Category Archives: Trends

From embedded AI to NFT: Digital trends 2023 bridge new challenges

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by Birgit Fingerle

How to bridge the gaps caused by the pandemic and technological development? Some digital trends might be suitable to build new bridges. Bridges are for instance needed between the benefits of home office autonomy and a meaningful return to office to reach successful collaboration, between human creativity and artificial intelligence embedded in everyday work processes, between information overflow, loneliness and other mental health problems as well as the growing skills shortage. The digital trends selected for this blog post address these gaps and could be interesting for libraries and other digital infrastructure facilities and in the context of Open Science.

AI embedded everywhere

After decades of progress, artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly integrated into day-to-day lives. Encouraged by developments like the growing skills shortage and no-code AI (based on easy drag-and-drop interfaces), artificial intelligence is expected to augment many jobs across different sectors with new tools. That way, AI will be like a new team member that contributes ideas and drafts or like a co-pilot for people’s creativity. Companies and other organisations have to have an eye on these developments as questions around ethics and copyright issues are still unanswered, and humans have to upskill to use the new tools, and ensure quality of output. On the one hand, organisations should think about how to deal with the masses of AI-generated content, on the other hand, they should check whether and how AI could enrich their work processes.

Home office autonomy versus return to office

A lot of work is still needed to make the return to the office a success. At present, for many people it feels like a series of compromises affecting for instance innovation, culture and inclusion as some intangible office benefits like chance encounters and in-person fun have faded. To bridge the tension between those enjoying the autonomy of remote work and those who prefer being together, organisations should not continue to improve what exists. Instead, they should completely reimagine work.

Meanwhile, asynchronous work is here to stay. As the pandemic showed that Non-Linear Work at different hours can produce results that are as good, and even better, than traditional nine-to-five workdays. New platforms and apps are helping to overcome the downsides of asynchronous work while enhancing the benefits. Existing platforms like Slack and Microsoft are expanding their portfolio, for instance by incorporating short video clip messages in their products.

Some businesses are giving their workspaces an upgrade adopting ideas from the hospitality sector to create Five-Star Offices to draw their employees back to the office.

To attract and retain talent, some companies are also pushing Workplace Wellness that goes beyond generic wellness programmes and puts mental health up to the agenda. As many companies have moved towards off-the-shelf mental wellbeing programmes, mental wellbeing initiatives have become a standard expectation. So, employers have to rewrite the rule book to attract and retain staff. What have libraries and other digital infrastructure facilities to offer?

Metaverse Education and Support

In contrast to its preliminary stage dominated by websites and never-ending scrolling of social media, the next online evolution continues to merge physical and digital worlds. It is assumed, that in 2023 the metaverse will further expand. Relating thereto is the rise of educational programmes that offer more immersion than online learning. Metaverse Education denotes the trend that organisations are more and more creating spaces designed to educate customers. These encompass services ranging from specialized education and educational programmes to games. Virtual learning makes education more accessible in terms of geographic or cost-related barriers. Transferring it into the metaverse helps consumers to find even more beneficial immersive online learning programmes.

Libraries should keep an eye on the growth of Metaverse Education as well as on another related trend, Metaverse Support. The metaverse helps making the customer service experience more immersive and thus creating more valuable support experiences. It can lead to better and more efficient interactions with patrons.

Fighting isolation and enriching customer support on site

In spite of all the platforms enabling digital encounters, more and more people around the world feel lonely and isolated. Therefore, in 2023, consumers will value organisations that help foster connections and Joyning. This is connected to the trend State of Place. This trend is focusing on consumers looking to reclaim their locale and having particular affection for brands that work to make those spaces more sustainable and equitable. An example are shared spaces combating the rising sense of social isolation.

