At the beginning of each year, we are asked to make resolutions, projections and set goals.

Each new year is treated like a new beginning, at times completely unrelated to the 365 days period that just ended. 

I don’t particularly agree with this approach, I  believe  there is a deep correlation between the year that just ended and the one just starting. 

As Bernardo di Chartres once said “nanos gigantum humeris insidentes”, or in English “we are dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants “. 

What does this metaphor have to do with a new year? Correlation?

I like this metaphor as it represents a more correct way looking ahead to 2023 and the potential new scenarios that might unfold. 

The digital landscape is evolving at a rapid pace, providing innovations that improve or change the way we work, shop, learn and live.

Here is my personal point of view on how the just concluded year has contributed to unlocking the new one. 

1) From the “Social Economy” to the “Creator Economy”

Tables have turned. Again. 

David vs Goliath has had many interpretations and applications, and Digital is not the exception.

These days almost anyone can influence and steer purchases from their own home simply by turning a camera on. All it is required is a device connected to the internet and a bunch of Social Media profiles. Et Voila, an influencer is born!

This peculiar bread of digital workers has been around for decades now powered by all the social media platforms out there and many satellite businesses are supporting the trend. 

Working or not, reliable, or not (I won’t go too much into the details) we can all agree that brands are forced to leverage this type of communicational channels to gain popularity and convert prospects into customers. 

Nowadays, if a company wants to sell its products or services, it needs to keep in mind that there are clusters of potential customers (such as teenagers) who are rarely exposed to the traditional advertisement channels such as TV ads or radio spots in their entire life.

So, how is the “Social Economy” different from the “Creator Economy”? 

In the digital space, technology is the game changer, it evolves, improves, and enables scenarios that were simply not there the day before. 

Also, technological innovation is rarely radical but rather incremental, meaning that the new functions or scenarios are leveraging, as foundation, the previously developed one. 

“nanos gigantum humeris insidentes”. Remember that? 

The early 2000 “Influencers” have gradually transformed into “Digital Content Creators” able to better monetize the results of their work leveraging a more advanced set of tools and tech.

Since then, Digital Creators can better optimize their content in a Data-Driven way as the screen is no longer a passive projector of content, but rather a sophisticated and smart data and signals collector. 

There are many examples, and I would like to highlight one application that has heavily impacted our lives and dominated our free time: 

Netflix and Chill!

In the entertainment industry, the Streaming service innovation has been the biggest tsunami that has even doomed well established and global companies, right Mr. Blockbuster?

Back in 2016, the ‘That ’70s Show’s main duo Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson decided to work together again and presented a new show called “The Ranch”.

 

Ashton Kutcher himself explained why he decided to produce an entire new series on Netflix and not any other platform and how the service dictated some of the crucial elements of the final product.

He and his team were amazed by the granularity and variety of data and insights the platform could provide about the viewers and their usage of the service. 

This allowed the team to steer and design a product (the series) that could be better received (hence monetized) by the audience. 

In conclusion, this is true for a wide range of content creation, such as Music, Art, Finance, and anything that can be distributed digitally. 

Personally, I see this trend growing and transforming even more in the upcoming years especially with the mass adoption of the 3RD phase of Web and its core technology: “blockchain”. 

You have not really explained the move from social to creator economy. Maybe you need to deep dive a little on the above topics in order to connect them?

2)The 3rd phase of the Web.  Still a “nerdy” space with too much financial speculation. 

I have no intentions to write about Web3, Metaverse, Bitcoin and all these “buzz topics”. It is , not required as plenty of content has been produced on the topic.

However, in 2023 we cannot ignore this trend that, so far, has dominated the news, attracted a ridiculous volume of investments, and some financial scandals. 

Despite all of it, we also cannot deny that Web3 remains at its dawn, far away from the mass adoption and only a handful number of companies are seriously creating value with it. 

So, what can we expect from Web3 in 2023? How is this new tech going to be leveraged and change the way we live or work? 

 

Despite the hype, and frankly some debatable attempts of some businesses, I believe that this year will still be a transaction year for the industry. My assumption is simply based on one fact that in order to drive a real change you need volume and mass adoption. 

Can you imagine Guglielmo Marconi inventing the Radio and being the only one having one? No innovation can be meaningful if only adopted by a few.

Going back to Web3, even if its financial application (Cryptocurrency) has attracted a great deal of interest and some scandals, we are still far away from having this injected in our day-to-day life. Same can be said for NFTs (digital collectables) and how the concept of tokenization is still only associated to ugly apes’ designs.

