Dial Asia-Pacific to go digital

Krishnan Thiagarajan

N. Nagaraj

Did you know that the Asia-Pacific region may emerge as the hi-tech superpower by 2025? Or, that PCs will no longer be the access medium of choice in the future? Or, that Chinese may be the most-often used language on the Web in the near future?

Well, these were some of the key findings of the study titled, ``Wired and Wireless: High-Tech Capitals Now and Next'', conducted by Euro RSCG Worldwide. Euro RSCG Worldwide, which is the fifth largest advertising agency network in the world, conducted this survey to assess the consumer attitudes towards technology and digital lifestyle in 19 markets -- picked from among nations with high rates of computer and Internet penetration, mobile-phone based Internet usage and usage of hi-tech devices.

It may seem odd to be discussing and debating the future of technology or digital lifestyles, when the technology sector in the US is in the doldrums and the contagion is showing signs of spreading to parts of Europe. Notwithstanding the recent turmoil in the tech sector, most tech industry veterans, analysts and tech-savvy observers feel that ``hi-tech'' is expected to bounce back (probably with a vengeance) within the next year or so.

The findings of this study are classified into two broad categories -- pure digital lifestyle, with its impact on people, and trends in the media and marketing landscape.

From a pure digital lifestyle perspective, the key findings of this study were :

*Tech base to shift from the US to Asia-Pacific

According to the survey, the supremacy of the US in the digital age appears to be slowly coming to an end. Over the next 25 years, it is likely that the technology power base may shift from the US to the Asia-Pacific region. Almost 52 per cent of the British respondents to the survey, 36 per cent of the Asia-Pacific nations and 30 per cent of the Americans felt that the American domination of the Internet will soon be over. And 37 per cent of the global respondents added that the Asia-Pacific will be the next technology haven by 2025 vis-a-vis 25 per cent veering towards the US. This trend is already evident from three key technology parameters namely, telephone users, mobile users and Internet usage in which the Asia-Pacific region is clearly blazing a new trail. For instance, it is expected that by the end of this decade, two out of every three users to the world's telephone networks will be Asian. Similarly, by the year 2010, the Asia-Pacific could account for half the world market for mobile telephony and finally, most of the growth in Internet usage in the future is likely to come only from the Asia-Pacific region.

* PC likely to lose to other access devices

Asked to predict whether PC will continue to be the dominant medium to access the Internet in 2025, only 14 per cent of the global respondents felt that the PC will dominate. An overwhelming 63 per cent of the respondents held the view that Internet access will be either through mobile phone or another wireless device, while 23 per cent felt that it may be the television. The demise of the PC has been imminent for the past few years, but fortunately it got a further lease of life on account of the technology slowdown in the US. Once, the technology markets bounce back sharply over the next couple of years, the quantum leap in the usage of access devices such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), hand-held devices and other smartphone variants is likely to dominate access to the Internet.

* There is no place like home

The concept of ``teleworking'' which took shape during the Internet boom between 1996 and 1999 is poised to translate into reality over the next decade or so. Respondents around the world increasingly believe that technology is on the brink of creating an all-in-one digital lifestyle, where work is performed at home, education occurs at the worksite or at home and entertainment can be experienced anywhere. Consensus is emerging that personal and professional lives, which were clearly demarcated earlier, are coalescing into one and home will soon become the new headquarters for a significant percentage of the global population.

Part II of STAT TALK on this topic will be featured in the August 1, 2001 issue of eWorld.

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