The technology industry is always evolving, with new trends and innovations emerging every day. But which of these trends are likely to have the biggest impact in the coming year?

In this article, we take a look at five trends that could completely turn the tech industry on its head. Each of these trends has the potential to revolutionize the way we work, live and play. 

Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace

Artificial intelligence is no longer something that takes time and place out of your hands- nowadays, it comes as a ready made desk accessory.

Artificial Intelligence is primarily the term used to describe a wide variety of complex software and applications of parts that work together to carry out a specific goal.

Autonomous systems work without the need of an experienced human being guiding and controlling them. The increasing ability of artificial intelligence to learn and act intelligently will absolutely transform our world.

Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, believes that its impact will be even greater than that of fire or electricity on our development as a species. Due to the wide usage of Artificial Intelligence in terms of helping us to reduce carbon emissions, space exploration, and in developing treatment methods for cancer, the potential is clearly there.

The full impact of giving machines the ability to make decisions – and ultimately empower decision-making to take place far more quickly and accurately than could ever be done by humans is very difficult to fully comprehend right now. Breakthroughs and new developments will persist to push the boundaries of what is possible with AI.

The industry is going through a transitional period towards a `full blown revolution`. We can see this happening with AI being used for routine creative tasks like creating art, music, poetry, stage plays and even video games. While creativity has always been seen as a human skill, the fact that machines are able to replicate it means that artificial intelligence as we know is is coming closer to function the same way “real” intelligence presents itself.

One ofthe best examples of AI is Artificial Intelligence chatbots – conversationalinterfaces that give you access to specific data and information.

Blockchain Technology & Cryptocurrency

Blockchain technology is the latest innovative technology for financial security, and also faster transactions. In Digital currencies, Bitcoin the currency of choice has taken the lead throughout the crypto industry.

Blockchain technology will encourage proper security practices within the crypto market. Blockchain has emerged as a powerful platform for innovators to build competitors to the traditional fiat currencies. 

Even though mainstream media associates blockchain primarily with cryptocurrencies, this is not the only case now. Various industries have now started adopting this innovation. More applications are being discovered every day, including eCommerce, healthcare, supply chain, transportation, and finance.

Global spending on blockchain technologies stands at nearly $6 billion in 2021. This approximates 437% of its market value this year. The market increases at a rate of 56% per year, reflecting the pace of its ecosystem investment.

A further positive setting is that the European Union is undertaking investment plans worth trillions of euros, associated with blockchain.

Developers and other professionals in different sectors are actively looking into blockchain technology, with financial services and banking being at the forefront. Entertainment, and healthcare are also two other areas of tech interests.

Big Data in the Workplace

According to Gartner, 85 percent of Fortune 500 companies will use Big Data to explore innovative competitive modes. IDC also predicts that the Big Data Analytics market is expected to explode six times faster than the entire IT sector. IDC even expects cloud-based big data analytics to grow 3 times faster than on-premise solutions in 2015.

The Datafication process makes a business, an informed one. Typically, it is a process that involves gathering large data from various sources, and then studying these data in order to find out new knowledge and insights. Datafication will take big data analysis to a completely new height: to real insights, future predictions, and intelligent decisions.

Datafication is a not a new trend. However, the speed with which data is generated in real time operational analytics systems is breath-taking. This will directly impact small businesses, and the trend is likely to bring about a data-driven society. Over time, datafication dynamics will influence how clients will expect businesses to operate and the speed at which businesses process information.

The Glitch in the Internet of Things

 The Internet of Things (IoT) is a term that’s come to be used to describe the ever-growing networks of physical objects that are connected online and ready to communicate and share information with groups and with each other. This phenomenon has prompted a rush among some brands and agencies to head online. The trend of the inevitable convergence of technology and the Internet-of-Things(IoT) is well and truly underway.

Mordor Intelligence reveals that the IoT technology market will reach a value of $1.39trillion by 2026. The sharp rise in market figures is likely due to a number of factors, including a surge in popularity over the larger wearables market, and the invention of new sensor-powered devices such as not just toasters, but

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the advancement of smart home devices and data analytics is accelerating. Businesses are eager to create new AI tools. Sparked by the realization of the power of IoT networks, many companies are ending up developing a variety of AI solutions. In some instances, using decentralized options like IoT networks provide algorithmic processing more efficiently thana single centralized solution.

Hyperreality: The Next Frontier

For over 200,000 years, we humans only had access to the physical world, full of objects we could touch, taste, hear, smell and see. However, it wasn’t until the 20th century that we gained access to a computer world. Life-changing technology, or “The Internet,” that gave birth to The Web in 1991. Tim Berners-Lee originally envisioned it as a ” hosted hypertext document retrieval system”—essentially a portal for the information to be sent in short, easy-to-read lines. This was just the beginning.

For kids today, it’s difficult to imagine a lifetime without computers, smartphones, Google, Netflix or Instagram. One where technology is nice-to-have but not fully an integral part of life. A life where boredom existed and humans didn’t have all the answers to their questions at their finger tips. The ubiquity of social media and digital devices has made it look and feel as if the real world was stretched out to the same level as the digital. The division between reality and imagination has collapsed.

In most respects, the lockdown gave us the largest social and psychological experiment ever conducted. All over the world, sometimes for the first time in history, people physically separated by many miles—never mind oceans—had no means to connect with each other in-person and had to resort to communicating online. Our way of life has been radically altered. Personal face-to-face contact with others has been replaced by a digital alternative of communication. This is a very difficult adjustment to make. Zoom now has 300 million daily participants, compared to just 10 million in December 2019. Twitch engagement has increased by 56% quarterly and Amazon’s profits have almost tripled as the pandemic accelerates the change to e-commerce.

Nearly all of our time that we spend online is on devices connected to the internet, while remaining in the physical world. The next level is the virtual world, a fully immersive computer-simulated environment that allows people to experience life from a completely different perspective. At present, the virtual environment is most visible in the gaming industry, where computer games are fully immersive, and virtual experiences collecting digital information and currency about the player. Gaming is powering major developments in the virtual world.

Gaming has its own economy, with 2.5 billion people spending $100 billion on virtual goods. Although it is considered a form of escapism, virtual worlds have the opportunity to enable deeper social connections than most of us have on a daily basis. For corporations with a global reach and physical distribution, the virtual world remains a huge untapped opportunity to increase revenue. Brands are scrambling to enter the virtual world in examples like Nike’s partnership with League of Legend or Gucci’s $10,000 virtual dress. Brands that build compelling virtual propositions for a lifestyle are the brands that will shape a society in this century.

The global pandemic has blurred the lines between the physical and digital world. We humans are now visiting the virtual world, competing with the physical for resources. In the next decade, the two worlds will converge, thus creating a state of hyperreality: we are a simulation of reality without origin. This is not a sci-fi fantasy of some kind as it has already invaded mainstream culture.

To quote Marshall McLuhan, “We shape our tools and then our tools shape us”.

In Conclusion

A technology trend is a global phenomenon, where it may occur in a country or across the world. As a business, you need to be prepared for the change, and you can be ready for the future by adopting a strategy to implement technology.

For a small business, the adoption of technology leads to higher productivity, which can save your company a lot of money. This can result in saving your company from being bought out by a bigger competitor. The adoption of technology also leads to better customer service, which can improve the relationship between your company and the client.

The future of business is here. How are you leveraging technology and the latest tech trends to grow your business? Technological progress is advancing more rapidly than ever. To survive – and thrive – you’ll need to swiftly find your feet in this new landscape in order to get a leg up from your competitors.

 

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