Deloitte has released a new report, "Tech Trends 2017: The Kinetic Enterprise”, that describes how companies presently must sift through the promotional noise and hyperbole surrounding emerging technologies to find those solutions offering real potential.

For this, the report says that companies should become "kinetic" organizations — companies with the dexterity and vision required to thrive amid ongoing technology-fueled disruption.

"Kinetic enterprises are fluid and their leaders understand that to remain relevant, they will need to develop a deliberate innovation response to these disruptive forces," said Bill Briggs, chief technology officer and managing director, Deloitte Consulting LLP. "It's not about chasing every shiny new object; it's about translating the raw potential of emerging technology into a focused set of priorities with measurable, tangible business impact."

In particular, the report examines seven key trends – the business potential of IT transformation, dark analytics, machine intelligence, mixed reality, inevitable architecture, everything-as-a-service, and blockchain technology – which it said will likely revolutionize enterprise technology in the next 18 to 24 months.

"Machine intelligence, blockchain and other technologies will have huge implications for talent, operations, and for the enterprise as a whole. Developing a strategy for prioritizing investments and harnessing these emerging technologies has become a boardroom directive”, said Briggs.

According to the report, blockchain technology is moving beyond its cryptocurrency identity and assuming the role of trusted gatekeeper and purveyor of transparency. The authors believe that digital identity may be the technology’s most valuable use case to date.

“In the next 18 to 24 months, entities across the globe will likely begin exploring blockchain opportunities that involve some aspects of digital reputation”, the report said.

“As a repository of valuable data, blockchain can provide individual users with unprecedented control over their digital identities. It can potentially offer businesses an effective way to break down information silos and lower data management costs”.