Four in five or 80% of business professionals in Singapore say they would participate in work meetings in virtual spaces versus existing video conferencing tools.
This was one of the key findings of a new study commissioned by Ciena to determine the readiness of business professionals to collaborate in the virtual world.
The study found that more than half (57%) of Singaporean business professionals agree that virtual meetings provide greater convenience as compared to in-person meetings, while 44% believe virtual meetings can create an environment that is easier to collaborate. A third (38%) of those surveyed also believe that virtual meetings are less expensive than in-person meetings.
Furthermore, 71% of Singaporean business professionals can see the metaverse becoming part of existing work practices, and over half (56%) think their workplace will move away from static work settings to a more immersive/virtual reality-based environment within the next three years. Similarly, 88% of Singaporean business professionals would feel comfortable conducting more formal, HR-type work meetings in a virtual space.
Despite a growing appetite to utilize enhanced reality tools, survey respondents cited the inability to read in-person expressions and emotions (35%) and virtual meeting fatigue (31%) as key drawbacks to using virtual-collaboration tools at work.
When asked to name the top barriers to business adoption of virtual reality platforms, 39% of respondents in Singapore have concerns with the associated costs, 43% worry that the technology is not readily available, and 41% feel their organisations do not have the reliable network required to support these virtual experiences.
“While network reliability is currently seen as a barrier to working in the metaverse, Singapore has been gaining momentum in strengthening its digital infrastructure to support the development of a digital economy, especially with significant progress in making island-wide 5G coverage a reality,” commented Dion Leung, regional managing director, Ciena ASEAN.
He added: “As businesses and employees here opt to retain their present hybrid work arrangements, enhanced reality tools will provide a whole new dimension for collaboration and innovation in the new world of work. But its exciting use cases can only be achieved with a robust and always-on underlying network.”
The study was conducted by Censuswide on behalf of Ciena in June 2022. The research surveyed a total of 15,000 business professionals, including 1,000 professionals within each of the following countries/regions: UK, Germany, Norway, Middle East, Australia, Denmark, Japan, Colombia, India, U.S., Philippines, Mexico, Brazil, Indonesia and Singapore.
