Advances in Connected Worker Technology
Virtual meetings have become the norm , video conferencing is used more and more to reinforce human connection , and in-person meetings have given place to online alternatives . As we look to the future , the global market for remote connectivity solutions is forecast 4 to continue increasing to reach USD ~ 72B by 2027 , mostly owing to advancements in technology and cellular networking .
While the term “ remote work ” evokes the idea of employees working from home , it should be noted that there are a vast number of use cases involving not only office employees , but also field workers ( e . g ., energy , mining , logistics , etc .) or mobile workers ( e . g ., utilities , telecommunications , manufacturing , etc .). In fact , working remotely is a ‘ de facto ’ practice in some of these cases and the share of such roles has been steadily increasing to where they were already a third of the total workforce back in 2013 5 .
These types of workers have a different set of needs , both in terms of remote connectivity and usability . In many instances , they need to communicate while conducting a troubleshooting task and needing both hands for safety ( e . g ., on a ladder ). Usage of laptops , tablets or phones is ruled out in such cases . Additionally , the expectations of reliability and resiliency of remote communications is a lot higher in these cases than that of a home-office worker .
For the purpose of this discussion , we define remote connectivity as the ability to conduct the due business process outside of usual work premises through the use of connected devices . In light of COVID-19 , remote work has evolved from a perk , sometimes used to facilitate ad-hoc flexible work arrangements , to a necessity for business continuity and employee retention . Yet , with technology being so embedded in today ’ s economy , simply sending employees home and relying on teleconferencing is not enough .
A myriad of challenges came to light earlier this year , including issues with effective virtual collaboration , hardware and software limitations , data privacy and security , or connectivity . Subpar technology can clearly hinder remote workers and make it challenging to effectively collaborate or access resources , specifically when work ought to be conducted across disparate geographic locations , including across national ( and regulatory ) boundaries . Companies of all sizes have jumped at the opportunity to expand their existing solutions or develop new ones to address these problems .
Large technology companies are competing head-to-head with small up-and-coming startups in an environment where speed-to-market and user growth often supersede tech maturity or privacy . However , given the expected continued growth in market size and the breadth of existing challenges , one has to feel confident that a diverse set of winners will emerge with technology innovations that will benefit end consumers and facilitate better remote connectivity .
- 54 - November 2020