These 4 Trends Will Affect Company Data Strategy in Asia Pacific in 2022

While this year has implied various uncertainties, one thing is certain is that data will continue to play a very important role in 2021 and the years to come. Many organizations/companies have used data to strengthen their business resilience in the last 12 months.

The next step is to use the data to gain the agility needed to cope with the disruption caused by unintended, future disasters. To do that, they need to ensure that their data strategy can really anticipate the four trends that will dominate this year.

The existence of 5G in Asia Pacific and the onset of a data storm

The existence of 5G technology will have an impact on the company's data strategy because this technology can provide massive connectivity for the Internet of Things (IoT). One 5G network can handle up to 1 million connected devices in an area of ​​1 square kilometer. Therefore, companies in Asia Pacific that adopt IoT technology must be ready to navigate in the midst of the data storm created by these connected devices.

Machine learning can be accessed by everyone

As company go digital, they will face exponential data growth and the increasing complexity of new technologies. Thus, more and more companies are using machine learning to meet these challenges, but many are taking a piecemeal rather than holistic approach to machine learning.

As a result, they are difficult to be truly data-driven. Companies in Asia Pacific can solve this problem by operationalizing machine learning, meaning that they really take advantage of machine learning without the help of IT and data science teams. To do this, they need to understand, trust, and communicate machine learning models to impact their business. Those who are able to do so – to the extent that they can execute the insights generated by AI – will be able to survive and thrive in the next normal.

Data governance will come to the fore in the hybrid cloud universe

Hybrid cloud is now the default choice for most companies. IDC predicts that by 2022, more than 90 percent of companies in Asia Pacific (except Japan) will rely on a mix of on premise/dedicated private clouds, multiple public clouds, and legacy platforms to address their infrastructure needs. With data spread across hybrid clouds, it's critical for enterprises to effectively secure and manage that data, whether it's used or not.

Companies with weak data security and governance are not only vulnerable to becoming victims of cyberattack and internal threats, but will also find it difficult to comply with various regulations such as data protection regulations and Know Your Customer (KYC) obligations.

AI is surrounded by ethical issues

As more companies use artificial intelligence (AI) to create scalable solutions, so do reputational, regulatory, and legal risks. Because AI systems are trained to learn from a collection of datasets, companies in Asia Pacific must anticipate the ethical issues that arise from the increasingly widespread collection, analysis and use of large amounts of data. Currently, the discourse around the ethics of AI revolves around the issue of data anonymization.

Australia, Singapore and South Korea already have AI frameworks in place. Other markets, including India and Indonesia, are drafting regulations and setting national standards for AI innovation by 2021. In addition, companies in Asia Pacific can play a role by building strong data governance.

The same trend will occur in Indonesia in 2022, following various advances that have occurred in this country. For example, 5G will start as soon as this year the government finishes allocating 5G frequency blocks to three local operators. This will lead to the creation of huge amounts of data as 5G will drive IoT and edge computing.

So it is very important for companies in Indonesia to be able to manage their data effectively and comply with various data protection regulations.

Asia Pacific Gets Big Profits from Industry 4.0

Along with developments in Asia, there is Industry 4.0, which is also known as industrial digitization. Shifting businesses and enterprises to smart, connected virtual spaces is no longer an option, but a necessity for survival, especially coupled with the stresses brought on by the pandemic.

 A new study by Deloitte demonstrates this trend with the vast majority (96 percent) of companies from Asia Pacific (APAC) revealing that they have conducted an audit to find opportunities in Industry 4.0. This percentage is much higher than the global average of 51 percent.

Asia Pacific's level of digitalization was still in its early stages until the pandemic forced everyone to reconsider their operational practices. The presence of Industry 4.0 is a revolution that prioritizes consumers as an important pillar. Together with breakthroughs such as Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, Industry 4.0 is here to create the future according to what we want.

The desired future (Customized future) means that products and services are created based on consumer preferences. This is also known as "personalization", a trend introduced by 4G cellular ultra-broadband, which puts the power at human fingertips to hail a taxi when they need it, stream the desired song or content, and more.

IT consultants such as deeeplabs.com assist various data-driven projects to provide strategic value to companies in Indonesia who need enterprise data cloud in their data strategy. That way, each of their employees will have access to relevant data and insights, while controlling spending, reducing risk, and implementing consistent security and governance across all data assets. In turn, they will be in a better position to improve operational efficiencies, find new sources of revenue, and provide people with a better customer experience or service — even when they have to deal with disruption.