Technology Trends for 2020

In 2019, we saw again how Technology continues to alter our ways of life and businesses. Now, we interact with devices much more than people and organisations also need more technology than they need people.

It is becoming clearer that the skills of ‘yesterday’ are no more relevant in the workplaces, thanks to automation and autonomous systems, people are getting to realize the need to retool to fit in the digital age.

Our top technology trends for 2019 were: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Quantum Computing and 5G Cellular Networks. Retrospectively, we could say we were more than 80% right on this. A lot more organisations are now moving higher on the AI adoption curve, although large organisations have recorded 10 times the adoption rate of smaller businesses. Furthermore, funding in AI startups reached a record level of $7.4bl in Q2 2019.

Remember Facebook Libra? That was huge and was going to upturn the financial world. Even though the Libra project has been slowed down significantly by governments and regulators, with some key members (Mastercard, Visa, Paypal, etc) withdrawing from the consortium, the project is still on and has the potential to impact on Blockchain adoption at an unprecedented scale. Currently, there is a lot more awareness and adoption of Blockchain technology among big enterprises. China is now seeking to lead the adoption of Blockchain technology with over 500 projects already registered with the government, we expect to see major impacts in 2020.

Quantum computing remains at the research level, although good strides were made in 2019, like the Google’s 53-qubit Sycamore chip and IBM’s opening of first IBM Quantum Computation Center in Poughkeepsie, NY, its impact is yet to be felt a major trend. 5G networks also moved from trials to commercial launch in key markets during the year. We have now seen higher adoption of this technology in China, the US, South Korea, the UK, Switzerland and Spain.

So what’s up for 2020? Anything New? Based on feedback from technology futurists and researchers, we unlikely to see any completely new technological trend in 2020. But we anticipate a massive adoption of some of the technological innovations of the past years. Let’s take a look.

2020 Technology Trend Predictions

Trend No 1: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Robotic Automation

These three closely intertwined technologies will have the biggest impact on businesses and lives in 2020. From smartphone assistants to personal home assistants, to autonomous vehicles, to complete automation of over 70% of back office operations, these technologies have far reaching implications and crucial considerations for organizations in 2020. From a career perspective, skills in these areas are expected to be in demand and their acquisition will be considered strategic. Forrester Research estimates Robotic Process Automation (RPA) will threaten the livelihood of 230 million or more knowledge workers, or approximately 9 percent of the global workforce. Although RPA is also creating new jobs while altering existing jobs.

 Trend No 2: Blockchain

Blockchain, not crypto-currency, remains one of the greatest innovations of our time. Technologists have argued that blockchain has the capacity to have the ‘internet kind’ of impact on businesses. However, many organisations and regulators still confuse blockchain application with crypto currencies and are thus lagging behind in adoption. In 2020, we predict a major turnaround, as key industries and governments forge ahead with this technology. Chinese leader Xi Jinping declared blockchain “an important breakthrough,” and promised that China would “seize the opportunity.” The stage is set for the world powers to compete on who controls this technology and the application will be massive especially in the financial industry. Again, for those looking to upskill or considering a career change, the demand for blockchain skills is now one of the top 3 desired technological skills in developed economies.

Trend No 3: The Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G Networks

There are about 20 billion devices connected to the internet today and it is estimated that we could hit 50 billion in 2020. With a corresponding deluge of activities and data generation across networks, the impact will be great for businesses that are able to exploit the power of big data, machine learning and deep learning. But all these will be made possible through the escalated deployments of 5G networks. 5G will deliver to us a 10x type of internet speed over our current speed, unparalleled in the history of technology. The exchange of data and the speed of downloads will be a different experience. Enterprises have to prepare on how this will be exploited in delivering a new customer experience. This will have significant impacts on the financial industry and how we deliver digital banking today.

Additionally, the higher speeds will have the potential to improve both the customer experience and bank infrastructure. For example, virtual assistants, enabled by increased data processing speeds, will be able to provide more contextual recommendations in real time. It will also be possible to increase the security of communications with improved biometrics. Mobility will be the new game, but there are still hurdles to be crossed. 

It is unlikely that we will experience the full gains of 5G in 2020, the cost may even be prohibitive for consumers since their 4G devices will still work on 5G networks but this won't prevent enterprises from taking advantage of its offerings.

Trend No 4: Distributed Clouds

Over the past 10 years cloud computing has remained one of the top ten technology trends in the world. The impact of cloud in enabling small businesses has been grossly underestimated. Many things are taken for granted today, but a few decades ago, setting up a business would have required the purchase of software license, procurement of servers and establishing a mini server room/data center. Cloud computing has replaced this investment of time and resources. It has enabled things to be done at a reduced cost and faster speed.

Enterprises are implementing different models of cloud computing. From public to provide cloud, more organizations will migrate to the cloud in 2020. A recent research by 451 Research observed that 60 percent of financial services companies surveyed, indicated that implementing cloud technology will be a business priority this year. But the evolution from centralized public cloud to distributed public cloud ushers in a new era of cloud computing. Distributed cloud allows data centers to be located anywhere. This solves both technical issues and regulatory challenges like latency and data sovereignty respectively.

The Decades in View

The last decade has seen unmatched technology innovation while the tech companies have also seen exponential growth. It was in that decade that we recorded the first trillion dollar companies funded from tech proceeds besides the oil and retail giants like Saudi's Aramco: Apple, Amazon and Microsoft. It was also in that decade that Social Media took over our virtual interactions. The trio of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp remain the most prominent having one third of the world interacting. We cannot forget the intrusion of Alexa into our homes and offices, as well as wearables: Apple Watch, Fitbit, etc and with Elon Musk’s Tesla, we experienced new possibilities in the automobile space.

All these will still be relevant in this new decade but there are more boundaries to break and no limits. Are we likely to see any new company with the Facebook-like impact? Are we going to have another Amazon or will Amazon and Facebook continue to get bigger despite concerns raised by US regulators about the size of these companies and their ability to muzzle competition? Will there still be Banks or will Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple become the new generation Banks? Will we have the opportunity to time travel? Are we going to have full autonomous vehicles on roads across major cities of the world? Is SpaceX going to succeed in moving us to Mars? Will there still be a need to see a human doctor by the end of this decade? With the explosion in Internet of Things (IoT), is every human going to effectively become an IP node?

Conclusion

These scenarios listed above are neither far-fetched nor exhaustive and I strongly believe they will rank top among other trends in 2020 and beyond. I look forward to contributions on other technologies that are not covered in this article and how they will trend in 2020.

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