The 2020s: Key Tech Developments to Expect, in Brief

Is it too late, at this point, yet, to say, Happy New Year? Well, Happy 2020 anyway.

It is not just a new year. It is the start of the new decade. We are in fact, into the third decade of this century, and we are going to cross the first quarter of this century, this decade. And this is a century, that is going to be defined, by our Technological Evolution, if we, the human race, stave off extinction by Reversing Climate Change in time to survive.

A Quick Summary of the Key Tech Developments of 2010s

We began our journey into the era of IoT (Internet of Things), and wearable technology. Smart Glasses made a debut, and across continents, autonomous (driverless) vehicles began to hit the roads. Robots of all shapes and forms, began to increasingly serve us, at Banks, in Hotels and in Supermarkets. Progress in Artificial Intelligence lead us to increasingly interact with Chatbots online, for various purposes.

Establish brick and mortar businesses had to relook their strategies when alternatives began to surface with mobile data ennoblement, rather disruptively around the world, with precedents set by companies like Airbnb and Uber. Companies like Amazon really took off, whatever their past successes before the start of the decade, to see meteoric ascent, and today, sales and distribution of products, is a very different ball game from a decade ago.

Virtual Reality, began becoming household, for entertainment and leisure, while folks chased Pokemon on the streets thanks to Augmented Reality.

What to expect in the 2020s?

The 2020s will see more autonomous vehicles on the roads. And more autonomous machines, whether robots, or others, everywhere else, whether at home, at the workplace, in public spaces and whatnot.

As concepts, companies have released things like the Smart Connected diaper, for an example. While the 2010s saw the birth of IoT, the 2020s will be the birth decade, of the Internet of Everything (IoE). By the end of this decade, we can expect the manifestation of the Global Brain, where all sorts of objects, active dynamic process and people, are interdependently interconnected as part of a universal network, putting information optimally at our fingertips. This will off course be supported very much by tactile internet, thanks mostly to the advent of the 6G cellular network, which will likely render 5G the most short-lived network generation, since the arrival of mobile communication. And that is because the very governments, corporations and miscellaneous organisations now most active in pushing or rolling out 5G are all pretty unanimously, themselves, impatient, it seems, to realize the benefits of 6G, over 5G. There is sufficient public acknowledgment out there on the internet if you look for it, of governments, universities and corporations already working on 6G, while themselves currently pushing for 5G adoption. So be ready for a quick upgrade this decade.

Manufacturing of all sorts will increasingly take on the "Lights-out Production" form, heading towards zero line or production workers.

The most exciting development will be X Reality, that will encompass all aspects of human activity, whether educational, commercial, medical, research, environmental, domestic and anything else you can imagine, as various technologies reach their greater potential and mass-commercialization through the course of the decade, and then converge; Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Holographics, Haptics, Gesture Recognition and Brain Computer Interface among much else.

The most exciting ingredient of X Reality off course will be the Brain Computer Interface, which means no more touch screens or keyboards necessary. And you have voiceless communication, without the need to tire your fingers.

What X Reality means off course, is a transcendent experience, where:

• You are Omnipresent - You can experience being anywhere in real time that you want to be, anytime, and in multiple places at once
• You are Omniscient - Anything you need to know, you know it at will, instantly
• You are Omnipotent - If you conceive something that is scientifically feasible and sensible, at your instruction, technology will almost immediately execute it for you

4D material, is probably likely to see the light of day, in practical use beyond research and testing somewhere along this decade. Using 3D Printing technology, manufacturers or construction companies can give new meaning to Smart objects, with dynamically responsive materials or features or elements, to serve practical functional purposes not previously possible, such as automatic temperature control inside buildings as material "responds" to external weather changes.

End Note

We are fortunate, that we are now living in the most exciting period of the human story yet. The most fortunate among us will live to 2030, to see the realization, of a new epoch, triggered and shaped by us reaching a Technological zenith.

The condition however, of this phase not becoming a nightmare period in the human story instead, is to reverse fully, the process of Climate Change already begun, before the middle of this decade, to ensure, the survival of the human species. And that is no easy task, because there is so much to be done, in the absence of time, with the lack of will, being the being the biggest obstacle.

Harish Shah is Singapore's first local born Professional Futurist and a Management Strategy Consultant. He runs Stratserv Consultancy. His areas of consulting and Keynote Topics include EmTech, Industry 4.0, HR, Digital Transformation, Product Development, X Reality, Marketing, Strategic Foresight, Systems Thinking and Organisational Future Proofing. In an Open Letter in 2019, Harish has called on fellow Futurists around the world to emphasize in their course of work, on the need for Environmental Salvation.