According to the Dinar Standard the fourth industrial revolution has driven tremendous innovation in the global financial services industry, with over 12,000 startups emerging globally to disrupt every aspect of finance. The Islamic Finance industry has begun experiencing unprecedented innovation, but Islamic Fintech has a long journey ahead.
The Global Financial services industry has seen unprecedented change bought about
by three core technological drivers, all linked closely to the fourth industrial revolution – automation, disintermediation and decentralization. Young, digitally native customers are the main stakeholders driving change, and startups are responding – there are now over 12,000 startups globally, with fintech investments reaching $57.9 billion in the first half of 2018.
The large established financial institutions are embracing the change, with 74% of financial institutions investing in data analytics, 34% in Artificial Intelligence (AI), and with 77% expecting to
adopt blockchain by 2020.
Big companies are acquiring AI startups. Acquisitions are used by companies for strategical benefits such as access to a new market, products and services. Acquisitions also help companies to diversify their portfolios and to achieve economies of scale. Companies need to protect their market share and be competitive and with the help of acquisitions they are more likely to do so. AI is the new technology niche, and AI startups are selected and targeted for acquisitions. Since 2012 more than 250 private companies that use AI algorithms have been acquired.
Companies generate a large amount of data, and with the help of new AI technologies they are able to control, analyze and understand all this data and information to make more effective business decisions.
I’ve been “working” in technology since 1997 when as a student I landed a part-time job at our University of Calgary’s computer store (called Microstore, if I recall correctly). My working days were filled with Windows 95 troubleshooting, advising on software sales, and helping professors and fellow students configure their computers.
There were no smartphones, tablets, let alone drones and autonomous cars. This thing called the ‘internet’ was just starting to get serious. Fast forward twenty years later, we are at the beginning of another leap forward in technology with artificial intelligence (AI), the blockchain, and other disruptive technologies will start to see the daylight of commercial feasibility.
I’ll keep my predictions for 2018 short and sweet. A few will seem obvious and to keep things interesting, I’m throwing in a few far-fetched predictions which though unlikely are possible.
1. Data protection and consumer privacy will be big news by mid-year as GDPR goes into effect on May 25th, 2018
2. Decent augmented reality (AR) headsets will be hot Christmas gift ideas for next year. To note is the One AR headset by MagicLeap which will be released for developers next year after six years of development and $2bln in funding!
3. Initial coin offerings (ICO) will calm down as most regulators will deem them as securities. Bad news in the short-term but great news for the long-term development and funding of blockchain platforms that will be able to issue tokens or cryptocurrencies to build genuine solutions to reduce transaction costs and increase the speed of delivery.
4. Global Cybersecurity wars will get nastier. Unfortunately, the tension between North Korea and the United States is likely to escalate. North Korea knows it does not have a military advantage but has the cyber defensive advantage because of the tight state control of its network. We could see the first major cyberattack on US critical infrastructure as a warning shot by the North Koreans if they feel threatened by a military strike.
5. Fund managers will jump on board cryptocurrencies as regulation comes to force. This will hopefully shift the market from speculators to investors and support the long-term development of digital platforms and assets.
6. Move from discussion of the Blockchain to distributed ledger technology (DLT).Most don’t realise that not all distributed ledgers have to necessarily employ a chain of blocks to successfully provide secure and valid achievement of distributed consensus: a blockchain is only one type of data structure considered to be a distributed ledger.
7. Smart devices with Artificial Intelligence (AI) will start to hit the main street. These will be physical devices such robots and drones that will exploit AI to deliver advanced behaviours and interact more naturally with their surroundings and with other people.
8. Bitcoin prices will collapse to $5,000 or less but doesn’t mean they could hit $50,000 in a final euphoric manic rally. The collapse will not necessarily be the result of all cryptocurrencies falling out of favour but the marketplace realising that Litecoin or Ripple cryptos are much more effective then bitcoin for transaction purposes. (Expecting some hate mail from bitcoin fans for this prediction!)
Wishing you and your family a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!
I respect your privacy and don't store any personal details online. However, the blog uses cookies to improve your experience. I'll assume you're ok with this, and can read my privacy policy to learn more.AcceptRejectRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.