Irish business leaders agreed their future success would be dependent on tech, with 69pc saying their company was dependent on AI to function effectively, according to Accenture’s latest Technology Vision report.
The majority (89pc) of Irish businesses surveyed by Accenture believe that emerging technologies are now enabling their organisation to emerge with a broader and more ambitious vision for the future.
Accenture’s Technology Vision 2022 report also found that 79pc of Irish businesses felt they had adapted to the ‘new normal’ way of operating since the pandemic.
In total, Accenture surveyed 24,000 consumers and 4,650 C-level executives and directors across 35 countries and 23 industries. In Ireland, the IT and professional services firm surveyed senior leaders from 102 Irish companies and 500 consumers.
According to the report, Irish business leaders saw a definitive increase in technology within their organisation over the last three years, with three quarters of Irish executives reporting that the number of IoT/edge devices deployed in their organisation over that time has increased significantly.
89pc of Irish executives agreed that their organisation’s long-term success would depend on the next generation of computing. The vast majority (92pc) of Irish executives agreed that next generation computing would become essential to for their organisation to reach its sustainability goals.
The report also showed a strong willingness from business leaders to integrate AI into their organisations, with 69pc saying they felt increasingly dependent on AI to function effectively. However, almost all of Irish executives (99pc) said they were concerned about security and data authenticity issues such as disinformation attacks and deep fakes.
These concerns are shared by Irish consumers. There was some reluctancy to fully trust AI, with only 19pc of Irish consumers trusting that AI was being used to improve their lives and experiences (compared with 42pc globally). Just 15pc trust how it is being implemented by organisations (compared with 35pc globally), indicating that Irish consumers have significantly less trust in AI than the global average.
Irish people also seem to be less enthusiastic about the metaverse than their global counterparts.
Two thirds of Irish executives believe their organisation will benefit from the metaverse, with 26pc anticipating it will have a ‘breakthrough’ or ’transformational’ impact. While this statistic may seem high, it was significantly lower than the global average of 42pc.
70pc of Irish consumers surveyed said that they had either never heard of the metaverse, or had heard the term, but do not know what it means.
“The last two years have shown the critical role that technology plays in keeping us connected and finding more streamlined, efficient ways of working. It’s also great to see an openness of mind towards new technological and digital solutions from Irish business leaders,” said Dave Kirwan, head of technology at Accenture in Ireland.
“What will be critical for business success moving forward will be bringing consumers along on the journey of digitisation and facilitating the upskilling and exploration that employees need to embrace these new tools.”
10 things you need to know direct to your inbox every weekday. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of essential sci-tech news.
