How the networked economy is changing our world

As we turn our back on 2014 it’s time to reflect and predict. I don’t know about you, but this year was a whirlwind in my perspective. This year alone, we saw innovations that are improving our experiences with everyday things and simplifying them to create the biggest impact on our daily lives:

• Controlling everyday luxuries like our thermostats, lights, and security systems
• Purchasing (or more like sharing) good and services we only need every once in a while
• Obtaining loans and financial services by cutting out the middleman (a.k.a. the bank)
• Entertaining ourselves with media content that’s not available in mainstream media

Although the Networked Economy is in its infancy, this dawn of the “hyperconnected era” is proving to be a very transformative time in human history. Individuals, businesses, and societies are interconnected in ways previously thought impossible – in real time.

The Networked Economy changed us all in 2014

With the rapid ascension of The Internet of Things and Big Data, we’re now living in a world where everything – people, business, process, and data – is connected. We’re expanding the use of valuable networks by linking our favorite social channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and Weibo to machine-generated data and streaming that collective intelligence to companies with goods and services to offer – creating those personalized experiences with the brands we love. Companies own less infrastructure, inventory, and manufacturing equipment than ever before. And with the help of an increasingly contingent workforce, companies are becoming more agile and profitable as their workforce rapidly assembles to address the biggest challenges of the moment and disassemble just as quickly to move on to the next critical project.

Here’s a sampling of the changes we experienced in 2014:

• New Paths to ROI for Egypt’s Networked Economy Thanks to Big Data
• Revolution in Progress: The Networked Economy
• Unlocking the Value of the Networked Economy
• 4 Ways the Networked Economy Is Circular
• 3 Things Retailers Need to Thrive in the Networked Economy
• Big Data: Creating Value from the Networked Economy
• 4 Tech Megatrends that Are Transforming the African Economy
• How The Internet of Things Can Encourage Business Collaboration

… and I predict 2015 will continue to build on those lifestyle and business transformations

With the start of 2015, we leave behind quite an eventful year. But don’t worry, 2015 is already showing promise of further improving, empowering, and enriching us in ways that are only limited by our imagination.

Here are a few of my personal predictions for the Networked Economy in 2015:

• Factory automation will enhance production efficiency with process monitoring and supervision, remote management and optimization, and maximized energy management. Cost savings could be as high as US$500 billion.
• Real-time monitoring in healthcare will reduce the need for specialized human capital – shrinking costs by 1% – 2%.
• Sensors and precision analytics used to improve inventory management will lower the cost of goods sold by 2% for retailers.
• Biometrics-driven risk assessments will transform business models and profit pools in the health insurance industry.
• Smart grids will drive material changes to the electric-power business model through the development of distributed power, requirements for more energy storage, and shifts in consumer behavior.

This article is published in collaboration with SAP Community Network. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum. 

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Author: Dinesh Sharma is an SAP Employee

Image: Internet LAN cables are pictured in this photo illustration taken in Sydney June 23, 2011. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne