Author
Gavin Milton-White
In previous years, people associated the term ‘digital’ with binary code, the language used by computers to process and store information. Binary is composed of the numbers 1 and 0.
CLICK TO TWEET: Gavin Milton-White explains how data centers will power our digital future.
However, depending on someone’s age and their experience with technology, they may have different perceptions. For example, Baby Boomers may have considered themselves digitally savvy when purchasing an Atari computer for home use. Generation X, who grew up using landlines, may reference the late 90s when first signing up for a Hotmail account. Millennials might associate digital with the transition from CDs to Sony MP3 players or Apple iPods.
My children, who grew up as Gen Z, see online gaming, cloud-based apps and smartphones as real life. They, like the kids in this video, “17-year-olds dial a rotary phone,” only know a digital existence.
Living in the digital age
In the digital age, we are surrounded by technologies in virtually all aspects of life, including work and play. The most recent tech encounter I had was a grocery shopping cum dining experience in Singapore, pretty much like Amazon Go in the US and Alibaba’s Hema in China in terms of the technologies being used.
At the supermarket, consumers download a mobile app to scan products, get information and pay for their groceries. This model was used at a local restaurant where I ordered and paid for the food using an app. We were mildly disappointed no robots served the meals like they do at Alibaba’s high-tech restaurant in Shanghai.
As technology becomes the cornerstone of customer experience, it presents both tremendous opportunities and huge risks. In the race to harness opportunities brought by the digital transformation, enterprises must navigate the management around a huge volume of data. This includes identifying meaningful intelligence and mitigating cyber security threats.
No one is immune to risk. Last year, Singapore suffered its largest data breach where 1.5 million patients at SingHealth’s specialist outpatient clinics were impacted, including government officials. To prevent sensitive data leaks and cyber-threats, Singapore has added Digital Defence as the sixth pillar to its Total Defence framework.
As your business goes digital, how are you protecting your customers and employees’ data, and making sure you are also using them in an ethical way?
Embracing Fiber Connectivity in Data Centers
As data becomes the new currency in a digital age, a well-run data center is not only a competitive advantage but the means to powering our digital future. Fast machine to machine conversations will take place near the edge of the network which facilitates latency and bandwidth challenges. While edge computing brings benefits, there are also considerations on network security which will lead to data vulnerability. The industry continues to address questions around data security while maintaining data sovereignty.
The introduction of data privacy laws like GDPR may encourage companies to reconsider how they plan data storage and physical location of their data centers. As data becomes more readily accessible, it is paramount that all businesses carefully plan their approach towards digital security and protection.
With all the trends driving data security and sovereignty, data center connectivity has become key for enterprises. CommScope deploys and delivers fiber connectivity, allowing network providers, cloud providers and enterprises to share data through direct, private connections. This enables the benefits of cloud economics and flexibility along with control over data location and privacy.
A Digital Ecosystem for Greater Collaboration
If you’re interested in your digital future, come visit CommScope at one of the Cisco Connect events, 26 March to 18 April. We’ll be joining fellow innovators and industry experts across key cities Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
