Solutions for the Connected Economy

Enterprises in all industries are at historic crossroads where ubiquitous technology and disruptive business models have lowered the barrier to entry for new rivals. Incumbents face challenges at every corner. This is putting enterprises under intense pressure to retain customers and differentiate from competitors.

Cities face similar hurdles. Rising urban populations are putting enormous strain on services and utilities. Cities need to make more effective use of their scarce resources. And to grow local economies, cities must become more business friendly and meet the higher expectations of their citizens.

From mobile and cloud, to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT), the technology of the connected economy keeps raising the bar. No enterprise or city is exempt from the higher expectations of connected consumers and citizens. Yet without understanding the underlying context of a consumer’s unique situation at any given point in time, engaging with them is hit or miss (probably the latter).

To retain customers, satisfy their high expectations in this connected world, and stand apart from rivals, businesses must think beyond their own products and services. They must partner with other entities to create new forms of value by connecting the dots between people, machines and organizations. That could involve a retailer partnering with another retailer, a consumer products company or even a city, since buying decisions are heavily influenced by the context of where consumers live, work and shop.

Likewise, cities need to better connect the dots, evolving their thinking beyond the walls of siloed city agencies. Not only must they intelligently manage water, energy, buildings and transportation, they need to find new ways to make cities more attractive places to live, shop and do business. This offers promising opportunities for private and public organizations to create experiences for people that are so precise, timely and relevant, they’re prescient:

• Consider how the thrill of buying a new car gets interrupted when you have to apply for financing. But what if you opted into your city’s free Wi-Fi service, which allowed your bank to understand you were at the dealer and test driving a particular car? By hitting one button on their app, you’d instantly have a customized financing offer in hand.
• Or suppose a water main break caused a traffic jam. What if shoppers traveling to an uptown supermarket were automatically alerted to visit the midtown store instead? Stores connected to data from city agencies could make that happen.
• And what if smart city streetlights that can sense gathering crowds after a concert or sporting event could enable nearby stores to invite shoppers to flash sales, boosting revenues for retailers and cities?

To achieve this kind of innovation, enterprises and cities need a new type of intelligence. A kind of connected intelligence that allows them to design experiences that logically connect each and every touch point of the consumer’s digital and physical journey.

In 2014, TCS formed Digital Software & Solutions Group (DS&S) to deliver on the promise of Connected Consumer Intelligence. DS&S Group offers:

DS&S Group software helps companies and cities…

• Capture and ingest vast amounts of data from varied sources;
• Connect with other ecosystem players and partners;
• Detect and learn new consumer consumption patterns

…helping them gain insights that allow them to:

• Dynamically tailor experiences focused on the consumer’s requirements
• Implement automated real-time decision-making
• Predict and prescribe new forms of engagement that optimize resources and consumer satisfaction