Global management consultancy Accenture’s ‘Tech Vision 2016’ report confirmed the primacy of people in the way technology is shaping business and societies, Accenture South Africa digital practice head Lee Naik said at the report launch last month.

The proliferation of technology, and the constant and significant changes it was driving in the world of business and civil society, are accentuating the human aspects of interactions, be they business or social interactions, according to the report.

Accenture defines five key trends in the report – intelligent automation, liquid workforce, platform economy, predictable disruption and digital trust – and highlights some of the threats and opportunities associated with the sweeping changes brought about by improving technology capabilities.

“Of the 3 100 IT and business executives polled worldwide, 90% agree that technology and its use will grow even faster during the next 12 to 24 months and proportionately continue to disrupt businesses. “The Internet of Things will see 50-billion sensors and devices networked by 2020, which will change business and daily life,” Naik said.

However, the people-first narrative was counterbalanced by the need to protect the environment and was leading to questions regarding inefficiencies, headcount reductions and how to increase efficiency when providing products and services, as well as changing how people worked, he added.

About 99% of highly structured and routinised jobs can be automated, affecting 47% of jobs, which could lead to job losses; but creative, social and innovative jobs, which require human judgement or interaction, will increase.

While there may be staff reductions at companies, there will also be more temporary work and a greater need for various skills in collaborative projects. Work will subsequently become easier to access, with larger-scale workforces used, albeit for specific projects or periods.

A similar trend will also affect high-level skills, such as those of experts or technical professionals who will increasingly sell their time and expertise to various companies, rather than being perman-ently employed by one company. This means that access to expert skills will increase.

Improved efficiencies, as a result of technology change, could enable companies to develop and increase employment while providing more services to more people; however, this same shift would also drive a change in working patterns, with the so-called liquid workforce coming into effect, Naik explained.

“Disruptions to existing companies and indus- tries are evident across the world and will con-tinue. Intelligent automation enables companies to rethink any process or part of the business to improve efficiency, automate mundane and industrial-type tasks and re-engineer companies to free up human resources.”

The second aspect of the liquid workforce is that it will change the way people work, as they will have access to richer information to support decisions. Collaboration and collaborative work will also increase, as a result of companies’ focus on leveraging digital technologies to influence how the organisation works, and improve productive use of resources.

“What is important for organisations to consider with regard to the emerging liquid workforce is how they will execute their functions, with access to pools of various types of skills. Individuals’ careers will have to evolve to meet new demands, and the strengths and weaknesses of companies’ capabilities will influence how they constitute their workforce and access various skills,” explained Naik.

Skilled people can sell their skills where there is demand, and the dynamics of the liquid workforce will also flatten hierarchies in companies and have people working on a greater variety of projects on an ad hoc basis.

“In South Africa, 76% of the respondents to ‘Tech Vision 2016’ report noted that a fluid workforce will improve innovation in their companies. “However, they will have to explore different ways of working to enable people to improve their productivity and provide the outputs that the business wants,” he highlighted.