Top 6 Technology Trends of This Decade

The distributed cloud is an extension of the public cloud for customers who want control of the data they have. It allows clients to use all the benefits of the public cloud, but in a private provision model.

The distributed cloud addresses the demand by companies near the edge of the net for greater support and data processing so they can get all of the services that are available at a central cloud data center. The major appeal is that organizations can process data closer to its source, which will reduce the delay of data flow and response times and results in more agile delivery.

The simplest definition of a blockchain is a shared and digitized record that cannot be modified once a transaction has been recorded and verified – in other words, blockchain technology makes it practically impossible to fake a transaction.

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, predicts that a scalable and private blockchain will reach “about one billion users by the end of the decade, up from about 50 million.” He believes that the future will include the emergence of  new and better-performing blockchains that will improve scalability.

Just as technology start-up companies use machine learning and the internet, he predicts they will also include a cryptocurrency component. As part of this trend, Armstrong anticipates a significant move by governments and institutions into this space as well. Another area for blockchain growth is expected to come from emerging markets as they search for financial systems that are more efficient and reliable than traditional ones. 

Despite all the unknowns that we face everyday – and the reality that things can change drastically from one day to the next – one thing we know with absolute certainty is that exponentially advancing technology is here to stay.

Hyper-automation is a mix of technologies like Robotics Process Automation (RPA), machine learning, Artificial Intelligence, among others. The idea here is to use the combined forces of all of these technologies to take business processes automation to the next level by making them more efficient, precise and faster than ever before.

Through the increased use of hyper-automation, businesses can become more competitive by automating complex processes and business plans. The scope of automation will also go beyond processes and tasks to automating work that requires more advanced knowledge, which will yield better results. 

5G is the fifth generation of wireless communication technologies – the network that mobile devices will use to connect to the Internet from anywhere. It is an evolution of 4G that will revolutionize communications and take us into a new field: hyperconnectivity. Key for this to work are the millisecond latencies – the time it takes to transfer a data packet within the network – that 5G allows.

5G represents the first phase of machines being interconnected in real time – from devices like small household appliances to smart meters to vehicles sensors. It also promises to support a sustainable economy by lowering consumption and increasing battery life up to 10%. 

Consequently, 5G services mean new economic and business opportunities are on the horizon. This new technology combines the factors of increased productivity and cost savings that will spark new solutions. For smart cities, 5G could mean advancements for traffic regulation and environment data management.  

WiFi 6 is WiFi’s next generation. When it comes to the maximum speed per device, WiFi 6 doesn’t offer much improvement in terms of maximum speed per device, but where it does add value is for a vastly improved user experience when it comes to having many devices connected to the same WiFi network. WiFi 6 promises to provide much lower latency and improved speed for each connected device. 

Because WiFi 6 offers more efficiency and connection maintenance – even when the network is extremely congested – its use for home and business use connectivity is sure to take over in the coming years.

Edge Computing is defined as the technology that allows the data produced by the Internet of Things (IoT) devices to be processed in the same place in which they’re generated rather than having to send them to a cloud platform or to an external data center.

By using an edge infrastructure, companies are able to disregard data that is considered as “noise” so they can analyze what really matters in real time. Latency is also greatly improved with this technology. The improvements provided by edge computing serves as a great advantage for many companies, especially those in sectors like healthcare and finance. 

Another advantage of an edge computing infrastructure is improved security compared to that net, found in a cloud environment. Since data stays closer to the device from which it’s generated and travels less, it’s less exposed and less susceptible to attack vectors. 

It’s clear that technological trends and innovations are moving at breakneck speed. The ones we listed above are just a sample of the trends that will dominate the next decade – meanwhile, there is surely a whole slew of advancements in the works. As businesses and organizations gain more efficiency and accuracy, our goal is to have these advancements improve the global citizens and societies at large.