What are the top technologies industrial visionaries need to be aware of now and, more importantly, why and how will those technologies impact their industry? To answer that question, market foresight advisory firm ABI Research has identified six technologies, along with big-picture questions and answers, to help guide senior industry leaders to make key transformative technology decisions.

The end result is a six-page research deliverable, “The Top Questions & Answers for Industrial Innovators: Six 1-Minute Transformative Technology Reads”. The six technologies impacting the industrial manufacturing market and a sampling of the pertinent questions include:

  • Artificial Intelligence – What is the most suitable implementation of AI for industrial companies? Full edge implementation (e.g., both training and inference on-premise)? Cloud AI? Hybrid implementation (inference on edge and training at the cloud)?
  • Blockchain – What is the advantage of implementing blockchain in a manufacturing supply chain? Won’t blockchain put some middlemen out of business?
  • Cybersecurity – How do you protect your operational technologies in your corporate cybersecurity strategy? Are there post-market secure service opportunities or new business cases (such as lifecycle device management) that could create better customer stickiness with products?
  • IoT – Can a single connectivity technology address all industrial IoT (Internet of Things) applications? If edge computing can solve so many problems, how do workforces benefit from the cloud?
  • Robotics – When is the right time to adopt a collaborative robot? How do you implement Robotics-as-Service to shift from CAPEX to OPEX?
  • Wireless Connectivity – Why should you look beyond Ethernet to wireless connectivity in installations? What should you be concerned about when looking at wireless connectivity solutions in your operations?

ABI Research provides strategic guidance for visionaries needing market foresight on the most compelling transformative technologies, which reshape workforces, identify holes in a market, create new business models and drive new revenue streams. ABI‘s own research visionaries would take stances early on those technologies, publishing “groundbreaking studies often years ahead of other technology advisory firms.”