Six years ago, digital trends were commonly summarized under SMAC, which stood for social, media, analytics and cloud. Accenture PLC has captured the current digital evolution as DARQ Power, represented by distributed ledger technology, artificial intelligence, extended reality, and quantum computing.

These latest trends, which exemplify what Accenture has termed the key trends characterizing the post-digital era, were outlined in the technology consultancy’s recently released “Technology Vision 2019” report.

“It’s all about driving innovation at scale,” said Marc Carrel-Billiard (pictured), senior managing director at Accenture Labs. “I would say that DARQ is the new SMAC.”

Carrel-Billiard spoke with Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during Accenture Technology Vision 2019 in San Francisco. They discussed the four key trends outlined in the company’s latest report and their future impact.

Need for ledger interoperability

Accenture views distributed ledger technology, exemplified by the blockchain, as an important trend in search of an interoperable solution. The rise of different blockchains that are focused on multiple areas, such as manufacturing or finance, has created a need for a common framework between ledgers.

“One thing that the lab will be looking at is how we can interoperate between those different blockchains,” Carrel-Billiard said. “There’s also going to be interoperability between the blockchain that you’re implementing and the legacy environment you have. This needs to be addressed as well.”

Accenture has three labs dedicated to AI, and the firm intends to focus on understanding why intelligent technology offers certain results and strengthening human/machine interaction. “One of the things we want to address is the conversational aspect of the intelligent agent,” Carrel-Billiard said.

In its report last year, Accenture described immersive technologies as having the power to transform entire industries. For 2019, the firm intends to focus on the total immersive experience. “What’s going to be important for us is to not just look at extended reality from a vision standpoint, but try to give you the combined effect of every immersive sense that you have,” Carrel-Billiard explained.

The configuration of quantum computers offers the potential for processing data at much faster speeds than traditional machines today. Accenture’s evaluation of the quantum field envisions extending this power into real-world situations affecting humans.

“We’re going to use quantum computing to do better matchmaking between a person who is waiting for an organ and an organ that you can transfer to this person,” Carrel-Billiard stated. “You have only a few hours to figure out who the best receivers are. This is hyper-personalization.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Accenture Technology Vision 2019.

Photo: SiliconANGLE