3 trends that will shape business in Ireland in 2018
2017 has been an incredibly interesting year for those in business. We’ve seen a flood of new trends enter the industry with the majority of them proving to be both innovative and beneficial to those who adopted them.
We’ve seen crowdfunding being used to validate new products before they enter the market, we’ve seen a major push in online, corporate video content being produced and promoted. We’ve also seen new collaboration tools revolutionise the way in which we communicate with our teams.
But what can we expect to see in 2018? What new business trends will we see shape business in Ireland next year? Here at Glandore we have researched perspective trends and put together a few predictions of what’s to come in 2018.
1. Increased transparency and security surrounding personal data.
One of the biggest chnages for many businesses in 2018 will be the introduction of GDPR laws.
On May 25th, 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will be coming into force in Ireland, meaning all businesses will have to become more transparent and secure about how they use and safeguard personal data.
What will this mean for established organisations? Well, they will soon have to begin demonstrating accountability for their data processing activities, meaning tighter on-site data protection regulations.
The Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) have already begun to roll out GDPR awareness campaigns, along with guidance programmes to help prepare businesses for the incoming law.
2. Brands continuing to connect with customers through messaging services
The majority of the world’s most reputable brands have multiple, verified social media accounts, connecting with millions of existing and new customers on a daily basis.
Posts are promoted onto people’s newsfeeds, advertisements frequent the sidebars of websites and even pop-ups still continue to strive for our attention. But how many brands are making use of messaging services?
Over 2.5 billion people around the world use messaging platforms and brands are beginning to develop marketing strategies around this. Artificial intelligence, automated messaging and chatbots are all set to improve customer engagement in 2018. For certain businesses, these can be used to help offer customers personalised experiences and tailored offers which standard advertisements simply cannot do.
3. An influx of academic and scientific workers following Brexit
Britain has already seen a wave of workers and companies leave for greener pastures this year following the fallout of Brexit. So far, Ireland has benefited from some of these departures as companies choose Dublin as their new EU base.
However, according to The New Statesman, the real “exodus” is expected in 2018. This is notably true in the fields of academia, science and health.
According to the magazine, 1,300 academics, who are originally from EU countries, have left Britain in the past year. This trend is set to continue and grow in 2018. With our growing infrastructure and our continued focus on building the STEM community Ireland could be the next destination for these people. This would mean we could possibly see a major influx of highly-skilled workers entering the Irish workforce.