The world is experiencing a massive burst of technological innovations across different fields and these technological developments have the potential to change the future. A couple of years ago, there was no Twitter, iPad, smartwatches, Uber, etc. Now, technology is not only changing the way we interact and do business but also paving the way for us to further innovate and make our lives easier.
From artificial intelligence to blockchain, the internet of things and more, the technologies outlined in this article are projected to shape the near future.
5G Technology
The rise of the 5G network will offer an entirely new mobile experience like faster internet connection speed (100 times faster) with higher bandwidth and lower latency than the conventional 4G connections. It is one of the most disruptive technologies as it will open up new opportunities for telecommunications service providers. 5G will close the mobile coverage gap, opening up opportunities for businesses in traditionally hard-to-reach areas.
Industries like healthcare, agriculture, transport, etc. will greatly benefit from 5G to make their industry better.
The New IoT
The Internet of Things, or IoT, refers to the billions of physical devices around the world that are now connected to the internet, all collecting and sharing data.
The future of IoT has the potential to be limitless. Advances to the internet of things will be accelerated through increased network agility, integrated artificial intelligence (AI) and the capacity to deploy, automate, and secure diverse use cases at hyper scale.
In ten years, we might have AI and IoT in our homes, businesses, and public spaces, tracking, anticipating, and adjusting to our habits more effectively than ever before.
Blockchain
Blockchain technology has been under the spotlight, especially when talking about technologies that will shape the future and beyond. This is because it is the underlining technology that gave birth to the most controversial and the most sort-after market called the cryptocurrency market. Blockchain technology is very complicated to explain but to put it simply, it is a type of DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) database. In its simplest form, Blockchain is a system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to change, hack, or cheat the system.
Now, you may begin to wonder why this technology is so important and why there is so much attention on it. The answer lies in its use case. Blockchain literally has no bounds to what it can be applied to. From being used to store medical information about a patient that can be accessed worldwide, to being used as a check-in system for workers at a construction site, its use case is literally vast. Currently, it is being leveraged in the retail, fintech, healthcare, finance and e-commerce, industries to mention but a few.
Although the most important use case for blockchain today is the botherless transaction without the need for third parties in the form of cryptocurrencies, many believe cryptocurrency is only the “tip of the iceberg” to what blockchain can do. Many institutions are now investing in building their blockchain system for sale or personal use. Most recently, one of the big four accounting firms, Ernst & Young Global Ltd, expanded its DLT by investing $100 million into the engineering and development of Blockchain technology.
Why this matters
Technology is dynamic and it will continue to disrupt life as we know it and how we do nearly everything. Even more important, is its profound impact on businesses and its capacity to bring the world closer to even the remotest of business enterprises. The 5G technology, for example, is already being adopted in a number of countries as is blockchain technology.
It is, therefore, important for businesses to become more proactive about preparing for the future and leveraging these technologies to compete better and thrive in a fast-changing world.
