From Internet of Behaviours to Hyperautomation, here are some of the top technology trends for 2021 everyone should get ready for now.
Although the pandemic has turned 2020 into a challenging year for both society and businesses around the globe, Covid-19 has accelerated many changes that were already underway. Mainly, it has accelerated digital transformation across enterprises.
As companies hurry to incorporate new digital capabilities in an effort to be resilient and adapt to the post-pandemic world, today’s technology trends will play an essential and crucial role in helping them cope with the many challenges they have to face. Tech trends will definitely be the driving force in managing the change.
To this effect, we have selected some of the most relevant technology trends for the year 2021 that are already having a significant impact on a wide range of industries and businesses.
Hyperautomation
Hyperautomation refers to the process of how businesses automate anything that can be automated in an organization, using tools like Machine Learning, AI, and robotics, among others.
This technology will become one of the crucial trends for businesses in the coming years, especially for companies dragged down by corporate debt or legacy business processes that are not well optimized or connected.
For that matter, hyperautomation comes to leverage businesses with features like automated processes, increased productivity, accurate insights, and reduced risks. It is the key to operational resiliency for organizations trying to adapt and survive in these challenging times.
Internet of Behaviors
Internet of Behaviors (IoB) is about using data to change behaviors through feedback loops. In that way, IoB can gather, combine, and process data from various sources including commercial customer data, social media, citizen data processed by the public sector and government agencies, public domain deployments of facial recognition, and location tracking, to name a few.
Public or private entities can then use this information to influence behavior and draw useful insights for their respective platforms, thereby becoming a powerful tool.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is undoubtedly one of the biggest tech trends for the moment. This tool can help organizations become smarter and more efficient in many ways: predicting what customers will buy, adding facial recognition to business security, implementing voice assistants, making use of autonomous vehicles and robots, and the list goes on.
Within the context we are going through nowadays, AI will also help us predict the demand for services from hospitals and other healthcare providers, as well as make wise decisions about when and where to distribute resources.
During this year and the years to come, tools we use to analyze data and customer behavior are expected to increase and become more sophisticated with the use of AI.
Robotics and vehicle automation
The year 2021 is also expected to be one with rapid growth and demand for robotics, especially in the healthcare sector, to interact with members of society who are the most vulnerable to infection. Therefore, they are expected to provide new channels of communication and cleaning and security services for companies requiring maintenance.
Robotics will also continue to be of great help when manufacturing and supply chains return to full operation, as workforce shortages will become an issue. Robotics, together with AI and IoT, will be key alternative solutions to continue operating.
There will also be a growth in the demand for and availability of self-driving vehicles, since improving efficiency across public transportation networks will be the top priority for service providers, where reducing human labor costs will help balance the uncertainty surrounding customer needs.
Read more: 2020, the year of covid-19 and automation
Cybersecurity mesh – a new mindset
There is no doubt that cybersecurity is a priority for all companies. Since the pandemic began, managing sensitive data has become one big priority since hacking and cybercrime are frequent, and data is easily accessible due to advanced phishing tools.
In that way, cybersecurity mesh provides organizations with a more flexible, scalable, and distributed approach for cybersecurity measures, enabling the security perimeter to be defined around a person’s identity or thing. In other words, anyone can get access to any digital asset in a secured manner, regardless of where the data is located.
The Cloud
Although this trend started way before the pandemic, Covid-19’s impact on worldwide businesses has definitely accelerated it. Thanks to Cloud-based platforms, other tech trends we talk about here can be accessible to any business or organization worldwide. Thanks to Cloud services, companies of diverse industries can deploy innovative technology with little investment in tools, equipment, or expertise.
As the Covid pandemic goes on, more and more companies rely on the Cloud to provide scalable solutions and get work done more quickly. Regarding this, Statista predicts that as 2021 gets underway, the public Cloud services market is expected to exceed 362.3 billion U.S. dollars by 2022.
WFH technology
This may be the tech trend that will be at the top of the podium during 2021. It looks like working from home is here to stay as more and more companies have shifted to this new way of working during the pandemic. Remote working and videoconferencing have seen rapid growth, and it seems this trend is expected to continue to grow in the years to come.
A survey revealed by Gartner shows that 90% of HR leaders will allow employees to work remotely even after the Covid-19 vaccine is available.
Tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts, GoToMeeting, and other communication platforms have become essential for many enterprises, facilitating remote working across the world. For their part, visual collaboration platforms like Bluescape, Eloops, Figma, Slab, and Tandem have also enabled virtual teams to create and share content, track projects, train employees, interact, and more. These tools have helped distributed teams keep track of the projects they are working on, as well as communicate and collaborate with their coworkers more simply and efficiently.
All these new tools and technologies that have emerged as a result of remote working have also helped companies optimize both individual and team productivity, as well as improve collaboration among members. However, considering that employees working from home have to use their networks and that these may not be as secure as those given by the workplace, businesses might have to turn to third parties — like Cloud services — to ensure those networks are safe and the data is protected.
To sum up
These are just a few of the technological trends that will prevail from this year onwards, but there are many more tech trends to come. The reality is that we all must be aware of changes because they will define the way the world, businesses, and people interact with technology.
It will be the CEOs’ and business leaders’ responsibility to consider these new technologies for their businesses in order to transform digitally and not be left behind the curve.
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