Tech predictions for the new decade
It’s officially 2020! The last decade has brought us incredible technology advancements such as; 4G LTE, cloud computing, self-driving cars, virtual home assistants, smart homes, and so much more. Imagine what the next 10-years will bring!
Although we don’t have a crystal ball, there’s a few things the tech industry agrees are going to see major growth in this decade.
Artificial Intelligence (AI):
AI is already becoming more prominent in our everyday lives, but moving forward we’re going to see a lot more practical implementations in business. The segment AI is poised for the most growth in is customer service. Industry-analysts, Gartner suggest that in 2020, 80% of customer service interactions will utilize AI.
What does that look like? Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a big one. This functionality allows for a computer to understand human conversation rather than just match keywords. You’ll see this implemented more and more in chat bots and search engines in particular. This technology is going to make sophisticated chat features more accessible to smaller businesses.
Internet of Things (IoT)
Last decade we didn’t just have computers on our desks, we had them in our refrigerators, cars, our ceiling fans, even our doorbells. Commonly referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT), our day-to-day lives have become something straight out of The Jetsons.
With even the most mundane moments of our daily lives being collected as data, businesses are hurriedly figuring out how to use all of that information to make meaningful insights about consumers that can help drive business and advertising dollars.
This data will increasingly be used to determine what new products and services to push into the IoT ecosystem. It’s a Catch 22 for many consumers, on the one hand these insights tend to lead to advancements that meaningfully impact our lives in positive ways. But on the other hand, with privacy continuing to be at the forefront of many consumers’ minds, we are going to have to make tough decisions about how much information we’re willing to share with Big Tech.
Cloud Computing: Asset or Liability?
Businesses are going to continue to move towards cloud storage and computing. It’s a powerful and cost effective way to keep all employees, in the office or in the field, connected to your network and being productive.
However security experts agree that the shift to cloud computing has left many businesses with big vulnerabilities in their online security. The more connected your business is the more vulnerable your business becomes.
Done correctly, with proper engineer oversight your business can harness all the power of cloud computing while curbing increase security risks.
5G
One of the driving factors behind 5G is the growth of the IoT network. Current 4G technologies don’t have the capacity to manage the growing number of devices accessing the internet, 5G promises faster speeds and more space for increased data consumption.
Some of the larger companies have begun their transition over to 5G, mainly in big cities, but there are still some technical and infrastructure hurdles that will need to be crossed before it becomes mainstream. But it will become increasingly more common place in 2020.
The possibilities are endless, and with how far we’ve come in the last 10 years, it would be no shock to see these predictions become reality along with others we currently aren't even aware of. When Henry Ford rolled out his first Model T, he had no concept his actions would put us on the road to driver-less vehicles. Or the Wright Brothers making that first short flight in North Carolina would eventually lead us to an international space station! To them today is futuristic.
But no matter the changes in the tech universe, NW Technology will be here to make sure your business IT keeps up.