Tag: quantum computing

The loudest noise at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona in March was reserved not for new products, but for debates around who gets to set the agenda for the future. With Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the heart of the debate, and technologies like 5G-advanced and quantum computing vying for attention, the focus was almost entirely on the roles played by Europe, China and the USA in regulating and rolling out new technology.

The rapid integration and adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across various industries and sectors is transforming the way businesses operate. It is driving efficiency, innovation and cost savings with its prolific progress. AI is reshaping the workplace at an unprecedented pace. It is streamlining administrative tasks and optimising complex processes.

The first quantum computer was created almost three decades ago, in 1998. Yet, the topic still seems futuristic to many. While its applications remain unknown to most, quantum computing combines computer science, physics, and mathematics. It provides solutions the world has been trying to find for eons – and those it doesn’t yet know it needs.

Can machines think? Turing posed this question in his 1950 paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" while working at the University of Manchester. In his paper, Alan Turing introduced the world to The Turing test, which he originally called "The Imitation Game" - a test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour equivalent to or indistinguishable from a human's.

Read our exclusive cover story titled Quantum + AI – could this synergy spark machine thinking into consciousness? by Darren Lentz, Senior Manager and Faheem Ballim, Manager, KPMG South Africa, plus a host of other topical management articles written by professionals, consultants and academics.

Technology plays a critical role in the evolution of every industry in South Africa and across the world. This is why we constantly say that every company is now a technology company given the integral nature tech plays in providing greater efficiencies and competitive advantage.

The digital transformation of business and society has found fertile ground with early promise for the super-app model, specifically in the Middle East and Africa, even as mobile digital platforms continue to offer proprietary and third-party functions under a single brand.

Building a safer cybersecurity environment requires a collaborative approach by regulators and industry players across the planet. A recent report by Strategy Analytics, a global technology and media analyst agency, rated Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia as the top three global 5G RAN vendors in terms of equipment performance, RAN product portfolio, R&D investment and subscriber projections.

Businesses will have to embed innovation in their DNA to future-proof their operations for the unparalleled pace of technological change in what we refer to in our Tech Vision 2020 as the post-digital era. In the past, businesses with a unique asset could enjoy a competitive advantage and sweat that asset for ten, twenty or even thirty years before their competitors caught on.

People’s love for technology has let businesses weave it, and themselves, into our lives, transforming how we work live and interact in this new world which we are referring to – in our Tech Vision 2020 – as the 'post-digital era'. But now we are being held back.