Remember 2020, The year that marked a strategic turning point for us all as businesses and individuals alike; then came 2021, the year of shifting gears and picking up post pandemic pieces as we discovered the world is no longer what we knew it to be and many post pandemic systems have come to stay and be a part of our everyday life processes.
Predicting the future is risky business, Predictions in IT/Tech are even more difficult and dangerous due to fast technological development and an endless number of barriers to innovation. Rarely do inventions have a big influence on technology, many a times they are simply too far ahead of their time to be useful or cost-effective. Some innovations also are either too late or didn’t perform as well as others. So, it’s just an attempt to fathom the future of technology.
By 2022, the Covid-19 pandemic will have influenced several developments, some of which we have endured. Remote work, cloud computing, and new cybersecurity precautions are all included in this category. Here are some of the most anticipated technology innovations for 2022.
5G
Increasing demand for high-speed internet and smart systems has led to the development and deployment of 5G technologies for businesses. In Africa, where 5G has been predicted for some time, 4G still reigns sway. Large corporations and small start-ups alike will begin to develop new infrastructures and apps in 2022 in order to:
- Increase employee productivity
- Transform the customer experience
- Create new jobs
- Support mission-critical communications
- Provide massive IoT opportunities
Because of its high levels of dependability and performance, 5G is increasingly becoming the network of choice for forward-thinking businesses. From 2021 to 2030, the Global 5G Infrastructure Market is predicted to increase at a CAGR of 68.83 percent, from $ 1179.2 million to $131.40 billion in value. Although 5G is still in its infancy, early forecasts predict that it will have a long-term impact on the ICT economy.
Virtual Experiences
In the last few years, virtual technology has advanced and become a viable business option to improve employee performance, collaborate with coworkers, and improve workflows. It is now possible to use digital solutions to collaborate and communicate with others in a more immersive environment. Asides from catering to Business needs, Virtual experiences also poses a lot of possibilities/opportunities for individuals alike.
Before now, there have been various attempts by technologists to create an interactive communication and collaboration channel that goes beyond spatial entertainment as seen on various VR-Inspired games like Fortnite, Pokemon GO, etc which has done a good job on educating on the possibilities of virtual experiences.
However, The Metaverse has taken this technological advancement much further towards a direct and more futuristic objective. In 2022, we will experience another dimension of virtual reality beyond entertainment and corporate uses as more individuals, companies and industries will adopt various virtual experience techniques to not just do business but interact better.
AI Engineering
According to a recent study, 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created on a daily basis globally. That data, however, can only be used to its full potential if the proper processes are in place to manage, monitor, and assess it. Instead of relying on human labor, firms are increasingly relying on artificial intelligence (AI) for this massive undertaking. Even though AI has been mainstreaming in the tech world for years, the concept of AI engineering is proving to be a revolutionary new trend. AI engineering provides organizations with better direction in their AI projects, we’re poised to see a massive upturn in the usage and adoption in 2022. From real time data tracking and analyses to easy data projections and more, AI Engineering will redefine how Data is done for all.
The Internet of Things
Electronic devices and sensors are becoming both increasingly cheap and common, and device miniaturization is ongoing relentlessly. we have all heard about consumer applications such as smart homes, which can monitor electricity consumption and adjust to current pricing, give owners remote access for monitoring their properties, etc. These are already deployed in European countries, along with smart grids, smart city facilities for security and monitoring, and many other such facilities. 2022 will see increased adoption of IoT in Africa; Individuals and businesses are urged to get in on the act and explore because IoT is here to stay. The opportunities created by the billions of smartphones with their rich built-in sensors, Internet connectivity to fixed facilities, increased mobile connectivity, the new functionalities it enables, and business reasons, such as the desire to reduce cost through automation, reduced loss/wastage, and shorter durations for supply chains.
Big Data and Analytics
Imagine yourself in a restaurant for lunch, unsure of what to order. You take a picture of the menu with your phone, igniting a chain reaction. The software searches through your day’s data, including your breakfast, activity, calorie expenditure, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels. Weight-loss objectives, dietary preferences and sensitivities, and maybe even genetic features are combined with this data. In milliseconds, it gives you its top three lunch and dinner ideas. Meanwhile, anonymous aggregate data about your and other patrons’ choices and decisions is collected. It may be used to change the menu. It can help researchers better understand diet, exercise, and health. It can also help your friends find tailored meal recommendations and help you monitor your health objectives.
Every day, more data is collected. Insights from these data may enhance numerous data-driven decisions, from the common to the strategic. But this expansion brings enormous technological and societal problems. To make sense of the data flood, we will need to address rapid changes in data acquisition, storage, and processing technologies; education, both of the analytics workforce and everyday users; and complex privacy issues.
Big data can be used to seamlessly affect decisions from the prosaic (your choice of lunch) to the strategic. It represents but one of many opportunities envisioned for the large-scale analytics of diverse data. Big data is finally transitioning from the computer science and machine learning classrooms into numerous real-world scenarios in business, government and military, science, politics, medicine, climate, and personal analytics— a trend that we expect to grow rapidly through 2022.
It is expected that in 2022, COVID-19 will continue to have an influence on business and employment practices. The demand for cloud, security, privacy, and automation will expand as we witness more and more digitalization and virtualization. In fact, many companies will be propelled ahead into the future of technology by these trends.
- Article submitted by Joel Ogunsola, Founder/CEO, Prunedge.