Awareness and Utilization of Emerging Technologies in E-Businesses: A Survey From Turkey

Introduction

The emerging technology (ET) concept has been widely used in the academy, and professional businesses to define new technologies. Although its definition differs for each context, science-based innovations that transform industries are commonly defined as the ETs (Halaweh, 2013). In order to categorize a particular technology as emerging, the technology needs to offer changes for companies, industries, or societies. Artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, cloud computing, big data, and the internet of things (IoT) are among the common emerging technologies as of 2021 (UNCTAD, 2021). According to a survey conducted by Oracle (2020), 84% of the companies that participated in the survey have implemented at least one ET in their financial or supply chain processes.

ETs have the power to affect and change economies, societies as well as other technologies. Businesses have to align their business strategies based on emerging technologies to better cope with challenging situations and crises and be more competitive, productive, and profitable (Chang, 2010).

Electronic business (e-business) refers to the use of the Internet and digital technologies for executing internal and commercial activities in an enterprise (Laudon & Laudon, 2004). In today’s world, e-businesses are very common due to the enhancements in technology and globalization. The relationship of most businesses with their internal and external stakeholders, such as customers, users, and employees, is maintained on the digital ground (Dornberger et al., 2018).

Information systems are part of several value-adding activities in an organization and support decision-making by transforming raw data into useful information after a series of activities (Irani, 2002). Information systems integrated with emerging digital technologies provide significant value and opportunities to businesses. For example, the study conducted by Borges et al., (2021) presents that AI supports decision-making processes, improving relationships among stakeholders, and providing machine to machine communication. Similarly, blockchain technology offers applications for consumers and businesses in various ways. These applications include trusted user interfaces, instant payment facilities, traceability of goods, storing records, accounting, and business process management (Grover et al., 2018). Cloud computing offers cost-effective solutions in terms of computing services to run business activities (Gangwar, 2017). Applications of big data in e-businesses depend on the analysis of larger datasets having different types of data (Avinash & Babu, 2018). It offers opportunities for businesses to understand their current state. Personalization, customer services, prediction of customer behaviors, and dynamic prices are examples of applications of big data (Avinash & Babu, 2018; Minelli et al., 2013). IoT usage has several opportunities for e-businesses including data collection, business optimization, customer satisfaction, and ease in automation of procedures (Trevlopoulou, 2018). Oracle’s survey (2021) revealed that use of ET has a positive impact on organizations’ performance.

This chapter aims to shed light on the awareness and utilization of the aforementioned emerging technologies in e-business in Türkiye and highlight the potential usage areas for similar business domains. In line with this purpose, we performed a survey study running as e-businesses or maintaining e-business applications in Türkiye. By analyzing the data collected from forty-six respondents, we answered the following research questions:

• (i)

  To what extent are the companies in Türkiye aware of emerging technology opportunities (i.e., blockchain, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, big data, and IoT)?

• (ii)

  To what extent do the businesses /enterprises in Türkiye align their activities based on emerging technologies?