See full analysis Learn more Digitalization [New] Digital currency bitcoin has emerged as a rival to gold and could trade as high as US$146,000 (C$185,223) if it becomes established as a safe-haven asset. [New] Digital transformation - Shaping the future of European healthcare, Europe is expected to be short of 4.1 million healthcare workers by 2030. [New] - after a year of more affordable ad prices compared to years past - customer acquisition costs on Facebook and Google will once again rise in the second quarter of 2022, as more corporations once again start to ramp up their digital marketing. [New] 40% of the expected synergies form the merger - projected at more than 5 billion euros, will come from convergence of platforms and powertrains and from optimizing R&D investments. [New] Going forward, digital lenders will forge deeper partnerships with big tech companies and banks by co-developing products or literally combining through M&A deals as we have already seen this past year such as the Lending Club acquisition of Radius Bank or Metro Bank acquisition of RateSetter. [New] Budget allocations to cloud security will grow from single-digit to double as companies look to protect 2020 cloud buildouts in the year ahead. [New] The total transaction value of digital payments is expected to reach nearly $4.8 trillion, and in fewer than five years, half the world's population will be armed with a digital wallet. [New] The coming year will be a big year for AI growth, and that many AI applications will take off, truly delivering insights, efficiencies, and cost savings for the digital marketplace. [New] European tech companies have already seen an increase in the level of investment they receive from US firms in recent years, and we expect trend to increase in 2021. [New] India's mutual fund industry is likely to grow in double digits, and the asset under management is expected to cross Rs50 lakh crore mark over the five years through 2025. Global spending on AI will double in the next four years, reaching $110 billion in 2024, as companies see an opportunity to boost innovation, improve customer service and automate routine tasks so their employees can focus on more strategic work. The digital world has created new channels and opportunities for fraudsters to target banks - and for every dollar of fraud lost in 2020, banks and financial service providers just in the US incurred $3.78 in related costs! Marg ERP plans to add 100 additional channel partners to its platform in 2020 in a bid to strengthen its position with small businesses in India and 26 other countries. Global spending on digital transformation technologies and services such as artificial intelligence and machine learning is forecast to grow an annual 10.4% to $1.3 trillion in 2020. In 2021, regulatory developments will be the biggest catalyst of growth for Africa's digital currency industry. Some onlookers even expect the US and China to lock horns in a digital currency war, as the US Congress has been pushing for a digital dollar in 2020, fueled by competition with Beijing. In India, 6,660 crore transactions worth $270.7 billion are expected to shift from cash to cards and digital payments by 2023 - and increase to $856.6 billion by 2030. The latest Global Interconnection Index study estimates that digital service providers - such as telecommunications, cloud and IT services, and content, digital media, and technology providers - will increase bandwidth five-fold by 2023. At the dawn of 2021, all across the world, compressed digital transformation is accelerating cloud adoption, digital commerce, cyber security, automation and AI. Facebook Protect, a security monitoring platform offered to political officials during the 2020 US elections, will be offered to more people in 2021. Prescriptive analytics will be a key component for digital transformation success: Advanced analytics are becoming mainstreamed as businesses increasingly collect and analyze data across their organizations, with 35% of U.S. manufacturers deploying advanced analytics in the past three years. Last updated: 10 January 2021 Hi, Would you like a quick online demo of our service from an experienced member of our team? Yes No