Recently, an article on Business Korea reported that 10 Gbps Internet service is planned to be launched this year.  Local telecom service providers such as KT, SK Broadband and LG U+ are planning to launch commercial 10 Gbps Internet services within 2018.

This type of service is 10 times faster than the Giga Internet, which provides a speed of 1 Gbps, and thus is capable of stably supporting major Industry 4.0 services such as high-resolution images, virtual reality and augmented reality.

It is because the growth potential of the market is huge that the mobile carriers are concentrating on the commercialization of 10 Gbps Internet services from the beginning of this year. At present, the Giga Internet is the fastest Internet service available and the number of Giga Internet service users is increasing at a rapid pace.

The mobile carriers’ efforts have to do with the policy of the South Korean government as well. Late last year, the government formed a council with the private sector to accelerate the development of commercial 10 Gbps Internet services.

Being able to service newly available technologies is increasingly important across the globe as enterprises consider their investment opportunities in emerging technologies and digital transformation.

The report on drivers of enterprise digital transformation reveals the following:

• AI, blockchain, and VR/AR are the top technologies driving enterprise digital transformation. – CompTIA, 2018.
• 43% of business professionals said blockchain is making the largest impact in enterprise digital transformation efforts. – CompTIA, 2018.

While not all at the same pace, AI, blockchain and AR / VR are taking on more prominent roles as more businesses shift or boost their digital operations. According to a survey of 700 business professionals, 43% say blockchain is currently making the biggest impact.

While several respondents knew of the trends, CompTIA suggested many businesses aren’t utilizing the technology fully or at all.

VR/AR was the most well known technology, with 74% of respondents being aware of the trend. However, only around 20% of companies have a mixed reality project underway, CompTIA found. Top uses included employee training and different forms of customer engagement.

One-quarter of companies use AI regularly, mostly in Internet of Things (IoT) devices, digital assistants, and IT infrastructures, according to a CompTIA press release.

And the most impactful technology, blockchain, is mostly being used for security measures, including confirming identities and creating trails for compliance. Slightly over half-52%-of companies said security is the top reason they’re considering using the technology.

“Though the majority of businesses are still on the sidelines, use cases for each of these solutions are beginning to emerge,” Seth Robinson, CompTIA’s Senior Director for Technology Analysis, said in the release. “When you consider that these are not standalone products that you plug in and play, but building blocks to automate, digitize or streamline operations, the impacts they are already having illustrate their potential.”

As the technologies emerge, more businesses may latch onto them for their digital transformation efforts. Businesses that don’t may be left behind.

AREA’s Executive Director Mark Sage was asked to comment for a blog piece about augmented reality finding a home in the enterprise, featured on Mobile World Live.  The article is certainly worth a read in full. Mark’s comments on AR in the enterprise are summarised below, although Mark’s comments are quoted throughout the article including opinion on the technology is not just about wearables.  The mixing of AR and VR is included as well as research from Deloitte and Forrester.

The enterprise opportunity
Technology research company ARtillry Insights (a division of the VR/AR Association) estimated in a report the enterprise AR market will hit $47.7 billion in 2021 from $829 million in 2016. Highlighting a stark contrast, the study estimated a return of $15.8 billion by 2021 in consumer AI, up from $975 million in 2016.

AREA, an organisation which claims to be the only global non-profit alliance dedicated to accelerating the adoption of AR in the enterprise, is equally confident the long-term business benefits will outstrip the consumer case.

“Enterprise AR has clear and long-term RoI benefits based on improvements and efficiency gains,” Mark Sage, executive director of AREA, told Mobile World Live: “While consumer AR will provide benefits and help educate people on its use, the potential scope and benefits available in the enterprise space will bring much greater returns.”

And, if Google’s early success is anything to go by, ARtillry Insight’s lofty projections and AREA’s own agenda could well prove on the money.

Google’s enterprise edition smart glasses, launched in July 2017, are now deployed on numerous factory floors across the world, with the company already boasting some big-name partners in DHL, GE and Volkswagen.

The device is designed to allow factory workers, for example, to “stay hands-on” by removing surrounding distractions, providing access to training videos which include images accompanied by instructions, as well as allowing fellow glasses wearers on the work floor to connect, collaborate and troubleshoot in real time. More importantly, the revamped Google Glass has a very real place in the enterprise space.

If you’re interested in wearable technology for the enterprise, then AREA member BrainXChange’s round up blog post which assesses the most significant developments and use cases in wearable technology for 2017, is a must-read.

