Following the outbreak of the COVID-19, global companies have slashed funding for emerging technologies, such as automation, artificial intelligence , blockchain, and 5G, according to new KPMG International research.
“This crisis isn’t affecting all industries equally, but for many of the industries facing crisis, managing the transition to a digital business model is imperative. However, doing so is made more complicated in a time where investments are critical, but cash must be preserved,” KPMG’s global lead for Intelligent Automation and US lead for Digital Capabilities, Cliff Justice said.
However, the report showed that investments in a number of emerging technologies would likely increase over the next year, such as 5G ; process automation ; AI ; hybrid cloud and/or multi-cloud ; blockchain ; edge computing – with the exception of smart analytics . According to them, the immediate focus for now was on survival, which they stated has become the number one objective for most emerging technology investments.
Other findings include that only 13 per cent expected to “significantly increase” investments in emerging technologies amid COVID-19.