Samsung: UK has £9.25 Billion Smart Technology Deficit

Samsung has released research showing that the UK could lose out on £9.25 billion in the coming 12 months thanks to a large deficit in the uptake of smart technology.

The tech giant’s Smart Society Barometer shows the possible financial impact on the nation if smart technology usage doesn’t increase and includes findings from research conducted with 1,000 UK businesses and 2,500 members of the public.

Andy Griffiths President of Samsung UK & Ireland, said: “The Smart Deficit that we have identified through the Smart Society Barometer should act as a wake-up call for the technology industry and its partners.

“Smart technology adoption is happening and where it is being used most effectively, the benefits are already being felt both by individuals and businesses. If we are to accelerate as a smart society, we need to fully understand how to get the most out of this technology.”

The ‘Smart Deficit’ identified in the Barometer findings is particularly high for UK businesses with research showing a potential £5.6bn impact on the bottom line.

The effect of this is already being felt across all areas of the business community with more than one in four businesses (27 percent) admitting they have lost out on a contract or client because they haven’t had the right smart technology in place.

In the telecoms and utilities sector, this rises to 41 percent of businesses missing out on potential work opportunities and more than one in three companies (37 percent) within the financial sector have admitted to losing work due to their lack of smart adoption.

Findings from the Samsung Smart Society Barometer show that all business sectors understand the benefits smart technology can bring, with UK business leaders stating they believe the adoption of smart technologies could save them an average of £81,000 over the next 12 months.

UK business leaders also cite increased productivity and data access as the key areas where smart technology could help drive efficiencies within their business.

Yet whilst these business leaders understand the importance of smart technology financially - with companies who have begun investing in smart products making an average saving of £75,000 to date - there are several barriers stopping a more rapid acceleration of smart technology adoption.  

IT Managers have revealed that there has been a lack of financial investment and thorough training in the UK, stating that only 11 percent of their annual IT budget is going towards smart technology. Furthermore one in five admit the lack of smart adoption is because it is too time consuming to train people up on new technology.

The Smart Consumer

Nearly one in four people (24 percent) said a lack of understanding of what smart technology is and how it can benefit them as the reason they were not currently investing in it.

These barriers are impacting the savings consumers could make with Britons missing out on up to £3.6 billion by not adopting or using smart technologies to their full potential.

Smart meters and products that allow household equipment to be controlled remotely have the lowest adoption rates (six percent respectively) yet are amongst the products people would most like to invest in the future (at 60 percent and 63 percent).