The future is getting closer, and technological innovations are marking the evolution of society as well as the organizations themselves. In 2017, advances were seen in Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Design, UX, etc. This year, Vector ITC Group, technology consultancy 100% of Spanish capital, sees significant advances in the field of robotics, Blockchain and Machine Learning.

The digitization of companies is already a fact: Big Data, Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence; companies’ plans and strategies for the coming months. Therefore, Vector ITC Group unveils some of the most outstanding trends for 2018, with the aim of helping the different companies to make the most of their digital transformation.

Web scraping

Web scraping is a technique used by software programs to extract information from websites. Typically, these programs simulate a human browsing on the Internet, either by using the HTTP protocol manually, or by embedding a browser in an application. They are tools that are part of Big Data and Analytics technologies and are characterized by their ability to extract public information.

“Scraping has a lot of potential in sectors such as state security, financial or insurance forces, because it tracks the network looking for all the public information that may be on the Internet about a person, company, organization, etc. Whether in forums, public bodies, official documents, BOE, social networks, websites, etc. and not only on the Internet that we all know, but also extracts information from the Darknet“, says Manuel Baena Fernández, product owner of Vector ITC Group’s innovation and digital area.

The use of this technology is coupled with other Techniques of Big Data and Analytics. Web scraping has the mission of crawling the web and obtaining the information and data. Subsequently, using Business Analytics techniques, that data is converted into value information. According to Vector ITC Group, this type of technology is very useful for research topics, whether by the government, police or private detectives. However, at the financial level it also allows to know the solvency of the customers, and in the case of the insurance sector, it allows to calculate the risk premiums.

Blockchain

Just a few days ago, the EU made public the launch of the Blockchain observatory and forum. In this sense, by 2020 it will finance projects that can make use of blockchain technologies, amounting to up to 340 million euros. Thanks to blockchain a new way is established to legitimize any type of transaction (civil, commercial, etc.) based on the authorization and legitimate trust granted by all participants.

“The exchange of information is evolving towards the exchange of trust between the same actors of the process, without the need for approval by central entities or third parties. Blockhain gives us the possibility to carry out traditional activities and processes in a cheaper, faster, safer and more legitimate way” Manuel Baena Fernández says.

According to Vector ITC Group, the financial and insurance sector is where these technologies are most developed. Blockchain technology also offers endless opportunities, such as the possibility to verify the identity and authentication of the news, checking the source, the origin and the author. In addition, it allows to carry out activities, provide services and execute processes that were not previously feasible: certify identities without the need for authorization of a government system or register a content without any intermediary.

Chatbots

In order to provide quality customer service, organizations have increased the number of communication channels, especially digital ones. That’s why chatbots have reappeared on stage and are presented as a solution to customer experience problems.

These digital employees help companies handle a variety of customer needs, from generating a budget for a new product on the company’s website, to responding to customer inquiries.

The results of the Aberdeen study, Chat Bots in Customer Experience: The Modern Way to Sell More & Serve Better, show that 23% of the companies currently use this technology, and 28% of the companies have plans to consider incorporating it into their toolbox technology for this year.

Machine Learning

Finally, Vector ITC Group is seeing great advances in machine learning. Machine Learning is not something new, however, it has little to do with the current Machine Learning with the machine learning solutions of the past. Today, thanks to artificial intelligence and the development of new computer technologies, it is possible to apply algorithms to volumes of data that grow and vary at high speed, saving time and effort while maximizing Results.

According to Vector ITC Group, by 2018, the trend in this field is to apply Machine Learning to cybersersecurity. That is, to be able to build a cybersecurity system that learns from your own experience.

In this context, 2018 promises to be as interesting as 2017. The great challenge will be to develop reference frameworks where you can apply these techniques and tools that offer so many opportunities. “At Vector ITC Group we want to continue investing in innovation, it allows us to provide added value to our customers, adapting to their needs, and offering the latest tools and techniques of the market”, concludes Manuel Baena Fernández.