The advancement of robots and other technologies provides a valuable basis for innovations in customer support on site. The trend Retail Bot describes robots equipped with more social features and functions that are associated with brick and mortar shopping. They help customers who miss social interactions while smart retail solutions become more common. Examples include robot bringing candies to shopping customers, robots reminding customers of regulations and robots equipped with facial recognition greeting patrons. Furthermore, Gesture Kiosks, interfaces controlled by gestures reduce health risks that might still be felt in post-pandemic times, can enhance the user experience. The touchless screen navigation works with hand-tracking technology. How could libraries benefit from these technologies and patrons reclaiming their locale?

Curation for you and digital detox update

Although the demand for curation by customers inundated with information is not new, new tools and technology now offer the chance to develop some kind of curation that empowers consumers’ uniqueness by offering relevance-as-a-service: For You. Digital infrastructure facilities should ask themselves how they could guide their patrons towards customized recommendations.

Digital detoxing also gets an update in 2023. Some consumers inundated with negative content online are seeing a greater need to prioritize digital detoxing. Although the tools for digital detoxing remain the same, there is a growing need for it as mental health problems gain weight.

New kinds of ownership and in-house inventors

In 2023, even more consumers will become their own businesses, for instance by creating content or selling goods. This trend, called Creator Inc, is driven by a desire to combine work and purpose on the one hand and new creator tools and media platforms on the other. Organisations should have an eye on their in-house inventors and utilize their employee’s creative skills. In 2022, for instance The Metropolitan Museum of Art has opened its yearly exhibition of staff artwork for the first time to the public.

It is expected, that with the evolution towards a Web3, users will increasingly be co-owners of their content and not only co-authors. Today, social networks like Instagram automatically own user created content posted on their social network. New platforms are giving control back into people’s hands, giving them ownership and portability over their data and content.

NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) also play a major role here. The digital certificates of ownership also contribute to changing users’ interaction with digital media. While the previous web has broken the business model for news, NFTs lead to new business models. The decentralization is democratizing digital platforms. This paradigm shift will revolutionize how enterprises and consumers interact with digital goods, services, and content. How will it affect the Open Science movement?

More information on trends and technologies for 2023:

About the Author:

Birgit Fingerle holds a diploma in economics and business administration and works at ZBW, among others, in the fields innovation management, open innovation, open science and currently in particular with the “Open Economics Guide”. Birgit Fingerle can also be found on Twitter.
Portrait, photographer: Northerncards©

The post From embedded AI to NFT: Digital trends 2023 bridge new challenges first appeared on ZBW MediaTalk.

Horizon Report 2022: Trends Such as Hybrid Learning, Micro-certificates and Artificial Intelligence are Gaining Traction

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by Claudia Sittner and Birgit Fingerle

The 2022 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report Teaching and Learning Edition was published in mid-April 2022. It examines which trends, technologies and practices will have a significant effect on teaching and learning at universities in the future. As with previous editions, the report uses four different scenarios to envision what the future of university education could look like. We outline some of these trends, which could be of interest to academic libraries and information infrastructure facilities.

We outline some of these trends, which could be of interest to academic libraries and information infrastructure facilities.

Hybrid learning: Here to stay

After around two years of the Corona pandemic, most of us are now aware that there will be no return to pre-Corona normality; online and hybrid learning are the new normal. One trend identified by the Horizon Report is a continuation of synchronous and asynchronous learning experiences, coupled with minimal compulsory attendance on campus. According to the Horizon Report (p. 7), this will require “more sustainable and evidence-based models of hybrid and online teaching and learning”. These have now gradually superseded the contingency plans hastily put in place at the start of the pandemic, and will be accompanied by recently developed, reliable hybrid and online education, as well as an investment in additional staff and services. Higher education institutions now have to focus on making sure their students are ready for the online learning experiences. This is certainly an area where academic libraries can also play their part. The new motto is: Education for everyone, from anywhere.
Example: ‘Attend anywhere’ model, Portland, USA

Micro-certificates are winning out over classic university degrees

Lifelong, tailored learning is gaining importance over typical, drawn-out degrees, according to the Horizon Report. Both microcredentialing and online/hybrid education are particularly useful in this regard. That is why libraries and digital infrastructure facilities should be increasingly focussed on more practical, personalised and competence-based courses and micro-certificates, which according to the Horizon Report could potentially provide more attractive options for career advancement than a traditional university education. For example, libraries could think about providing their own courses to make their offers more visible, and thus prevent the big tech companies from dominating the field entirely.

