Technology in the world today is ever evolving and is much closer and accessible to the common man than it was ever before. From POS systems in the store around the corner to robotics in customer service the world has seen it all. According to experts, this rapid change in technology will undoubtedly set it on an exponential growth rate in the years to come.
At present most (not all) innovation in technology revolves around contactless services due to the outbreak of COVID-19 making IT professionals realize that their role will not stay the same in the contactless world tomorrow. And an IT professional in the current days will constantly be learning, unlearning, and relearning (out of necessity if not desire).
What does this mean for you as an entrepreneur?
The thing about new technology is that it sets the standards for what’s next whether its processes, prices and even service. And more often than not consumers benchmark all businesses they interact with through the experiences they had with the other businesses especially when it comes to customer service and product quality. So as an entrepreneur it is important to be aware of the new processes and technology that is out in the market that you could use to create a competitive advantage for your business’s product or service.
The top 5 technology to watch out for
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence (AI) is currently one of the hottest buzzwords in the tech world and with good reason. Experts look at artificial intelligence as a factor of production, which has the potential to introduce new sources of growth and change the way work is done across industries.
According to, “How AI Boosts Industry Profits and Innovations”, a report by Accenture.com, AI is predicted to increase economic growth by an average of 1.7 percent across 16 industries by 2035. The report goes on to say that, by 2035, AI technologies could increase labor productivity by 40 percent or more, thereby doubling economic growth in 12 developed nations including the US.
- Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Like AI and Machine Learning, Robotic Process Automation, or RPA, is another technology that is automating jobs. Robotic Process Automation is the use of software with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities to handle high-volume, repeatable tasks that previously required humans to perform. Some of these tasks include:
- Addressing queries
- Making calculations
- Maintaining records
- Making transactions
RPA can help assess, prepare, and create new employee data, initiate mailing of offer letters, and streamline information across the systems.
Prior to robotic process automation, it would take a few hours to complete the onboarding formalities. Post RPA, however, the entire process could be done in a matter of a few minutes. This results in the following:
- Automation can improve processes by to 100 percent
- Processing becomes 10 times faster
- Accuracy increases to 100 percent
- Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
The next exceptional technology trend is Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). VR immerses the user in an environment while AR enhances their environment. Although this technology trend has primarily been used for gaming thus far, it has also been used for training. This technology has proven to be so effective that a simulation software using AR and VR is also used to train U.S. Navy, Army and Coast Guard ship captains.
Fun fact: 14 million AR and VR devices were sold in 2019. The global AR and VR market is expected to grow to $209.2 billion by 2022, only creating more opportunities in the trending technology, and welcoming more professionals ready for this game-changing field.
- Blockchain
Although most people think of blockchain technology in relation to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, blockchain offers security that is useful in many other ways. In the simplest of terms, blockchain can be described as data you can only add to, not take away from or change. Hence the term “chain” because you’re making a chain of data. Not being able to change the previous blocks is what makes it so secure. In addition, blockchains are consensus-driven, so no one entity can take control of the data. With blockchain, you don’t need a trusted third-party to oversee or validate transactions.
Several industries are involving and implementing blockchain, for the following reasons:
It is highly secure
It uses a digital signature feature to conduct fraud-free transactions making it impossible to corrupt or change the data of an individual by the other users without a specific digital signature.
It has a decentralized system
Conventionally, you need the approval of regulatory authorities like a government or bank for transactions; however, with Blockchain, transactions are done with the mutual consensus of users resulting in smoother, safer, and faster transactions.
It has automation capability
It is programmable and can generate systematic actions, events, and payments automatically when the criteria of the trigger are met.
Cyber Security
Cyber security might not seem like trending technology, given that it has been around for a while, but it is evolving just as other technologies are. That’s in part because threats are constantly new. The malevolent hackers who are trying to illegally access data are not going to give up any time soon, and they will continue to find ways to get through even the toughest security measures. It’s also in part because new technology is being adapted to enhance security. As long as we have hackers, cybersecurity will remain a trending technology because it needs to constantly evolve to defend against those hackers.
Today’s cyber security industry is primarily focused on protecting devices and systems from attackers. While the bits and bytes behind these efforts can be hard to visualize, it’s much easier to consider the effects. Without cyber security, many websites would be nearly impossible to enjoy due to ever-present denial-of-service attack attempts.
In Conclusion:
Although technologies are emerging and evolving around us all the time, these top 5 new technology trends offer are the ones to look out for now, and for the foreseeable future. Keeping up with technology that could elevate your businesses is as important as keeping up with your competitors’ activities especially if it could improve your business and quality of service.