Keeping up to date with ICT trends can be demanding and overwhelming, with how frequently new technologies are emerging every year. Here’s the top 4 technology trends you will need to watch in 2017.
1. Virtual Offices and Services
The convergence of a largely millennial and Gen Y workforce and increasing collaboration anywhere anytime, has seen a growth in businesses realising that employees want different ways of working from previous generations. The ability to work remotely or while on the go provides a level of convenience and streamlining that can help employees maintain a work-life balance.
Technology trends increasingly reflect this change in behaviours, with increasing mobile storage, advanced device security, and mobility structures. In fact, mobility has only begun to gain traction. This trend has only become more and more relevant to small businesses, as new technologies and practices, like mobile device management, help save expenses and overheads.
2. Advanced Machine Learning
Advanced machine learning (ML) is a form of artificial intelligence composed of many technologies and learning techniques, allowing a program or computer to learn when exposed to new data without explicit programing. It allows for other exciting technologies to come forward, like algorithmic personality detection. In terms of business ICT, ML gives rise to a new class of technology such as:
- Intelligent apps: these apps perform simple functions to make everyday tasks easier and users more effective. For instance, virtual personal assistants prioritise emails, schedule tasks, and highlight important interactions.
- Intelligent physical devices: devices such as drones, autonomous vehicles and smart appliances which exploit applied AI and machine learning to deliver advanced behaviours and interact more naturally with their surroundings and with people.
These intelligent implementations of machine learning have the potential of transforming the nature of work and the structure of the workplace, with a wider technology trend towards a collaborative intelligent things model.
3. Internet of Everything
The internet of things is a technology trend very much alive in B2B and consumer markets, and naturally lends itself to the collaborative intelligent things idea. The next step is the Internet of Everything, also known as the digital mesh, which is connecting data, things, processes and people. New approaches to devices and data will be emerging because of the Internet of Everything. Look out for the following new interfaces and platforms:
- Conversational interfaces: Like chatbots but include an expanding set of endpoints that are used to access applications and information, or interact with people and businesses
- App and service architecture: continually expanding architecture at the backend to connect mobile apps, web apps, desktop apps and Internet of Things (IoT) apps
- Augmented knowledge: the ability to send any information we like to each other’s brain via the power of the internet, like digital telepathy.
- Security systems: evolving security systems to protect the connected points of IOT devices, processes and people. This will be a critical element for many businesses.
A new class of technology will provide embedded intelligence for a wide range of mesh devices and existing software and service solutions moving forward.
4. Device and Application Security
Confidentiality and security is always at the core of any business concern around technology trends. With these new technologies only just blooming, minimum security requirements aren’t even clear, let alone regulated. Here are a few of the recent security trends occurring as a result:
- Blockchains: one of the main technological innovations of Bitcoin is blockchains, a distributed database that maint
- ns records of all transactions free from tampering and revision. No one person controls all the data behind the distributed consensus system.
- Mobile device management: End-to-end mobile device management that covers devices, applications, network and data is needed in enterprises deploying mobility solutions.
Application configuration: Security testing and risk assurance will increasingly be built into apps rather than being developed as an afterthought. Despite this, Gartner believes 75% of mobile breaches in 2017 will be due to app misconfigurations rather than deeply technical attacks on devices.
While most of these technology trends are only just starting out, it is important to begin assessing early how they might be integrated into your digital roadmap in the future.
Byron Shaw 