Four key technologies to look out for

Whether it is to collect data or to automate tasks, the Internet of Things (IoT), the name given to the billions of connected devices all over the world, is at the heart of the digital transformation of various businesses, municipalities, and organizations around the globe. And the trend will only get stronger in 2022.

According to the 2021 Microsoft IoT Signals study, in which decision-makers working in different sectors all over the world were surveyed, 90% of them have already adopted the IoT. And they’re just getting started—66% of them plan to speed up the implementation of the IoT in the coming years.

The Internet of Things offers a wide variety of possibilities, and these can be grouped into six broad categories: efficiency (inform managers to help them make decisions, for example), security (send an alert in the event of an issue), quality (reduce human errors), performance (increase production capacity), regulatory compliance (automatically promote compliance), and reduced downtimes (optimize tools and equipment).

In the hospitality industry, the IoT can, for instance, be used to facilitate food tracking and ensure cold chain compliance, for automated check-in via connected screens, and to install connected signs, accelerating the time it takes to prepare conference rooms. The technology can also provide a 100% mobile experience in which clients use their telephone to check in, and even to open their hotel room door.

Videotron Business and its network of partners, like Québec’s own X-TELIA, can help you deploy IoT solutions. Our experts can help define your needs and find the right solutions for you, for a variety of applications such as smart cities, transportation, smart buildings, connected workers, and connected points of sale.

Businesses often have vast amounts of data, like their order history and production information, and these are not always used to their best capacity. And with the increasing popularity of the Internet of Things and 5G communications, this data is continually growing.

Artificial intelligence helps you find value in this data, for instance by optimizing city bus schedules, analyzing the vibrations of industrial machinery to discover that it will soon need repairs, or optimizing a company’s supply chine based on future needs.

Creating artificial intelligence models is complex and expensive. However, in 2022, you can benefit from advancements made by others to easily profit from their data and automate certain processes. And this is possible in all sectors.

Artificial intelligence is also at the heart of decisional intelligence, a major technological trend in 2022, according to Gartner. The research firm finds that data analysis, artificial intelligence, and simulations facilitate or automate the decision-making process in businesses. "Human decision-makers certainly shouldn’t be replaced everywhere; rather, they should be complemented by the power of data, analytics, and AI," notes Gartner.

The progressive deployment of 5G is under way in Québec. The Videotron network already covers the most populated areas of the province, including Montréal and Québec City, and it will continue to expand in the coming years.

The 5G network offers various benefits compared to the LTE connectivity offered up until now. It has faster transfer speeds, better connectivity, and practically non-existing latency. These benefits translate differently for different businesses. The increased speed makes it possible to transfer top-quality video content, the improved connectivity helps connect thousands of connected objects to the 5G network in a single place (to ensure all visitors have an Internet connection, for example), and the latency opens the door to new uses, such as surgeries performed remotely.

Several Québec and Canadian SMEs are developing 5G-based solutions. Arvizio, for example, offers mixed reality visualization tools, remotely and in real time. OTTO Motors, on the other hand, provides autonomous mobile robots for handling materials in plants and warehouses.

The deployment of private 5G networks also makes it possible for certain businesses to shift paradigms. This is the case for Canadian mining company Agnico Eagle, for whom the deployment of the 5G network in a gold mine in Finland would make it possible to use autonomous vehicles.

And you don’t need such large-scale projects to benefit from 5G, as indicated in this Fibrenoire webinar on the current state of 5G in businesses. These new networks provide faster access to more data. Combined with the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, 5G improves the responsiveness of businesses, which can be translated into productivity and security gains.

There’s been talk of “digital transformation,” “digital revolution,” and the “digitization of businesses” for years now. These ambiguous terms refer to the adoption of digital technologies in all business activities, whether to offer better customer service, improve your business processes, or something else.

Québec and Canada are standing their own when it comes to digitization. They aren’t the top-ranking, however. In a report on digital economics by the European Commission, Canada ranked in the middle of the pack among industrialized countries, ahead of Turkey, Brazil, Russia, and the European Union as a whole, but behind Iceland, Norway, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Québec’s work productivity, on the other hand, falls below the average of the 20 countries included in the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), according to the Bilan 2020 - Productivité et prospérité au Québec by the Centre sur la productivité et la prospérité of HEC Montréal. Accelerating the digitization of businesses is of utmost importance to promote innovation and improve productivity.

This is why Québec announced in 2021 that it would shell out $130 million as part of its Digital Transformation Offensive (OTN). Several local SMEs will benefit from these subsidies. The $6.48 million granted to Réseau des centres d’expertise industrielle (RCEI) will help speed up the development of digital projects in the 4.0 industry, and the financing granted to Alliance Métal Québec will provide support for a cohort of steel manufacturing entrepreneurs.

The digital transformation of businesses started several years ago in Québec, but there is still lots to be done. The year 20222 is the perfect time for businesses that have yet to make the shift to do so.