Approximately 50% of the global GDP will derive from the digital economy, with more than 55% in China, market research company says.
By 2019, global capital expenditures for digital transformation will reach $1.7tn, a 42% increase from 2017, and the figure will hit $310bn in China.
This represents a 35% increase from 2017, Wu Lianfeng, vice-president of the market research company IDC China said.
On the company’s annual Futurescape event, Wu also shared other predictions for the information and communications technology market, including predictions on cloud computing, blockchain technologies, artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
As reported by China Daily, Wu said that by 2020, over 70% of China’s top 1,000 enterprises will explore and implement cross-industry expansion and cooperation with the help of information technology platforms and technology enablers, driving toward their business transformation, innovation and growth.
Wu cited Neusoft as an example as it started as a software company, but has tapped into the medical sector.
By 2021, global enterprises will spend over $530bn in cloud services and cloud-enabling hardware, software and services, doubling the current spending.
Chinese enterprises will spend over $30bn in this area, and the cloud-computing environment will diversify and enter the 2.0 era, which will accelerate the commercialization of 5G, according to Wu.
China Daily reported, he also said that a blockchain is never equivalent to a bitcoin because it is more than just finance and can be used in many industries such as the manufacturing and medical sectors.
Wu said by 2021, at least 25% of the world’s top 2,000 enterprises will adopt blockchain services at scale as the foundation for digital trust, while in China, the adoption rate might be 20%.
And he added that by 2020, China will see 20% of its banks, 30% of its supply chains and 10% of its health care institutes fully embrace blockchain networks in their operations.
Wu mentioned that by 2019, 40% of the world’s digital transformation initiatives will employ AI and by 2021, more than 90% of consumers will interact with customer support robots.
He added that quantum computing will enter a commercialisation phase as, by 2021, businesses will begin to enjoy the power of quantum computing through cloud services.