Furthermore, the fact that many people experienced significant financial losses as a result of the pandemic has led them to think more carefully about whether it pays to opt for a typical university degree. Micro-certificates, especially those awarded for free by institutions such as libraries, are thus becoming more attractive.

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Artificial intelligence: learning analysis and learning tools

Even if it still often gets stuck in the teething stage, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) plays a role in two respects in this year’s Horizon Report: in relation to both learning analysis and learning tools. In relation to learning analysis, institutions would primarily use AI to encourage students’ learning progress based on existing data. When it comes to learning tools it is the students themselves who use them, and are thus able to improve their learning experience at university.

The digital re-orientation brought about by the pandemic has also heralded a flood of digital data. For academic libraries too this means engaging more directly with the potential of the data that has been generated, and ultimately providing their users and staff with an improved learning and working experience.

One challenge in this regard could emerge from the data silos of individual departments, divisions or institutes. These have to be more closely integrated in order to optimise the user experience and encourage operating efficiency. Despite the great potential of AI, there are also some risks to be aware of, such as the fact that AI systems often adopt existing biases and thus favour certain groups of users. This can increase inequalities. What’s more, it is important to clearly communicate what data is being gathered for what purpose, so that users do not lose trust in the institutions.

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Data trails demand critical engagement with media

In light of growing data volumes, users of infrastructure facilities are leaving more data trails behind them online, whether in the cloud or on social networks. This means it is even more important to equip them with sufficient information literacy and a media-critical mindset, so that they can recognise fake news, dubious conferences and predatory journals, for example. In this regard, academic libraries have a more important role to play than ever when it comes to offering relevant courses and further support.

Strengthening sustainable practices and reducing the ecological footprint

Environmental aspects are also becoming increasingly relevant in how all higher education institutions conduct themselves. It will be a question of them reducing their own ecological footprint on site, and leading by example. Here, libraries can take a look at the permanently altered behaviour brought about by the pandemic, as well as the new demands of users and staff. The ‘Planetary Health Education Framework’ and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations could provide possible points of reference. Is this perhaps a good time for academic libraries to think about how they can become more sustainable and strengthen environmentally friendly practices?

Allegation of political interference

In times of increasing nationalism and populism in some parts of the world, along with global uncertainties, it would be advisable for educational institutions to safeguard their autonomy. However, due to the financing that they require, it is not always possible to withdraw from political matters completely. “In these instances, institutions must be prepared to offer compelling evidence of the benefits of the education and training they provide, as well as to accommodate the needs of increasingly strained and distracted students and families.” (p. 13). In light of increasingly scarce financial resources, more focus could also be afforded to academic libraries in this regard.

This text has been translated from German.

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About the Authors:

Birgit Fingerle holds a diploma in economics and business administration and works at ZBW, among others, in the fields innovation management, open innovation, open science and currently in particular with the “Open Economics Guide”. Birgit Fingerle can also be found on Twitter.
Portrait, photographer: Northerncards©

Claudia Sittner studied journalism and languages in Hamburg and London. She was a long time lecturer at the ZBW publication Wirtschaftsdienst – a journal for economic policy, and is now the managing editor of the blog ZBW MediaTalk. She is also a freelance travel blogger (German), speaker and author. She can also be found on LinkedIn, Twitter and Xing.
Portrait: Claudia Sittner©

The post Horizon Report 2022: Trends Such as Hybrid Learning, Micro-certificates and Artificial Intelligence are Gaining Traction first appeared on ZBW MediaTalk.

Digital Trends 2022: Dynamic Interplay of Metaverse, Tech Fatigue and Creating New Meaningful Connections Online

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by Birgit Fingerle

The coronavirus pandemic and climate change seem to function as a booster for digital innovation in some parts and at the same time lead to counter-reactions and effects on the wellbeing of individuals and communities. In this blog post a selection of digital trends is highlighted that could be of interest for organisations such as libraries or digital infrastructure facilities, especially in the context of Open Science.