Enterprises which were reported on in 2017 for utilising wearable tech mentioned in the blog include:

• Manufacturing: AGCO, GE Aviation, Boeing, and Airbus
• Automotive: Ford, BMW, Audi, Jaguar Land Rover, Volkswagen, Porsche, and Peugeot Citroën
• Aviation: Cincinnati International Airport, San Diego International Airport, Helsinki Airport, and Changi Airport
• Medical: Stryker
• For training: UPS, Farmers Insurance, Walmart, Fidelity Investments, and KFC

Software released or updated in 2017 mentioned in the blog includes:

• AREA member, Upskill acquired Pristine; released next generation Skylight platform
• AREA member, Atheer: acquired SpaceView (MR app maker); released updates to AiR platform

Hardware released or updated in 2017 mentioned in the blog includes:

• Google: Google Glass Enterprise Edition, Daydream VR headset, ARCore (a new SDK), and Poly
• Vuzix: PTC’s Vuforia platform and Blackberry’s UEM software now support Vuzix M300 Smart Glasses; a tethered, custom version of the M300 is now available; the Vuzix Blade AR glasses now have a developer kit pre-order program; and VUZIX Basics was also announced.
• DAQRI’s enterprise AR smart glasses were launched; Trimble’s Mixed Reality app suite was integrated with the DAQRI Smart Helmet
• Microsoft: Mixed Reality Partner Programme; expanded MR headset sales to Europe; acquired AltspaceVR; Windows 10 powers Acer, HP, Samsung, Dell, and Lenovo VR headsets.

BrainXChange’s AREA profile page can be read here.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is increasingly becoming an integral part of companies—their strategies, their day-to-day activities and their futures. In fact, when 500 executives were recently surveyed by Forbes Insights, more than 90% said IoT would be important to the future of their companies.

Nowhere will IoT be more disruptive than in the industrial sector. Forbes spoke with Rich Rogers, SVP, product and engineering, industrial IoT portfolio at Hitachi Vantara, to learn more about the future of how IoT will affect this broad and influential sector of the global economy – and, for readers interested in augmented reality, Rich Rogers discusses how the IIoT will work with other technologies.

Questions covered include:

• Why is IoT so important for businesses in the industrial sector?
• Where in the industrial sector will IoT likely have the greatest influence?
• How will industrial IoT impact product development?
• How will IoT work with other emerging technologies?
• What’s the “killer application” for industrial IoT?
• How should industrial companies prepare for IoT?

A couple of quotes that may resonate include the following;

“Marc Andreessen nailed it when he famously said that software is eating the world, and right now, every single company needs to become a software company.”

“While the future of IoT is bright, it seems there is still much work to be done. Given the size of the industry now, and projections going forward, IoT has the potential to create a lot of value for organizations that embrace it.”

An article on Tech Republic shared the new tech trends to watch out for in 2018. The article, entitled “Why 2018 will see the rise of the ‘no collar’ workforce, blockchains, and enterprise VR”, takes its findings from research by Deloitte, who say that IT will continue to transition into a unit that drives business value in the new year.

IT’s role within the enterprise will continue to evolve in 2018, as core systems continue to digitally transform and new technologies build upon existing ones, according to Deloitte’s annual Tech Trends report, published Wednesday.

Bill Briggs, CTO and principal of Deloitte Consulting LLP, said in a press release. “We now see many forward-thinking organizations approach disruptive change more strategically. Instead of launching separate, domain-specific initiatives, they are thinking about exploration, use cases and deployment more holistically. Increasingly, they are focusing on how multiple disruptive technologies can work together to drive meaningful and measurable impact across the enterprise.”

The 8 tech trends to watch in 2018 are:

1. Reengineering technology
2. No-collar workforce
3. Enterprise data sovereignty
4. The new core
5. Digital reality (including AR and VR)
6. Blockchain
7. API imperative
8. Exponential technology watch list

What the tech trends report had to say about AR:

While augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) products were first aimed at consumers, their more valuable use cases may be in the enterprise, where adoption is increasing. “Driven by a historic transformation in the way we interact with technology and data, market leaders are shifting their focus from pilots and niche offerings to strategies anchored in innovative use cases and prototypes designed for industrialization,” the report stated.

Addressing issues such as integration experiences, cloud deployment, connectivity, and access will lay the groundwork for broader deployments. “These early adopters recognize a shift in the AR/VR winds: The time to embrace digital reality is now,” according to the report.

BrainXChange is an AREA member who you may know as the organisers of the EWTS events (see here for the next one). They also have a great Enterprise Wear blog which is worth keeping an eye on if you’re interested in new technology wearables for the enterprise.

