Mukesh Ambani lists 5 mega trends that will define digital future

Data is the new oil, and intelligent data is the new petrol, said Mukesh Ambani

In his inaugural speech at the FICCI FRAMES 2016, Mukesh Ambani not only gave a glimpse into the scale his telecom venture Reliance Jio aspired for but also the exponential opportunity the 'Digital Era' offered to companies and individuals.

In times when telecom companies are struggling to monetise data in many parts of the world, as over the top (OTT) applications like Skype and Whatsapp have disrupted their business models, Jio is keen on a service that is not purely about connectivity but it seeks to deliver content and services that can be delivered digitally.

For the 'New Reliance' "...data is the new oil, and intelligent data is the new petrol."

Here are Mukesh Ambani's 5 mega trends that will define the digital future.

The world is moving from orality to visuality. The world is undergoing a tectonic shift from the spoken and the written word to the visual world. Images and Videos will rule in the digital world. And video will be the new voice.

Human beings are linear, but technology can be exponential.  Analog growth was linear – you walk ten steps to get to ten. But Digital growth is exponential. In ten steps you move from 2 to 1000. And in 30 steps to a billion. That is the power of exponential growth. And any exponential change will create large opportunities.

The world is graduating to a tele-media world. Earlier, telecommunication, media and entertainment, television and broadcasting used to be more or less separate industries. The telcos used to focus on infrastructure and networks and the entertainment companies focused on content production and distribution.

There were different players- the large screen – the movie industry, for the small screen – the television industry, for the non-screen – the music industry and so on.

Now as fast mobile broadband is engulfing the world in which telecom/ICT and various media sectors are converging. We need to co-create a new reimagined ecosystem among all players that is win-win for all.

Abundance will be a global trend. Of choice. Of distribution. Of Content. Millions of songs, millions of videos. Anytime. Anywhere. And this kind of abundance will make intelligent analytics the need of the hour.

It is not about technology but about humanity. Technology is just a means to an end.  It cannot become the end goal by itself.  The true power of technology is its ability to make human life better. The future belongs to a creative empathisers, pattern recognisers, meaning makers. Because technology changes, but humanity evolves. And any transformation is eventually about humanity.

Photograph: PTI