Metaverse: Web 3.0 leads to new portals of possibility and You-Topia

It is assumed that the next iteration of the internet will be defined by virtual worlds, metaverses, and augmented phygital realities. Metaverse is a dominant topic at present in various trend reports, among them the „2022 Trend Report by Trendhunter – The Roaring 20’s are Coming Back“. The metaverse is an evolution of the internet in which physical and digital worlds converge. In the metaverse people move as avatars and are able to interact, to enjoy entertainment or work on projects for instance. Digital assets, like land, buildings, products, and avatars, can be created, bought and sold.

Many companies aim to play a central role in the metaverse. Although, until now, only a small number of them seem to influence the metaverse. Among them are Meta (Facebook), Spotify, Zoom, Amazon (Twitch), Alibaba, Roblox, Snapchat, Apple, Huawei, WeChat and Microsoft. For instance, Microsoft is expected to launch Mesh for Microsoft Teams in 2022, which it envisions as a gateway to the metaverse. Mesh will offer a mixed reality with shared holographic experiences, where users can attend meetings as customised avatars and collaborate and where companies can build immersive virtual environments. This example demonstrates that the metaverse has the potential to transform the way we work and to enable new forms of creativity.

“Portals of Possibility – Transport people to new dimensions” is a trend defined by Trendwatching.com linked to the metaverse. Libraries could take a lead in this, broadening patrons’ horizons by using the metaverse to make them familiar with new ideas and concepts. Careers Wales demonstrated an example of rethinking traditional career counselling in high schools by launching CareersCraft. This virtual world, hosted on Minecraft helps students identify their strengths by completing challenges and activities along their way between various landmarks in Wales.

Trendwatching.com expects that consumers will favour companies that use their influence to build a more egalitarian digital world in this Web 3.0, where power is distributed or decentralized and where consumers have the power, the tools and the skills to build the metaverse. Consequently, Trendwatching calls the trend “You-Topia – Help build a fairer Web 3.0”. Perhaps libraries and Open Science projects might support them and thus play a major role in the metaverse if it is really going to take off.

NFT: New ways of trading arts and other digital products

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are widely discussed since the end of 2020 because they are creating a scarcity and desirability for digital items, not seen before, and are associated with the metaverse. NFTs are units of currency in the Blockchain ecosystem that cannot be replicated. Thus, they prove a person’s possession of a digital product.

Creators and artists are using NFTs to trade photographs, videos, music and other digital products. NFT Art helps artists and musicians to profit from their work more easily as selling their works as NFTs is a new and innovative way which helps them to still have some control of it on the internet. Even NFT Exhibitions are already taking place with NFT art galleries becoming more popular. These galleries exist in the digital world and in real spaces and are centered around NFTs. Libraries and Open Science projects should bear in mind to check the consequences of this trend on their work.

Environmental protection: Integrated into everyday tech and even website design

In IFLA’s Trend Report 2021 Update environmental issues were already raised. Libraries cannot ignore the fact that they too have to act, because of the threats of climate change. In different industries, more companies are committing to regenerative practices and sustainability. Thus, environmentally friendly trends are part of various trend reports. In its 2022 Trend Report Trendhunter lists Solar-Powered Retail and Biodegradable Tech as new trends. This refers to tech products and accessories being built with environmentally friendly materials, for instance biodegradable desktops, compostable phone cases or more eco-conscious materials.

Another interesting trend is called Carbon-neutral browsing: Companies are rethinking the way they design their websites in order to be less damaging to the environment. By redesigning their websites using small images or basic typefaces they make them more energy efficient, because simple visuals decrease the energy needed to load the site, this reduces carbon emissions. These are only some trends of regenerative practices libraries should consider to fulfil their responsibility.

Consider new practices to live diversity seriously

As the IFLA Trend Report 2021 Update stated, diversity is now taken seriously. More awareness of the existence and impacts of discrimination in society will influence diversity practiced in libraries. Living diversity and ending discriminatory practices is extremely important to contemporary consumers and is expressed in various trends. Two are cited in the „2022 Trend Report von Trendhunter – The Roaring 20’s are Coming Back“. The trend LGBTQ+ Therapy encloses means to tailor healthcare to better serve non-binary, trans and queer consumers. Related to this is the trend LGBTQ+ Entrepreneurship, which stands for not-for-profit organisations supporting the business endeavours of the LGBTQ+ community in order to develop a diverse business and tech industry by overcoming barriers. Corresponding to these trends, taking diversity seriously could or should have an impact on the collections, services and practices of libraries and Open Science projects to better support marginalised communities.

Creating meaningful connections: Joyning, Mutual Aid and P2P Communities

Joyning – Finding meaningful connections in a lonely world is a trend evolving from the digital lifestyle with omnipresent digital technologies and platforms, the ongoing pandemic and the rising number of people feeling lonely and isolated. To serve this trend, organisations should ask themselves, how they could support people to foster connections that are genuine, supportive and meaningful.

The trend P2P Community (Peer-to-peer Community) could be part of the answer. New platforms and communities create digital spaces where people connect and give one another peer-to-peer support. Another related trend is Link ‘n Learn – Engaging through peer-to-peer education. An example of this trend is a platform for online classes where older adults are encouraged to connect and engage with their peers. It enables anyone to teach or join small classes and to interact while they cook or dance. Mutual Aid Network is another similar trend enforced by the coronavirus pandemic. Mutual aid networks maintained exclusively by volunteers are growing worldwide facilitated by not-for-profits that offer special tools to bring the community together in sharing resources. How could libraries and Open Science projects participate in these trends and build such supportive communities?

Analogue backlash: Tech fatigue boosts mindfulness

The IFLA Trend Report 2021 Update (PDF) stated an Analogue Backlash caused by the stresses of constant social media connectivity. Similarly, a Tech Fatique is diagnosed by Trendhunter that is also grounded in working and learning from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic leading to stress and a lack of being outside and physically active. To answer this trend and to fight burn-out, organisations add special features to their products, like built-in features on meeting platforms that limit stimuli and help people taking breaks and being more mindful with their energy levels. This trend could be interesting for library services and Open Science activities when rethinking their digital services and tools.

More information on trends und technologies for 2022:

Author: Birgit Fingerle

Birgit Fingerle holds a diploma in economics and business administration and works at ZBW, among others, in the fields innovation management, open innovation, open science and currently in particular with the “Open Economics Guide”. Birgit Fingerle can also be found on Twitter.

Portrait, photographer: Northerncards©

The post Digital Trends 2022: Dynamic Interplay of Metaverse, Tech Fatigue and Creating New Meaningful Connections Online first appeared on ZBW MediaTalk.

Horizon Report 2021: Focus on Hybrid Learning, Microcredentialing and Quality Online Learning

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by Claudia Sittner

The 2021 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report Teaching and Learning Edition was published at the end of April 2021 and looks at what trends, technologies and practices are currently driving teaching and learning and how they will significantly shape its future.

The report runs through four different scenarios of what the future of higher education might look like: growth, constraint, collapse or transformation. Only time will tell which scenario prevails. With this in mind, we looked at the Horizon Report 2021 to see what trends it suggests for academic libraries and information infrastructure institutions.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) has progressed so rapidly since the last Horizon Report 2020 that people cannot catch up fast enough to test the technical advances of machines in natural language proceedings. Deep learning has evolved into self-supervised learning, where AI learns from raw or unlabelled data.

Artificial intelligence has a potential role to play in all areas of higher education where learning, teaching and success are concerned: support for accessible apps, student information and learning management systems, examination systems and library services, to name but a few. AI can also help analyse learning experiences and identify when students seem to be floundering academically. The much greater analytics opportunities that have emerged as the vast majority of learning events take place online, leaving a wide trail of analysable data, can help to better understand students and adapt learning experiences to their needs more quickly.

But AI also remains controversial: for all its benefits, questions about privacy, data protection and ethical aspects often remain unsatisfactorily answered. For example, there are AI-supported programmes that paraphrase texts so that other AI-supported programmes do not detect plagiarism.

Open Educational Resources

For Open Educational Resources (OER), the pandemic has not changed much, many of the OER offerings are “born digital” anyway. However, advantages of OER such as cost savings (students have to buy less literature), social equality (free and from everywhere) and the fact that materials are updated faster are gaining importance. Despite these obvious advantages and the constraints that corona brought with it, however, only a few teachers have switched to OER so far as the report „Digital Texts in Times of COVID” (PDF) shows. 87% of teachers still recommend the same paid textbooks.

OER continue to offer many possibilities, such as teachers embedding self-assessment questions directly into pages alongside text, audio and video content, and students receiving instant feedback. In some projects, libraries and students are also involved in the development of materials as OER specialists, alongside other groups from the academic ecosystem, helping to break down barriers within the discipline and redesign materials from their particular perspective.

In Europe, for example, the ENCORE+ – European Network for Catalyzing Open Resources in Education is working to build an extensive OER ecosystem. Also interesting: the „Code of Best Practices in Fair Use für Open Educational Resources”. It can be a tool for librarians when they want to create OER and use other data, including copyrighted data.

Learning Analytics

Online courses generate lots of data: How many learners have participated? When did they arrive? When did they leave? How did they interact? What works and what doesn’t? In higher education, learning data analysis should help make better, evidence-based decisions to best support the increasingly diverse group of learners. Academic libraries also often use such data to better understand and interpret learner needs, respond promptly and readjust.

The Syracuse University Libraries (USA), for example, have transmitted its user data via an interface to the university’s own learning analysis programme (CLLASS). A library profile was developed for this purpose, which was consistent with the library’s values, ethics, standards, policies and practices. This enabled responsible and controlled transmission of relevant data, and a learner profile could be created from different campus sources.

Just as with the use of artificial intelligence, there are many objections in this area regarding moral aspects and data protection. In any case, the handling of such learning data requires sensitisation and special training so that teachers, advisors and students can use data sensibly and draw the right conclusions. In the end, students could also receive tailored virtual support throughout the entire process from enrolment to graduation. Infrastructures for data collection, analysis and implementation are essential for this.

Microcredentials

Microcredentials are new forms of certification or proof of specific skills. They are also better suited to the increasingly diverse population of learners than traditional degrees and certificates. Unlike these, they are more flexible, designed for a shorter period of time and often more thematically focused. The spectrum of microcredentials spans six areas from short courses and badges, to bootcamps and the classic degree or accredited programmes.

Microcredentials are becoming increasingly popular and can also be combined with classic certifications. The Horizon Report 2021 sees particular potential for workers who can use them to retrain and further their education. It is therefore hardly surprising that companies like Google are also appearing on the scene with Google Career Certificates. For many scientific institutes, this means that they will have to further develop and rethink the architecture, infrastructure and work processes of their traditional certification systems.

Blended and Hybrid Course Models

Due to the corona pandemic, diverse blended and hybrid course models mushroomed, especially in the summer of 2020. “It is clear that higher education has diversified quickly and that these models are here to stay”, the report says. Hybrid courses allow more flexibility in course design; institutions can ramp up capacity as needed and cater even more to the diverse needs of students. However, most students still prefer face-to-face teaching.

Newly learned technical skills and technical support have played a predominant role. In some places, new course models have been developed together with the learners. On the other hand, classic practices (such as frequent assessments, breakout groups during live course meetings, and check-in messages to individual students) remain high on the agenda. However, corona has brought mental and social health of all participants into sharper focus; it should also receive even more attention according to the Horizon Report.

Quality Online Learning

The coronavirus came along and everything suddenly had to take place online. So it is little wonder that the need to design, meaningfully evaluate and adapt high-quality online learning opportunities has increased enormously. Some were surprised to find that teaching online involved more effort than simply offering the on-site event via Zoom. In order to achieve learning success, online quality assurance became an issue of utmost relevance.

