On the transition to the digital age

We live in an increasingly engineered world – in the digital age. But we operate business models, as if we were still in the industrial age – with linear growth. Many of you know about the exponential growth of hardware performance also expressed in Moore's Law. Even on the Top500-List of the most powerful HPC clusters, there are now increasingly commercial applications. In addition, low-code and no-code platforms are finding their way into areas outside of pure software development. This enables fast and flexible application possibilities - without programming skills.

We are also witnessing our environment becoming smarter and more intelligent - sensor technology can affordably be integrated in many devices and with a CAGR% to be expected at a level of 7-10% until 2025, reaching a total business volume of roughly 287 bn USD globally. This enables highly distributed data collection and thus a huge number of AI use cases. Options for using AI have been around for a long time, but the ability to collect and evaluate data very efficiently made AI use cases possible in the first place. A nice example, which we are not consciously aware of, is the noise cancelling feature integrated in video conferencing tools using the AI software krisp ()

This is now the right moment to share some of the principles we follow in our work, and dispel typical AI myths:

• Usage of technology wherever suitable to protect human beings and leave complex/emotional decisions to humans
• Make various activities healthier for humans with the ultimate goal of supporting and assisting people through autonomous systems
• Allow leisure, monitoring and delivery with drones within a cybersmart regime
• Exploit all options for data analytics: raw data mining and pattern recognition for machines
• Create 3D models of avatars (based on deep fake information for the good)

Cybersmart design of digital products and services

But alongside the opportunities offered by the employment of technology, threats and challenges are also around the corner - which we don't want to hide at this point. First of all, we will continue to see aggression against individual groups, companies or entire nations, albeit with different weapons: hacking of systems for critical infrastructure, unwanted encryption of entire company networks and the disclosure of personal data will increasingly become a threat. And we need to prepare for it with new visions for cyber-security and cybersmart design.

Following on from that, many companies still underestimate the importance of a modern IT infrastructure for succeeding in digital business models. Why is this so important? Because with digitalization, we’ll see a continuous convergence of operational and information technology platforms. And companies will need to define a new system of governance, stating how the employment of technology will actually determine their business and reap economic benefits.