INGENIEUR
Greater use of technology for businesses (STAR)
With the rollout of 5G networks, businesses are
expected to take a deeper look at adopting more
advanced technologies to improve productivity
and increase profitability.
According to Lenovo Malaysia General
Manager, next year will see technologies such
as artificial intelligence (AI) and Augmented and
Virtual Reality (AR/VR) taking centrestage.
“It’s difficult to outline all the changes we’ll
see from 5G technology, but it’s evident that
entire industries will be disrupted, and new ones
will be launched. We’ll see businesses roll out
private networks designed for manufacturing
sites, enabling better employee productivity,
machine efficiency and an increase in
profitability.”
The partnership between human workers
and machine capabilities will continue to grow,
enabling us to optimise workflows, save time and
communicate more effectively.
“Emerging technologies are helping people
prepare for, find and engage with, work in new
ways. More enterprise-based conference calls will
utilise AI to drive a more productive experience,
from instant connectivity to live transcriptions and
translations,” he adds.
While the cloud is replacing conventional data
centres at the network core, the edge will emerge
as a complementary source of IT infrastructure,
supporting innovative technologies that promise
to extend the use and impact of technology into
entirely new domains.
“With over 20 billion things projected to
be connected to the Internet by 2020, more
businesses will move data analytics and AIpowered
apps to edge computing to reduce
latency, lighten core server loads and improve
business operations,” he says.
Technology trends in 2020 (STAR)
This is a big year for 5G for Malaysia, with the
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia
Commission (MCMC) announcing the first set
of spectrum bands that will be crucial to the 5G
rollout across the nation. The first 5G bands that
it will be rolling out, also known as “5G pioneer
bands”, are the 700MHz, 3.4GHz to 3.6GHz
(classified as 3.5GHz band) and 24.9GHz to
28.1GHz bands (26/28GHz bands).
Emerging technologies are
helping people prepare for,
find and engage with, work in
new ways. More enterprisebased
conference calls will
utilise AI to drive a more
productive experience, from
instant connectivity to live
transcriptions and translations
The 3.5GHz and 26/28GHz bands are critical
for 5G roll out, as the former offers wider coverage
while the latter is ideal for increasing network
capacity.
MCMC also said 5G will play an important role
in fulfilling one of the Fiberisation and Connectivity
Plan (NFCP) key targets, “particularly in achieving
average speeds of 30Mbps (megabits per second)
in 98% of populated areas by year 2023”.
Also, a total of 55 use cases will be tested
in Kedah, Perak, Penang, Selangor, Terengganu
and Kuala Lumpur, which covers nine “verticals”
– agriculture, digital healthcare, education,
entertainment and media, manufacturing and
process industries, oil and gas, smart city, smart
transportation and tourism.
“For example, International Data Corp predicts
that by 2024, more than 60% of luxury hotels
worldwide will have deployed a ‘customer-facing’
smart assistant that leverages AI to drive better
customer experience,” says Lenovo Malaysia
General Manager.
“There will also be a greater focus on how AI
has to be deployed responsibly so that the benefits
can be enjoyed on a societal scale.”
The Telenor Research Tech Trends 2020 claims
that not only will AI be prevalent this year, it will
also be DIY (do-it-yourself).
“AI is in high demand but is being held back by
a significant shortage in talents and skills to build
and train modern AI for production,” the report
claims.
70 VOL 81 JANUARY-MARCH 2020