The new digital economy may hit a whopping US$20.4 trillion globally by

The new digital economy may hit a whopping US$20.4 trillion globally by next year, according to the International Data Corporation.

Leading the pack are infocomm giants like Google who made it big, partly, by tapping and gathering information jointly with ordinary users.

It’s that user-oriented approach that is rapidly influencing business.

Facebook, Instagram, Google – these are companies that tap the exponential impact information has on the way people interact and make everyday decisions.

The message from experts at an Infocom Development Authority conference is that user-oriented models are a key trend of the future digital economy.

For Microsoft, it also means finding new ways to make the digital experience simple and seamless from your tablet PC, to the cashier at the supermarket.

Chief technology officer of Public Sector Asia at Microsoft, Michael Thatcher, said: “The computer itself is becoming more and more less visible to us. We are less and less conscious of the fact that we are interacting with a smart device. You may have a computer device in your car that is tracking where you are going, like the ERP system in Singapore, that is also a system that is interconnected and its seamless.”

Microsoft pumps over US$9 billion annually into research and development, reflecting the importance of end-user experience.

As technology becomes more integrated, experts expect the digital market grow significantly with mobile network revenue alone expanding globally by seven-fold from 2011 to US$1.2 trillion by 2020.

37 per cent of which, will be from the Asia Pacific region, according to the Groupe Speciale Mobile Association.

Source AP