Technology Vision invites you to meet me in the metaverse

I head up Global IT but I never think of our people as solely technologists. I see them daily combining their technology skills with a large dose of human ingenuity to deliver fulfilling, omni-connected experiences to Accenture people—and we’re all looking for ways we can do that better or more easily.

It’s one of the reasons why I’m finding the latest 2022 Technology Vision so relevant. Titled: “Meet me in the metaverse” this annual exploration of the latest technology trends, steeped in a 22-year history of analysis, talks about how the continuum of technology and experience is reshaping business.

Accenture can identify with the concept; we’ve proved ourselves open to immersive reality and metaverse experiences that can help people connect in new ways, feel a deeper sense of community and experience our culture in a personal way.

We’ve seen how breakthrough technologies are enabling organizations, such as ourselves, to co-create and prototype solutions—transforming the enterprise as we know it. And we want to share that transformation with others. It’s why we also announced recently that we’re launching a dedicated “Metaverse Continuum” business group to help companies build new experiences. We can see how businesses are racing toward a future that is completely different from the one they were designed to operate in—as technologies such as extended reality, blockchain, digital twins and edge computing, converge to reshape human experiences.

Accenture is already a leader in delivering extended reality solutions to our clients and we are creating valuable XR experiences for our own people, too. Working closely with Microsoft, we’ve created and operate an enterprise metaverse we call “The Nth Floor.” It’s used for anything from immersive learning to hosting important meetings and helps to bring our geographically distributed workforce together. This fiscal year, we expect 150,000 or more new hires will work in the metaverse on their first day.

And if you’d like to read more about the ways Accenture is meeting in the metaverse, you can hear what my colleague and digital experiences lead, Jason Warnke has to say about how we’re going boldly into the metaverse using virtual reality—with tech solutions that are good for our people and our business.

What are the 2022 trends?

In this year’s Technology Vision we find out how organizations’ drive to survive during the pandemic has accelerated the future. Changes and innovations employed during those testing times have become the foundation for worlds now emerging. We know we’re not out of the woods with the pandemic, but we are starting to adapt to our new reality. It’s a time when many leaders are taking a more deliberate approach to shaping what comes next.

Here’s more on the four key trends highlighted in the 2022 Accenture Technology Vision:

• WebMe or “putting the me in metaverse” looks at how the internet is being reimagined as metaverse and Web3 efforts transform the underpinning and operation of the virtual world.

• The programmable world focuses on how our planet, personalized control, customization and automation are being enmeshed into the world around us, making the physical as programmable as the digital.

• The unreal is about making synthetic, authentic—as AI-generated data and synthetic content convincingly mimic what is “real,” authenticity is the new north star.

• Computing the impossible tackles new machines and new possibilities. A new generation of computers is solving some of the world’s most intractable problems leading to one of the biggest technological disruptions of our time.

I’m excited by developments like these as they challenge our basic assumptions about technology and business, keeping all of us in Global IT on our toes.

I can see, too, how we’re entering a new landscape without rules or expectations—and that’s creating a rich opportunity for us to build and shape the worlds of tomorrow. Yet, every organization must take a responsible approach to the metaverse, addressing issues like trust, equity, inclusion, sustainability, personal safety, privacy, responsible access and use, diversity and more. The actions and choices we all make today will set the stage for the future.

I encourage you to take a look at the 2022 Accenture Technology Vision and let me know where it resonates with you.