• An estimated 3.7 billion people globally are offline and many more do not enjoy a full digital experience;
• Connecting more people to AR and VR technologies could transform everything from education and healthcare to mining and tourism;
• To take AR and VR mainstream, the right technologies must be enabled and local knowledge and support systems must be established.

For the privileged few, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have become commonplace, increasingly used in everything from entertainment and online commerce to healthcare. Many communities, however, still do not experience the real impact of these transformational technologies because of an innovation gap that compounds our digital divides.

Imagine the value of this technology for sectors such as education, mining and tourism, all of which were effectively shut down during the current COVID-19 pandemic. The current global health crisis has shown us how a failure to digitize value chains across sectors has significantly affected social conditions worldwide and highlighted – even exacerbated – the digital divide.

There are two concrete ways to help close the digital divide and enable inclusive digital economies:

• establish a sound enabling environment for digital transformation, and
• foster collaborative digital innovation systems that address “Main Street” problems.

AR/VR is mainstream – but only for a small segment of our digital world

For novices, virtual reality and augmented reality can be considered as simulated experiences, where a scenario is replicated in a digital environment and where users are able to interact with that virtual world using computer-based objects.

If you ask young people about VR or AR, they will probably tell you about that latest headset on the market to play video games or engage with social media. You may have come across the technology yourself without really knowing it: virtual clothes shopping, virtual apartment visits, virtual tourism even high-end industrial solutions, such as professional flight simulators. The potential of AR/VR systems is boundless – yet for the moment, access and impact are limited to the very few communities who can afford them.

While WFH has ensured that organisations continued to operate during the lockdown against the spread of Covid, people are now pining for fresh air, the smell of the office and the opportunity to meet co-workers and customers face-to-face.

In this time of crisis, personnel in healthcare and essential services have risen above and beyond the call of duty to care for others. Some have even sacrificed their lives for this.

The Digital Revolution with AI needs to be reinforced with a humane touch, wherein people are empowered with responsibility and flexibility. Culturally, we must keep sowing seeds of mutual care, sharing, respect and trust so that as organisations we are agile and resilient. What is needed is a sense of empowerment.

It is time we stopped recruitments and promotions without data and the right competencies needed for relationship management and values over skills. On-boarding may need a reorientation. Start developing leaders who excel in balancing compassion with objectivity, believe in the success of others and continue to unlearn, learn and relearn with the emerging environments and needs of customers.

It’s the start of a new decade—that means it’s time to come up with new goals, try out new technology, and get up to speed on the latest ed tech trends.We’ve made our predictions in years past. In anticipation of what’s to come in the new year, we’re highlighting six of the 2020 education trends that are sure to be top of mind for teachers, students, parents, and administrators in school districts across the country. 

Here are some of the ed tech trends we think will have a big influence on the K-12 space

1: Embedded LTE Chromebooks

We already know that Chromebooks are popular in K-12 (we broke down five reasons why LTE Chromebooks are such an important part of today’s K-12 classrooms back in October), but expect to see LTE Chromebooks become even more popular in 2020. 

Chromebooks continue to be game changing for students and teachers alike. Not only are these simple laptops highly affordable, they can also be customized specifically for the learning needs of students. Some LTE Chromebooks come with filtered, CIPA-compliant 4G LTE Internet connectivity and enough data for an entire school year.If you’re thinking about bringing LTE Chromebooks into your classrooms in 2020, here’s a helpful cheat sheet of what they are and how they work.

2: New Roles for Teachers

Just as students have had to adapt to new learning methods and subjects as a result of the rise of technology use in the classroom, so too will teachers have to adapt by embracing new roles and responsibilities.One of those roles: student. As Linda Cartwright notes in a blog post for Touro College, “a teacher is shifting from someone who knows things to someone who is a newbie, like the rest of the class.” The role is now more about guiding students through learning and helping them grow than in years past when the teacher was looked at as the fountain of knowledge in the classroom. 

As more and more tools are introduced into everyday classrooms, teachers will have to take on the role of explorer just like their young charges. And this evolution in their role could even lead them to earn certifications that help them perform better in the classroom. 

3: More Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) as a classroom tool has been a big topic in ed tech in recent years, and in 2020 it’s expected to remain one of the chief priorities for forward-thinking schools and educators. According to Cartwright, the use of AI in the classroom is expected to increase by over 47 percent in the next three years. 

There are many advantages to the use of AI in the classroom. As a tool, it’s nimble and efficient. It allows for individualized learning with feedback delivered in real-time. Perhaps most importantly, it’s a lot of fun. There’s an abundance of AI-powered apps and programs that can help students more effectively understand and apply concepts in fields essential to STEAM learning (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math).

