10 Tech Trends to Follow in 2020
“The latest Trends in Technology are giving companies Super Powers to compete more intelligently and capture the data behind changing trends, expanding markets – enabling them to take advantage of new opportunities.”
Peter/CXO Wiz4.biz
Tech Trends Topics: AI-Driven Development, Autonomous Things, BlockChain, Augmented Analytics, Immersive Experiences, Smart Spaces, Digital Twins, Empowered Edge, Digital Ethics & Privacy + Quantum Computing.
Analysts from Research firm Gartner have outlined the Top 10 Tech Trends they expect to grow in 2019. These strategic areas have “substantial disruptive potential” or are a “rapidly growing trends with a high degree of volatility”.
#1 AI-Driven Development. Scientists are increasingly having to partner with Apps developers to create AI solutions that the developer can operate alone. This will provide the developer with an system of AI algorithms & development tools that can help them better integrate AI capabilities into systems. By 2021, at least 40 % of new application development projects will have AI co-developers on their team.
#2 Autonomous Things. Gartner expects “a shift from stand-alone intelligent things to a swarm of collaborative intelligent things, with multiple devices working together”. These include Rbots, Drones, & Autonomous vehicles – all of which will use AI to more effectively & naturally interact with people & their surrounding environments. Gartner also mentioned the delivery market, with autonomous vehicles and robots already being part of trials to transport food, parcels, and even medical services.
#3 BlockChain. Gartner has some fairly strong words for the current state of BlockChain concepts & technologies, calling them “immature”, “unproven”, + “poorly understood”. It goes even further to say 
that many of the current BC initiatives do not implement all of the attributes of BC, calling them simply “blockchain-inspired” solutions. Organizations who use these, should understand their limitations and that some business outcomes may be achieved with better use of existing non-BC tech. Basically, we’re all jumping on the BC bandwagon too soon. However, CIOs & IT leaders should at least begin considering implementation of it, even if they don’t aggressively adopt the technology in the next few years, to help enable trust & transparency, reduce friction across ecosystems, & improve Cash Flow.
#4 Augmented Analytics. Capabilities will advance rapidly to mainstream adoption, according to Gartner. Automated insights will be embedded in Enterprise applications — such as in HR, Finance, Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, Purchasing, & Asset Management. Not only will analytics be used increasingly in the workplace, but more people will be using & benefiting from them. Decisions will be taken not only by data scientists & analysts, but all employees
#5 Immersive Experiences will “change the way people perceive” the digital world. VR, AR, & MR 
[Mixed] will be thought of as “a multi-channel & multi-modal experience” – encompassing wearables, automobiles, & consumer appliances — as opposed to just individual devices such as headsets. Immersive experiences will also start stimulating a greater range of both human senses – such as heat, humidity, & radar – as well as computer senses. “This multi-experience environment will create an ambient experience in which the spaces that surround us define ‘the computer’ rather than the individual devices. In effect, the environment is the computer.”
#6 Smart Spaces. Whether you’re an employee, customer or in community, Gartner thinks an environment “augmented” with technology – either people, processes, services, or other connected things – is going to start to become un-avoidable. Gartner didn’t provide any big predictions for the development of Smart Spaces, other than the market being at the early stages of accelerated adoption – in workplaces, cities & factories. But “Multiple elements of Smart Spaces will come together to form a more immersive, interactive &automated environment”.
#7 Digital Twins: a digital copy of a real-life system or entity. Gartner believes that by 2020, there 
will be more than 20 billion connected sensors & end-points + digital twins will potentially exist for around a billion things. But beyond just the IoT, Gartner believes that organizations will begin implementing digital twins, evolving them over time until they can respond to business objectives. Digital Twins of Organizations (DTOs) will help drive efficiencies in business processes, and create more “flexible, dynamic, & responsive processes” that can potentially react to changing conditions automatically.
#8 Empowered Edge. Edge computing right now is largely being driven by IoT [Internet of Things]. Keeping processing close to the end user, as opposed to using a centralized Cloud Server, will reduce 
traffic & waiting time going forward. But rather than create a new architecture, Gartner says Cloud & Edge computing will evolve as complementary models. Cloud services will be managed as a “centralized service” executing, not only on centralized servers, but in “distributed servers” on-premises and on the edge devices themselves”. Specialised AI chips, greater processing power & storage will also lead to a wider array of Edge devices over the next five years. Gartner added however, that the “extreme heterogeneity” of an” embedded IoT world” and the long life cycles of assets such as industrial systems will lead to management challenges.
#9 Digital Ethics & Privacy. Following on from the enforcement of the revamped GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation from EU) rules earlier this year, digital privacy rights will continue to be a growing concern as people think more about how their data is being used – and where it goes. And the backlash will increase for organizations who fail to address such concerns, Gartner said. Ultimately, an organization’s position on privacy is going to have to link pretty closely to its broader policy on ethics or trust. “Shifting from privacy to ethics moves the conversation beyond “Are we compliant? toward “Are we doing the right thing?
#10 Quantum Computing. Industries that have the most to gain from Quantum computing are as 
follows: automotive, financial, insurance, pharmaceuticals, military &research. It may sound like an diverse range of sectors, but in pharmaceuticals – for example – it could be used to model molecular inter-actions at atomic levels – which could speed up time-to-market for cancer-fighting drugs. But will it be revolutionary in the next few years? Gartner warns: “Don’t believe the hype.” “Most organizations should learn about and monitor Quantum computing through 2022 and perhaps exploit it from 2023 – 2025.”
Comments: Have you seen any other Tech Trends that impressed you?
from Computer Biz Review 9/19 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4.biz
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