International Consulting Firm Expects Internet Economy to Sky Rocket over the next 5 Years

Most international consulting firms today have integrated internet strategies into common practices. It is no secret that internet trends have increasingly became more popular. The internet has become one of the biggest platforms for globalization and has increased businesses beyond heights that were unthinkable just 10 years ago.

One of the driving forces behind this push is the increased practical solutions that has caused the internet to go from a luxury tool to a household application in a short amount of time. Also social media’s viral effects are changing the face of international marketing consulting as well as normal day-to-day interactions as we know it. Business Intelligence Middle East (BI-ME) reported, international consulting firm Boston Consulting predicts the G-20 internet economy to almost double the size it was in 2010 over the next 5 years.

International consulting firm BCG expects 45% percent of global population to use internet by 2016.

“In The Digital Manifesto: How Companies and Countries Can Win in the Digital Economy, BCG makes the case that businesses will be fundamentally transformed over the next five years. It also urges action by companies and countries, recommending the creation of a “digital balance sheet” and offering an agenda for chief executives and policymakers to build their digital advantage.

The Digital Manifesto, the latest in a series of BCG reports on the rise of the Internet, was launched today during the Annual Conference of the World Economic Forum at a discussion cohosted by BCG and Google.

“No company or country can afford to ignore this development. Every business needs to go digital,” said David Dean, a coauthor of the report and a senior partner at BCG. “The ‘new’ Internet is no longer largely Western, accessed from your PC. It is now global, ubiquitous, and participatory.”

The Rise of the New Internet

The BCG report charts several major shifts that are not well understood by many corporate executives and policymakers. These include the following changes in the use and nature of the Internet:

•From a Luxury to an Ordinary Good. Twenty years ago, at the Internet’s commercial birth, its use was restricted to the relatively wealthy. Today it is almost everywhere, with half the G-20′s population expected to use the Internet by 2016.

•From Developed to Emerging Markets. By 2016, nearly 70% of the Internet users in the G-20 will be from emerging markets, up from 56% in 2010. China will have nearly 800 million Internet users — about the same number as France, Germany, India, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S. combined. The contribution of emerging markets to the G-20′s Internet economy will grow from less than one-quarter in 2010 to more than one-third in 2016.

•From PC to Mobile. By 2016, mobile devices — increasingly, smart phones — will account for about 80 percent of all broadband connections in the G-20 nations.

•From Passive to Participatory. Social media are changing global communication patterns. Countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, and Mexico are going straight to social, with more than 90 percent of Internet users engaged in social media. In these countries, social media are used more extensively than in developed markets in the creation and sharing of content.

This report expands on BCG’s detailed analysis of the impact of the Internet in 14 countries commissioned by Google.

At the Davos discussion, Patrick Pichette, Google’s senior vice president and chief financial officer, said, “Understanding the economic potential of the Web should be an urgent priority for leaders. The Digital Manifesto makes a powerful case for countries and companies to get online and reap the rewards of an age of data.”

Why Every Business Needs to Go Digital

Consumers are starting to derive extraordinary value from the Internet, according to the BCG report. Across the G-20, US$1.3 trillion of goods was researched online before being purchased offline — representing 2.7 percent of GDP, or more than US$3,000 per connected household. In the largest G-20 economies, the perceived value that consumers place on the Internet, above what they already pay, is US$1.9 trillion, or US$5,000 per connected household.

Likewise, companies that make extensive use of the Internet — including social media — to sell, market, and interact with their customers and suppliers grow faster than those that do not. Over the past 18 months, BCG surveyed more than 15,000 small and medium-size enterprises around the world….

* The G-20 includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the EU, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the U.K., and the U.S.”

The G-20, or the global nations that make up over 80% of the worlds GDP, has began to build internet infrastructures that will harbour the abundant growth of internet solutions over the next 5 years. International development consulting has also digitalized expanding international business consulting firms’ reach and effectiveness through integrated internet applications. Business Intelligence Middle East reports more about the importance of top executives to formulate digital balance sheets and internet policies. For more information on this topic look to International Consulting News frequently for advanced insight on emerging internet trends.