ABSTRACT
The overarching theme of the digital technologies discussed in this chapter is connectivity. Connectivity technologies play a critical role in the ability of people, systems, devices, and other things to pass and receive information from each other. It is this information, combined with computation, that is at the heart of, and extends the power of, other digital technologies like cloud computing, the internet of things, artificial intelligence, and robotics / drones. There are a range of connectivity technologies and standards, each offering strengths in areas like data transmission speed, transmission range, amount of data that can be sent, connection reliability, connection security, connection availability, connection portability, and more. There are also limitations such as power consumption, high infrastructure setup and maintenance costs, durability, hackability, standard adoption, connectivity equipment availability / reliability, and much more. The range of available connectivity technologies and standards requires accountants and accounting leaders to understand how different technologies / standards work and what their strengths and shortcomings are. It also requires them to be able to evaluate and advise on the financial and strategic implications of choices about which standards to go with for what purposes, when to experiment with a particular technology / standard, when to cut the cord on an existing connectivity technology / standard, and when to undertake large-scale adoption of a new standard. As we’ve previously mentioned, without such understanding, accountants may provide advice which costs organizations operational efficiency, product innovation, business model innovation, agility, and adaptability opportunities.
