How hyperconnectivity will drive human-centric innovations in business

By: Andy Stevenson, Head of Middle East and India, Managing Director for India, Fujitsu

The Paris Climate Summit has brought to the table some alarming figures. In April 1995, Carbon Dioxide was present in the atmosphere at 363.23 parts per million. Last month, the figure was 398.29, just less than the 400 ppm number which is considered as the upper limit to what’s acceptable. Closer home in India 21 percent of the world’s unbanked populace resides in India. 70 percent of India’s population do not have health insurance. 300 million do not have access to power and safe water which is equal to the population of the U.S. With the challenges prevalent in the world multiplying to a large extent, how can we use technology to solve the problem? Creating human-centric innovations may be the answer.

The world as we know it is changing and this can be attributed to the consistently evolving technology landscape. A hyper-connected world is emerging where people and things around us are all linked together, sharing information. More connectivity means more collaboration and this is breaking down boundaries, changing the way that businesses work and how society creates value. On the downside, it also points towards greater risk and uncertainty. With the proliferation of cloud, mobility, IoT and social media, hyperconnectivity will take a whole new meaning.

In a hyperconnected world, we will need to move to a human-centric paradigm where organisations will look to people for innovative ways to engage with their customers and deliver value for business and society. Human-centric Innovations can create a more intelligent society, a better place for human beings and a better business environment. Organisations can benefit from this to drive positive outcomes in the society by considering hyper-connectivity in three key dimensions: people, information and infrastructure.

When it comes to people, hyper-connectivity can be used for human empowerment. Hyper-connectivity gives people unprecedented access to the tools that they need to innovate with. Technologies can be acquired easily and turned-off in an instant via the cloud. This would also mean that organizations can use the power of technology to build dynamic relationships and customer intimacy via CRM or mobility tools. Big Data and

Augmented Reality will drive human empowerment through connectivity. By 2020, information will be used to reinvent, digitalize or eliminate 80% of business processes and products from a decade earlier. (Source: Forbes, Gartner predicts Three Big Data trends for Business Intelligence).

Not just people, Information will be an important driver of change as well as a result of hyper-connectivity. It has been estimated that 90% of the world’s data has been generated in the last 2 years. With Global Data Resources proliferating the ability to analyse the information generated in a way that is meaningful and can build knowledge will become a key business competency. The credibility and security of information will additionally be of great importance as this would give companies the scope to collaborate across industries.

Hyperconnectivity will have a huge impact on the way everyday things are manufactured. Popularly referred to as the Internet of Things, sensors will be embedded into all devices from shoes to bracelets to automobiles to toothbrushes. While such sensors will give important personal information on a day-to-day basis, installing sensors in factories, plants, roads etc. can provide a rich source of real-time information.

These trends will be driven by a desire from businesses to improve product performance and improve service value. Citing an example of human-centric innovations in India. The State Bank of India (SBI) required faster and more efficient processing capabilities. This high degree of manual processing in the bank was costly and slow and lead to inconsistent results and a high error rate. The operation required a robust solution to help them clear their cheque instruments. Earlier, the bank was operating in a distributed architecture spread across multiple locations which used to take days to clear each cheque instrument while information was readily available. The bank centralized their system into one datacenter that provided a near instant cheque clearing combined with total data visibility. SBI was successful in their efforts to revamp their IT to address the challenges faced.

The new solution helped them handle 150,000 cheque instruments per day. These are now processing 50 percent more quickly thereby boosting customer satisfaction and improving retention. Internal users have also been benefitted through an increase in productivity

Technology and connectivity can together help in solving real-word problems through intelligent information and insights. This will create greater value for the individual if properly used. Changing the approach towards innovation in 2016 can create greater possibilities for humankind.