5G stands for the 5th generation of telecommunication mobile networks.
In the eras of 2G, 3G and 4G networks telecom operators made incremental changes from the 80s and handsets shifted in moving from 3G to 4G to handle the large amount of data consumed as network speeds and content availability improved.
With 5G, we are in the midst of a huge revolution: not only will network speeds improve a hundredfold; we will also require a new telecom network infrastructure, new 5G enabled mobile phones, and many more network nodes that can talk to multiple devices, not just mobile phones. To understand how we got there, here is a recap of the evolution of the Gs of mobile networks over the years.
What to expect
5G will blur the lines between the real and virtual world! Areas where we will see a transformative change include:
- Transportation: cars will be autonomous. They come to us when we need them, drop us off and proceed to the next request. Shared car systems will multiply usage by tenfold and free an estimated 30-50% of land area for re-development as unused cars will no longer be inactively parked. There will be mass point-to-point transit systems on demand.
- Medicine: robots will do in-patient screenings, diagnostics and recommendations for doctors to act on including critical and precision operations. Sensors and in-person devices will warn us if we are falling ill and urge us to go for health checks. Ambulances and emergency services may be alerted and arrive at our doorstep if data indicates an emergency situation. And as robotic technologies evolve expect to see personal healthcare robots for the aging and differently-abled populations.
- Your fridge: With digital TV flooding us with cable TV channels and the internet and social media revolution, your fridge is also a media touchpoint. It may also force you to put on or lose weight with food recommendation, automated restocking, food ads on screens and many other influencers in and around your fridge telling you what’s good for you.
While these cases may seem extreme, in a world dominated by connected devices they will be our reality within the next 10-15 years. Underlying all this is what flows through and connects all these devices and touch points: trillions and trillions of gigabytes of data riding on 5G at speeds faster than we can comprehend, leading to the next component enabling this revolution “Artificial Intelligence” (AI).
The 5G network is the backbone of the era of connected IoT devices, the oil that fuels it will be the vast amounts of data digested and data driven AI. While the early generation of machine intelligence is designed by humans, we expect AI to increasingly be instrumental in driving further growth and fine tuning as the vast amounts of data points and nodes exceed the comprehension, control and management by humans.
In a fully loaded 5G world humanoids will be hard to distinguish from real human beings noting that already we cannot distinguish between a machine and a human in certain situations using text message based systems. This will extend to voice and eventually to 3D forms as well. In certain jobs we can expect a machine to decide what we are going to do, often without the option of knowing why as is already happening with uber driver selection or route mapping.
5G will not be rolled out instantaneously globally. Past eras from 1G to 4G built upon existing systems, whereas 5G is an expensive and time-consuming shift as fresh telecom infrastructure must be developed. 5G technology is only held by a few countries and some are further ahead than others. Given the potential and breadth of the technology to transform industries and create new ones, countries are jostling and blocking each other to control, define and decide who will drive this technology. More than who controls the technology, a system of rules, checks and balances are critical to ensure the world is prepared for the massive changes coming. The framework to ensure security and privacy without strangling innovation in this fast-paced information overloaded network is paramount. The current pushback by some governments and the public is unsustainable as the transformative benefits of 5G are hard to ignore.
What this means for the insights sector
The world of data and its understanding will continue to change but not the fundamental need to comprehend, decode and distill data. The form will however change, we will see more data architects, data scientists and data visualizers. These designations are already more commonplace. We will also see data analytics companies grow in strength and clout. The form of research and data companies is also changing, with many considering themselves as technology service companies rather than data or research service companies. This is an opportunity to expand and include these players to be active participants in our research community globally.
The impact on MR and insights, in terms of data sources and analysis will be transformative. We won’t be segmenting populations into generations (Millenniums, Gen Z, etc), we will be more focused on segmenting for “one”; segmenting, customizing and targeting markets for each consumer individually. Manufacturers and services will be able to acquire in-depth understanding of their consumers to tailor and influence their choices. They will still use techniques and tools of market research albeit at scale.
The very nature of sampling will evolve to a census mentality given the possibility of gathering information of large populations faster and accurately. Live analytics and dash-boarding will be able to deliver consumer behavioral data instantly, and be dynamic enough to identify trends and seek new data as it’s collected using machine learning algorithms (AI).
Researchers will be able to pull often publically available data from every aspect of a user’s daily life giving a 360-degree-view of a consumer allowing us to accurately predict their actions before they know it. Virtual meetings and interactions will be the new normal for some types of research. We will be able to build virtual worlds (like malls and shopping experiences) for researchers to observe participants and study their behavior. While research models constantly evolve, expect new models to be created and drastically change our landscape.
Given the vast investments expected for 5G technology, there will be regions where it will not penetrate – places some of us will visit to hide away or be sent to detox from a 24/7 connected IoT world. Let’s hope we all get to enjoy both worlds with equal measure.
