to narrow the gap between what comes naturally to users and what they have to learn when it comes to using the latest gadgets and applications.
Data, networking, and analytics are also going to continue to be important areas of growth. More of our lives and daily activities will get translated into digital bits and bytes. In addition, previously standalone databases will be connected, in a bid to better understand and quantify our behaviours. It is likely that this compiled digital twin of us will function as our own personal “signatures” when we do things online (and perhaps even in the “real” world), and be used to further automate our lives and make technology even more seamless. Sifting through and trying to make sense of the mountains of data and meta-data generated will require the use of AI (sure, humans could do it too, but not without issues both technical and ethical).
Other, possibly more “exotic”, areas that are likely to impact the future of the digital economy include nanotechnology, quantum computing and biological computing. Respectively, these will serve to make digital technology smaller, more powerful and—well, different from what we are currently familiar with.
Get a (New) Job
I am not proposing that everything will turn out rosy and sweet for everyone. In the last year, we have seen the technology industry shed thousands of jobs. Meanwhile, workers in other industries are worried about being replaced by automation. Without making light of the impact on individual lives, I see these developments as part of a macro trend. They will probably persist and even accelerate.
However, this should not be taken to mean that fewer people will be employed in this increasingly digitalised workforce. On the contrary, I believe the rise of digital adoption and evolution will require even more talent—just not of the traditional variety. Programmers, network engineers and analysts will remain necessary parts of the workforce, but other skillsets will become sought-after too.
There will be rising demand for experts and professionals who can interpret human behaviours and the physical world for machines, as well as those who can understand how to more naturally incorporate machines into the way we live. Such people will be multidisciplinary professionals with expertise in psychology, anthropology, linguistics, biology, kinesiology and ergonomics as well as data analytics, logic, algorithms, basic programming, AI, digital security and systems/process design.
Other new jobs will be created. Just as there are legal experts advising companies in how to develop their products and conduct business, so too will there be ethics and compliance experts ensuring that a company’s activities adhere to community norms and expectations. These will extend beyond the outlines currently delineated by Corporate Social Responsibility, into individual rights such as privacy, the right to be forgotten and the ownership of one’s data, likeness and ideas. Lobbyists, policy advisors and regulators in this arena will also be needed.
Moving Out of Our Comfort Zones
Some armchair analysts (yes, I know: I can be called one myself) question why we are looking to train more professionals for the digital economy, and how the government can continue to say there is not enough such talent in the workforce when technology companies are retrenching. This is because technology companies are only part of the picture—the digital economy is far larger than that.
Overall, I believe the digital economy will expand beyond its focus on technology companies into organisations operating in other industries. Already, we are seeing organisations that are not normally thought of a being technology-oriented—including those in the healthcare, retail and hospitality industries—seeking to hire talent with digital economy skillsets.
The digital economy is already well on its way to becoming an integral and inseparable part of every industry and everyday life. This can be thought of as being similar to how the earliest public applications of electricity were generally associated with lighting, communications and motorisation, but have now taken root everywhere (becoming indispensable to modern living). What we have to do is adapt our mind-sets to think beyond where we currently stand, so that we can properly capitalise on the opportunities on the horizon. If we can look up from where our feet are, we will see where our feet can take us.
NUS Postgraduate by Coursework Masterclass Series 2023
Conceptualised as a series of talks by NUS academics and experts on how individuals can prepare for the Future Economies (as identified by SkillsFuture Singapore), the NUS PGCMS 2023 aims to attract learners, engage them and make them aware of the opportunities offered by NUS’ featured self-funded postgraduate by coursework programmes.
Extending on the Postgraduate by Coursework Fair 2022’s theme “Become a Master of the Future Economies”, the NUS PGCMS 2023 will be focusing on programmes classified under the following future economies:
- Digital
- Care
- Green
- Industry 4.0
The NUS PGCMS 2023 will feature a Masterclass on the Digital Economy:
- Senior Lecturer Suwichit (Sean) Chaidaroon, Programme Director, Master of Social Sciences (Communication): Digital Alphabet Soup: How AI, AR, VR and Emerging Technologies are Transforming Strategic Communication
Other industry experts and NUS lecturers will be speaking on key topics relating to the three other Future Economies, ranging from entrepreneurship, urban energy, and the intersection between creativity and Industry 4.0, to informatics in healthcare as well as precision health and medicine.
For more information about the NUS PGCMS 2023 and to register for the event, click here: https://www.gevme.com/site/NUS-PGCMS-2023