Between the 1990’s and the latter half of the 2000’s, the internet evolved from static to interactive. Industry also evolved, from physical to digital to “phygital” and cyber-physical. Today, in 2020, we are witnessing the rise of an experiential internet: smart devices working together in a converged technology landscape, creating immersive, interactive smart spaces. With the help of technology, we’ve continued to evolve, entering into the post-digital era of today.

This post-digital world is unlike anything humanity has experienced so far. It is a world of fuzziness, simultaneously driven by complexity and hyper-efficiency, hyper-convergence and mass customization; automation, job redefinition, and remote working. Recently, it is also a world disrupted by a global pandemic.

Navigating such uncertainty has thrown a spotlight on the innovations of the mind: ideas and intellectual property (IP). This World IP Day, we’re taking a step back to acknowledge how innovative technology and big ideas are driving progress and helping us adapt to the future.

The value of IP

In this post-digital era, creative solutions are among the most valuable industrial assets. Innovations help businesses adapt and give them a competitive edge. Encouraging the development of intellectual property – which can include patents, trademarks, industrial designs, even copyright for literary works, films, music, and art – is essential for innovation to thrive and industries to remain competitive.

But breaking new ground is difficult. Truly great innovations take time, talent, and resources, which aren’t always available. Technology accelerates the creation of intellectual property exponentially. Artificial intelligence, mixed reality, collaborative robots: These technologies democratize skill at scale, reducing the barrier to entry for businesses looking to develop their own innovations or leverage others’. With the right technology, not everyone has to be an expert. Intelligent products, platforms, and smart systems can facilitate the development of innovative solutions.

Disruption in the post-digital age

Right now, industries face three major forms of disruption which are driving the need for faster innovation and IP creation:                                                                                        

• Technology
  Increasing profits, developing markets, enhancing trust: As technology continues to prove itself useful in all aspects of business, it’s moving out of the back-office operations and into the forefront – into hands of business leaders and alongside the work force. This has led to a focal shift from robotizing humans to humanizing technology.
  
  
• Business Models
  Processes are going digital (a result of technological disruptions), leading to changes in business models and the structuring of work streams. Front office, back office, middle office: These concepts are dissolving, making room for tech-driven processes which can be computed, measured, controlled and governed, thereby supporting a shift from mass production to mass customization.
  
  
• Behavior
  Digital natives grew up using the technologies other generations have learned to adopt, resulting in completely different relationships with technology and different ways of using it (e.g. developmental, social, professional, creative). Consumer preferences and patterns are also shifting, reflected in the creation of gig, sharing, social and experience economies.

Convergence and collaboration as competitive advantage

Convergence of business processes is driving value for enterprises. Today, businesses are implementing innovations in ways which would have been unimaginable just few years back, such as the merging of gaming technology with the industrial sector to create powerful industry simulations, or IT and operational technology (OT) integration leading to consumerization of OT.

Competitive advantage is the primary value of intellectual property – a business has the rights to an idea, product, or service that its competitors do not. But collaboration is also a form of competitive advantage, especially for IP. Industries need innovations to keep up, but they may not have the ideas or innovations needed to do so. They can access this IP through open source or crowdsourcing models, but do they have the guidance to navigate such models effectively? Without a strong partnership with an organization well versed in technology and innovation, will businesses be able to implement IP in a way that’s truly helpful?

Driving IP creation and enabling customers to leverage innovation

Wipro’s CTO office is dedicated to driving IP creation and enabling industries to leverage intellectual property and emerging technology for successful digital transformations.

Our Technovation Center, for example, is a state-of-the-art innovation incubation center specializing in “future-proofing” enterprises. Being able to adapt to this ever-changing world is a key challenge for businesses. The Technovation specializes in the art of visualization: helping businesses visualize new approaches and tailor solutions to the complex, converged ecosystems of the future. Through immersive techniques and storytelling, gaming technology and visual mediums like CAVE (cave automatic virtual environment), holograms, and virtual reality (VR), we allow customers to experience how they can leverage IPs to their advantage. Our Maker Lab aids in technology transformations and disruptive innovations by executing joint pilot programs with our clients, start-ups, and academia. And dedicated zones within the Center enable enterprise clients to explore solutions with Industrial Robotics and drones, 5G, advanced AI for industrial automation, blockchain, mixed reality (MR), and VR.

Annually, with over 400 industry, academia, and government customers leveraging our labs, we ensure each gets a view of what’s in store for the future, what remains to be explored, and how we’re helping industries in their quests to be more resilient.

A disruptive world demands faster innovation and IP creation. This World IP Day, let’s all work to enable both enterprises and individuals to innovate and lead the way.

Contact us to learn more about how Wipro is driving IP creation and helping enterprises leverage the digital tools they need.