The Emergence of the Hyperconnectivity Revolution

Hyperconnectivity is not merely about the technology that facilitates communication but also the impact this technology has at both the local and global level, on everyday lives, finances, governance, and social interactions. It results from a combination of wider availability of broadband internet expansion, the exponential growth and proliferation of mobile and wearable computing devices, and high-speed wireless internet access. It includes the dominance of social media and consumer-generated media in daily life and the use of the cloud for data and application access. 

Everything is connected to just about everything, and so is everyone. This is not just about people and connecting people, this is about people-to-machine, machine-to-machine, and machine-to-people-to-machine connections, which is also termed the Internet of Things.

Hyperconnectivity is revolutionizing the perception of individual relationships, consumer relations, and citizen engagement. As a result, there will be fundamental changes in our economic practices, societal norms, ethics and morals, our political practices and engagement. "The main reason is that more than 4 billion people worldwide use the Internet; more than 5 billion people now have a cell phone (68% penetration); there are 3.2 billion active users of social networks worldwide - growing at an average of 11 new users per second and increasing since the end of 2019," according to the knowledge4policy Europe Report.

Hyperconnectivity and Digital Reality

The main value of a hyperconnected world is the integration of data from physical devices with the impact and development of new data-driven services and scenarios, such as transportation, e-health, Industry 4.0, or energy.

Hyperconnectivity and IoT are set to increase significantly, driven by the fifth generation (5G) of communication infrastructures and higher-volume lower-cost devices. By 2025, there could be nearly 1.4 billion connections worldwide, up from about 200 million 5G connections in 2021.

Distributed Ledger technologies (DLTs) and Blockchains

DLTs and Blockchain have been in the spotlight in recent years. Blockchain can trigger a generational shift from an internet of information to a next-generation internet of value. However, for it to succeed, a consensus is needed among various stakeholders on how the technology works, its potential applications, and the regulatory, cultural and organizational conditions.

Blockchain technologies could enable cross-border collaboration between utilities, eliminating interoperability issues and the use of multiple communication channels. At this point, smart governing is a global requirement for the process of utilizing modern technologies and ICT to ensure a collaborative, transparent, participatory, communication-based and sustainable environment for citizens and governments.

Data-Fueled Technology Convergence.

What companies — and each of their human resources — learned during the last two cycles is so paradigmatic that, today, they are in a position not only to welcome new technology but also to deepen some tools that were not yet fully exploited in order to achieve a 360-degree view of the business and make intelligent decisions based on data.

With the emergence of machine learning (ML), businesses have been approaching, in recent years, a way of working based on artificial intelligence (AI). The challenge facing them in the new cycle is to find new methods and strategies to leverage this data and design better customer service and improvements in everyday contact experiences.

Both ML and AI, which have long been anticipated as revolutionary technologies at the service of businesses, now have the foundations (both infrastructure and professional expertise) on which to forge a major takeoff. What once sounded pretentious or unattainable, today we are in a much better position to implement efficiently and without too much economic effort or training on the part of teams.

Today, no one doubts the importance of data in the world of business and commerce. We are part of a scenario in which the democratization of data science is undoubtedly having a positive impact on many work trends.

Technological Convergence

According to Forbes AI, IoT, cloud computing and ultrafast networks like 5G are the cornerstones of digital transformation and data is the fuel they all burn to generate results. All these technologies exist separately but combined they will break limiting barriers. 

More than ever, data science is a transformative technology and so they complement each other:

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence enables IoT devices to function intelligently, interacting with each other with as little need for human interference as possible, driving a wave of automation and the creation of smart homes and factories all the way to smart cities.

5G

5G and other ultrafast networks, meanwhile, allow data to be transmitted at higher speeds and are slowly giving rise to new types of data transfer (just as ultrafast broadband and 3G recently enabled mobile video streaming at every turn). Today, thanks to all these developments, we can glimpse a near future in which, for example, we can generate traffic routing to ensure optimal transfer speeds left up to automation and so many other alternatives in terms of optimizing everyday business processes.

Cloud

The consulting firm Gartner anticipated in a recent report focused on 2022 that cloud-native platforms that leverage the essence of this technology to deliver IT-related capabilities will create the foundation for most new digital initiatives by mid-decade. In other words, by 2025, cloud-native platforms will be the basis for more than 95 percent of new initiatives (versus 40 percent in 2021).

The conditions are in place; it is time to take a closer look to understand how new dynamics based on the cloud and new technological possibilities make it possible to achieve faster profitability by reducing the time that today is wasted on the functionalities and procedures of other times.

The Future Challenge 

Hyperconnectivity is the realization of a sustainable future. It is about harnessing smartness and making decisions feasible, flexible, and global. The increasing physical and virtual connectedness has increased opportunities through information availability, and access to education is producing an informed citizenry, equipped with the ability to politically engage effectively. 

Connectedness is producing global and local collaborations that are bringing together dynamic individuals from all corners of the globe who understand the possibilities of a hyperconnected world, limited only by our imagination. The scope is extraordinary and what can be achieved has not crystallized. The goal is to make the world a better place.

Sources:

https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/

(Human–Computer Interaction Series) Adrian David Cheok (auth.) - Hyperconnectivity-Springer-Verlag London (2016)

Hyperconnectivity and Digital Reality Towards the Eutopia of Being Human (Kathrin Otrel-Cass)

Gartner.com