Technology has evolved drastically throughout the years and will only continue transforming. Advancements in this space are revolutionising the way people work and are also helping to drive businesses forward and remain competitive. I believe that over the next few years, we will see trends such as blockchain and 5G evolve further and we will begin to see companies looking seriously at these technologies as they consider their digitalisation strategies. Let’s take a look at some of these evolving elements in the technology landscape.
Blockchain
Firstly, I think we are going to see blockchain become a lot more mainstream. There will be high demand for the tech to be implemented into a range of different industry sectors such as the food industry. Blockchain will be able to assist the supply chain in the food and manufacturing industries, providing an easier and more efficient system to trace and distribute products. It will also allow organisations to react quickly to changes in their supply chain, and be a vital factor in driving them forward.
5G
Through 2018 we saw 5G pilots in the UK and around the world and now will see the start of the commercial rollout across major UK cities. As with the speed increases of 3G and then 4G, 5G will bring huge benefits and opportunities to businesses as we strive even further to becoming an “always connected” workforce. More and more people are working from home, with research suggesting that half of the UK workforce is expected to work remotely by 2020 – therefore, 5G will be even more of a necessity.
IoT
IoT has impacted many industries over the past few years, improving efficiency and productivity. It is continuing to grow as it becomes a fundamental solution for many organisations and as 5G widens its reach across the UK, cities, cars, houses and appliances will become smarter building a vast network of billions of devices. Companies are seeking IoT technology to help them automate and connect processes, building self-sufficient systems and services. The technology will enable SMEs, particularly those in manufacturing and distribution, to strive to achieve Amazon-like levels of service, delivering a huge amount of value to their businesses and their customers.
Big Data & AI
As devices and systems get smarter, we are generating more data than ever before, which is hugely beneficial for driving business insight and predicting customer behaviour. The challenge with capturing so much data is as to how we interpret the information. Over the next few years we will see increased adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology helping us to derive insight from the information generated. AI technology will become relevant to a wide variety of applications from providing human-like support communications within software, to detect fraud and irregular transactions. With such technological leaps come challenges in that with the increasing power of artificial intelligence, we need to consider the ethics of how such intelligence is applied and who it directly affects.
It will be interesting to see what other technology trends start to emerge and how they will affect businesses and the way they operate. This is a very exciting yet turbulent time for the market, but with blockchain, 5G, IoT and big data set to make a big impact within the technology industry we look forward to seeing it thrive and continue to evolve.
Tim has been at Datel for 19 years, having been in his current position of R&D Director for over two years. Tim is responsible for researching new technologies and developing practical solutions that will provide their clients with the competitive edge.