Six in ten, 60pc of Generation Z, those born after the mid-1990s, would take the risk of investing in innovative technology even if it was less secure than existing solutions – double that of professionals of all ages (31pc). This is according to a trends report by a cloud product company.
The annual survey, the third to be commissioned by British software and services company Advanced, covered over 1,000 people in UK organisations. According to the firm, the line is blurring between the way young people adopt and perceive technology in their personal lives and the workplace.
Over half (58pc) of Generation Z believe technology should be a business spending priority for the next 12 months, with 46pc wanting to see Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their daily working lives – followed by Business Intelligence (BI) (42pc), Predictive Analytics (38pc), Virtual Reality (VR) (33pc) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) (29pc)1.
Despite the perceived security risks surrounding disruptive technologies, Generation Z also feel the IT systems are not secure. This is supported by legacy technology migration being high on the survey respondents’ priority list. One fifth say their organisation isn’t prepared for a cyber-attack – double the figure for respondents of all ages.
Gordon Wilson, CEO at Advanced says: “It’s worrying to see that young people aren’t confident that the organisations they work for are secure now – let alone for the future. Generation Z want to see more innovative technologies in their daily working lives and claim they are willing to take the risk even if they were less secure, as the positives clearly outweigh the negatives.
“It’s ironic because the reality is that new technologies like the Cloud, AI and RPA are in fact more secure than legacy technology systems. They are developed with security in mind right from the start – and built to perform in the connected world. Moreover, they are a key productivity enabler and an essential ally for driving business growth and performance.”
The report also finds that over a third of Generation Z (35pc) say concerns about making the wrong technology choices would hold their organisation back from modernising key business processes or systems (compared to 22pc of all respondents). Meanwhile, 30pc think most people in their organisation aren’t ready to adopt new technology to change the way they work. The reluctance across the workforce to embrace modern technologies, and understand that they are typically more secure, therefore needs to be addressed.
Advanced, a certified partner with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft, says that a new generation of employees begin to shape the future of the workplace, leaders need to look to these people – who are more IT-savvy and open to change – to influence their business strategy in the digital era. Equally, technology providers need to offer businesses reassurance and support on how they can embrace revolutionary technology safely.
Gordon adds: “The younger generation should be at the heart of British businesses as they strive to succeed in the digital era. After all, they will go on to lead and shape the future of our businesses, so we should help them to help us. We need to create workplaces that will enable and successfully use the skills of a radically more diverse workforce than the one we see today. This means not pigeonholing new starters into often uninspiring roles – rather creating roles based on their skills, knowledge and talents.”
Other findings about Generation Z:
•36pc believe a robot would be better at decision making than their boss if it had access to the right business intelligence (compared to 34pc)
•52pc think having a strong digital skill-set is the most important attribute for a business leader in the digital era (compared to 39pc)
•24pc say they don’t have access to accurate up-to-date (real-time) information to make informed decisions (compared to 16pc)
•36pc think compliance (e.g. the General Data Protection Regulation) would influence their business priorities (compared to 44pc)
•44pc are seeing AI in their daily working lives, while 40pc are seeing chatbots (compared to 26pc and 18pc across all ages respectively)
The survey was carried out online in September 2018: www.oneadvanced.com/trends.
