The annual conference, South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin Texas is approaching, and my schedule is fully booked. I look forward to discover speakers from all around the world, who will be focusing on the future of tech within tremendous aspects of businesses during the week.

Whichever hangout I experience, having to register with my email and personal information has become a procedure, and the SXSW event is no exception. This will probably offer me benefits such as new connections to other participants, and possibly a more personalised feed. Giving away my personal data is all about trust. Trust in technology is also one of the key themes that is going to be debated at the SXSW event.

Kantar TNS revealed recently 6 trends related to consumer trust in tech, whereas the reaction from the 70.000 people who were asked, seemed quite polarised when it came to artificial intelligence replacing ordinary customer service. The fact that we seek attention and simplicity drives us to different platforms, but social media’s increased presence distracts us and leads to frustration. Among the youngest participants in the survey 38% think they use their mobile too much.

We are increasingly trading our personal information in order to maintain our connected lifestyle, whereas 60 % of US citizen and 56 % Norwegians are concerned about the amount of personal data that is collected about them. Within the EU, the General Data Protection Regulation (the GDPR), has become an increasingly hot topic in most consumer-oriented businesses, as we approach May 2018. Many of us may grow more suspicious as we experience different brands using our data to personalise our feeds for the better. However, this seems to have created a negative impact, in fact, 48% of Norwegians do believe that what different brands post on social media are not relevant for them.

Through the customer journey, social media is very often the catalyst to the e-commerce platform, and it is without doubt that there is a continuous growth in online shopping. However, having consumers to actually tap the final button is still one of the larger challenges the e-commerce industry is facing. The 6th trend is an exact representation of the frictionless mobile e-commerce, where 26% of Norwegians say that they would prefer to pay using their phone, whilst 38 % express the opposite, stating they do not want to use their phones for payment.

Going on my next journey, I used my phone to pay for the flight ticket, the event badge and the hotel, and I expect to discover more of frictionless shopping during the SXSW and hopefully connect to someone sharing my curiosity and interests.

Purpose of the GDPR:

“…to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons and in particular their right to protection of personal data and to ensure the free movement of personal data within the EU.”

Source: Kantar TNS Connected Life