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Tech predictions for 2023

Predicting the future is notoriously difficult, but that does not mean it is not fun.

Mario Blazevic / January 10, 2023

We asked some of our experts to tell us a little bit about what trends they think will be important this year - here is what they said.

Mario

Mario Blazevic, Head of Cards, Tietoevry Banking

– Sustainability is becoming a topic that cuts across virtually all sectors of the economy, including cards and payment services, says Blazevic.

As consumers are becoming increasingly more concerned about their own environmental footprints, Blazevic and his colleagues are looking into how they can help them make consumer choices that align with their values.

– This could for example mean that if you have chosen a product with a high carbon footprint when shopping online, you will be presented with more climate-friendly alternatives before finalizing your purchase. This could include information about how much C02 you will save by choosing a more environmentally friendly option. To me, these kinds of solutions are what purposeful technology is all about and can help bring about real change.

In a year where the global news cycle has been dominated by a challenging geopolitical landscape and an energy crisis in Europe, it comes as no surprise that Blazevic also mentions security and the ability to cope with an unpredictable and rapidly changing world as themes that he thinks will be important in 2023.

– The current geopolitical situation and the on-going energy crisis have of course put security and resilience near the top of everybody’s agenda, and I expect this to continue this year. For banking, this means that we must continue to develop new technology and use the latest available solutions that provide the highest levels of security and robustness in the industry.

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Maria Nordgren, Head of Cybersecurity Services, Tietoevry Connect

– I think that for the field of cybersecurity, what is known as the “shift left” will be an important trend in 2023, says Nordgren.

– Simply put, this means that security considerations are taken into account early in the process of developing a new application or product. This is something that we are seeing already, and that I expect will become even more salient going forward. In fact, I would go even further and say that the shift left will increasingly come to cover the development of the entire security stack. Everything starts with risk mapping, all organizations need to do their homework in cyber risk mapping. I think it is fair to say that part of the reason for this is the ongoing war in Ukraine.

This approach will have implications for how organizations carry out their cybersecurity work, according to Nordgren.

– What is known as SIEM, or security information and event management can soon be a thing of the past. What is needed instead is a SOC, a security operations center, and a new SOC at that. One that proactively and constantly is on the lookout for cyber threats.

Learn more in Maria's recent blog post: Cybersecurity is ‘going left’ in 2023

Ida Bohman Steenberg, Head of Sustainability, Tietoevry

– We are seeing a clear shift from when a focus on sustainability used to be something that was considered nice to have to where it is now part of the license to operate for many companies, says Bohman Steenberg.

According to Tietoevry’s own sustainability expert, many companies now find themselves in a completely different regulatory environment than just a few years ago.

– There is a tsunami of regulations related to sustainability just around the corner. Many of them are international in scope, such as the EU taxonomy and the CSRD.

Bohman Steenberg explains that companies’ sustainability efforts are becoming broader in scope, and she expects this will continue this year.

– We are seeing an increased focus on human rights, for instance. The Norwegian Åpenhetslov, which requires companies to carry out due diligence reporting to stop, prevent and limit negative impacts on human rights and decent work is an example of this change.

This, however, does not mean that issues like climate change will receive less attention, according to Bohman Steenberg.

– I think it is fair to say that climate change is the biggest challenge of our time and will continue to be so in the foreseeable future. For Tietoevry, this means that we will continue to work to reduce our own carbon footprint, and that many of our customers will do the same.

Sebastian Reichmann

Sebastian Reichmann, Head of Productization, Data, and AI, Tietoevry Industry

– When it comes to AI, it is exceedingly difficult to make predictions, because the technology is developing very quickly and because of the broader availability of infrastructure and open-source concepts is driving faster adoption. This is fueling rapid AI-based concept innovation and will establish new best practices for business processes in many more industries, Reichmann says.

He mentions language processing as a field in which we saw some interesting projects in 2022, with open-source services like chat.openai.com or openai.com/dall-e-2/ ,that were used by millions of people globally in a matter of days.

– These models create texts and pictures based on textual human input and even write working software code if users ask them to. Going forward, it will be very interesting to follow how we end up using this technology and what kind of new solutions it can help generate.

Reichmann thinks that the question of how to best regulate this new technology will become increasingly important. Upcoming legislation like the EU AI act, is an important first step, but effective implementation requires an active dialogue between lawmakers, technology providers, and the public.

– There are obviously no clear and easy answers here, but I think it is fair to say that this discussion will be important going forward. Related to this, I also think we will see a change in the debate from “Is AI good or bad?” to “How can AI be used responsibly?”

Tietoevry’s Public 360’s AI chief points out that also those of us who are just regular consumers need to improve our understanding when it comes to opportunities, boundaries and responsible use of AI. Is that something AI could actually help us with? We asked chat.open AI to find out:

How can AI be utilized responsibly?

There are several ways that AI can be used responsibly:

  1. Ensuring transparency: It's important for the decision-making processes of AI systems to be transparent and explainable, so that users understand how the AI is arriving at its conclusions.
  2. Ensuring fairness: AI systems should be designed and trained in a way that avoids biases and ensures that all users are treated fairly.
  3. Protecting privacy: AI systems should be designed with privacy in mind and should only collect and use personal data in a transparent and ethical manner.
  4. Ensuring accountability: It's important to have clear rules and regulations in place to ensure that AI systems are used ethically and responsibly, and to hold those who develop and use AI accountable for any negative consequences that may arise.
  5. Promoting diversity and inclusion: AI systems should be developed and used in a way that promotes diversity and inclusion, and that takes into account the needs and perspectives of a wide range of users.
  6. Ensuring security: AI systems should be designed and implemented in a way that protects against cyberattacks and other security threats.

By following these principles, AI can be used in a responsible and ethical manner to benefit society and improve people's lives.

So, if our experts are correct, keeping up with an expanding sustainability agenda, and being able to continuously adapt to a new geopolitical reality will be important this year

Read more of our insights here

Mario Blazevic
Head of Cards
Ida Bohman Steenberg
Chief Sustainability Officer

Ida is very passionate about sustainable development and has been working with that her whole working life. She started out in asset management and then Management consulting at EY for many years, sustainable supply chain at Vattenfall and was Global Head of Sustainability at Tieto before her current role at Tietoevry. On the side she has had several engagements in the non-profit world and academia.

Author

Mario Blazevic

Head of Cards

Ida Bohman Steenberg

Chief Sustainability Officer

Maria Nordgren

Tietoevry alumni

Sebastian Reichmann

Head of AI & Insights, Tietoevry Industry, Public 360°

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