Welcome to the 4th Industrial Revolution, where technology
is changing more rapidly than ever. Organizations and individuals who are not
up to some of the most significant technological changes risk left behind.
Understanding key developments will help people and companies to plan and take
advantage of the opportunities. As a forward-looking business and technology
strategist, my job is to look ahead and recognize the new trends. In this
article, I discuss the seven inevitable trends for which everyone is expected
to be ready in 2020.
5G data networks
The 5th generation of mobile internet access will provide us
with super-fast download and upload speeds and more reliable connections. While
5 G mobile data networks were first available in 2019, they were still mainly
costly and worked in confined areas and major cities. 2020 is likely the year
when 5 G begins operating, with more accessible data plans and much better
coverage so that everyone can participate.
Super-fast internet uplinks will not only give us the
ability to upload files and music on the go. But also, considerably higher
speeds make mobile networks more useful than cable networks in our homes and
industries. The market implications of having super-fast and stable Internet
access everywhere must be taken into consideration by companies. The increased
capacity will allow computers, robots and self-supporting vehicles to capture
and transfer more data than ever, which contributes to advancement in the area
of the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart machinery.
AI-as-a-service
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the utmost innovative
technological developments of our time. Most companies have started to consider
how they can use AI to improve customer experience and to simplify their
business activities. As I found out in my book "Artificial intelligence in
practice." This will begin in 2020, and while people become more and more
used to working alongside AIs, developing and deploying our own AI systems will
continue to be an expensive proposition for most companies.
Therefore, many of AI's applications will continue to be
performed through service providers, enabling us just to feed our own data and
pay for algorithms or computing resources while using them.
At present, these solutions, delivered by Amazon, Google,
and Microsoft, respectively, appear to be somewhat broad-based and personalized
(often expensive) to cater to the specific tasks that an enterprise may need.
In 2020, we will see wider adoption and that pool of providers that will begin to
provide more tailor-made apps and services for unique and specialized tasks. It
means that no business has any justification for not using AI.
Extended Reality
Extended Reality (XR) is an all-round term that covers
several new and emerging technology used to create digital environments. In
particular, it relates to augmented, enhanced, and mixed reality. Virtual
reality (VR) offers an entirely technologically immersive experience while
viewing an environment created by machines through goggles that incorporate the
real world. Enhanced reality (AR) overlays real-world virtual objects by
smartphone screens or screens (think Snapchat filters). Mixed reality (MR) is
the extension of AR, which allows users to interact with real-world digital
objects (figure to play a holographic piano, which you put on your room with an
AR headset).
Such devices have been everywhere for a few years now, but
they mostly confined to the entertainment world–with Oculus Rift & Vive
headsets offering the most modern video game and mobile apps such as a screen
filters and Pokemon Go-style games.
By 2020, all this expected to change, as businesses address
the vibrant and exciting possibilities provided by both existing XR modes.
Virtual and augmented environments are becoming more popular for learning and
simulation and offering new ways of interacting with consumers.
Personalized and predictive medicine
At present, technology is changing healthcare at a pace
unparalleled. Our ability to capture information from wearable technologies
such as smartwatches would enable us to anticipate and manage people's health
conditions even before they have any symptoms.
We will see much more tailored methods when it comes to
diagnosis. The technique is also called precision medicine, which helps
physicians, due to a data-based understanding of how beneficial we are going to
be for a specific patient, to prescribe drugs or implement therapies more
accurately.
Although it is not an innovative idea, it gives us a better
understanding of how different people's bodies are stronger or better equipped
to battle specific diseases and how they can respond to various types of
medications or treatments thanks to recent technological advances, especially
in the areas of genomics and AI.
In 2020, we will see innovative predictive healthcare
technologies and the implementation of more tailored, effective treatments to
guarantee better results for individual patients.
Computer Vision
In terms of software, "Vision" requires devices
that are capable of recognizing visual image images, locations, items, and
individuals–captured from a camera or sensor. This technology enables the
smartphone camera to identify what part of the image it captures is a face and
powerful technologies like Google Image Search.
As we go through 2020, we will see tools and technology
equipped with computer vision applied for an increasing amount of use. It is
essential to the way efficient vehicles "see" or maneuver around
risk. Production lines use computer vision cameras to track defective products
and equipment failures, and security cameras are capable of alerting us to
anything unusual, without 24/7 supervision.
The computer vision also helps to identify the face, of
which we will hear a lot in 2020. In the FaceID case of Apple, we've already
seen how useful the technology is in controlling access to our smartphones and
how Dubai airport uses it to make the customer travel easier. But as use cases expand
in 2020, we will also have more discussions on restricting the use of this
technology because of its latent for privacy infringement and state control
like' Big Brother.'
Autonomous Driving
Although we are still not at the point where we can expect
to regularly travel in autonomous vehicles or even see them in 2020, they will undoubtedly
continue to generate a lot of excitement.
The chief Tesla Elon Musk said that he expected his company
to create an "absolute" autonomous vehicle by this year and will
gradually see the number of cars capable of operating with a reduced degree of
autonomy, such as automatic braking and lane changes. Besides, other
non-driving in-car systems, such as security and entertainment features, will
increasingly be automated and rely on data capture and analysis. Google's
sister company, Waymo, recently completed a taxi trial in California, where
more than 6200 people transported in the first month.
Of course, it is not just vehicles–trucking and shipping are
becoming more autonomous, and the breakthroughs in this field are likely to
continue in the headlines throughout 2020.
As the autonomous driving technology matures, we are also
more and more aware of the measures taken by the regulators, policymakers, and
officials. Changes in policy, current infrastructures, and social attitudes
will all be needed before autonomous driving becomes a practical reality for
most of us. In 2020, we will likely begin to see a discussion on autonomous
driving outside of the technological world as more and more people come to
think that the problem is not' if,' but' if,' that it will become a reality.
Blockchain Technology
Blockchain is a scientific phenomenon I have dealt with
extensively this year, but if you discuss it in a non-technological company you
will still be in a new state. 2020 may be the year everything changes.
Blockchain is primarily a virtual archive used for documenting transactions but
protected because of its authenticated and decentralized design. In 2019, some
critics suggested that the technology was over-hyped and not as active as
initially thought. Continued investments such as FedEx, IBM, Walmart, and
Mastercard are probably beginning to show real-world results during 2019, and
if they succeed in proving their case, smaller players could quickly lead to increasing
adoption.
Here's how to stop your virtual assistants to listen:
