Trends 2016: The coming together of mobility, OTT, big data, IoT, AI...

By Abhishek Rungta

Mobility

Mobility is not new, but it is still growing stronger.

Companies need to tap into and build on top of the mobile platform, which offers a much wider reach, more functionality (as more traditional devices and their functions get crammed into a phone) and a more intuitive interface.

It is a new and evolving platform, which is throwing new form factors (mobiles, phablets and tablets of different sizes, configuration, etc.) and operating systems very frequently. And on top of that, it is used by a very diverse set of users, hence resulting in heterogeneity of users and thus adoption related challenges.

Companies’ need to built on the strength and handle the challenges to engage their users and build stronger automation – any time, any where by any stakeholders. Major adoption is seen in BFSI, Retail, Media, Publishing & Entertainment and Citizen Services (i.e. e-Governance). It will continue to top the charts for some time.

Over The Top (OTT)

Over The Top (OTT) is evolving rapidly and is set to disrupt the media business in a big way. It allows channels to broadcast content over the Internet. On the other hand, it allows consumers to consume content on multiple devices i.e. mobile, laptop, TV, etc. with a single subscription, anytime, anywhere – without any set top box.

It solves many problems and opens many avenues – 1)anyone can become a media company – yes, even one single person sitting in a remote corner of the world, 2) it solves the payment and distribution problem of the content creator, 3) users have the flexibility of selecting their preferences and paying for what they are consuming, 4) users can take their entertainment with them, wherever they are and 5) it allows users to decide if they wish to see commercials or if they are happy to pay for a premium content.

IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of physical objects or "things" embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and network connectivity, which enable these objects to collect and exchange data.

Over time, a very strong ecosystem has developed around Internet of Things (IoT). Today, we can see simple and practical devices, which are used by end-consumers. There are more complex solutions, which are being applied in manufacturing, energy, medicine and smart cities. As people and technologists realize the potential of connected devices and automation that can be achieved, more interesting applications and use cases will evolve.

IoT devices are producing huge volume of data, which cannot be understood or comprehended easily without proper analytics. This will push the Big Data revolution forward.

Big Data

As we get more and more information, we need to mine the meaning out of it. We need to identify trends and patterns to take correct decisions. The data can come out of a teller machine in a bank, a network of 10,000+ POS systems for a retailer or temperature data of a heat sensor in a factory furnace. Again, at times, the data is static and in some cases they are streaming for real time action.

This whole explosion in data is giving rise to the use of Big Data and related technologies.

Artificial Intelligence

Last, but not the least, it seems Artificial Intelligence (AI) is finally making an entry into consumer applications. AI will become more and more important with IoT and Big Data to provide the data source for analytics capability to make sense out of the data.

It is a matter of time that interesting machine learning applications touch our lives. We already have image-based searches on many e-commerce sites, which is making life easier for people by doing object detection, and applications like www.x.ai, which acts as your personal assistant and set meetings for you.

(The author, Abhishek Rungta, is founder and CEO, Indus Net )