Visitors take pictures of humanoid intelligent robot Alpha developed by UBTECH at the Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC) 2015 in Beijing, China, April 28, 2015.KIM KYUNG-HOON/Reuters
A new study by consulting firm Deloitte suggests most Canadian companies aren't prepared for major advances in technology like robotics and artificial intelligence.
Deloitte says only 13 per cent of the 700 companies in its study scored well, while 87 per cent were partially or completely unprepared for the magnitude and speed of change that's on the horizon.
In fact, just over one-third of the companies studied scored poorly on each of four key measures – awareness, innovation, agility and the ability to channel resources.
Study co-author Terry Stuart says the findings are consistent with other Deloitte research on Canadian companies.
He says companies are generally adverse to risk and that shows up as a reluctance to invest the time and money needed to understand the next wave of technology.
Deloitte predicts the economy is about to be changed by new technology like industrial robots, 3D printers and sensor devices that are connected by networks and monitored by computing systems with artificial intelligence.