Gigaworld is to unlock a wave of innovation worth at least €250 billion per year to the European economy by 2025.
New research from Arthur D. Little estimates that Gigaworld – the world enabled by widespread access to high quality, gigabit internet in which people, machines and the environment collaborate intelligently – could generate billions of Euros for the European economy, and trillions globally.
However, the research notes that the success of the Gigaworld “will depend on the room its innovation cycle will be given to function, to allow new innovative applications and devices to be developed, networks to be upgraded to GIGANetworks and new monetisation models to be adopted.”
A key factor will be the “predictability and clarity of the public policy framework to stimulate all actors to invest in the Gigaworld and to experiment with new business models.”
ADL estimates that, under the right circumstances, the Gigaworld innovation cycle will unlock a market of at least €250 billion and up to €660 billion per year by 2025 in Europe. At the global level, the value is expected to be €1.3-3.5 trillion per year.
According to ADL, the market will be unlocked by three major families of “Giga apps” that will maximize the opportunities that a Gigaworld presents.
Augmented Discovery is the advanced understanding of, and interaction with, an environment through a blend of digital content with the physical world, eg the broadcasting of holographic sports events or an augmented teaching session. By 2025, Augmented Discovery is expected to generate revenues estimated at between €80 and 175 billion per year in Europe.
Virtual Telepresence focuses on overcoming physical or geographic boundaries or immersive presence in artificial environments, for example, a seamless retail experience or virtual social interaction. By 2025, Virtual Telepresence is estimated to create revenues of €20 – 60 billion per year in Europe.
Automated Living is the delegation of human decision-making and task execution to technology and appliances, e.g. agriculture supervision by drones or patient health tele-monitoring. By 2025, this market in Europe is estimated to reach €150 – 425 billion of revenue per year.
Usage and smooth functioning of these apps will rely on the quality of networks, which will need to provide key service features such as high bandwidth, low latency, high reliability, high security, high resilience, widespread coverage and position accuracy (the ability to determine via the network the device’s positioning in three-dimensional space).
ADL notes that the Giga apps will affect most economic sectors: Industrial, Smart Home & Entertainment, Healthcare, Travel and Tourism, Public Planning and Administration, Education and Training, Retail and Commerce, Energy and Utilities.
Commenting on the report, Liberty Global SVP and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Manuel Kohnstamm said: “This report clearly highlights the massive economic benefits and technological advancements that await us if we embrace Gigaworld. Networks are an essential foundation of such an exciting future, and Liberty Global’s investments, expansions and upgrades are making it possible. Society will benefit if businesses and governments and regulators collaborate to help drive the next innovation cycle, enable the use of Giga apps and unlock new value.”
Gregory Pankert, Partner, Arthur D. Little, said: “After 30 years of the Internet, we are entering a new era. The third industrial revolution leveraged the development of electronics, IT and automated production. The ongoing fourth industrial revolution is driven by cyber-physical systems and fueling a wave of technological innovation that fundamentally alters the nature of digital applications. It will be essential for regulators to ensure the innovation cycle functions well, iterates and creates value.”
During the presentation of the report at Liberty Global’s tech Summit in Amsterdam, Ignacio G, Alves, CEO ADL, said “You cannot prescribe innovation, but you can discourage it. We believe that until now regulation is regulating the past,” while taking the example of the introduction of DVB-H as an example. “They were going to push DVB-H, but in the end the model didn’t work, because it was not clear who was going to pay for what.”
“Investments we are making are making sense,” said Balan Nair, EVP and CTO for Liberty Global, “We are investing more than any other operator in the world, investing in every facet of connectivity.”
Speaking as the report was published today, Matthias Kurth, Executive Chairman of Cable Europe said: “At this precise moment Members of the European Parliament and representatives of the EU Member States are taking key decisions with a fundamental impact upon the success of this GigaWorld economy. The message from this report is clear. The draft Electronic Communications Code must stimulate, not stifle investment.
‘Let’s not jeopardise our future success with unnecessary barriers to continued investment, competition and innovation”
