Babatunde Afolayan, Senior Research Analyst at International Data Corporation (IDC) MEA has told attendees at #TTOutlook17 in Lagos that technology users can count on identity management to deliver improved consumer experience.

The IDC MEA exec says that “as technology continues to evolve, technology will rely on proper identity management to be able to develop itself and also develop what is currently on ground for consumers to enjoy.”

Afolayan stated this Friday during his presentation on the National Identity Management track at the Technology Times Outlook 2017, an annual technology thought leadership summit organised by Technology Times Media Limited, publishers of Technology Times titles.

The event which was held at the Muson Centre in Lagos, brought together innovators, thought leaders and frontier thinkers who shared their ideas and insights on policy, technology and market dynamics that will shape and define the Nigerian economy over the next 12 months and beyond.

The IDC SRA told attendees at the event that “everything is becoming digital. There is now connectivity in-between every device; the Internet world. There are a lot of applications that you can now use in these devices to do various services, various functions from just one device.

According to Afolayan, “from a single smartphone that you all have, we can now do our banking services. You can start an entire business on a smartphone. We have moved to a platform where we are seeing applications run around different devices and because of connectivity around these devices, technology has really evolved from just being one place where things are from to an entire village.”

According to Afolayan, “from a single smartphone that you all have, we can now do our banking services. You can start an entire business on a smartphone. We have moved to a platform where we are seeing applications run around different devices and because of connectivity around these devices, technology has really evolved from just being one place where things are from to an entire village.”

He told the #TTOulook17 attendees that “the world has become one global village. We now have what we call ‘a wearable’. A wearable is like your wristwatches through which you can tell your blood pressure; you can look at the stock market; you can look at the weather today; you can check so many things just by a simple device that you wear on your wrist.

“It has moved forward from there. We now have what we call 3D printing. There was a big step that was taken in the health sector. We all know that soldiers that go to war, when they are amputated or they have some kind of injuries, they have to wear something else in replacement of their legs or their arms.

“From 3D printing, we have started hearing that very soon, we will be having organs of the body that will be developed from 3D printing and it’s not only going to stop there. It’s already evolving into cognitive information. What you will be seeing soon is that things will now get so automated.”

The IDC exec says that evolving technologies which are changing the ways we live, work and play are also transforming everything and the horizon shows promises of more to come.

“There will be a time that what we will be doing is that we will be having presentations that will be presenting holograms of that person standing right in front of all of you; not the person himself but the holograms of that person standing here and making the presentation. So, technology is evolving to that point and another point it is evolving to is Robotics”, the IDC MEA exec adds.

“From 3D printing, we have started hearing that very soon, we will be having organs of the body that will be developed from 3D printing and it’s not only going to stop there. It’s already evolving into cognitive information. What you will be seeing soon is that things will now get so automated.”

“You will be seeing robots doing a lot of things around the world because there are so many other functions that we could do with robots and not with people. Now, when you walk into some places, you use your ID card to be able to gain access to those places. Very soon, you won’t need to walk up to the point where you will place your ID card”, he adds.

“A robot will be able to scan you as you step on the floor and will be able to open the door for you easily. Some places in the Middle East are already using robots to welcome you to the hotel and to give you your keys to your room. It’s already happening in the Middle East. It’s already happening in North America. That’s the point where technology is going”, he says pointing out that “all these will not happen without proper identity.”

IDC’s Afolayan says “the world used to revolve around knowledge economy, meaning that companies in different countries around the world used to have their own company knowledge which they use to improve on their products, improve on competitive intelligence for themselves” but “the world is changing from a knowledge economy into a digital economy.”

According to him, “we have seen something called cognitive surplus. What that means is that people have been sharing information with one another, people have been connected and have been sharing vital videos and they have been sharing materials and all of that.

“Because of that sharing, you now discover that what you have been using in your own firm is something another company or institution is now using somewhere else and they are using it to build their own products too so as a result of that connectivity that is happening, the world is changing from a knowledge economy into a digital economy.”

He also says that “maybe 70% of the products that are starting up today are starting online. What will happen is that more applications will be readily available for e-commerce. We will be seeing more applications for even health services. We will be seeing more applications for almost everything we do because everything is now being automated.

