Strategy Analytics: Investments In "Intelligent Capital" Threaten Higher-Level Jobs


Task Automation Includes Identification, Assessment, Decisions and Recommendations

Boston, MA -/June 23, 2004 - Wi-Fi Technology News/- Recent Strategy Analytics analysis of future systems with embedded intelligence concludes that capital investments in increasingly smart systems will lead to the replacement of more and more knowledge workers by smart applications.

According to Harvey Cohen, President, Strategy Analytics, "In the past ten years, about ten million manufacturing jobs involving physical labor and repetitive activities worldwide were lost due to machines replacing humans, creating a $100 billion opportunity. In the next wave, there will be an employment threat involving the substitution of emerging systems with embedded intelligence for many first-level jobs in service industries, resulting in a net loss of customer service, help desk, directory assistance, and related support function positions."

Higher value-added jobs - involving identification, assessment, conclusions, decisions, and recommendations - will continue to be lost to systems with increasingly intelligent capabilities. Research from the Strategy Analytics Emerging Frontiers (EF) program indicates that the capabilities of smart systems will continue to expand. "Although today politicians and workers are worried about job outsourcing due to globalization, the real future challenge to policy makers -and strategic opportunities for business investments - will come from machines with an increasing degree of embedded intelligence," added Cohen.

Research by the US Military's research agency, DARPA, (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and NASA, the National Aviation and Space Administration, is leading to smarter applications which will provide first-stage functions that leverage human capabilities, keeping military personnel out of danger. As these capabilities advance and become more cost-effective, they will inevitably find attractive applications in the commercial workplace.

About Strategy Analytics
Strategy Analytics, Inc., a global research and consulting firm, provides timely insights and strategic business solutions to companies operating at the convergence of information, communications and entertainment technologies. With worldwide headquarters in Newton, MA and principal offices in England, France and Germany, Strategy Analytics focuses on market opportunities and challenges in the areas of Automotive Electronics, Broadband, Telematics, Wireless Strategies and Enabling Technologies. For more information, see http://www.strategyanalytics.com

US Contact:
Harvey Cohen, +1 617 614 0705, hcohen@strategyanalytics.com
Neena Buck, +1 617 614 0724, nbuck@strategyanalytics.com

European Contact:
Dominique Roussel, 33 1 49691920, droussel@strategyanalytics.com