The top tech trends for 2018

March 26, 2018

In our data-driven and increasingly connected world, the technological landscape can pivot in a heartbeat. To keep you on the inside track we thought we would take a look at some of the top tech trends for the year ahead. As we saw last year, the Internet of Things (IoT) and augmented reality continue to be big trends in 2018, but things are moving quickly and technology is adapting fast to meet the complexities of our digital world.

Here are some of the trends for the year ahead:

The next wave of IoT; BIoT

We’ve all heard of IoT (Internet of Things) but BIoT, or blockchain IoT, is the next big trend.

According to Arabfinancials: Blockchain is one of the most essential technologies to learn about when one desires to enter the trading world. before even learning how to open a bitcoin account, and choosing a platform to trade on, one needs to become familiar with how the blockchain technology will help him through his trading process.

According to Jay Samit’s article in Fortune, “blockchain, one of the underlying technologies for the hot cryptocurrency bitcoin, can make IoT devices even more useful. It creates a digital record across hundreds or thousands of computers, vastly reducing the risk of hacking.”

The combination of IoT with blockchain unlocks a heap of potential new services and businesses. These can be as varied as tracking international shipments to creating smarter cities, making energy systems more efficient or managing traffic flow.

In 2018, Samit theorises that companies will begin to use Application Programming Interfaces (API), to connect different databases and computer services. This combined with BIoT applications will enable people to have access to real-time data, producing huge benefits and deeper insights.

 

Cloud is moving to the Edge

“As the Internet of Things grows ever larger, data analysis and decision-making will have to localize—shifting from the cloud to the edge.” – Joe Biron and Jonathan Follett

It is now said that the edge of IoT is where the real action is happening. ‘The edge’ is the end-point where the wide variety of digital devices, actuators and sensors interact and communicate real-time data from smart products and services.

 

It is projected that by 2020 there will be anywhere from 25 to 50 billion ‘things’ connected to an IoT system. This is more than seven IoT devices for every person in the world. These billions of connected devices generate far more data than can be effectively analysed in the cloud, so data analytics will have to move to the points where this data is being generated.  This will require a shift in architecture design in which intelligence is moved from the cloud to the edge, effectively localising certain kinds of analytics and decision making. There are many expected benefits to this shift including quicker response times, reduced traffic and better security.

It is projected that by 2020 there will be anywhere from 25 to 50 billion ‘things’ connected to an IoT system.

 

Stepping up Data security

As more and more devices become connected to the Internet of Things the security of all the data that is being shared across networks is going to become an ever-increasing concern. It is predicted that machine-to-machine authentication will get layered, biometric logins will become the norm and there will be increased measures using artificial intelligence and machines learning to stop data breaches.

 

Augmented reality

“The mobile game Pokémon Go has unleashed a billion-dollar demand for augmented reality entertainment, and major brands are taking notice.” – Fortune Magazine

Watch this video to see some of the ways augmented reality is going to be coming into our lives in the near future:

The rise of the bots

We are all familiar with the chatbots that assist us with online bookings or respond to automated requests. Now, however, experts predict that the advent of natural language bots is poised to become part of our daily lives.

For one example of how natural language bots are being developed take a look at LOL-BOT, a comedy-tech prototype that can generate its own on-the-spot jokes and pick up on real-time human reactions.