AI redefines connectivity, a new economic growth factor
KUCHING: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is driving a paradigm shift in how nations prepare for the digital economy and could almost double the value of the global digital economy to US$ 23 trillion by 2025 from US$ 12.9 trillion in 2017 when it accounted for 17.1 per cent of global GDP.
However, a scarcity of AI talent worldwide threatens this growth, says new research from Huawei.
In its Global Connectivity Index 2018 (GCI) report, it found that industries are embedding AI in key enabling technologies – Broadband, Data Centers, Cloud, Big Data and IoT – to turn connectivity into Intelligent Connectivity, unleashing innovation to propel a new wave of economic growth.
“We are now witnessing a paradigm shift initiated by AI,” said Huawei Corporate Market president Kevin Zhang.
“According to the GCI study, advanced economies that saw growth from ICT development plateau are using Intelligent Connectivity to open new opportunities, while some developing economies are also finding ways to tap the new technology to speed up their own strategic growth plans.”
It highlighted that today, the digital economy is driven by the consumer- driven internet as increasingly, industries are leveraging on intelligent connectivity to create whole new business models, products, processes and services that will breathe new life into the GCI Scurve and open a new cycle of economic growth.
The GCI 2018 pointed out that to effectively deploy AI on a large scale, countries need three equally important components in place: computing power, labeled data, and algorithms.
But the big challenge for all three GCI clusters is scarcity of AI developer talent.
“Governments need to re-think education for a future workplace redefined by AI and start building a healthy, collaborative, and open AI ecosystem to attract and retain competitive AI talent,” it said.
This year, the GCI broadened its research scope from 50 to 79 nations, marking the second time it has enlarged its purview since 2015. Based on GCI scores, the newcomers are classified as 20 Frontrunners, 37 Adopters and 22 Starters – according to their level of economic development.
The research showed that when a nation’s GCI score reaches 35 points, ROI in ICT infrastructure experiences a strong multiplier effect.