Your Task:

You are the Information Systems Manager of an organization of your choice. One of your key tasks is ‘technological gatekeeping‘, the monitoring of the rapidly changing technological environment for emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs) which may be of potential benefit to your organization. You are required to write a management brief for your board of directors reporting on ONE of the emerging information technologies from the attached list from Gartner. DO NOT choose any other technology trend other than the six listed at the end of this coursework brief.

You should outline, in terms understandable to someone not familiar with technology, what the technology is, what it can do, how it might be of value to your organization and how/when it might be implemented in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the organisation.

Please Note: This is an individual piece of work. Your organisation must be a real organisation (small or medium it doesn’t matter) but it doesn’t have to be one that you have worked in. Also, it doesn’t have to be a profit-making organisation; you could choose a charity if you so wish. You must, however, be certain that your chosen organisation has not already implemented the technology you have chosen. For that reason, I don’t want you to choose any large-scale organisations (e.g. Apple, Tesco, Dell, Microsoft, etc.).

Your brief should be no more than 1500 words (not including references). 

You may attach a short description of your chosen organization as an appendix (half a page absolute maximum). This appendix will not count towards the 1500 words.

Learning outcomes:

Assessment criteria:

1. Explanation of ONE emerging technology from the list below. This part should be aimed at a person not that familiar with new technologies. It should therefore be jargon-free and written in an easy-to-understand style. The explanation in this section should be completely separate from its application to your chosen organisation, and should explain the technology, its abilities in 2020, its general uses and a brief account of what the future is perceived to hold for it. Use contemporary evidence wherever possible to support your work here, otherwise you risk the validity of your description. (20%)

2. Analysis of the potential use of the technology for your chosen organization in 2020. Although they need not be discussed in this order, you should be considering:

 Values/Benefits: In addition to the tangible benefits of such a technology (increased profit, reduced costs of doing business, etc.), you should also think about intangible benefits (better image, increased flexibility or customer service, etc.). Justify and support your answers here with evidence and examples wherever necessary. Don’t just say what the benefits will be but why this technology is in a position to offer them. You should make your thinking very clear and transparent here. (25%)

 Risks: What risks are there with implementing such a technology in the organisation, i.e. might it be sufficiently new and immature that there may be problems in its operation? For instance, what evidence is there that this technology may not be able to fulfil the hype in 2020 and provide the organisation with the value and benefits listed above? (25%)

 Time/Implementation: How long it will reasonably take to implement such a technology in the organisation and what approach(es) to implementation   you think appropriate in the circumstances. Think about how long it might take for the technology to mature for it to become truly useful. Support your work here with evidence. (10%)

 Change: the likely impact of such an implementation on the stakeholders who are going to have to use it or who will be affected by it. What general approaches to change management do you think would be appropriate in the circumstances? (10%)

Please remember, we are looking for you to demonstrate how your chosen technology would benefit your chosen organisation in 2020. If what you are proposing could have been achieved in 2018 or before, you are missing the point!

3. Written brief: structure, presentation and written English. If you are unsure about whether your English is good enough, please use the resources the university makes available for checking English grammar, spelling, etc. You          have no excuse for handing in work that is difficult or impossible for us to understand. You do not need an Executive Summary but you do need an Introduction and Conclusion, plus sections for the technology and the sections listed in part 2 above. (5%)

Please email Pat Barrow ([email protected]) for an appointment if you need to discuss your work with him.

If reassessment is needed, it will be a similar exercise but with a different technology and organisation.

The Technologies (Choose ONE)

Multiexperience

Through 2028, the user experience will undergo a significant shift in how users perceive the digital world and how they interact with it. Conversational platforms are changing the way in which people interact with the digital world. Virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) are changing the way in which people perceive the digital world. This combined shift in both perception and interaction models leads to the future multisensory and multimodal experience.

“The model will shift from one of technology-literate people to one of people literate technology. The burden of translating intent will move from the user to the computer,” said Brian Burke, research vice president at Gartner. . “This ability to communicate with users across many human senses will provide a richer environment for delivering nuanced information.”

Hyperautomation

Automation uses technology to automate tasks that once required humans.

Hyperautomation deals with the application of advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), to increasingly automate processes and augment humans. Hyperautomation extends across a range of tools that can be automated, but also refers to the sophistication of the automation (i.e., discover, analyse, design, automate, measure, monitor, reassess.)

Hyperautomation often results in the creation of a digital twin of the organization

As no single tool can replace humans, hyperautomation today involves a combination of tools, including robotic process automation (RPA), intelligent business management software (iBPMS) and AI, with a goal of increasingly AIdriven decision making.

Human Augmentation

Human augmentation explores how technology can be used to deliver cognitive and physical improvements as an integral part of the human experience. Physical augmentation enhances humans by changing their inherent physical capabilities by implanting or hosting a technology element on their bodies, such as a wearable device. Cognitive augmentation can occur through accessing information and exploiting applications on traditional computer systems and the emerging multiexperience interface in smart spaces. Over the next 10 years increasing levels of physical and cognitive human augmentation will become prevalent as individuals seek personal enhancements. This will create a new “consumerization” effect where employees seek to exploit their personal enhancements — and even extend them — to improve their office environment.

The Empowered Edge

Edge computing is a computing topology in which information processing and content collection and delivery are placed closer to the sources, repositories and consumers of this information. It tries to keep the traffic and processing local to reduce latency, exploit the capabilities of the edge and enable greater autonomy at the edge.

“Much of the current focus on edge computing comes from the need for IoT systems to deliver disconnected or distributed capabilities into the embedded IoT world for specific industries such as manufacturing or retail,” said Mr. Burke. “However, edge computing will become a dominant factor across virtually all industries and use cases as the edge is empowered with increasingly more sophisticated and specialized compute resources and more data storage.

AI Security

Autonomous Things

Autonomous things, which include drones, robots, ships and appliances, exploit AI to perform tasks usually done by humans. This technology operates on a spectrum of intelligence ranging from semiautonomous to fully autonomous and across a variety of environments including air, sea and land.

While currently autonomous things mainly exist in controlled environments, like in a mine or warehouse, they will eventually evolve to include open public spaces. Autonomous things will also move from stand-alone to collaborative swarms, such as the drone swarms used during the Winter Olympic Games in 2018.

However, autonomous things cannot replace the human brain and operate most effectively with a narrowly defined, well-scoped purpose.

These technologies will be covered in the Spring semester.