Emerging Trends in the World of Economic Development

Emerging Trends…

If you were to Google or use AI to find out what the emerging trends are for economic development, the following list could pop up. Most of these are not a surprise, but they continue to stay at the top of the list, shifting in order of prominence. Which, of the trends below, applies to your business experience? Would you agree?

•  The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) influencing productivity, workforce, and GDP.
•  Continued supply chain disruptions and increased energy prices increasing affecting consumer and business confidence.
•  Growth of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) promoting international real estate investments.
•  Increased digital e-commerce and online influence.
•  The revolution of financial services to emerging economies with rise of fintech companies.
•  Sustainability and Green Initiatives.
•  Redefining Workforce Expectations from Employee and Employer perspective.

Speaking of AI, this week’s focus is AI trends in economic development. Lots of buzz around this topic from concerns about cyber security and replacing jobs to the promise of increased productivity and impactful discoveries. It is anticipated that AI will significantly boost global GDP by increasing product production and development and increasing customer demand through “personalized” customer service and problem solving.

Though the biggest AI trends are in medicine and education, real estate analytics, site selection and customer service are playing a huge role in advancing economic growth. How?

•  Repetitive tasks are being transferred to AI, saving time and resources while at the same time increasing efficiency and productivity.
•  Decision-making has a new resource in AI with data-driven insights and predictions for future direction guidance.
•  Reduction of labor costs and errors through automation.
•  Tailored marketing experience for consumers.
•  Improved innovation by accelerating product design and problem-solving through analytics.
•  Allows for the increase of workload without increasing staff.
•  A market differentiator.
•  It works 24/7 through chatbots.

On the flip side, AI continues to raise concerns:

• Job displacement in certain job markets.
• There is a high implementation cost in staff and time.
• Security risks due to AI’s dependence on data, which could lead to a breach or misuse of data.
• Ambiguous results that can be difficult to interpret.
• Lack of regulatory guidelines, which can lead to ethical issues.
• Dependence on technology, which could be monumental if systems fail.
• Stifling of human creativity and contact.

AI is here to stay for the immediate future, even longer, and how businesses choose to integrate AI into current systems and decision-making has been suggested to be a deciding factor for navigating successful economic development and progress. Now is the time to decide if and how it should or should not be incorporated into SOP. It cannot be ignored.