Importance of fintech and IoT to grow further in 2017

The Internet of Things (IoT) will also play an increasingly important role, experts predict.
Thanachart Numnonda, director of the IMC Institute, said 2017 would mark a major milestone in the transition to digital – or digital transformation – under which fintech will eventually drive industry as a whole, because every business has to get paid. 
Fintech will affect all business sectors that receive money from customers for their products and/or services, while existing technology with familiar names is still as hot as ever, such as cloud, big-data analytics and IoT, he said. 
However, further technological changes are needed in order to bring a great deal of change to IT systems, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, which will demand that most software systems and devices have intelligent systems embedded in them, he added. 
Back-office IT systems will also change, as they require Web system with the ability to support a large number of users (Webscale IT), or a software-defined data centre, Thanachart said, explaining that user interfaces will require the use of virtualisation – virtual reality/augmented reality, or a conversation system – as well as the entry of blockchain technology. 
The director said that with Thailand already moving forwards the digital economy under Thailand 4.0, organisations “should know that they can weave their dream of value creation, which is the main model of this policy, provided they are ready in technology”. 
The trend for the use of IT in enterprises in Thailand this year will be value creation and value added, and productivity, he predicted. 
“This year will be the year of value-based technology. This trend prompts the IT providers to change the way they sell their products. Not only a unique product will be offered, but the integrated system together with solutions that directly benefit their business must also be made. 
“For instance, a Wi-Fi provider will offer the system that will enhance businesses to see the opportunity to increase sales, instead of making an offer solely for the performance of Wi-Fi in an organisation,” he said.
Nakrop Niamnamtham, managing director of nForce Secure, said IoT technology would become increasingly relevant in daily life, such as smart driving vehicles and other smart devices. 
This year will be the real start of the IoT age in Thailand, with IT security increasingly being the core element making devices safer to use and run efficiently. 
IT security in future will change to adaptive security – or “genius security” – that can automatically respond to or act to prevent cyber-crime, he said.