Learning and enhancing your skills are vital in this technological era. This helps you to prepare yourself for getting the highest paying jobs in the field of your choice. And if you are a professional already, learning new technologies and tools will take you an inch closer to the promotion you always dreamt of. Widening your arsenal of tools also enhances your value as a professional in your company.Here are some of the latest technologyconcepts that are sure to dominate the IT industry,

1. Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the technology used for equipping computer systems with the ability to make decisions like humans. When AI programs are fed to systems, the aim is to mimic human intelligence for performing complex tasks such as pattern recognition, speech recognition, weather forecast and medical diagnosis.AI is used in navigation based applications like Uber, voice assistants like Siri, video streaming services like Netflix, IoT devices and in search engines like Google and Bing.AI helps in automating tasks such as traffic, scheduling trains, making business predictions and designing driverless cars!

2. Data Science

Next up in the list of latest technology concepts is not surprisingly Data Science. Data Science is the technology that helps to make sense of complicated data. You know that data is produced in a humungous amount every day by companies. This includes business data, sales data, customer profile information, server data, and financial figures. Most of this data is in the form of huge data sets that are unstructured. The role of data scientists is to convert these unstructured data sets into structured datasets. Then, these data sets can be analyzed to identify patterns and trends. These patterns are useful for understanding the company’s business performance, customer retention, and how these areas can be improved.

3. Internet of Things

The IoT (Internet of Things) is a network of devices that are connected to each other. Their devices caninteract and share data with each other. These devices may be connected via WiFi, and they share data about their environments and how they are being used. These devices have a computer chip that facilitates this exchange. IoT not only enables the connection between different devices but also their remote access. For example, you lock doors of your car remotely, preheat your ovens and geysers. The FitBit that you use for tracking the number of calories you burn also runs on IoT technology. IoT chips embedded on machines help businesses to assess the performance of those machines and assist in their maintenance. 

4. Blockchain

Blockchain is the foundational technology that powers electronic currencies such as Cryptocurrencies. In simple terms, a Blockchain is an electronic ledger that can be shared among different users. This helps in creating a record of transactions that cannot be altered. Each of these records is time-stamped and linked to the previous one. So every time a new transaction is added to the ledger, it is stored as another block in the chain of transactions – hence the name. Blockchain is updated after the different parties contributing to the ledger agree. After new data is fed into a block, it cannot be erased. This makes technology verifiable and secure.

5. Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a technology used for automating daily tasks, similar to artificial intelligence. Here, the software is used for automating repetitive tasks such as handling and replying to emails, processing transactions, and handling business data.This technology is used for automating tasks for low-level employees to higher-ranking officials. RPA can automate more than 40% of daily tasks. According to McKinsey, more than 60% of all repetitive tasks can be partially automated using RPA. So, this technology is going to threaten a lot of jobs.

We have witnessed a major recent trends in human resource management industry for the past few years. If you look back, everything from the hiring process, people analytics to software systems has evolved.

Instead of just engaging the employees and giving an upper hand to their satisfaction level, today’s trends are more inclined to enlighten the overall HR culture

The HR department has moved far forward than just mere recruitment, benefits management, professional development and time and attendance.

Here let us have a look at some of the most recent trends in human resource management that can change the overall working scenario of a daily office.

Employee experience:

Here than the engagement of employees at workplace, the focus has shifted to employee experience. More than mere engagement, concentration is now given to enhancement of company culture, and performance management.

The main roles of the HR department now covers enhancing employee’s journey map and giving a greater exposure to feedback tools, employee wellness apps, productivity tools and advanced communication tools.

Advanced people analytics:

Companies have moved far ahead from just the back office data to utilizing the best of people analytics. Reporting through the dashboards has outdated in most of the companies and focus is more on predictive models.

Companies have moved far ahead from just the back office data to utilizing the best of people analytics. Reporting through the dashboards has outdated in most of the companies and focus is more on predictive models.

SAP Success Factors, ADP, Visier, Cornerstone and Oracle are among the most widely used HR tools to enhance the possibilities of HR sector to improve the overall effectiveness of employees.

Learning management systems:

Despite the position of the employees or their experience, learning new skills is important to stay updated. That is why constant learning is now a novel trend in the HR sector. Providing learning opportunities to employees is the key for any company that is eyeing for progress.

An improved skill set can help employees to deliver their best at workplace that reflects in the overall productivity of the enterprise. Learning management systems are playing the crucial part in tracking the employees learning process and even to collaborate between various departments effectively.

Over the course of the 2010s, the scope of human resources has expanded and evolved alongside changes in how organizations function, how teams are managed, and how employees set their expectations when it comes to work.

As HR enters the next decade, HR pros must focus their attention on the human element of human resources and people management in order to continue providing engaging and exceptional work experiences for their people. Some of the vogue in HR are as follows:

Using people analytics for decision making: Big data analysis has wide-reaching potential that can be applied to any sector of an organization. In HR, utilizing a data-driven approach to people analytics allows employers to discover valuable insights on employee performance and satisfaction and what influences their productivity and motivation.

