Technology & The Future of Workplace

While thinking technology integration at the workplace, most of us only focus on boosting employee productivity and profitability. However, this is not the case today. Given the current situation, we are most likely going to witness a complete revolution in terms of safety and healthcare programmes at the workplace, and technology is going to play a larger role in this.

Software applications are being used to enhance employee safety training, monitoring and reporting process, as well as improve employee compensation capabilities.  Investments are not relegated to automation and “booking of anything” workplace applications alone. While automation is a great way to increase  efficiency,  companies are now prioritizing investing in technologies that aid ‘booking of anything’ applications with built in voice, gesture, sensor, and/or biometric control features to ensure seamless experience of a healthy and contactless workplace. To identify areas where companies can save costs and increase productivity in the post-pandemic world, measuring human variables affecting productivity and getting better at converting data into insights has become critical.

With newer workplace as well as work models, companies are investing in newer technologies in a bid to future-proof themselves.

Top investment areas include:

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR): A PwC report last year predicted that nearly 23.5 million jobs worldwide would be using AR and VR by 2030 for training, work meetings or to provide better customer service. Virtual reality used within businesses is forecasted to grow from $829 million in 2018 to $4.26 billion in 2023, according to ARtillery Intelligence. With work becoming remote, there is a tangible loss of ‘human connect.’ Companies are considering ushering in VR and AR, even at home — or at least giving the tech a push on the path to mainstream.

Cybersecurity Technology: Cybersecurity is extremely important, as cyber-attacks are on the rise. According to CSO Online, “just under 30% of organizations are likely to suffer at least one breach over the next 24 months.” By staying one step ahead and proactively protecting yourself from data breaches, you can help decrease the business costs associated with cyber-attacks.

Internet of Behaviours (IoB): Gartner Inc. predicted that IoB will become common in daily life. It combines existing technologies that focus on the individual directly (e.g., facial recognition, location tracking, and Big Data) and translates the resulting data into relevant behavioural events. For example, by leveraging IoB via computer vision, organizations can see whether employees are following COVID protocols.

Intelligence Augmentation: IA technologies can make even the most tedious tasks efficient. For example, technology will soon be able to automatically notify meeting participants if they are talking about topics unrelated to the agenda and even put users on mute if they are interrupting. This guidance will help elevate established processes and make enterprise operations more seamless. IA will continue to be used in the workplace as it has the potential to revolutionize employee capabilities and impact overall business results.

Human Augmentation:  Human augmentation technology works as an extension of human capabilities. This technology can help with human limitations and unburden people both physically, and mentally, hence reducing the risk of fatigue, as well as ensuring safety. Some examples include glasses for viewing augmented visual content, next-generation cochlear implants for auditory sensing and processing, limb prostheses or devices that enhance muscle function and capabilities. Other types of human-augmentation technologies work with specific IT resources including the cloud, big data, and mobile computing.

Given the disruption, organisations are rethinking their business and technical requirements, and assessing how these technologies can help them stay flexible, profitable and relevant in these ever dynamic times.

 

 

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