As the end of the year approaches, we review the work that industry analysts have done to reveal the technology trends we will witness in 2021.
Rapidly changing consumer trends, security concerns, the ethical use of artificial intelligence, and the growing impact of climate change are driving companies to incorporate systemic risk into their long-term planning.
The Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 has helped us all learn about uncertainty. It also showed us the importance of certain technologies that we thought were more developed than they are. This is the case with artificial intelligence and machine learning.
So let’s take a look at the technological developments that await us for 2021.
5G
The next technological trend is 5G.
Where 3G and 4G technologies have allowed us to browse the internet, use navigation services, increase bandwidth for streaming on Spotify or YouTube, 5G services are expected to revolutionize our lives, enabling services that rely on advanced technologies like virtual or augmented reality, alongside cloud-based gaming services like Google Stadia, NVidia GeForce Now and many others.
Almost all telecom companies are working on creating 5G applications. 5G services are expected to launch globally in 2021, with more than 50 operators offering services in about 30 countries by the end of the year, making it a big technology trend to watch out for.
See More : https://www.viavisolutions.com/en-us/5g-architecture
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning
Artificial intelligence has already made a lot of noise this decade, but it continues to be among the technology trends: its notable effects on how we live, work and play are still in their infancy. AI is already known for its superiority in image and voice recognition, navigation apps, personal assistants for smartphones, ride-sharing apps and more.
Forecasts
Boosted by 5G, the artificial intelligence market will be worth $190 billion by 2025, and global spending on cognitive systems will reach more than $57 billion by 2021.
As AI expands across industries, new jobs will be created in development, programming, testing, support and maintenance, to name a few.
Machine learning, the byproduct of AI, is also being deployed in all sorts of industries, including robots, data analytics…
Automation of robotic processes
Like AI and machine learning, robotic process automation is another technology that automates tasks.
It involves using software to automate work processes such as transaction processing, data processing, and even responding to emails. This technology automates repetitive tasks that people used to do.
While this technology is responsible for the loss of many jobs, it will create new ones, especially in development and maintenance.
Internet des comportements (IoB, Internet of Behavior)
IoB is about using data to change behavior. With the rise of technologies that collect the “digital dust” of everyday life (data that spans the digital and physical worlds) this information can be used to influence behavior through feedback loops.
For example, for commercial vehicles, telematics can monitor driving behaviors, from hard braking to aggressive cornering. Companies can then use this data to improve driver performance, routing and safety.
The ethical and societal implications of IoB depend on the goals and outcomes of individual uses
IoB can gather, combine and process data from many sources, including:
- citizen data processed by public sector and government agencies
- social media
- deployment of facial recognition in the public domain
- location tracking
The increasing sophistication of the technology that processes this data has allowed this trend to grow
Another example
A connected watch (which health insurance companies could use to track physical activity, to reduce premiums) could also be used to monitor food purchases: too many unhealthy items could increase premiums.
Privacy laws, which vary from country to country, will have a critical impact on the adoption and scale of IoB.
Distributed Cloud
Distributed cloud is where cloud services are distributed to different physical locations, but operation and governance remain the responsibility of the cloud provider.
Allowing organizations to have services physically closer together allows for low latency and reduced costs. The distributed cloud also allows for compliance with laws requiring that certain data remain in a specific geographic area.