With HR tech solutions, HR departments are equipped with a wealth of information that is available at their fingertips, including recruitment data, employee statistics, and performance KPIs. In the years to come, companies will apply this valuable intel into making smarter decisions for their organizations, from less biased hiring decisions to better support for their current employees.

Improving the job applicant experience: If a recruiting new hires to your organization is a complicated and lengthy experience, you will continue to miss out on bringing incredible talent to your teams. Making the recruitment process streamlined and efficient for both your HR department and your applicants is critical to landing the best people for the job.

In the new year and beyond, HR pros will implement HR solutions to simplify and speed up their administrative processes, from applicant tracking to application communication, through automation, thus reducing recruitment timelines significantly. Talent and recruitment pros will then be freed up to spend more time on improving the interview experience for candidates and increasing the odds of finding the right organizational fits.

Increasing Use of AI and Machine Learning 

According to Gartner’s 2019 CIO Agenda survey, the percentage of organizations adopting AI jumped from four to 14% between 2018 and 2019. Given the benefits that AI/ML offers in business analysis, risk assessment, R&D, and resulting cost-savings, AI implementation will continue to rise in 2020. 

However, many organizations that adopt AI and Machine Learning don’t fully understand these technologies. In fact, Forbes points out that 40% of the European companies claiming to be ‘AI startups’ don’t use the technology.

While the benefits of AI and ML are becoming more evident, businesses will need to step up and hire people with the right skills to implement these technologies. Some are well on their way. KPMG’s recent survey of Global 500 companies shows that most of those surveyed expect their investment in AI-related talent to increase by 50-100% over the next three years.  

Transparency Trends in AI

Despite becoming so ubiquitous, AI suffers from trust issues. As businesses plan to increase their use of AI systems, they will want to do so more confidently. After all, no one wants to trust the decisions of a system that they don’t understand. 

Hence, there will be a bigger push for deploying AI in a transparent and clearly-defined manner in 2020. While companies will make efforts to understand how AI models and algorithms work, AI/ML software providers will need to make sophisticated ML solutions more explainable to users. 

With transparency becoming a key conversation in the AI space, the roles of professionals who are in the trenches of programming and algorithm development will become more critical.

Employee experience is all about providing employees with an environment where they want, not need to come to work–a place where they can feel energized and free to be themselves to get their best work done. But what does that actually look like? Based on interviews with hundreds of executives and leaders at companies around the world ranging from the Chairman of the Board at Yahoo to the CHRO of Marriott to the CEO of Jamba Juice for my new book, I put together a framework that allows companies to design great employee experiences. Employee experience may seem complicated, but it really boils down to three environments: technological, physical, and cultural.

• Technological Environment. This includes giving employees the right tools to do their jobs–the internal social network, mobile devices, laptops, desktops, and video conferencing solutions, apps, and more. Employees can easily get frustrated if they are forced to use outdated programs or the wrong tools.

• Physical Environment. The physical space is exactly that–what you see, touch, taste, and smell in the workplace. It involves everything from how the office is laid out to the demographics of the people who work there. It should make employees excited to come to work.

• Cultural Environment. This is all about how an office and company feels. It’s the vibe you get when you walk in the door and the tone the workplace sets, which comes from the leadership style, sense of purpose, organizational structure, people, and more.

The attention to people analytics has increased enormously over the last few years. Many organizations have established people analytics teams, and several promising start-ups have developed software that can help HR with people analytics.

The assumption is that if we have access to the right data, if we have the right analysis tools and clever people to interpret the data, we will be able to predict human behavior – and that these predictions will be used in a sensible way in organizations. I have some doubts.

It is time to have a closer look at the psychology of people analytics.

Inspiration

Two books were a great inspiration, and a must-read for HR professionals and people analytics specialists.

On number one “Thinking, fast and slow” of Nobel prize winner Daniel Kahneman. Looking at the numbers that were sold of this book, you would expect almost everybody has read this book (or at least: has bought this book). When I studied experimental psychology (from 1975-1981) Kahneman was already famous. I still remember the famous article he published in 1974 with his colleague Amos Tversky: Judgment under uncertainty – heuristics and biases. I quote from this article: “The reliance on heuristics and the prevalence of biases are not restricted to laymen. Experienced researchers are also prone to the same biases when they think intuitively. For example, the tendency to predict the outcome that best represents the data, with insufficient regard for prior probability, has been observed in the intuitive judgments of individuals who have had extensive training in statistics”.

On number two “The art of thinking clearly”, written by Rolf Dobelli. His book is less scientific, but certainly a worthwhile read with many good lessons. In 99 chapters, he describes the most common thinking errors, with interesting examples.

I also used the list of cognitive biases on Wikipedia. A great and extensive list. This list inspired Buster Benson to cluster these cognitive biases in categories, which he describes in his excellent article Cognitive bias cheat sheet. Based on this article John Manoogian made a very interesting and informative infographic, the Cognitive Bias Codex.