Industry Forecasts
Industry projections examine factors that will most significantly influence business decision-making in the future, helping ASA members develop strategies, multi-year plans and budgets accordingly.
In 2021-31, slower real output growth is projected for goods-producing industries due to increasing automation and international competition, which should reduce employment demand. Services-providing industries such as postal service and retail trade may experience similar lower growth, but leisure, hospitality and information related industries such as museums, historical sites and similar institutions, performing arts companies as well as software- and computer-related businesses may experience faster output growth.
ASA’s flagship forecast report is the One-Year Industry Forecast, which offers insights into consumer technology adoption and market trends across U.S. markets. ASA members receive this rolling forecast as part of their ASA Advisor subscription service and monthly updates are delivered directly to them as a rolling forecast report.
Industry Challenges
Interreg Northsearegion’s recent study on Industry 4.0 highlights five main hurdles that SMEs encounter on their path toward this future factory: these include insufficient economic benefits; lack of specific expertise, business tools and a fully trained workforce; cybersecurity threats and finance concerns; as well as insufficient norms and standards. Industrial transformation involves tighter integrations with third parties that present additional opportunities but also increased risks that require greater focus on information management excellence – particularly ICS security and end-to-end cybersecurity.
As such, SMEs require significant investments up front if they wish to begin doing business successfully, which can present them with considerable challenges when working with limited resources.
Industry Opportunities
As industry borders blur, opportunities arise across borders and sectors. One manufacturer of combustion engines identified 40 green business opportunities and settled on two that capitalized on its expertise in engineering, customer access and infrastructure. Academic institutions benefit greatly from collaborations with industry partners, as these can provide educational opportunities that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to replicate in one academic department. Industry benefits of industry/faculty partnerships include mentoring and internship programs, shorter research and development cycles, research support services and screening potential employees. Meanwhile, faculty can open up students to real life industrial operations while creating new avenues for research and innovation.
Deepak Wadhwani has over 20 years experience in software/wireless technologies. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies including Intuit, ESRI, Qualcomm, Sprint, Verizon, Vodafone, Nortel, Microsoft and Oracle in over 60 countries. Deepak has worked on Internet marketing projects in San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange Country, Denver, Nashville, Kansas City, New York, San Francisco and Huntsville. Deepak has been a founder of technology Startups for one of the first Cityguides, yellow pages online and web based enterprise solutions. He is an internet marketing and technology expert & co-founder for a San Diego Internet marketing company.