New technologies such as artificial intelligence and text mining are set to change the nature of the professional services sector, weakening the power of incumbents and creating new entrants into the market.
Dr Andrew James, an innovation expert at the Alliance Manchester Business School, says the white collar sector is poised for the same shake-up that occurred with blue collar jobs two to three decades ago. Some experts predict the delivery of legal services will change more radically in the next two decades than in the last two centuries.
Speaking at an event organised by pro-manchester, in conjunction with Jumpstart, Gateley Plc and Samsung, he said experience had shown that periods of technological stability were punctuated by technological “discontinuities” that destroy existing skills and competencies and replace them with new ones. However firms which exploit the opportunities can achieve competitive advantage during the next period of stability.
“Firms need to identify the implications and opportunities for their own business, monitor technology developments and what their competitors are doing and learn from other sectors,” he said. They should also invest in their own capabilities, find people in house who can understand the technologies and how they can use them, and collaborate with smart people beyond their own organisation.”
Dan French, a corporate recovery partner at law firm Gateley Plc, told the audience that the firm’s research amongst SMEs had shown that 13% were struggling to keep up with the pace of change, while at the opposite end of the spectrum 38% considered themselves the ‘fastest of the fast’ in terms of innovation. “There is a strong correlation between businesses which can activate change and business growth,” he said.
Sandy Findlay of Jumpstart, the R&D tax credits specialist, urged innovators to make full use of the tax breaks available: “A successful tax credits claim can provide an injection of funds that can be ploughed back into the business and reduce reliance on external funding.” He said UK organisations were finally waking up to the importance of R&D, as was the government with its new industrial strategy, although national spending on R&D at just 1.7% of GDP was lower than key competitors such as Germany which spent 2.9%.
James Grainger of Samsung said experience in other sectors had raised customers’ expectations – if they could track their taxi booking online, they expected to do the same with conveyancing. However he said robots would not replace humans but rather help to improve services. “We talk about the rise of the machines but they will only augment what we do already,” he added.
Article originally published on thebiguknewsroom.co.uk
Read more about Pro-Manchester
