2018 Business Trends Data Is A Key Theme

As another year is upon us, we look at the areas most likely to impact businesses in 2018. There are many aspects to consider, many buzzwords and new technologies but the overwhelming theme is data, the gathering of data, and the protection of any data you hold and process, and of course the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Businesses all want data; they want data to understand their customers, data to improve their customer service, data to develop their products and data to sell more products to their current and prospective customers.

It's no surprise then that the business trends for 2018 focus on the technologies that allow for the collection and processing of data, or using current data to satisfy customer demand.

The Internet of Things

In September 2016 it was reported by the ICO that six in ten IoT devices did not tell customers how their personal data would be used, this included devices such as health watches, electricity monitors and internet connected thermostats.

A survey from IHS estimates that there are already over 25 million connected 'things' or devices across the world. The Internet of Things is already all around us, perhaps most commonly known as a heating app solution for the home, gathering data on gas and electricity usage while allowing users to control temperate and plug sockets remotely.

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