A new year has finally arrived and now is the perfect moment to summarize IT trends that made an impact in the previous year. New technologies are constantly evolving and bringing countless opportunities for everyone. Whether you have a business or not, keeping up with new IT trends can unlock new opportunities.
Each new technology brings something revolutionary to the world, with the potential to make our lives easier. Being able to accept the changes and learn from them, can make you and your business competitive in the market.
In this article, we are going to show you the most popular IT trends from the previous year, as well as trends that have a huge potential to become influential this year.
Artificial Intelligence
Have you noticed that our devices have started to study our behavior? Our cell phones seem to know everything we like to do in our daily lives. Every time Facebook suggests tagging a friend in a picture, or when Amazon shows us a personalized recommendation, that is the result of AI.
Although artificial intelligence has already become a part of our lives, many people still do not understand what exactly it represents.
AI relies on technology and algorithms that imitate human actions such as planning, learning, and thinking. It can solve human requests and predict the next ones.
From a company perspective, AI plays a crucial role in securing transactions, improving customer satisfaction, and getting rid of repetitive tasks. This trend is already gaining popularity in many industries and will certainly continue to grow this year.
Blockchain
Blockchain is more than just trading with Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. We can look at this technology from a completely another perspective. This is a decentralized network of connected computers working together to ensure exchanging pieces of information across different places. But what does this mean?
In the past two decades, powerful corporations started dominating the world with cutting-edge products and services. Undoubtedly, this helped us enter the digital age we live in today.
However, with the vast amount of information controlled by these huge centralized systems, people have begun to question the things such as privacy, authority, and information reliability. This is why decentralized networks gained such massive popularity.
Unlike centralized systems, a blockchain system is impossible to hack since it relies on cryptography. Blockchain users hold cryptographic signatures allowing them to participate in data exchange using smart contracts.
For instance, when using blockchain for digital financial transactions, people can be sure their transactions will be executed in the safest possible way.
As more companies learn about the benefits of blockchain, this technology will continue its integration into different fields such as manufacturing, logistics, and retail. Moreover, this year will be the right time to see how blockchain will correlate with other technologies such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things.
Virtual Reality (VR)
Virtual reality allows users to experience a 360-degree virtual universe and, in some cases, interact with it. Although a majority of people use VR just for fun, this technology has become popular in other fields such as healthcare, marketing, and sport.
In the past year, VR has made some progress in the treatment of the following medical conditions:
- Reducing chronic pain
- Helping children deal with myopia
- Helping people fight against dementia
This is why companies decide to outsource VR-based projects to IT outsourcing vendors that have a richer experience in developing VR digital healthcare solutions. Things that were hard to imagine a few years ago are now a reality. For example, children can overcome myopia while playing video games.
We are expecting great progress in medicine this year thanks to human imagination and VR technology. As VR technology develops, the number of healthy and satisfied patients will grow.
Internet of Things (IoT)
Internet of Things is a popular concept allowing people to interact with smart devices by exchanging data using sensors, software, or applications.
The best example that can help you understand the phenomenon of IoT is a smartwatch. For instance, a smartwatch collects data related to a user’s speed. This data is essential because the watch needs to process it and display the results of the analyzed activity. By collecting and processing data wirelessly, the end user is able to receive reports updated in real-time.
We are already using many IoT-based devices without even knowing it. For instance, IoT cameras help us protect our homes from unauthorized visitors. Furthermore, these cameras can spot thieves in a particular area and alarm authorities if necessary.
In 2023, around 43 billion devices will be connected to the Internet. This leaves enough potential for IoT to become a dominant technology in the fields such as healthcare, manufacturing, or the government sector.
Conclusion
The previous era saw significant progress in modern technologies. Predictions for the future are varied, but we can be certain that this article will provide us with the best opportunities to stay up to date with IT trends. On the other hand, we can expect to encounter a range of different trends in the future.
Read more: 6 Business Technology Trends
