Report

NTT: Innovating for Sustainable Future

by

Milton Friedman, the Nobel laureate economist once wrote an article stating that “the only social responsibility of business is to increase its profits.” As the world emerges from the pandemic and enters a new era, that view has been replaced by a broader mission for business: to enrich all corporate stakeholders by contributing to the health and wellbeing of people and the planet.

NTT and ThoughtLab conducted a comprehensive study of 500 companies across seven industries and eight world markets to understand this corporate mandate and how firms achieve it. The study examined how firms incorporate sustainability into their business strategies and plans and the outcomes they are seeing. Crucially, it analyzed how they are leveraging digital innovation to achieve their social, environmental, and economic goals.

As part of the research, we grouped companies into three maturity categories based on their progress against a framework of 10 initiatives for driving sustainable innovation (see appendix). This framework enabled our research team to investigate the business approaches and digital solutions that help sustainability leaders achieve their goals. It also allowed us to identify a roadmap to sustainability excellence and the steps firms take along their journey. This report presents the key findings of our research and shares valuable insights that will help others follow the path that leaders have created.

Deloitte: The Future of Global Infrastructure

by

ThoughtLab conducted a timely global survey for Deloitte to assess how social, environmental, economic, and digital shifts, accelerated by the pandemic, will transform the infrastructure and mobility landscape. The 660 respondents included senior officials in national, state, and local government, as well as top executives from non-profit and private-sector organizations involved in infrastructure projects. The study covered 18 countries in five regions.

A new economic reality calls for infrastructure reimagined: more digital, more sustainable, more equitable. From broadband to bike lanes, we asked experts how infrastructure will change.

  • Beyond roads and bridges. The shift to remote work and telemedicine has big implications for infrastructure. Purely “physical” infrastructure (roads, bridges, electricity) is shifting to more “physical-digital” infrastructure, with broadband, self-driving cars, and “smart infrastructure” taking center stage. New focus on the environment and broad social benefits are also reshaping infrastructure thinking.
  • The pandemic is shifting demand. Many respondents expect more work from home, more broadband, and more transportation options. However, only 4% believe that there will be fewer people living in cities.
  • Cybersecurity is a top concern. As government shifts to more digital infrastructure, cyber risk becomes a concern. About 76% of global infrastructure leaders expect greater focus on data security over the next three years.
  • Technology will reshape infrastructure. Many respondents expect artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and cybersecurity to reshape infrastructure—a clear signal that infrastructure is going digital.
  • Green infrastructure is in demand. About 60% of respondents globally said that they plan to invest in urban places for walking, cycling, socializing, and eating.
  • Infrastructure’s biggest obstacle? Talent. Interestingly, respondents see talent shortage as a bigger obstacle to executing infrastructure projects than budget constraints or regulatory barriers.

 

Deloitte: The Future of United States Infrastructure

by

ThoughtLab conducted a timely global survey for Deloitte to assess how social, environmental, economic, and digital shifts, accelerated by the pandemic, will transform the infrastructure and mobility landscape. The 660 respondents included senior officials in national, state, and local government, as well as top executives from non-profit and private-sector organizations involved in infrastructure projects. The study covered 18 countries in five regions.

A new economic reality calls for infrastructure reimagined: more digital, more sustainable, more equitable. From broadband to bike lanes, we asked experts how infrastructure will change.

  • Beyond roads and bridges. The shift to remote work and telemedicine has big implications for infrastructure. Purely “physical” infrastructure (roads, bridges, electricity) is shifting to more “physical-digital” infrastructure, with broadband, self-driving cars, and “smart infrastructure” taking center stage. New focus on the environment and broad social benefits are also reshaping infrastructure thinking.
  • The pandemic is shifting demand. Many respondents expect more work from home, more broadband, and more transportation options. However, only 4% believe that there will be fewer people living in cities.
  • Cybersecurity is a top concern. As government shifts to more digital infrastructure, cyber risk becomes a concern. About 76% of global infrastructure leaders expect greater focus on data security over the next three years.
  • Technology will reshape infrastructure. Many respondents expect artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and cybersecurity to reshape infrastructure—a clear signal that infrastructure is going digital.
  • Green infrastructure is in demand. About 60% of respondents globally said that they plan to invest in urban places for walking, cycling, socializing, and eating.
  • Infrastructure’s biggest obstacle? Talent. Interestingly, respondents see talent shortage as a bigger obstacle to executing infrastructure projects than budget constraints or regulatory barriers.

 

2022 Kiosk Marketplace Census Report

by

ThoughtLab has contributed to Kiosk Marketplace’s 2022 Census Report. ThoughtLab’s insights are presented on page 50 of the report: COVID creates a new urgency for public/private urban technology partnerships

Kiosk Marketplace organized the census in response to requests from readers seeking reliable data on the size and growth of the self-serve kiosk industry. The Kiosk Marketplace Census holds the distinction of offering statistical information provided by both users and suppliers of self-serve kiosks. Where other kiosk market studies are based mostly on supplier provided information, the majority of the information in the Kiosk Marketplace Census is user provided.

Wipro: The Cloud’s Transformation of Financial Services

by

The financial services sector is undergoing unprecedented disruption, a wild ride created by the digital revolution smashing up against COVID-19’s social and business upheavals. The collision of these two forces in 2020 and 2021 quickly altered the competitive landscape. Financial services institutions (FSIs) had to become smarter and more nimble, working in new ways with unfamiliar technologies at an unparalleled pace to meet escalating digital demands of clients. Firms also had to deal with increased competition as fintechs and technology giants looked to take advantage of uncertain macro and micro economic environments. The phrase “inflection point” is often misapplied to characterize various competitive shifts, but we believe it accurately describes what leaders in financial services face today. In this paper, we lay out the industry’s current state as seen through the eyes of practitioners, how cloud technologies are being used as an accelerant to drive growth and return on investment (ROI), and what lies ahead for our clients over the next few years.

In September 2021, Wipro FullStride Cloud Services released its global survey and report: Making Business Thrive: A Cloud Leader Roadmap for Achieving 10x ROI. Wipro’s robust dataset included 1,300 responses from C-level executives and key decision-makers across 11 industries, of which 26% were financial services related — specifically, banking, insurance, and capital markets, such as wealth advisory and asset management firms. ThoughtLab worked in partnership with Wipro to develop the survey and take a deeper look at the financial services data to identify trends and opportunities that firms should be thinking about to become cloud leaders.

Wipro: The Cloud Growth Strategy for CMI

by

Insights shared in this report are based on surveys conducted for Wipro between June and July and from September to October 2021 by ThoughtLab Group to analyze current and future patterns of enterprise-level cloud adoption. Respondents included 1,400 executives at organizations ranging in size from less than $5 billion to more than $20 billion, with the largest share in the mid-sized category. The survey sample included 100 companies from the communications, media, and information-services industries, with respondents split fairly evenly among the three subsectors. Companies are located in six countries (Australia, France, Germany, Switzerland, UK and US), but because the geographic distribution of CMI firms is heavily weighted toward the US, more than half are based in the US, more than twice the percentage of other industries. All respondents are responsible for or play a key role in their organization’s cloud computing strategy and implementation. Additional insights come from responses to open-ended questions.

To calculate cloud maturity, we analyzed each company to determine the cloud progress they are making, the percentage of their applications they operate in the cloud, and the number of advanced technologies they use in conjunction with the cloud. Based on those criteria, we classified the top 13% of CMI respondents as cloud “leaders,” the middle 61% as “intermediate users,” and the other 26% as “beginners.”