It’s not certain where the next big disruption will come from, but it’s possible to identify trends. Here is what will drive business innovation in the years to come.
1. AI (Artificial Intelligence)
The extent of AI’s rise in our daily lives has taken many people by surprise. Artificial intelligence platforms are revolutionizing the way we conduct business offering extensive analytics and streamlining software architecture. These applications will surge in the following years. But what happens when AI goes beyond human-level thinking? The warnings have been well documented on the big screen and many concerns have been raised. We only hope that this will result in a fail-safe to be put in place that will manually override the automation process among other things. Automation has also become an area of concern in employment. Recently we’ve seen automated systems starting to replace human workers. How do we move forward with this trend without causing mass unemployment? Is a universal salary the only solution? This and many other questions will puzzle lawmakers in the near future as technology becomes more intertwined with our lives.
2. IoT (Internet of Things)
We are gradually entering the era where we learn to use IoT to increase earnings and not just save money. In 2020 IOT will truly blossom moving from a solution for reducing costs to offering a feasible income stream for businesses. The beginning of an “everything connected” world is here. From mobile phones to cars most devices will be able to “see” and “talk” to each other.
3. Cybersecurity
We are witnessing an increase in commercially oriented denial and phishing attacks. Distributed denial of service ( DDoS ) prevents legitimate users from accessing their website by overwhelming the entire network with traffic while email phishing can give hackers access to your personal information and even lock you out of your system (ransomware). These methods have wreaked havoc in the past. The internet was built on openness and sharing. Its a shame that these attributes are being explored as vulnerabilities. In the future, your protection from theft or damage will be strengthened by cloud services that identify the threat early on and neutralize it by reducing zero-day exploits and redirecting suspicious high volume traffic. Some of these services are already available but at a premium price that excludes the average internet user. For now we’ll have to settle with not trusting free Wi-Fi and avoiding links from dubious senders.
4. Blockchain
Blockchain technology first started gaining notoriety with bitcoin. In the future since bitcoin has had large fluctuations in valuation that raised concerns about its legitimacy the method it uses to secure the transactions will be separated and used by financial institutions as a means to further encrypt money transfers. So the only attribute that is appealing to banks is the validation process and the transaction itself. Once verified it will be added to an existing blockchain that is invariable and stable. Similar to a ledger but with blocks of data. In other words blockchain will become more useful in securing payments instead of trying to become a currency.
Finally, a combination of one or more of the above existing technologies will come together to create a far better version of today’s internet. Some other trends on the rise include 5G networks, autonomous driving, biotech and edge computing. The future of tech seems bright. All we have to do is wait and see where the marvels of human ingenuity lead us.
