Mika Elena Taruli

5/5 (2)

VR technologies are becoming more and more common in our modern marketplace. Big players such as Google, Microsoft, Oculus, Sony, and Samsung are continuously pushing the limits and applications of VR. Generally, VR market is considered very attractive for many industry players. With approximately 171 million users and a global consumer value of $4.5 billion in 2018, the VR market is expected to grow massively at an extraordinary rate. So how exactly does VR technology impact our daily life?

VR has impacted our life in many aspects, starting from entertainment, education, to even health. In entertainment, one of the most popular VR applications is the experience of a virtual theme park. This form of entertainment allows consumers to experience theme park at a lower cost. Through this example, VR offers alternative form of entertainment in a very attractive way to consumers. In other instances, VR enables students to study remotely, making education more and more accessible. Ultimately, VR provides a substantial contribution in the health industry as well, allowing virtual surgery simulation to reduce errors and injuries during real-life surgeries.

Despite the many significant and positive contributions of VR in many aspects of our life, the negative influence of is rarely discussed. Yes, VR has negative influence too, just like any other technologies developed by humans. One of the biggest dangers that VR poses is the disconnection from the real-world. There have been many cases of people losing touch with reality due to extreme immersion within the virtual world or gaming. Some examples include multiple deaths in Korea, reported by Time Magazine, due to excessive gaming. Another incident is regarding a 3-month-old child being starved to death as the parents abandoned him for virtual gaming. Last, there is also a case of 22-year-old man that passed away due to cardiac arrest after playing video game for 50 hours straight. It can be said that VR can create a world that immerses people even deeper within the virtual world, leading to an increasing trend of excessive video gaming. Other than disconnection from the real-world, VR can also lead to many examples of physical and mental injuries. Excessive use of VR technologies can worsen the eyesight, expose people to radiation, even increasing anxiety disorder. All in all, VR indeed can be hazardous for both physical and mental health of its users. The worse of it is that there is no concrete regulation yet that is created to control the user of VR.

So yes, VR is bringing substantial contribution to humanity, and it is a future that everyone is looking forward to. However, along with the development of VR and its applications, we need to also come up with ways to control the usage of VR and reducing its hazardous effects.

References:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/07/17/the-important-risks-and-dangers-of-virtual-and-augmented-reality/?sh=5464fb723d50

https://technologyandsociety.org/virtual-reality-ethical-challenges-and-dangers/

https://reporter.rit.edu/views/dangers-giving-virtual-reality

https://www.ucf.edu/online/hospitality/news/vr-theme-parks-revolutionizing-amusement-hospitality/

No ratings yet. According to Deloitte (2017), digital procurement is a disruptive technology that enables firms to predict Strategic Sourcing (S2C), automate Transactional Procurement (P2P), and allowing Supplier Risk Management to be proactive. Yet, despite the idea of it has been established since 2017, procurement organizations are still late in adopting the usage of digital procurement (Accenture, 2020). A video by PwC (2020) revealed that 43% of Chief Procurement Officers (CPO) are not able to obtain insights from the company data due to its poor quality. As procurement data is often very complex to understand, this is exactly why, digitizing procurement is crucial for companies to enable proper utilization of data and drive insights. Later, the digitization will allow digitalization within the company, making the way of work becoming continuously more efficient. Thus, the question the company should ask is not why digital procurement should be used anymore, but it is a question of when to use it, and the answer should be now.

So, what are the forms of digital procurement? There are many forms of applications related to digital procurement. But one of the most disruptive technologies within the industry is Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI has impacted procurement in so many different levels from spend analysis, contract management, and strategic sourcing. With AI, companies can easily manage their data, for example, AI can easily categorize invoices according to the type of material being transacted or classifying it according to the vendor entities it belongs to. In spend analysis, AI can easily detect when prices offered by supplier is an anomaly compared to the usual offered prices without having to do complex analysis. Essentially, AI can also help detect supply risk by utilizing social media to track the position of supplier risks.
There are many examples of AI software that help making different procurement aspects more efficient. For purchase order management, there is a software called Tradeshift that allows companies to automatically review and approve purchase orders. For spend analysis, many companies use Sievo automatic spend classification and vendor matching through invoice data. Many global companies have already adopted AI software such as Tradeshift and Sievo. It is predicted that the number of companies using AI software to digitalize procurement will increase as the technology development is incrementally growing and there is a strong need within the industry to utilize AI to maintain competitiveness against competitors and working more efficiently. Therefore, now is the time for digital procurement!

References:
Deloitte (2017): https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/process-and-operations/us-cons-digital-procurement.pdf

PwC video of Digital Procurement: https://youtu.be/MoJVDnq4Fq0

Accenture (2020): https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/operations/digital-procurement-process

Sievo (n.d.) https://sievo.com/resources/ai-in-procurement

VR: Is it Ethical?

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It’s time for Digital Procurement!

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