In the future there will be five main trends that will shape the Information Technology (IT) and business landscape in Asia Pacific, namely digital transformation, smart cities, cross-modal IT, multi cloud, and limited skills. Work practice will be very different from the previous generation. Companies need to find ways to take advantage of this phenomenon.

Traditional Company Turns to Digital Native

CIOs believe that more of the company's revenue stream will come from digital channels. According to a Gartner CIO Agenda Insights report, last year only 16 percent of CIOs hoped to get their business revenue streams through digital channels. However, this year this figure has more than doubled, to 37 percent.

This fact shows that digital initiatives do not only come from the CIO, but from all business functions that also contribute to creating digital platforms and employing digital natives.

Smart City (Smart City)

Smart cities have become a hot topic recently in Asia Pacific, where many countries in Asia Pacific are also rolling out their initiatives to address public security challenges to transportation issues.

Smart companies will be the catalyst to help realize smart cities, along with opening up opportunities from the Government in the form of various initiatives, such as Digital India, Smart Nation Singapore, and Digital China. According to Navigant Research, the business opportunities for companies in related sectors are enormous, with smart cities' annual investment in technology that could quadruple to US$11.3 billion by 2023.

Unified Operational Model

Currently, there are two models that IT organizations can adopt to address the needs of digital enterprises. For the first model, the application of traditional recording systems such as CRM systems and e-Commerce. The system is built on prediction, accuracy, and availability, according to the sensitive data at hand.

While the second model, the insight system is more exploratory, such as big data analytics. This system provides a perspective on what is happening in the business, so users can test several hypotheses using multiple layers of data. The system is more agile and fast, giving organizations the ability to test ideas quickly and at affordable costs.

Multi cloud Provides Trans-Regional Business Opportunities

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) seeks to deliver significant benefits in the field of economic trade in the Asia Pacific region. To realize the full potential of this partnership agreement, investment in technology infrastructure that can connect the economy will be very important.

Several companies have increased data center capacity to continue to facilitate cloud computing. The company is also investing in improving high-speed cross-border connectivity. Direct routes between major regions such as Southeast Asia, Australia and the United States are also under construction

This expanding market opportunity will impact how companies use the cloud and expand the options that exist today.

With 70 percent of organizations currently using hybrid clouds, and implementing TPP provisions to protect offshore data while avoiding electronic liability, this will create cross-border multi clouds so companies can continue to expand.

Talent Hunt

There are several factors that will affect the technology workforce market in the next year, so many organizations will be looking at how they will fill the workforce gap to stay innovated and competitive.

Efforts to address the limited IT workforce are not just about producing more graduates. Companies need to be able to attract talented young people as well as find ways to increase their productivity as permanent employees, so that companies will be able to bridge the limitations of IT personnel in the long term.

The work practices of 'Generation Z' are very different from the previous generations. This generation is expected to have an average of 17 jobs in their lifetime, so they will build a wide range of skills that can be used in a wide variety of industries over the course of their career. Companies need to find ways to take advantage of this phenomenon. Generation Z is more motivated by their contribution to society than by their company logo.

Competition from Start Up Companies with Well Organized Companies is Getting Tighter

Startup companies as well as those that already have a reputation are increasingly aware of the increasingly competitive market demand. While this phenomenon is a testament to the power of technology when utilized properly, this flexible and highly connected manufacturing process also opens up its own niche.

The Asian region earned four of the top five positions as a region based on the percentage of Industrial Control Systems (ICS) computers that were nearly infected in the first half of this year. In terms of ransomware, the region in Asia still leads by a notable margin in the regional rankings. More than half of the countries in the top 15 are from Asia Pacific.

 An example of the safe and profitable application of Industry 4.0 has been carried out by Kaspersky with Siemens in the first intelligent floating fish culture at Singapore Aquaculture Technologies (SAT). First in Singapore and expected to produce as much as 350 tons of fish annually, this SGD4 million aquaculture facility is set up to meet Singaporeans' need for quality fish while tackling the challenges of climate change which has resulted in declining fish populations.