Top Technology Themes to Watch Out in 2021

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has helped us all become very much apprised of uncertainty and upheaval. It has also shown us the importance of technologies to cope with and adapt to the many challenges facing us. From remote working to how we meet and interact in public places - emerging tech themes have been the driving force in managing these unprecedented changes. 

Those of us who have been following the industry analysis trends for over a decade know the importance of staying acquainted with what is happening in all spheres of technology.

2021 and beyond will definitely mark the start of a decade that will require product leaders and businesses to respond to digital acceleration and proactively manage uncertainty.

I have identified a few top emerging technology themes that will have a broad influence across industries and consumer interactions in 2021 and beyond. Additionally, the application of emerging technologies will make it easier for us to understand and navigate the changed reality. 

Top emerging technology ideas in 2021

Here are a few new technology themes to watch out for in the coming years:

Artificial intelligence (AI):

AI is undoubtedly one of the leading technological themes at present. In the next few years, it will become an even more valuable tool for helping us interpret and understand the world around us. AI is already hogging the limelight for its superiority in image and speech recognition, navigation apps, voice assistants, automation, and whatnot.

In the years to come, we can expect the revolutionary development of AI in ensuring better business predictions, sentiment analysis, and industrial automation. With AI, it will become easier to understand consumer trends and behavior by analyzing data in real-time.

Growth in AI will also open new avenues for technological advancement and increased job opportunities in several other fields. For the uninitiated, AI also offers some of the highest salaries today, ranging from over $1,25,000 per year (machine learning engineer) to $145,000 per year (AI architect) - making it the top new technology trend to keep a watch on!

5G and advanced connectivity:

5G or the fifth generation of mobile technology is finally becoming a reality. By offering downloading speeds up to 10 times faster than current LTE networks, 5G can send and receive data from as many as a million devices per square kilometer. With the pandemic outbreak, the plans to roll out 5G by many organizations came to a halt. In 2021, however, as lockdowns ease and economies start to open, we can expect 5G to rise on the horizon. 

5G has been created to reduce latency, increase connectivity speeds, and offer a massive network capacity. It is going to take cellular connectivity to the next level by using virtualized and software-driven networks that use cloud technology. 

This one of the trending technological themes is going to revolutionize all sectors like never before. In the healthcare industry, 5G will enable health monitoring of patients via wearables. This, in turn, will constantly deliver data on key health indicators, such as oxygen levels, heart rate, and blood pressure. With the promise of low latency, it would be outright possible for surgeons to perform surgeries remotely. Not only healthcare but 5G is also expected to boost the manufacturing industry with new and more powerful digital capabilities. 5G guarantees a stable network connection on factory floors, ensuring the continuous and unhindered execution of business-critical missions. According to Oracle Communications’ report, 80% of 265 business leaders in 11 countries believe the 5G revolution will reduce manufacturing costs while generating new revenue streams.  

In a nutshell, 5G will play a crucial role in digital transformation and impact almost the entire tech world.

Cybersecurity mesh:

The Covid-19 crisis has created an unprecedented opportunity for cybercriminals to increase their attacks. These surging cyber-attacks should be addressed with essential approaches. Cybersecurity mesh is a modern technology theme that caters to the current needs of cybersecurity in both virtual and real spaces. It is a distributed, decentralized architectural approach to reliable, scalable, and flexible cybersecurity control.

Cybersecurity mesh enhances the security of any location which houses your key assets, employees, and devices. The current remote working ecosystem can obtain great benefits from this new technology 2021. It will ensure the accessibility of information to the right users and detect breaches and cyberattacks faster than on-premise security systems. 

Virtual and augmented reality:

Immersive technologies like augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have become an integral part of our everyday life. VR is a computer-generated simulation of an alternate world or reality and is primarily used in 3D movies and video games. AR, on the other hand, often uses a smartphone’s camera to add digital elements to a live view. Trending examples of augmented reality experiences include Pokemon Go and Snapchat lenses.

