Firms have three years to adapt to the ‘Open Economy’, says Samsung

Businesses will need to invest over the next three years to ensure they are ready for the next wave of the digital revolution, according to a new report commissioned by Samsung.

The report, compiled by global trend forecasting consultancy The Futures Laboratory, says that the new ‘Open Economy’ will be characterised by much greater use of freelance workers, routine embedding of startup-driven innovation and a new kind of collaboration between former competitors.

By 2020, companies that have not opened their borders to competitors, innovators and a new generation of independent freelancers will struggle to prosper, Samsung claims.

“Finding ways to safely empower new waves of future freelance workers is going to be the number one business challenge,” commented Nick Dawson, global director of strategy at Samsung Knox. “Within three years, it’s expected that businesses will have to deal with over 7.3 billion connected devices, whilst a rapidly digitised and changing workforce will evolve to one that will transform businesses in how, where and when they operate.”

Many European companies have already started to make changes to their business, for example by integrating new kinds of workers and devices, finding new ways to manage rapidly shifting human resources, and embedding new sources of innovation within their organisation.

So-called reverse innovation tactics are being implemented in large organisations as they invite independent startups into the heart of their business. And in the near future, these are predicted to become critical strategic elements and a powerful driving force for innovation.

Tomorrow’s organisations will also use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technology to accurately predict — and make better decisions about — their future. Firms that adopt advanced machine intelligence will benefit from unprecedented power to plan ahead and optimise their business models, the report says.

However, to thrive in this world of new technologies and highly dispersed digital workforces, companies will need to embrace security platforms that allow them to share information openly but safely, Samsung points out.

“This in turn will force them to fundamentally rethink how they build their business models and the technologies they depend on,” the company says.

Sign up to our newsletter

Meet our experts