How Science and Technology Are Shaping Business

– Contributed content –

(Michael Schwarzenberger, Pixabay)

2 June 2020. Today, a lot of scientific and technological innovations are pushing the frontiers of businesses beyond the limits of human imagination. Just within the past 50 years, the world has changed so significantly, mostly in a positive direction. These advances can be seen in medicine, artificial intelligence, space exploration, online money transfer, and artificial intelligence, among other breakthroughs.

Here are the top seven ways science and technology are shaping the future of businesses today.

l. Information technology

The most obvious driver of modern businesses is information technology (IT). Many business firms cannot do without computers, not even for a few seconds. Businesses are using IT support to integrate, innovate, centralize solutions, and run their operations from archeology to zoology. On direct communication, Blackberry tried to pioneer that innovation, but WhatsApp Inc came into the picture and took it a step further.

Since then, direct communication has been a phenomenal innovation that’s prompting businesses to redraw their models in a way that will support direct connection to the end-users, without passing through intermediary forces. The importance of direct communication can also be understood as improvement in the discovery of market prices and encouragement for healthy competition among competitors.

2. Revamping health care

It’s hard to imagine how the world will hold itself together without the mention of technological advances in the health sector. Tech has boosted the global economy to a large extent, such that one name cannot name all the benefits linked to it.  The invention of wearable medical instruments is a game-changer. These can read your blood sugar levels, as well as your pulse — anytime, anywhere. It’s such a good time to be alive to see patients report to their doctors remotely through the usage of technology.

3. Efficient payment systems

The stone age is no more; a new era of cutting edge technology has taken over business and commerce. Technological trends have taken a dramatic turn for digital payment convenience. Over the past years, tech gurus have simplified the banking sector. A lot of difficulties have completely been eliminated. If you want to transfer digital money from one part of the world to another through the internet, that’s now a given.

Following the scourge of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing protocols have physically disconnected people. But with the availability of online banking and digital currencies, many businesses still remain open. At this juncture, you may want to pause and reflect on how the world would have been if it wasn’t possible to transact businesses while staying at home. Surely, the Covid-19 fatality rates and case counts would have been much higher than the current situation.

4. Robotics and artificial intelligence

Watson, an IBM supercomputer, is capable of processing 200 million pages per second.

Robotics and AI have also added value to businesses in so many ways. In modern factories, intelligent machines are working with humans to serve the world better. Has a robot served you coffee in a Starbucks joint before? Maybe yes! Robotic service is already happening in the world right now, but it will even get much better with time.

When sensors become cheaper and smarter, the business environment will be shaped in several ways. The only downside is that when AI and robotics advance to their upper limits, some workers may lose their jobs to machines. From the automobile industry to the banking sector, there will be an unprecedented surge in job losses. Robots can work faster than human laborers and in dangerous environments. In the United States of America, over 8 million flights are flown a year with the aid of advanced software.

5. Digital media

Science and technology is impacting digital media, from pictures, videos, audio, to even movies. This has quickly become an essential part of everyday life for millions worldwide.

Access to information has been revolutionized as everything you need is literally at the touch of a button. Great innovations have taken place within education as the world can now become your classroom from wherever you are located.

Within the music industry, badly sung notes from singers can now be corrected, much like editing a spelling error. Recorded digital media can be broadcast to the world at the speed of light. The ease of download and upload of digital content is a big issue troubling the entertainment industry. But there’s only little they can do to protect the intellectual property in the form of digital media.

6. Genetic engineering

In 1953, when Watson and Crick unlocked the mystery of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), biology didn’t remain the same; genetic engineering was placed on a new path. In 1973, Boyer and Cohen were able to biologically construct a new organism by combining DNA from different animal species (a toad and a bacterium). 30 years later, 70% of the world’s processed food began to feature genetically enhanced ingredients.

Advances in genetic engineering will lead to higher crop yields. In the near future, scientists may be able to cure diseases like Covid-19 and HIV/AIDs. However, there are two sides to the story. Some experts believe that genetic engineering may turn the world upside down one day. Until then, no one really knows what the future of genetics looks like.

7. The internet

Of all the technological innovations taking place in the world today, the internet is perhaps the greatest achievement of science and technology, so far. A wireless network of computers is keeping the globe more connected than ever before. 3 out of 5 Americans are active internet users. The internet is impacting all you can think of.

But finally, when the Internet of Things (IoT) reaches its highest altitude, people may realize that they’re actually living in a different world; household appliances will be equipped with sensors and assigned IP addresses. Social media is already evolving into a powerful platform for business promotions. Sign up for Facebook, and you can create a business page to market your products and services.

To summarize, technology is moving forward at breakneck speeds. It’s transforming industries in many ways, while also changing lives. The internet is going down in history as the biggest advancement in science and technology. Today, online retail giants like Amazon cannot survive without the internet.

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