The A-Z of tech predictions for 2023: F to J

In the 2nd of a five-part series on tech predictions for 2023, industry experts weigh in on topics beginning with the letters 'F' all the way to 'J':

F is for forgotten

"The Internet of Things (IoT) has been deployed for decades now, but the challenge is that the proliferation on connected devices, equipment and sensors in the field are often ‘out of sight, out of mind’," said Chua Chee Pin, Area VP of ASEAN, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan and Taiwan, Commvault.

"IT administrators can easily forget to secure this hardware, (forgetting that) much of IoT's value comes from the data collected and the insights they can generate. IT departments will be looking to ensure data privacy and continued functionality of these devices, while deciding where to organise and protect and store their IoT data securely. In 2023, organisations will find more effective ways to assess and manage the data flowing through their IoT deployments as cyberthreat actors aim at the widely-spread connected networks."

G is for green positioning

A report from the IBM Institute of Business Value has found that 42% of CIOs say sustainability is where technology can have the biggest impact within their organisation over the next three years. "As sustainability becomes a central component of transformation efforts, leaders will need
mature tech to help them track and advance their strategic priorities," the report stated.

"Digital transformation and sustainability transformation should complement each other. Define sustainability measures and use data, technology, and standardised metrics to advance sustainability goals through daily operations. Increase visibility to manage costs and environmental impact in tandem." 

Source: Dailymotion.
Bastha.

Sustainability is a priority across all departments within an organisation. "Brands are in search of platforms that are able to promote sustainability, and it has become an essential component of recent product development around advertising. Marketers and advertisers are looking to engage with advertising platforms that consciously measure and optimise their carbon footprint in order to achieve carbon-neutral levels of their digital campaigns," said Bichoi Bastha, Chief Business and Revenue Officer, Dailymotion of where sustainability plays in advertising.

Source: Tata Commun-
ications. Sarkar.

Hybrid work contributes to sustainability as well. "Communications and collaboration solutions are one of the widely adopted digital technologies in which organisations can look to minimise their environmental footprint. Asia Pacific’s carbon emissions actually fell from nearly 17.18 billion metric tonnes in 2019 to 16.75 billion metric tonnes this year, according to research company Statista. This can be partly attributed to COVID-19 restrictions and the proliferation of remote working.

"By continuing to support remote or hybrid working models, organisations can lower their carbon emissions by cutting down on travelling and commuting," noted Tata Communications' Amitabh Sarkar, VP & Head of Asia Pacific and Japan – Enterprise.

Matthew Goss, Senior VP & GM, Asia Pacific Japan and Greater China, SAP Concur, said that travel and expense (T&E) data would be critical for measuring the impact of sustainability initiatives. 

Source: SAP Concur.
Goss.

"As Covid lifts and corporate travel resumes, more APAC organisations will look at reinstating trips for customer-facing executives, especially those critical to large or strategic deals," he noted.

"Sustainability will also increasingly come into the picture. For instance, integrated, connected tools generate comprehensive data, enabling full visibility of business spending and more accurate forecasting. With growing government regulations for organisations to measure, report on, and take actions to reduce or offset their CO₂ footprint, T&E data produced from this deep integration will be the gold standard for how footprints are calculated going forward."

Epicor suggested looking at the bigger picture. "In our hyperconnected business environment, many people realise that the only way whole industries are going to significantly reduce emissions is by managing the sustainability of their connected supply and value chains. Otherwise, it’s too easy to claim one company is ‘green’ without acknowledging that the companies it buys from aren’t. This is particularly true in the energy-intensive sectors we serve, such as automotive, construction, distribution, and manufacturing," said Paul Flannery, VP, International Channel Sales at Epicor.

"Channel partners and vendors need to strike the right balance in their own marketing and sales pitches to technology buyers; first and foremost, the technology solutions they are recommending will help customers improve their businesses resilience and increase profit margins, and therefore justify the investment when spend is under increasing scrutiny.

"However, new technology must help buyers achieve their business goals without rolling back any progress that’s already been made on decarbonisation or emissions reduction, as the C-suite needs to report to stakeholders (including investors, media and end consumers), that their operations and the vendors they work with are taking steps to become greener. Today, pleading ignorance down your supply chain isn’t good enough. This positioning challenge is where channel partners can provide trusted guidance on the right technology buying decisions, which will give the C-suite the confidence it needs to proceed."

