Picture yourself residing on a remote island with a small population. Given the limited business prospectson your island, the likelihood of any Communication Service Provider (CSP) investing in terrestrial telecommunication infrastructure on the island is extremely low. The absence of Internet broadband can lead to educational challenges, limited access to information, economic disadvantages, vital healthcare limitations, social isolation, reduced innovation, and many more issues, all of which would have a detrimental effect on your community. This scenario embodies the essence of the “digital divide.”

While ABI Research has been directly covering the metaverse for a couple years now, our coverage of the underlying technologies and markets stretches further back—research into Extended Reality (XR), for example, started in 2015. The metaverse is a confluence of markets and technologies that bring together the virtual and real worlds, and despite building upon many pre-existing trends, is still very much in its infancy. There are technological developments and standards that must be addressed, as well as education, before widespread adoption of immersive technologies will occur. Whether it’s for entertainment purposes or to provide business value, there are many ways to leverage the metaverse. As momentum continues to develop for immersive technologies, here are some of the most beneficial metaverse use cases and applications for various industries.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the technology of our time, bound to change our personal and professional lives in some way, shape, or form. As enterprises aim to leverage AI to boost productivity and technology, vendors wish to optimize their product portfolios, so AI market research is more pivotal than ever. ABI Research connects the end users and the tech vendors providing AI solutions with essential insights. Through technology analysis reports, presentations, competitive rankings, and market data forecasts, ABI Research provides a unique voice to the AI industry. These products can be used to forecast demand for various AI hardware and software, identify the most important trends sweeping the industry, evaluate the competitive landscape, and provide best practices when implementing AI solutions. Here are some research topics from our most recent content deliverables covering our AI & Machine Learning Research Service.  

Smart building platforms are software-based solutions that help real estate owners improve operational efficiency and reduce their carbon emissions. The key to making this happen is the collection of data from various endpoints (connected devices), leading to improved lighting control, occupancy sensing, and Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC). Not only do smart building platforms collect droves of essential data about energy usage and operational flows, but they can automate many aspects of building management. The top six companies providing smart building platforms allow organizations to meet sustainability goals and reduce their energy costs.

As manufacturers continue to embrace digital transformation, Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) become ever more crucial in improving productivity. If your plant aims to deploy a new PLC, there are a number of brands providing effective hardware and software solutions to support industrial automation. ABI Research’s recent Industrial Automation: PLC Hardware and Software competitive ranking assessed 11 PLC companies on their solution capabilities. To refine your search for a new PLC partner, I’ll share five of the most promising brands from the report.

With cellular modules getting more attention for their role in IoT solution security, ABI Research offers the first of a series of educational articles covering cellular modules. In each post, ABI Research analysts provide their insights on cellular modules and their impact on IoT solution security in critical areas of the IoT value chain.

Critical infrastructure is considered “critical” for good reason. Without a continuous energy supply and unhindered railway transportation, you wouldn’t be able to drive your car, and your grocery store shelves would be empty. In other words, societies would crumble fast. This overwhelming sense of doom makes for great extortion for security threat actors, making Industrial Control Systems (ICSs) a prime target. Attacks on industrial sectors saw a 140% increase in 2022, signaling a new frontier in the cybersecurity fight. To help protect your organization from falling victim to an attack, here are nine companies at the leading edge of ICS cybersecurity services.

Network automation tools are increasingly considered essential for Communication Service Providers (CSPs) as cloud-native networks become the norm. While digitally native 5G mobile networks accelerate digital transformation, they introduce more network processes, interfaces, and operations. This goes hand-in-hand with an increasing number of network parameters, processing algorithms, and the number of security alarms in both telco and enterprise networks. To help meet the greater demand for digital services, CSPs are adopting network automation software, which is a major corporate change for many organizations. Here are the top-five ranked network automation providers, according to ABI Research’s Cloud-Native Network Automation and Orchestration Software Market competitive assessment.

If you’re running a business, you can’t put a price on security. Customers have become accustomed to assuming the personal information they share with you is safe and secure. If your company suffers a data breach, your customers will hear about it and turn to your competitors. In the financial sector, this fact is amplified because customers trust banks the most with their data. Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) businesses are increasingly adopting biometric technologies to curb the ever-present cyberthreat. The advantage of biometrics in banking is that it adds a form of identity management that is not easily faked. After all, everyone has unique fingerprints, facial geometry, and even voice.

The demand for Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)-based technologies in the Southeast Asian region is expected to soar in the coming years. As enterprises, notably in the manufacturing and logistics sectors, trend toward rapidly embracing digital transformation, Internet of Things (IoT) connections revenue will grow to US$13.5 billion by 2027. With greater adoption of Industry 4.0 tools comes more intelligent factories, leveraging a wide range of operations-enhancing technologies. Examples of smart factories abound in the Southeast Asian industrial sector.