Adopt smart technology or die – Samsung

Samsung Electronics UK says those companies who fail to adopt smart technology – things like invisible computer screens – may not be around in ten years’ time.

The vendor has published the first part of its Smarter Futures report today (broken into four sections listed in bold below below), looking at how smart system technology will transform our daily lives and the office over the next decade.

This report builds on research from PwC earlier this year, which showed that 77 per cent of office workers believe that smart technology will make them more efficient and productive, while 46 per cent believe their company should invest in smart technology.

Partnering with The Future Laboratory and industry leaders at MIT, Google and IBM, the first part of Samsung’s Smarter Futures report, dubbed the ‘Work Life’ section, looks at how smart technology will be implemented and used in the modern office of 2025.

Andy Griffiths, President of Samsung UK & Ireland, said: “This Samsung Smarter Futures report provides clear scenarios whereby smart technology in the future will improve daily working lives. It shows exciting possibilities for how technology can maximise creativity, productivity and staff happiness.

“Whilst this report looks at the future, adopting smart technology has huge economic potential for the UK economy and individual businesses today. The only thing standing in the way of adoption of this technology is business leaders that are yet to realise the potential benefits it can bring.

"Smart technology is the future; it’s happening now and those who fail to make the most of this may well not survive into the next decade.”

Here are the four parts of the report, as written by Samsung:

Creative villages

Rather than remote working, the future workforce will be centred around smart offices, designed to maximise creativity, productivity and staff wellbeing.

• Although remote working is often viewed as the nirvana of the workforce, the next decade will see a restructuring of the traditional office into creative villages: smart environments that make staff more productive, healthier and happier – meaning that offices will once again become the preferred choice.
• Samsung’s report shows how smart technology will change the hierarchical structure of today’s offices, maximizing face-time between individuals and tailoring the office environment to be less stressful, less overloaded and more productive.

Mission critical barriers

Smart systems will know us better than we know ourselves, filtering out all but the most essential information for the task at hand.

• According to the report, by 2025, smart systems that know us better than we know ourselves will shield us from the email and communications blizzard.
• Smart technology in the office will become more and more intuitive, with smart systems completing administration tasks for you and screening out all the non-essential messages and distractions.
• This could be as simple as understanding the difference between a task relating to your current work and a friend asking you out for a drink that does not require an immediate response.

Screen shift

Interactive smart surfaces on walls and tables will become screens at the touch of our hands, or even the sound of our voice.

• While computer screens will still form a key part of the office of the future, they will often be invisible until the moment we need to use them.
• Everything from walls to tables will be able to be used as a screen, activated by hand gestures and voice commands and a new hand signal etiquette will evolve in the workplace as a consequence of this technology as staff adjust to interacting with gesture-controlled smart systems.

Big data team building

Big Data will be harnessed to create the perfect teams, optimise employee productivity and allow workers to focus on their core roles.

• Samsung also shows from its report that by 2025, smart systems will harness Big Data to match up team members with complementary skills to create the most effective, collaborative working groups.
• Building teams will become an exact science, rather than relying on gut instinct. Data will be used to identify the strongest employee partnerships based on historical success.
• Traditional hierarchical structures will be stripped away, bringing teams closer together and responding to the work needs of ambitious Millennials.
• With smart tech taking on admin duties too, the future workforce will also be granted the flexibility and time to focus on the responsibilities core to their role, maximising company productivity.

Cultural Bottle Neck

The development of a smart office future will only be stunted by our own reluctance to step away from the familiar.

• The biggest threat to the development of a smart office future will be cultural and a reluctance to modernise and advance from the familiar.
• It is up to the business leaders of the present to take a leap and empower their businesses with smart tech before their competitors do.
• Any businesses that fail to make this change will fail to survive in the next decade.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8zJUm3YNso

In other news, Samsung has filed a patent for tech that will allow a smartphone user to measure their body fat levels.