Olivier van Grembergen, Regional VP, APAC, Aiven, also highlighted the need to ensure ESG compliance throughout the value and supply chains. "Cloud adoption facilitates the 'E' in ESG by reducing carbon emissions, but companies will need to be judicious with their cloud use in 2023 to meet employee, investor and consumer ESG without greenwashing," he said.

"Companies need to demonstrate to the authorities that even their partners and suppliers, including their cloud service providers, are abiding by ESG," he added.

"Cloud spending will continue to increase, and that will correspond to an increase in cloud adoption. It will be crucial for companies to pick the right partner to manage costs and keep cloud applications running efficiently. Businesses will no longer be able to adopt the cloud and relegate it as an afterthought, especially as organisations are being tasked with new pressures to build efficient, flexible and sustainable operations with their data applications."

There will also be increased calls for companies to be able to justify their ESG compliance with standardised metrics, van Grembergen said. "On-prem setups do not lend themselves well to crunching and developing these standardised metrics. It would be more desirable for businesses to work with cloud service providers who are able to cost effectively produce these metrics in a timely
fashion." 

Telecommunications

Source: CommScope.
Aoude.

Sustainability will continue to be a key focus area for telecoms as well, as it is currently estimated that telcos are responsible for between 1.6% to 3.9% of global greenhouse emissions and these figures continue to grow. As greater ESG legislation and disclosures come into effect, preparing for, and complying with, these various regulations will be no small task for the telecoms sector," said Raed Aoude, Sales Director, Service Provider, MENA, FSA & SEA, CommScope.

"In response, most telcos are setting ambitious internal targets to reduce power consumption and incorporate green initiatives into day-to-day activities. For example, the majority of telcos are now demanding greater transparency into their partners’ footprints, including those of infrastructure providers, and are looking forward to working together to tackle climate change."

H is for human resources

Source: Workday. Leach.

Specialised technology professionals will remain in high demand, as businesses across all sectors continue to develop their digital capabilities, deliver new technologies, and drive digital agility, said Damian Leach, CTO, APJ, Workday.

"In 2023, we will see IT leaders increasing their efforts to attract, retain, grow, and upskill talent. In addition, there will be a rise in traditional internship programmes as focus shifts to building the talent pipeline. Forward-thinking organisations will build relationships with established education facilities. This will be key for the more mature technology companies, as they seek to attract the brightest minds. Today’s technology workforce must be flexible, willing to learn new skills, and proficient in emerging technologies to help businesses innovate, adapt faster, and better navigate uncertainty," said Leach.

"We also expect more companies to tap into newer, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven optimisation
solutions whilst leveraging machine learning models, enabling IT leaders to adopt a skills-based people
strategy to better support their team members’ career and skills development needs. This will
encourage both internal mobility and building skills for existing tenured employees, whilst moving
them from manual activities to more interesting and higher value strategic work."

Source: Databricks. Martin.

"Finding and retaining high-calibre tech talent has been a challenge for Singapore this past year, due to lower global growth prospects and intensified competition," said Andrew Martin, Head of Databricks South Asia.

"The Ministry of Communications and Information revealed earlier (in 2022) that 19,000 tech roles still remain unfilled across the economy, particularly in roles like software engineering and development, but also across the entire tech value chain.

"I foresee a softening of the tech sector as companies look to grow more sustainably in 2023. As part of that, companies will need to look at hiring differently. We’ll see companies hire more employees early in their careers and also look to expand things like internships and year-end programmes to support that. Organisations will continue to look for talent from less traditional backgrounds, at all stages in their career, and across geographies. As a result, we’ll see companies invest in robust training and development programmes to better train employees who may not have the deepest technical expertise, as well as imbue a culture of lifelong learning for continuous upskilling."

Source: Remote. Lee.

Asia Pacific’s still-flourishing but volatile tech sectors cannot afford to limit the talent pool to local geographies in an increasingly diverse, competitive and global job market, said Jane Lee, Head of APAC Sales, Remote. "Such considerations are especially true when looking to hire for technical roles like product and engineering, or when competing for talent in countries like Singapore which have a severe manpower deficit," she said.