Early in the pandemic, therefore, institutes began to develop online portals or hubs that included materials and teaching strategies adapted to the situation: for content delivery, to encourage student participation and to rethink assessment mechanisms.

A positive example is the twelve-module course “Quickstarter Online-Lehre” (Quickstarter Online Teaching, German) by the Hochschulforum Digitalisierung – German Forum for Higher Education in a digital age and the Gesellschaft für Medien in der Wissenschaft (Society for media in science) from Germany. This course aims to support teachers with no or little online experience.

This text has been translated from German.

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Digital Trends 2021: Collective Displacement Leads to Relocation and Rethinking of Activities

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by Birgit Fingerle

The COVID-19 pandemic has turned major parts of our life upside down, leading to new trends and new uses of technology. The feeling of collective displacement is a trend overshadowing all these. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 altered, where und how we experience activities. A lot of our tasks were relocated to other places in order to still be able to fulfil them. New ways and new places to attend our duties as well as our hobbies are needed. Accordingly, organisations need to figure out new ways to shape the relationship with their patrons. In order to do so, they must be aware of how information-gathering has changed and they must also replicate or replace physical touch in a digital way. Shopping for instance has become an atomised activity, split into many micro moments spread across devices, platforms and across the day. In addition, brands have to find new ways to deliver joy to the home shopping experience.

Retail Trends as a potential Role Model for Libraries: Liquid, Virtual and by Appointment

Because of the collective displacement trend mentioned above, the place where we buy products or use services has also changed. Thus, organisations have to rethink their supply chain and their whole physical infrastructure. This trend is called Liquid Infrastructure. In order to be able to quickly react to changing conditions organisations need to develop more agility and resilience which will also make them futureproof for instance for answering challenges arising from climate change. While working on new supply chains and physical infrastructures, organisations should also consider sustainable alternatives to become more sustainable at the same time. In addition, they should explore new business models and value propositions like subscription models and personalisation.

Traditional marketplaces have been transferred to the digital world because of the pandemic too and are now taking place virtually. As ecommerce is booming, marketplaces are included in this shift, transforming everything from farmers’ to Christmas markets into virtual marketplaces. This way, consumers can at least keep a little bit of the normalcy that they have lost since the pandemic started.

Another growing trend is robot retail (see TrendHunter‘s 2021 Trend Report) as robots help to limit contacts between employees and customers. Examples are: Robots acting as bookstore assistances like the “AROUND B” Robot that carries books for browsing and purchasing, or contactless delivery robots brought to new cities like the delivery robots of Starship Technologies.

Contactless lockers are being installed in the retail world to reduce person-to-person contact and to enhance the safety of shopping. Shopping lockers (see TrendHunter‘s 2021 Trend Report) are being used as food pickups as well as for in-store returns for instance.

With respect to personal contacts, the trend “Appointment Retail” (see TrendHunter‘s 2021 Trend Report) means that shopping is offered by appointment only. This ensures safe in-person shopping experiences as it contributes to maintaining distance. Might, for instance, offering lockers and more services on appointment also be meaningful for libraries to better address patron anxiety of health risks?

Events and new touchpoints: Virtual crowds and in-game experiences

The trend of collective displacement also shines through events and exhibitions. Companies are creating technologically-integrated solutions that allow the public to take part in live events, for instance live concerts. This virtual crowd (see TrendHunter‘s 2021 Trend Report) is now made possible by using video conference technology as well as virtual reality technology. Attending a live event as part of a virtual crowd also brings viewers a degree of normalcy into their lives.

Gaming is an increasingly popular form of entertainment and consumers now expect brands to integrate seamlessly into their habits, like gaming and social media. As brands outside of gaming are looking for new possibilities to participate in these developments, more and more are marketing their products and offerings with in-game experiences (see TrendHunter‘s 2021 Trend Report). One example are In-Game Art Galleries like the one offered by the Getty Museum. This tool lets players import art in the game Animal Crossing. Furthermore, in an In-Game Museum Tour the Monterey Bay Aquarium is offering virtual tours of Animal Crossing’s museum.