To back his position, Afolayan cites that “the biggest retail shopping company in the world is not Walmart anymore. It’s now Alibaba and he is in China”, adding that the founder of Alibaba once said that he needs just two servers to add additional 10, 000 people on his platform which when compared to Walmart needs to get a big warehouse and open retail shops.

To back his position, Afolayan cites that “the biggest retail shopping company in the world is not Walmart anymore. It’s now Alibaba and he is in China”, adding that the founder of Alibaba once said that he needs just two servers to add additional 10, 000 people on his platform which when compared to Walmart needs to get a big warehouse and open retail shops.

He further tells the #TTOutlook17 attendees that “you can see that the way technology is evolving. Things are becoming cheaper. It is becoming cheaper to start a business and to even grow the business. That is what we will be seeing in economies around the world but this will not happen without proper identity management.”

He says that “what we are beginning to see is that various countries around the world; when they are designing new products; it used to be designed internally before by their team of designers. But now, it has changed. Everything is now being done externally to design a new product. You have to speak to your customers first.

“What do your customers want? How do they want these products to be presented to them? What kind of marketing ethics do they want for these products? Everything is changing now. If you do a programme development externally, what you notice is that you have better customer service; individual-to-the-people because your customers are the ones that have developed the product for you.”

He says that “another thing you will notice is that there will be a different revenue stream to your revenue. As your revenue is growing, you will see that even the development of that product continues to move faster. If you have noticed now, at the launch of one mobile phone by, let’s say Innjoo, you will notice that in another three months, they are already telling you about the newer version of that phone.

“It is because customers are contributing to what is on ground. The phones they are already seeing that ‘this is what we think can be improved on this current model of this phone’. Customers are already telling you through social media, through various platforms that is available to them that this is where we see this phone going to and the companies too are not relenting on developing these products.”

The IDC exec says that it is already happening such that a lot of countries around the world are now making IT services automated because of customers’ contributions. They are now improving on the IT products that they are developing for people.

“I am sure 10 years ago, no one would think that you will be able to do a financial transaction from your phone. What would be at the back of your mind is if it is secured. But nowadays, we just download the apps and just do the transactions. We don’t even think about security anymore because we feel that has already been surpassed.”

Afolayan says that “we have seen a new development happening in the market” while adding that as various economies are going digital, “we will be able to see more improvements in the market in terms of products development and services.”

Noting the level of technology uptake by Nigerian firms, Afolayan says that IDC’s tracking of the local market shows that “we have spoken to companies around the country. We have spoken to CIOs and CEOs and we have seen that 10% of companies are already implementing some kind of IT automation in their business processes but 54% of them are already delivering IT services and another 36% are even thinking about services that will change the entire ecosystem of their business sector.”

According to the IDC exec, “in Nigeria, what we have noticed is that 64% of the businesses are around digital explorer area. That means everybody is going online. A lot of companies are now putting their products and services online and the good part of all of these is that connectivity in Nigeria is improving. Where there is connectivity, it means the automation is going to improve.”

He underscores the benefits of evolving technology saying, “If people can go online real-time and you can carry out services that you can provide to them, it means that things can be done faster and speedily. People that invest in a digital economy; first of all, if you decide that ‘okay, you will launch new products, new services using a digital platform.

“What will happen is that you are about to gain new revenue streams. If you improve on the products and services that are now being automated, you will notice that you will provide better customer service at the end of the day to your consumers.

“Another thing is as you provide better customer services, you will have competitive edge over your other competitors. Like I said, 64% of the businesses that we have spoken to are going online real-time. So, you must begin to create a niche where that online service or product that you are giving out must add some kind of value to the consumers that you are giving it to.”

According to the IDC exec, “the only way that can be done is to properly profile your consumers and there is no way you can profile your consumers without knowing them. The only way you can know each individual uniquely is through identity management. At the end of the day, you will see that all of the digital disruptions that I have mentioned cannot happen without proper identity management.”

“In countries around the world where we are hearing that they are giving mortgage houses to people at low percentage; you won’t get a mortgage without a proper identity, no matter the kind of financial capabilities that you have. Your identity is still what drives that economy at the end of the day.”

Stressing the uniqueness of the National Identification Number (NIN), Afolayan explains that “no matter what you are registering, your car, your SIM card, every other thing you are registering does not register you. It is only National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) that registers you as a person. Even your Bank Verification Number (BVN), it doesn’t give you a unique identity.