IDG Connect: Cognizant’s Vice President of Mobility Explains What Makes APAC one of the World’s Fastest Growing Mobile Markets

“The rapid spread of mobile technology has had a profound impact on the economic development of all countries within the APAC region. The Asia-Pacific region has become a powerhouse in driving the mobile sector globally, already accounting for nearly 55% of the global mobile phone ownership total—some 2.5 billion users,” says Sowri Santhanakrishnan. Excerpts from the interview:

“Where mobile is completely embedded within everyday life, proliferation of smartphones and tablets has given birth to new models of computing that were impossible just a few years ago. While smartphones and tablets are the catalysts for the BYOD movement, applications and services are the fuel feeding the BYOD fire. One of the outcomes of massive technology adoption is that much of daily technology use is embedded into unremarkable daily life routines. The APAC region boasts five of the top 15 countries with the highest smartphone penetration rates. In addition, smartphone penetration in developing Asia-Pacific markets is gaining traction.

Mobile use in the APAC region naturally extends to other forms of mobile tech such as wearables. We’re already working with organizations to help them exploit the potential of wearables. Healthcare is one of the sectors where we see them having most impact.

The wearable tech trend is driven by consumers’ desires to simplify their lives by storing and analyzing data to better interpret the world around them. However, the key in this transformation is usability, and consumer electronic devices will need to evolve to provide the symbiotic experience wearable tech can offer. Asia-Pacific is expected to soon be the fastest growing region in wearable tech due to technological advancements being made in Japan, India and China, the geographic segment that poses huge growth opportunities for almost every global industry.

There are six kinds of wearable devices: smart glasses, smart watches, cameras, healthcare devices, sports and activity trackers, and 3D-motion trackers. Of these, healthcare wearables, smart glasses and smart watches will dominate in the enterprise, with companies purchasing them for use by employees. In addition, smart glasses with augmented reality and head-mounted cameras will increase the efficiency of technicians, engineers and other workers in field service, maintenance, healthcare and manufacturing.

The ‘SMAC attack’ is changing how people, organizations and devices interact; leaders who want to harness the power of this information need to (finally) break down the barriers between IT and the business. Digital leaders are now harnessing the power of Code Halos—our virtual identities—to deliver curated, individualized experiences based on our unique needs, wants and history captured from the data we all share.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is turning out to be bigger than the internet itself. IoT presents unprecedented opportunities across industry sectors and processes. Leaders are already investing in IoT solutions and are reaping benefits such as improved asset utilisation, process efficiency, productivity, cost savings and of course, revenues.

The undeniable power of cloud computing to enable mobility, foster innovations and improve productivity is now accepted by both IT vendors and their customers. While the financial services and government sectors are mostly moving to a private cloud model due to information security concerns, other industries like healthcare and retail have adopted public cloud. Moreover, their existing infrastructure has helped telecom players to emerge as providers of cloud computing, leading to erosion in boundaries between IT and telecom vendors.

Over the past few years, augmented reality has moved from the world of science fiction, to our everyday lives. The spread of smartphones and tablets gave rise to the spread of location-based augmented reality applications, and now everyone from retailers to healthcare providers have embraced augmented reality. Augmented reality enhances the customer experience, and enables enterprises to add a fourth dimension to their products. The application of augmented reality includes markets such as automotive, e-commerce and retail, marketing, medical, military and defense, and education.”

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