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Jacki_Prause
Explorer
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Will 2016 be the year that companies take to space with asteroid mining? Here on earth, will new European data protection laws raise the stakes for global enterprises? Will free Internet of Things (IoT) data networks turn your city into a data lab?


Sixteen leading experts, academics, and business influencers share their predictions for the technologies and trends we just might see in 2016.


  1. Instead of going for planned obsolescence, product designers are starting to create products that get better with age. – Mike Wittenstein, Founder and Managing Principal, Storyminers
  2. We will see an emphasis on cyber-security. The real game-changer will be the creation of communities that are gearing up around a common goal. Discussions around the ethics of cyber-security will also heat up, and we’ll see new business models, vision, and creativity. – Ingmar Christiaens, Partner in the Advisory practice, EY
  3. We will see a trend in social commerce, allowing consumers to make purchases directly from a tweet, pin, or in Facebook with just a single click. – Dan Berthiaume, Senior Technology Editor, Chain Store Age
  4. Unemployment is down to 5%, the lowest it’s been in eight years, which means a lot of people are going to be changing jobs. For those who are happy where they’re at, it will be a good time to negotiate for a better package. Katie Donovan, Salary and Career Negotiation Consultant, Equal Pay Consultant, Founder of Equal Pay Negotiations LLC
  5. Through cognitive computing and advanced analytics in sports, the competitive advantage that used to be earned will be available for purchase. Injury prediction and prevention are the catalysts. – Corrine Vitolo, Founder and CEO, SmartSports
  6. Started by Things Network in the Netherlands, we are having this amazing roll out of free city-wide IoT data networks – which are going to turn cities all over the place into IoT laboratories. – David Stephenson, Principal, Stephenson Strategies
  7. Daily fantasy sports sites are going to be seen as the Napsters of the daily sports betting market. By the end of the year, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, and maybe Twitter are going to have stakes in the ground and are going to start rapidly growing in this space. – Patrick Heffernan, Practice Manager, TBR’s Professional Services Practice
  8. We’ll see a revitalization of the store. It will include many things: mobile apps; selling assistants either in the employee’s hands or a private concierge in the customer’s hands; and geo-location tracking. – Brian Kilcourse, Managing Partner, Retail Systems Research LLC
  9. Sales enablement will be a major focus for B2B companies in 2016. For some B2B companies selling is harder and more complex than ever. Sales reps need to deliver real value in every conversation. – Robin Saitz, Chief Marketing Officer, Brainshark
  10. One of the things we’re going to see is outcome-based healthcare. Organizations and governments are looking at providing payments and reimbursements based on a health outcome. Joseph Miles, Global Vice President, Life Sciences Industry, SAP
  11. 2016 will become the year of social inclusion. We’ll applaud the fintech revolution not just for corporations and organizations, but also to help the unfortunate. We’ll see a swing towards providing services to the unbanked and more focus on digital refugee banks. – Hugh McCullen, Vice President, Axxiome Europe
  12. 2016 will be “The Year of the Laggard.” We’ve seen a lot coming into the market around mobility, social, IoT, and Big Data. Companies that have not taken advantage of any of those technologies yet will start to see an obvious gap in competitiveness, and they will start to lose revenue and employees. – Owen Pettiford, Founder and Co-CEO, CompriseIT
  13. 2016 will be the “Great UX Awakening” in information technology. People will gain productivity through better design and UX. It’s not about the technology; it’s about the relationship between you and your customers. Martin Wezowski, Chief Designer, Global Design SAP Berlin
  14. Online privacy will reach a tipping point in 2016 and it’s going to be a key driver of business success. Privacy and data protection will figure highly on the corporate risk register in the year ahead. – Eleanor Treharne-Jones, Director, EMEA & Global Communications, TRUSTe
  15. USD$1.8 billion was invested in space in the last year and it’s only looking to accelerate. We’re looking at space travel, nano-satellites, rocket propulsion, and asteroid mining. – Susan Lucas-Conwell, Chief Innovation Catalyst, Growth Resources Inc.
  16. The mobile app space for the new HR platform is coming in 2016. This mobile app space is going to be the new platform for HR. It’s going to improve the way that people work. – Bianca McCann, Global HR Leader of the HR Expert Network, SAP


The experts shared their predictions for 2016 on Internet talk radio program Coffee Break with Game-Changers, presented by SAP. You can hear recordings of the shows at SAP Game-Changers 2016 Predictions: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3