Although our physical existence is gradually merging with our digital persona(s), we haven’t reached the point where it is impossible to differentiate between the physical and virtual life.

This can be seen also in blockchain adoption of Virtual Words, also known as Metaverse which so far has only attracted a couple of PR stunts and a very low adoption rate. 

It is important to also remember that, as of today, the Metaverse in its holistic meaning, doesn’t even exist yet. What we are referring to is a bunch of virtual universes not connected with each other. 

3) Digital “NomadNESS”. The post-Covid wave and work-life balance  

When the infamous pandemic hit our lives back in 2020, we all realized that it is possible to carry on with most of our tasks and fulfill our Jobs without being physically present. 

This nefastus occurrence accelerated the digital transformation adoption with the same speed generated by a thruster to bring the rocket in orbit. 

But this is history, we lived this through firsthand and I still remember the long days of isolation and the rapid rise of MS TEAMS and all other video-conferencing platforms. The result of that, for most of us, has been the realization of how much time we invest in our daily commute and how important the physical interaction with your colleagues (or the lack of) is.

Once most restrictions were lifted, hybrid working models started to emerge, and each organization adopted its preferred one.

One trend started to crystallize, professionals want more work-life balance that allows them to carry some of their functions out while being in PJs and looking at their children playing. 

The Holy Grail of every working professional started to shape and it looked like flexible hours, remote locations, and no office outfits. What used to be a set of perks given to a few senior executives, it is now available for the entire workforce.

But we know this already, so, how is this going to evolve in 2023? 

 

Again, I don’t have a crystal ball, but amongst my professional network, I have witnessed a significant number of colleagues giving in notices to very respectful corporations, in favor of more agile, less stiff organizations offering flexible working conditions. I can only see this trend (initiated in 2020 with Covid) continuing and growing exponentially while bringing with it two major repercussions:

  1. Office space (and its facilities) are less important than before (right Google/Meta?)
  2. An employer that does not offer such conditions, is way less attractive despite its prestigious brands or legacies.

With advancements in technology, we can now achieve what was once deemed impossible and many businesses have become more agile and able to meet challenges more efficiently.

As digital native, and someone that has been an earlier adaptor of technology, I can only be pleased by this and foresee this trend to drive the job market worldwide in 2023. 

4) Cogito, ergo AI. The machine (r)evolution is here, and it is not “THE TERMINATOR”.

Man vs Machine, a classic since the first science-fiction “motion picture” Metropolis was presented back in 1927. How humans would interact with robots has always stimulated our imagination and it is still the case even today, roughly 100 years after Metropolis. 

On top of that, machines have started having their own intelligence that made this “technological product” looking even more threatening for the majority.

So, what can we expect in this 2023? 

 

AI and ML are not a new topic, at all. AI was founded as an academic discipline in 1956 and discussed predominantly amongst IT professionals and members of the Academia. 

Without going too much into the matter – that I leave to more technically prepared profiles – this was still the case until the end of last year. Timid implementation of AI-Based functions was rolled out across mainly enterprises solutions.

But then, at the end of 2022, something happened that changed the perception and the awareness around this topic. LENSA AI came along and got the main social media channels, and all of us, by storm.

I was personally amazed by how much attention a relatively simple AI-powered application has drawn and the number of colleagues showcasing their new LinkedIn profile pictures.

It is unbelievable how such a complex topic (like AI) can be only noted when we tap in the most ego-centrical part of the human nature…selfies. 

For me, generating an artistic set of digital portraits leveraging the complex computing power that powers an AI, the number of hours invested into its algorithm, seemed a little bit limiting and underwhelming. But it worked! It helped to raise awareness about how machines can do things on its own among the mass and not only between a bunch of geeks and Computer Science professionals. 

Of course, you cannot beat a machine in tasks receptiveness and speed, but LENSA AI showed to the world how machines can also start to be creative. The famous “right brain”, the emotional and creative part of each of us, could be encapsulated in a well programmed app and brought to you at your fingertips. 

Since then, AI-powered applications have been at the center of a mediatic escalation and some offices conversations and, as of today, there are 15 AI applications that I use on a regular basis and 50 others that I am aware of.

My forecast would be of this trend not slowing down and gaining more awareness this year while moving away from SELFIE-Making use cases to higher purpose ones.

In conclusion:

 

Being able to create content at speed and scale utilizing AI-powered tech, owning and monetize it by distributing it across a potentially endless virtual expansion of our physical lives, seems to be a great ingredients list to “bake” an amazing year in the digital space. 

I really look forward to a digitally driven 2023 and see you on the other – virtual – side.