Businesses are anticipating a world where technologies — such as extended reality, blockchain, digital twins and edge computing — are converging to reshape human experiences, according to the Accenture Technology Vision 2022 report.
As part of the report, Accenture surveyed more than 4,600 business and technology leaders across 23 industries in 35 countries. They include 800 respondents across eight Asia-Pacific countries, including Singapore.
At this early stage, 71% of executives believe the metaverse will have a positive impact on their organisation and 42% believe it will be breakthrough or transformational.
The study found that, overall, 79% of APAC executives (78% of Singapore executives) believe the metaverse will have a positive impact on their organisation and 46% of APAC executives (47% of Singapore executives) believe it will be breakthrough or transformational.
The Technology Vision 2022 report identifies four key trends that companies will need to address.
First, the metaverse will lead to a persistent 3D environment in which moving from one “place” to another will be as simple as walking from one room to another.
Among the executives surveyed, 95% believe that future digital platforms need to offer unified experiences, enabling interoperability of customers’ data across different platforms and spaces.
Second, digital environments will reshape not just how people engage with worlds, but also redefine everything built in it, how people sense and interact and the control they have over it.
Among executives, 92% agree that leading organisations will push the boundaries of the virtual world to make it more real, increasing the need for persistence and seamless navigation between the digital and physical worlds.
Third, AI is top-of-mind for businesses, as companies and consumers alike shift away from considering what is real versus fake, to what is authentic.
Already, 96% of executives report that their organisations are committed to authenticating the origin of their data and genuine use of AI.
And fourth, tools like quantum computing and biology-inspired computing are allowing businesses to solve problems that may be too expensive, inefficient, or flat out impossible for traditional computing.
Nearly all (94%) executives agreed that long-term success will depend on leveraging next-generation computing to solve seemingly intractable challenges.
To help organisations take advantage of this opportunity, Accenture is launching the Accenture Metaverse Continuum business group to . The new group will be led by Accenture CTO Paul Daugherty and David Droga, CEO and creative chairman of Accenture Interactive.
“The next generation of the internet is unfolding and will drive a new wave of digital transformation far greater than what we’ve seen to date, transforming the way we all live and work,” said Daugherty.
“Our vision of the metaverse as a continuum challenges prevailing narrower views and highlights why organisations must act today, or find themselves operating in worlds designed by, and for, someone else,” he added.
