International Data Corporation (IDC) has announced its worldwide information technology (IT) industry predictions for 2018 and beyond.

Over the past several years, IDC said that has focused on the digital transformation (DX) that enterprises must undergo as they adopt cutting-edge technologies.

"We said last year that the rising digital economy means all enterprises must operate like 'digital native' enterprises, rearchitecting their operations around large-scale digital innovation networks and becoming, in effect, a new corporate species," said Frank Gens, Senior Vice President and Chief Analyst at IDC. "While some of our predictions for 2018 and beyond continue to lay out a strategic blueprint for enterprises on their digital transformation journey, others introduce critical new building blocks for becoming digital native enterprises."

According to IDC, by 2021, at least 50% of global GDP will be digitized, with growth in every industry driven by digitally-enhanced offerings, operations, and relationships.

“Organizations that are slow to digitize their offerings and operations will find themselves competing for a progressively shrinking share of their market segment's opportunities. And the time frame is short: organizations must make significant progress in transforming to a digital native model over the next three years,” it said.

Among other things, IDC believes that by 2021, at least 25% of the Global 2000 will use blockchain services as a foundation for digital trust at scale. It said that distributed ledger technology (DLT) has the potential to support digital trust at scale by providing one version of the truth (secure information), transfer of value (secure ownership records), faster settlements, and smart contracts (automated buying and selling).

“IDC expects blockchain ledgers and interconnections to evolve at a slow and steady pace over the next 36 months. Early adopters will have the opportunity to establish very strong positions in the ecosystem, while slower adopters will not be entirely boxed out but should be exploring use cases,” it added.