25% of the world economy will be digital by 2020

In its Technology Vision 2016 report, Accenture predicts that 25% of the world’s economy will be digital by 2020. The global consulting firm contends that we are witnessing a major technology revolution, specifically a digital revolution. It’s a revolution of emerging “digital platforms” comprised of cloud services, artificial intelligence, cognitive computing, predictive analytics, and intelligent automation.

In a companion survey of more than 3,100 business and IT executives worldwide, Accenture found that 33% of the global economy is already impacted by digital. 86% of survey respondents anticipate that the pace of technology change will increase at a rapid or unprecedented rate over the next three years.

In the report, Accenture identifies five technology trends fueled by the people first principal that are essential to business success in the digital economy. The trends include:

1. Intelligent automation: Leaders are embracing automation - powered by artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and augmented reality - to fundamentally change the way their business operates and drive a new, more productive relationship between people and machines.

2. Liquid workforce: By exploiting technology to enable workforce transformation, leading companies will create highly adaptable and change-ready environments that are able to meet today's dynamic digital demands.

The competitive advantage offered by a liquid workforce is apparent as survey respondents indicated that "deep expertise for the specialized task at hand" was only the fifth-most-important characteristic they required for employees to perform well in a digital work environment. Other qualities such as 'the ability to quickly learn' or 'the ability to shift gears' were ranked higher.

3. Platform economy: Industry leaders are unleashing the power of technology by developing platform-based business models to capture new growth opportunities, driving the most profound change in the global macroeconomic environment since the Industrial Revolution.

4. Predictable disruption: Fast-emerging digital ecosystems are creating the foundation for the next wave of disruption by straddling markets and blurring industry boundaries; forward-thinking leaders can proactively predict these ecosystem trajectories to gain a competitive advantage.

5. Digital Trust: Trust is a cornerstone of the digital economy, said 83% of survey respondents. To gain the trust of individuals, ecosystems and regulators in this new landscape, businesses must focus on digital ethics as a core strategy; better security alone won't be enough.