 In the coming years, we can expect to see these emerging digital technologies working in tandem with other trends discussed here. AR and VR have huge potential in sectors like training, entertainment, education, marketing, and healthcare. For instance, both the technologies are getting preferred by the Ed-Tech platforms to make the learning experience better than ever for students.  

The worldwide market for AR and VR is expected to reach around USD 150 billion in the next 3-4 years with a CAGR of more than 45 percent over the same period. I hope this stat would be enough for you to understand the potential of these emerging technology solutions. 

Distributed cloud:

The distributed cloud technology is here to take the game of cloud computing to the next level. It is the public cloud computing service that allows you to run public cloud infrastructure in different physical locations. It is being governed by the original public cloud provider for operations, updates, delivery, and other related tasks.

Enabling organizations to have these services physically closer helps to reduce data costs and helps with low-latency scenarios. It blurs the lines of how public cloud apps and private cloud apps interact. Thereby, the entire process becomes seamless and has less latency. So, therefore, it needs fewer storage components, redundant data, and bandwidth.

Blockchain: 

Most people think of blockchain technology in relation to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, which is not entirely true. Apart from cryptocurrencies, this emerging digital technology is being used in several other sectors like healthcare, supply chain, and logistics, etc. In the simplest terms, blockchain can be defined as a decentralized digital ledger that maintains the records of each transaction executed across the network of computer systems around the world. 

According to reports by Markets and Markets, the global blockchain market size is expected to grow USD 39.7 billion by 2025 from USD 3.0 billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 67.3% during 2020–2025. The reason behind the rising popularity of blockchain is the transparency and security it offers. In 2021 and beyond, the technology will scale with updates and better implementations of smart contracts. 

Quantum computing:

Although quantum computing is not a very new name in the tech world, it has seen a huge spike in its demand in recent years. This technology is primarily based on quantum phenomena such as superposition and entanglement. This emerging information technology has huge potential in various domains such as healthcare, logistics, banking & finance, and many more. As per reports, the worldwide market for quantum computing is expected to reach around USD 2.5 billion by the year 2029. These stats clearly indicate the bright future of Quantum Computing in the tech world.  

Internet of Things (IoT): 

Another promising new technology is the Internet of Things (IoT). It is the future - IoT has already facilitated devices such as home appliances, cars, and much more to be connected and exchanged over the internet. This trending technology can enable better security, efficiency, and decision-making for businesses as data is collected and analyzed via the internet. It can speed up medical care, improve user experience, enable predictive maintenance, and offer benefits we haven’t even imagined yet.

According to Statista Forecasts, around 50 billion IoT devices will be in use around the world, creating a massive web of interconnected devices spanning everything from smartphones to kitchen appliances.

Hyperautomation: If you ask me what’s new in technology, I would say Hyperautomation. Hyperautomation is currently the talk of the town across the tech world, especially after the global pandemic situation. It basically means that anything that can be automated in an organization should be automated. Hyperautomation requires the use of other advanced technologies like IoT, AI, machine learning, etc., for automation processes. 

It is undoubtedly going to become a most-to-go tech trend for businesses in the coming years for achieving optimal and efficient streamlined work processes. It holds the potential to leverage businesses with some remarkable features such as automated processes, greater productivity, greater compliance, and reduced risk, accurate insights, and much more. 

Edge computing:

Edge Computing is revolutionizing the way of processing and delivering data from millions of devices around the world. The explosive growth of IoT continues to drive edge-computing systems.

Edge computing brings data storage and computation near to the devices where they are being gathered, rather than relying on a central location that can be thousands of miles away. This prevents latency issues that can affect an application’s performance. In addition, companies can save money by local processing, thereby reducing the amount of data that needs to be processed in a centralized or cloud-based location.

To be a part of the future technology trends, enterprises should start using edge-based design patterns in the infrastructure architectures, especially in those that come with notable IoT elements.

Endnote

2021 and beyond will undoubtedly be the year of innovations in the tech world. Key business concerns will be proactively addressed by leveraging the current business trends, thereby leading to sustained growth. This current progression of tech themes is sure to give you new business opportunities and a competitive edge over others. In case you want to know more about emerging technology services, there are several product development companies offering emerging technology consulting and support services.