BEYOND 2020

THE RISE OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

- ONG XIANG HONG

Transplant someone from the year 2000 to our current time, and he or she will be completely bewildered by the advances that we have made since. The Internet, smartphones, AI and other developments have changed our society so drastically.

Go back to the dawn of the 20th century, and things are even more drastic. Consider that, in America: In 1900,

• 10 percent of families owned a stove, or had access to electricity or phones In 1915,

• 10 percent of families owned a car In 1930,

• 10 percent of families owned a refrigerator or clothes washer In 1945,

• 10 percent of families owned a clothes dryer or air-conditioning In 1960,

• 10 percent of families owned a dishwasher or colour TV In 1975,

• 10 percent of families owned a microwave In 1990,

• 10 percent of families had a cell phone or access to the Internet Today, at least 90 percent of Americans own a stove, electricity, car, fridge, clothes washer, air-conditioning, colour TV, microwave, and cell phone.

And technology marches ever onward. Indeed, the pace of technological advancement in recent years has not only been gathering pace, but is at a positively breakneck speed. There are even more advanced technologies on the horizon, that will make today seem quaint. Of course, many of these technologies are of use to SMEs. Not just because they are a business opportunity – any SME that fails to keep up with the times will be left behind, and consigned to fail.