The Tech Pentagon: Five technologies and tools that can optimise business operations in 2022

By Varun Gupta, Director, KENT RO Systems

Human civilization has come a long way from where it was a few centuries ago. And yet, the past two years were nothing like we have seen thus far. The Covid-19 outbreak left the global business ecosystem scrambling, with little to no idea about what the future held.

Fast forward to now, and we are fortifying our defences against yet another wave of the pandemic. We’re less afraid, and more prepared this time, with technology leading the line in the battle against Covid-induced disruptions.

Here is a look at top tech trends that will help industries and businesses work smarter, better, and safer in 2022.

#1 Facial Recognition

With the last two attempts at unlocking the economy leading to surges in Covid-19 cases, it has become imperative for stakeholders – from governments to businesses – to factor in pandemic-oriented safety measures into their operational protocols. This will require extensive deployment of innovative contact tracing measures, apart from mass testing.

This is why several national governments have tied their contact tracing programs with facial recognition (FR) technology to some extent. South Korea, for instance, has initiated its pilot programme leveraging AI algorithms and facial recognition late last year to minimise the workload of its human contact tracers. Such programs will drive effective containment strategies and prevent total lockdowns that have impacted the economy, people, and businesses. By implementing FR-based contact tracing measures, enterprises can continue to safely reopen their workplaces. Such an approach will be essential in sectors that depend heavily on physical interactions, such as retail or FMCG, to minimise accidental Covid-19 spread.

In addition to contact tracing, such deployments can help enterprises to remotely undertake critical tasks such as monitoring operations and unauthorised access, as well as conduct business intelligence such as inventory management, stocking, and resupply. Facial emotional recognition can also be used to identify, evaluate, and interpret human emotions, behaviours, and responses to improve service delivery and introduce greater personalisation – which can play a major role in optimizing business outcomes in sectors such as healthcare, education, etc.

#2 Touchless Attendance Systems

Technologies such as facial recognition are also being used to deploy touchless attendance systems that minimise human-to-human contact in schools and workplaces. While FR algorithms tested by US-based National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have 99.5% accuracy for a single facial scan, many indigenous solutions also ensure 99.9% detection accuracy in less than one second. As enterprises seek to restart physical operations, minimising contact surface area through such attendance systems can help in enforcing Covid-related policies with a high degree of effectiveness. They can simultaneously improve the accuracy of attendance reconciliation.

 #3 Embedded analytics

While essential to modern-day enterprise operations, data analytics and business intelligence, typically, are used retroactively. This is because of a fundamental issue in the approach; users must either raise a request to a centralised analytics team or refer to a centralised analytics or BI console for insights. This approach creates bottlenecks that prevent them from utilizing the data to its full value.

Embedded analytics addresses this challenge by making data analysis and business intelligence more accessible for businesses by providing insights as part of the operational workflow. With the most relevant insights available at the point of decision, users across the board can make better, more accurate, and more agile decisions by utilising deep, contextual information. Given how the pandemic has accelerated digital adoption, embedded analytics is expected to become a non-negotiable requirement for businesses of all sizes; the market for such solutions, estimated at US$ 36.08 billion in 2020, is projected to cross US$ 77.5 billion by 2026.

 #4 Process Automation

According to The State of Business Automation report, 94% of respondents claimed that they performed repetitive, time-consuming tasks as of now. Increased digitisation will see businesses shift towards automating these low-value tasks – and the results are there for everyone to see; 88% of SMBs claimed that automation empowered them to compete with their larger counterparts on a more even footing, while nine in 10 professionals within the knowledge economy said that it improved their lives in the workplace. Implementing process automation into operations, therefore, is a priority for businesses, given that it can improve operational efficiency and accuracy, enable better resource utilisation, and achieve business goals faster.

Here, using project management tools also help optimise workflows in remote or hybrid environments by defining ownership, access, accountability, and visibility over tasks and processes. Given their value addition, it comes as no surprise that the global workflow management market is currently growing at a CAGR of 30.6% and is projected to reach US$ 55.35 billion in market size by 2028.

 #5 Video-based Communications

In a survey, 69% of people said that the pandemic will permanently change the nature of work. Evidently, the most significant change is in the way we interact with others. Even before the pandemic, surveys indicated that 94% businesses admitted that video calls increased their productivity while 89% of people felt more connected with their colleagues and companies. However, this need is more heartfelt in the post-pandemic scenario, wherein the human-to-human interactions have largely gone missing.

Businesses can address this need-gap by integrating video-based solutions into their customer-facing operations. Easily integrable and easy-to-use, these solutions can help businesses optimise their website conversions, enhance virtual shopping and customer support experiences, and offer remote assistance to customers and employees. These tools can also be used to conduct virtual audits to save the costs, time, and effort associated with physical audits.

To conclude, the abovementioned technologies can provide organisations with a competitive edge and help them to tide over uncertainties. Such tools and technologies have empowered public entities and will continue to do so in the wake of the pandemic. Integrating the above tools can aid businesses to optimise costs, drive digitisation, and empower their employees and customers alike.