In one of their November blogs the following topics are discussed:

• See the video, where Picavi’s Johanna Bellenberg talks about head-worn devices with the very people implementing the technology at Walmart, GE Transportation, Gensler, USPS, and FM Global
• AR/VR is helping the Postal Service meet the demands of a changing digital world
• Postal Service also using AR/VR for vehicle maintenance and to eliminate 50% of training time for new employees.
• Walmart is using VR at its training academies to simulate exceptional customer experience problems
• FM Global, a commercial property risk insurer that counts one out of every three Fortune 1000 companies as a customer, is using AR for remote engineering surveys of client facilities and VR as a selling tool.
• GE Transportation is using AR/VR to design and build kits of locomotive parts for operators, thinking through the presentation of these kits and how they align to manufacturing or service processes.
• From a plant layout perspective, VR is also incredibly useful for designing and planning operations.
• At Gensler, visualization technologies are impacting how architects design and develop structures of every kind. The architecture and design firm is also considering how these tools will impact the places it designs as those buildings and environments mature.

You can read BrainXChange’s member profile here.

The Government’s Industrial Strategy White Paper, published today, has confirmed £33m* immersive technology focusing on a challenge on Audience of the Future, focusing on virtual, augmented and mixed reality and how it is changing the way in which we experience the world around us – from entertainment and art to shops and classrooms.

The challenge is set to bring creative businesses, researchers and technologists together through a combination of complimentary R&D activities which will explore the future of creative content across the UK Creative Industries, including TV and film, games, music, sports entertainment, arts & culture and fashion.

This investment is designed to capture new global audiences and grow our leading market position in creative content, products and services by adopting, exploiting and developing immersive technologies.

Immerse UK will be supporting the development of a final business case through continued industry consultations and more information on the programme structure will be announced within the next few weeks.

For more information please visit Immerse.org.uk.

An article on Marine Link by Alexander Buchmann tells of how Augmented Reality (AR) is the technology game-changer set to improve the shipping industry.

According to PwC’s 2017 Global Digital IQ survey 24 percent of executives will make a significant investment in AR in the next three years.  Those benefits tend to appear in the real-time delivery of relevant information to employees regardless of location, the fact it will enable greater flexibility, increased operational mobility and improved efficiencies. IDC research is drawn upon – their estimation that augmented and virtual reality headset device shipments will reach almost 100 million units in 2021, up nearly 10-fold from the 10.1 million units shipped in 2016.

• While shipping companies have traditionally been slow adopters of technology many are now embracing technology to optimize fleet management, automate their processes and improve communication between staff on ships and on shore.
• Augmented reality, like any other cutting-edge technology, can help shipping companies to accelerate and simplify their processes.
• It will also improve the performance of workers. For example, in the aviation industry it was reported that the use of an AR headset to help a technician wire a wind turbine’s control box improved a worker’s performance by 34 percent on first use.
• There are nearly unlimited possibilities, especially as the technology progresses. For example, instead of looking at a GA plan on a screen, workers could look at the entire ship in 3D on a table in front of them. They could look at it from all angles, virtually highlight certain areas or display the main engine making the interaction feel more natural instead of looking at a screen.
• Using AR-devices means screens and monitors could also become obsolete, with employees able to access cloud-based data wherever they are working. Additionally, it will render a lot of hardware redundant. Just as the smart phone included the functionality of a lot of gadgets such as camera, telephone, calendar or calculator, AR devices are one more step forward.
• For ship inspections for example, inspectors will no longer need to take additional equipment with them because the questionnaire could be displayed directly in the room and pictures could be taken with the camera within the device.
• There are also communication benefits e.g. virtual meetings.

The article goes to on explore who is likely to benefit most in the shipping industry and when that is likely to be.

A new survey by enterprise resource planning and MRO software provider IFS has found that unplanned maintenance is the biggest challenge to maintaining aircraft operations, and maintenance managers see augmented reality technology as very useful in meeting this challenge.

The survey asked for the views of 150 aviation professionals. Nearly 60% of the organizations surveyed cited the availability of aircraft for operations as the industry’s biggest challenge. Nearly half of those surveyed said unplanned maintenance and regulatory compliance were their key priorities

Over three quarters, or 77%, of companies surveyed believed augmented reality tools could reduce the damage unplanned maintenance does by providing remote support to technicians and providing one-to-many knowledge transfer from repair experts to working mechanics.

The survey also looked at other technologies. Survey respondents ranked automation, big data, robotics, augmented reality and the Internet of Things as the top-five disruptive technologies.

The Internet of Things was viewed as a priority area for investment by 39% of firms, big data analytics by 39%, artificial intelligence by 37%, enterprise resource planning by 33% and mobile computing and applications by 31%

Of the commercial aviation companies surveyed, 44% said they were advanced in digital transformation, a higher portion than most other industries. Only 7% saw themselves as still exploring digital transformation, with about half having achieved enablement and a third having IT deliver digitally enabled services continuously. A smaller share, 11%, see themselves as optimized around digital transformation as a primary strategic focus at executive levels.

According to survey respondents, the top barriers to moving forward on digital transformation were, in descending order of importance, security concerns, aversion to changes, regulations, the wrong organizational model and inadequate ROI.

The full article can be read here.