Over the past few decades, the pace of technological change has been fairly tremendous. And the world of business, in particular, has been transformed. Thanks to a diverse collection of innovations, we’re able to do business in ways that were previously impossible – and to perform tasks that were possible with unprecedented speed and efficiency.
It’s worth taking stock of exactly how things have progressed – and anticipating what the future might hold.
How has communication changed?
The internet is perhaps the biggest leap forward in history as far as communication is concerned. While the printing press might have allowed millions of people to record and share their ideas without having to employ legions of scribes, the internet has made everyone in the world a published.
Websites, cloud storage, social media, and mobile applications have each allowed for a specific kind of progress. They’ve allowed businesses to put messages out to the public, cut down on their warehousing and data storage costs, and transmit messages internally, even when workers aren’t actually in the same country as one another.
Remote working is now the norm
The pandemic might have given the world of business the push it needed to make remote working the norm, but the truth is that remote working has been possible for several years now. Workers can collaborate on projects using cloud technology, and participate in meetings and group chats thanks to teleconferencing software.
Now that the remote working revolution has come and gone, workers might even expect to work in this way for the rest of their careers, even now the pandemic is over. A YouGov poll from 2021 revealed that almost two-thirds of British workers want to be able to work from home even after the pandemic is over. Employers who can offer this capability might therefore put themselves at an advantage in the labour market. If you can offer it, the chances are good that you’ll secure that valued recruit.
How banks and lawyers have adapted
Many technological advances aren’t so easily pinpointed by the general public. They occur ‘under the hood’ of the processes and applications that we use, such that we don’t see them at work – we just enjoy the results afterward. A good example of this might be advanced tracking that has made modern logistics so much more efficient.
Naturally, all of this new technology has exposed the legal and financial systems to unprecedented kinds of risk. Many businesses have therefore seen fit to hire dedicated technology lawyers, who can anticipate and mitigate any liability. This is especially the case among businesses that need to collect large amounts of data from customers, for which new data protection lawyers might pose a threat.