"With evidence clearly showing that mobility and flexibility at work are highly desired by digital nomads, Asia Pacific’s employers must ensure that the right infrastructure and approaches are in place to enable global workplace flexibility and mobility. Such competitive benefits will have to be implemented efficiently, at scale and in line with cross-border regulations. There are new cloud-based platforms that make this possible, empowering companies to employ the right person from half a world away without cost or compliance concerns."

Kyndryl emphasised that the employee experience must also transform. "The digital workplace has transformed into an omnichannel environment where employees choose what channels they want to use to engage across organisations. The challenge many organisations face is ensuring that this new environment is seamless, delivers a great experience for employees and at the same time, enhances collaboration and organisational culture," said Gina Wong, MD – Singapore, Kyndryl.
"In 2023, digital experiences will take a top spot on the recruiting checklist and will also impact retention."

See also J is for job scope, and T is for training

I is for innovation

Source: Amplitude.
Velthuis.

"While many parts of the world are nostalgic for a tech-free past, the people in Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) are always looking ahead. They’re excited to see what’s new. They’re eager to embrace new technologies. And they understand how digital experiences can level the playing field, whether that’s education, financial access, or food delivery.

"This mindset creates the ideal culture for innovation, and the impact is clear in Amplitude’s Product Report 2022. Digital product usage in Singapore grew 43%, more than any other country in the analysis. Despite economic headwinds, I expect digital product usage in APJ to continue to grow (in 2023)," said Mark Velthuis, VP, Sales, Asia Pacific and Japan, Amplitude.

Fermin Serna, Chief Security Officer, Databricks, said that enterprise data is typically kept "under heavy lock and key", which has limited the velocity of innovation. "Businesses don't have adequate means to confidently share their data both internally within the organisation, and externally with other organisations," he explained.

"However, advances in secure data-sharing standards based on open source change the equation because enterprises now have a way of securely sharing their data while avoiding the pitfalls of opacity and getting locked into a particular vendor. Entering 2023, we will see an uptick in ‘secure sharing', the idea and ability to share data internally and externally while centrally governing its access and without duplicating the data." 

J is for job scope

CISOs 

Source: Talend. Vigier.

"Businesses have been realising that CISOs have a unique perspective on the business and its opportunities and risks. The CISO is there to protect the business and to enable informed decision making around holistic tradeoffs," said Nick Vigier, CISO, Talend.

"The CISO in 2023 needs to find ways to behave like the rest of the C-suite, where it is not just about managing bottom-line impact but also about how top-line contribution can be achieved. 

"Metrics will need to shift to how the CISO has influenced deal size, accelerated product releases, or enabled new lines of business to be created, while measuring and managing security risks."

"The modern CISO understands that information risk and compliance are two separate domains of responsibility (compliance being the enforcement of security obligations). Depending on the company’s industry, CISOs need to protect and guide the company during adverse cyberevents but also have a role in expanding business growth and helping sales teams remove the friction when selling into new regulated markets," said Dan Garcia, CIO, EDB.

"Information risk programmes need to continually assess threats, the internal landscape, and how effective their investments have been operating. When this analysis is being conducted alongside business partners, investments or reallocation of spend can service both information risk and compliance goals while unlocking business growth."

Chief Remote Officer

See Hybrid work to evolve in 2023

Chief Risk Officer

"There has been a shift in key decision makers in buying decisions to secure core business/enterprise infrastructure. There is a shift from what would have been considered the traditional key decision makers. Most of these buying groups will avoid engaging with a vendor until they already know that vendor has a solution that meets their requirements," said James Cook, VP, Digital Security Solutions, Entrust APAC. 

"In 2023, more enterprises will add the role of Chief Risk Officer to their senior leadership teams. In addition to optimising ROI and mitigating cybersecurity risks, people in this role will be tasked with ensuring that environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals are embedded in technology buying decisions."

Cyber Resilience Officer

See C is for cyber resilience. 

Security Business Technologist

"Business leaders also need to put in place a more fluid workforce to allow for better collaboration across IT and security teams. They will make these decisions based on an understanding of their companies’ risk appetites and how that is measured against business objectives," predicted Alvin Rodrigues, Field Chief Security Officer, Asia Pacific, Infoblox.

"Cybersecurity professionals too will morph into security business technologists. That is, they will be re-orientating and reinventing their roles, and transforming into security professionals who make decisions with greater awareness of how they can impact business outcomes."

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