To keep up with the latest technology, you will need to focus on three main categories of advancement – the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, and digital assistants. According to Gartner, there will be 25 billion connected things by the year 2021. By 2030, blockchain will generate $3.1 trillion in new business value, and in the next two years, 70 percent of white-collar workers will interact with conversational platforms on a daily basis. If Gartner is right, it’s imperative to start learning about these areas today. As part of Quest’s 2019 Cloud Webinar series, Carlos Chang from Oracle, presented on what’s next in the role of emerging technology in the enterprise.

3 Emerging Technologies to Focus On

Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identities (UIDs) and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.

Oracle customer Titan, an off-road wheel manufacturer, is currently digitizing its traditional manufacturing process with IoT. Through Oracle Production Monitoring, this company experiences:

• Real-time production planning and monitoring
• Enhanced production scheduling and customer service
• Greater inventory accuracy
• AI/ML-powered preventive maintenance
• Improved OEE and workplace safety

Once you decide to invest in IoT, you can build your own tools or use turnkey solutions from Oracle. Titan chose to use the following Oracle IoT applications:

• Asset Monitoring
  • Track, locate, and intelligently monitor your equipment
  • Understand usage, ensure uptime, optimize costs
• Production Monitoring
  • Real-time view of production performance and equipment prognostics
  • Production yield and quality
• Fleet Monitoring
  • Manage fleet operations, optimize cost, improve safety, and stay compliant
• Connected Worker
  • Track worker safety with real-time visibility in work environments and ensure compliance
• Service Monitoring
  • Differentiated service experience leveraging asset monitoring for contact centers

Blockchain

According to Ron Hose, founder of Coins.ph, “The Blockchain is a decentralized ledger. In the same way the internet facilities direct exchange of information, Blockchain facilitates direct exchange of value between parties, without the need for a trusted intermediary.”

Companies that use blockchain experience:

• Reduced costs
• Improved efficiency
• Fraud controls
• Disruptive potential
• Transparency and security
• No need to rely on a third-party authority

Oracle’s blockchain strategy includes both a platform and prebuilt applications. Oracle uses a hyperledger fabric blockchain. This is an open-source blockchain technology hosted by The Linux Foundation. (You can find out more about the blockchain fabric at hyperledger.org.) This hyperledger is commonly used by Oracle, IBM, SAP, and other big enterprise players. The primary difference for Oracle is that they not only provide the infrastructure in their own cloud, but they also build the blockchain into applications, so they are ready to go for customers.

As an overview, Oracle offers:

• Oracle Blockchain Prebuilt Applications
  • Ready to Go
  • Helps customers increase trust and provide agility in transactions across their business networks
• Oracle Blockchain Platform
  • Ready to Build
  • A fully managed cloud platform for rapid provisioning and simplified administration of Blockchain networks

Oracle’s Blockchain provides a track and trace solution for real-time end-to-end supply chain visibility. With this tool, you can:

• Get a cross-network view of business flow
• Track transactions across all trading partners
• Track order progress across the supply chain network
• Trace a specific order or specific transaction throughout the supply chain
• Define business flows across network, add new suppliers, shippers, distributors, partners, etc.
• Remediate anomalies as they occur in the supply chain network

The Oracle Blockchain Applications Cloud includes:

• Intelligent Track & Trace
  • Monitor transactions and movement of assets or goods across organizations
• Product Lineage & Provenance
  • Pedigree, serialization, and genealogy of product components
• Cold Chain Monitoring
  • Comprehensive track and trace system for food and pharmaceuticals safety
• Warranty & Usage Tracking
  • Product usage tracking for Rental, Warranty, Service, & Insurance for high-value assets

Here’s how Oracle customers are currently using the Blockchain applications:

• Certified Origins Italia enhances supply chain traceability and trust with Oracle Blockchain
• HealthSync uses Oracle blockchain platform to power more intelligent healthcare
• Circulor offers transparency for mineral sourcing with Oracle blockchain platform
• Alpha Acid Brewing merges blockchain and beer with Oracle
• Neurosoft leverages Oracle blockchain platform to ease invoice factoring
• CargoSmart improves customers’ operational efficiency with Oracle

You can find each of these use cases by searching “blockchain” at oracle.com/customers.

Digital Assistants

In the early 2000s, companies realized they needed a website. Next, the introduction of iPhones led to mobile apps. Now, it’s the era of the chatbot and conversational AI. You may be wondering about the difference between a chatbot and a digital assistant. The most basic answer is that a chatbot is single purpose and reactionary while a digital assistant is intelligent and proactive.

Chatbots vs. Digital Assistants

Chatbots

• A computer program designed to stimulate conversation with human users
• Single-purpose
• User-initiated
• Uses AI for understanding conversations

Digital Assistants

• A digital assistant recommends or completes tasks beyond simple conversations
• Multi-purpose (bots = skills)
• Bot initiated
• Uses AI for predictions and recommendations

Here’s how digital assistants can help your enterprise:

• Customer Service
  • Handle a high call volume
  • Reduce wait times
  • Increase satisfaction
  • Add staffing resources
• HCM
  • Easier access
  • Increase staff productivity
  • Automate recruitment and onboarding
• ERP/SCM
  • Improve access to critical information
  • Provide actionable insights
  • Optimize processes and workflow
• CRM
  • Access client info
  • Increase quota attainment
  • Accelerate sales cycles

To learn more about emerging technology in the enterprise, check out the additional resources attached below.