Training and tools for librarians and patrons: Gamification and fostering wellbeing

Several trends have the potential to influence the tools and the training offered for library staff on the one hand and patrons on the other hand. Because of the experience of collective displacement and work from home, mental wellness becomes a new focal point when rethinking products and services. For example, Microsoft Teams will integrate new features in order to improve users’ work/life balance while working from home.

Training and onboarding employees is increasingly being accelerated through gamified technology. This trend named gamified profession (see TrendHunter‘s 2021 Trend Report) where platforms are used to enhance skills and engagement in the process of training may become more common as working from home becomes the norm and managers are trying new ways to enhance engagement and interactions among new employees. The training needed for individuals transitioning into new roles requires interactivity to learn skills and policies effectively. Thus, gamification is an interesting approach for training.

To build meaningful connections between remote employees, organisations are turning to new tools, which help them to facilitate team-building exercises and rewards. By fostering remote engagement (see TrendHunter‘s 2021 Trend Report) they contribute to reducing feelings of social isolation, which might otherwise negatively affect the collaboration. Innovative tools are needed to ensure that employees working from home feel connected and valued and this way also more encourages toward sharing ideas and working together.

Signs of Open Science: Digital parity, subscription sharing and do-it-yourself-innovation

The COVID-19 pandemic has fostered trends towards Open Science. In addition to the obvious greater attention for preprint papers there are also several other trends outside the academic systems, which are interesting in the context of Open Science.

Equal access continues to be a dream, as we still live in a world characterised by digital inequality. A WhatsApp und Facebook chatbot like Foonda Mate shows us how the inequality due to the lack of a stable internet connection can be bridged in order to give South African students access to educational materials. Thus, they were and are able to keep up with their schoolwork when schools are closed. This example is part of the trend providing online access to all, called Digital Parity.

Another interesting trend: Brands in the technology space are helping users to share subscriptions by creating platforms that enable sharing subscription passwords in a safe and controlled way. These platforms (see TrendHunter‘s 2021 Trend Report) for safe subscription sharing to digital goods range from web extensions to password-managing.

As innovation increasingly is a product of talented people acting in challenging circumstances, organisations should find ways to joint this Do-it-yourself-Innovation revolution and rethink how they approach innovation. The emphasis of organisations should switch from co-creation with the people to giving the people the tools and platforms to innovate for themselves in order to create better products and services.

Members of the generation Z (Gen Z) , born between 1997 and 2012 approximately, are also increasingly aiming to develop new skills outside of the traditional school system. They do so by turning to platforms, services and spaces that help them expand their worldviews and skills without the constraints of traditional schooling. The Gen Z Creative trend (see TrendHunter‘s 2021 Trend Report) also allows them to develop skills that often are not part of the education system. This willingness to qualify outside of the traditional educational system stems from two main sources. First, exposure to political and social issues from young age on has made them critical thinkers that are more likely to explore alternative learning options. Second, their social media habits are giving Gen Z more motivation to develop skills and practice hobbies just for enjoyment and sharing.

More than downsides: New opportunities and glimmers of hope in the crisis

The pandemic has disrupted a lot of our plans and the way we live and work. Looking at the trends emerging from this crisis reveals some of the opportunities implied in this forced transformation. Among these glimmers of hope is that Open Science, especially Open Access, seems to be a winner of the crisis. Furthermore, studying current trends in retail or gaming can trigger new impulses for further change in libraries.

Further information on important trends und technologies for 2021:

References Portrait:
Photo Birgit Fingerle© – Photographer Ole Sindt.

The post Digital Trends 2021: Collective Displacement Leads to Relocation and Rethinking of Activities first appeared on ZBW MediaTalk.The post Digital Trends 2021: Collective Displacement Leads to Relocation and Rethinking of Activities first appeared on Leibniz Research Alliance Open Science.