Kathy Gibson reports – In a rapidly changing world, technology is at the centre of the way we live and work – and the unprecedented impact of Covid-19 coupled with other new concerns and risks has created a new era of volatility and uncertainty.

At the virtual global launch of the 21st annual Technology Vision, Paul Daugherty, group chief executive: technology and chief technology officer of Accenture, explains that a new mindset is needed.

“Covid accelerated us into the future. But we have to catch up.”

Pre-Covid the digital achievement gap showed that companies that had digitally transformed our performance others by two-times. “Then Covid hit the fast forward button and that is now five-times,: Daugherty days.

There is a new reality when it comes to the human experience. “I don’t think we  have appreciated what this really means,” Daugherty says.

The second new reality is technology. Every business is a tech business and we have to change how we approach the world. Every business has to have the same the ability as digital natives.

“During the lockdowns, technology kept us running and connected. If Covid had happened five years earlier we would not have been so connected.

The third new reality is around work. “The good news is hat we won’t work at home forever. There is a new move to hybrid work, with work designed to location- and time-independent.”

Sustainability is the fourth new reality, and we all need to incorporate this into how we operate going forward, Daugherty says.

The Accenture Technology Vision 2021 can be summed up as “Leaders wanted – masters of change at a moment of truth”.

It is also a moment of trust, Daugherty says. “The new realities are about trust.”

Accenture outlines five directions for companies.

The first is stack strategically, and is shown in how C-suites care about technology and how it’s done. “There is also a difference in how companies approach technology,” Daugherty says.

The second trend is around the mirrored world  and leveraging the power of massive, intelligent digital twins. “It is moving from simulation to operation. Spend on digital twins is expected to grow 10-fold in just a few years.”

The third trend is what Accenture calls “I, technologist” and revolves around the democratisation of technology.

“This deals with different ways of equipping people with things like low-code and no-code systems,” Daugherty says. “The CIO’s role will change from developing applications to equipping people to power the business with technology.”

The fourth trend revolves around anywhere, everywhere, where people bring their own environment to create the new culture. It’s about how people work in the new environment, securing the new environment, and new modes of working. Work can happen anywhere everywhere.

The fifth trend – what Accenture calls “from me to we” – is about finding a multi-party systems path through chaos.

“To solve the big problems we face, we need to  involve multiple parties working together – so multi-party systems like blockchain, the time for them is here.”