CURRENT AND
EMERGING TRENDS IN IT
CURRENT AND EMERGING TRENDS IN IT
• Technology has become perhaps the
greatest agent of change in the modern
world. While never without risk, positive
technological breakthroughs promise
innovative solutions to the most pressing
global challenges of our time, from resource
scarcity to global environmental change.
IDC (INTERNATIONAL DATA CORPORATION)
There have been three waves of computing in the past. The
first was the early computing era of mainframes, terminals
and customized platforms. The second wave, starting
around 25 years ago, encompassed the development of the
PC, networking, relational databases and client services
app. The third wave is our current era, built around cloud
computing, social applications, big data and mobile
computing. This third platform will form the basis for the
development of new solutions for the next 20 years.
BIG TECHNOLOGIES
• Body-adapted wearable electronics
• Screenless Display
• Quantified Self (Predictive Analytics)
• Brain-computer Interfaces
Body-adapted wearable electronics
These virtually invisible devices include:
1. earbuds that monitor heart rate
2. sensors worn under clothes to track posture 3. a temporary tattoo
that tracks health vitals
4. haptic shoe soles that communicate GPS directions through
vibration alerts felt by the feet
The applications are many and varied: haptic shoes are currently
proposed for helping blind people navigate, while Google Glass has
already been worn by oncologists to assists in surgery via medical
records and other visual information accessed by voice commands.
Screenless Display
There are various companies that make significant
breakthroughs in the field, including:
1. virtual reality headsets
2. bionic contact lenses
3. development of mobile phones for elderly people
4. hologram-like vides without the need for moving
parts or glasses.
Quantified Self (Predictive Analytics)
Smartphones contain a rich record of people’s activities, including
who they know (contact list, social networking apps), who they talk
to (call logs, text logs, e-mails), where they go (GPS, Wi-Fi, and geo-
tagged photos) and what they do (apps we use, accelerometer
data).
Using this data, and specialized machine-learning algorithms,
detailed and predictive models about people and their behaviors
can be built to help personalized medicine, sustainability and
medical diagnosis.
Brain-computer Interfaces
Add into the mix another six innovation accelerators and you have
a wave of computing that will take us forward into the next era,
whatever that may be. These accelerators include:
a. The Internet of Things
b. Cognitive systems
c. Pervasive robotics
d. 3-D printing of all kinds
e. Natural interfaces
f. Optimized security technologies and solutions.
Brain-computer Interfaces
Not all breakthroughs are created equal.
Some arrive more or less as usable things;
others mainly set the stage for innovations
that emerge later. Let us check the list of
some emerging technologies below maybe
one of the milestones that will be worth
following in the coming years.
Brain-computer Interfaces
Nano-Architecture - Materials whose structures can be precisely tailored so
they are strong yet flexible and extremely light. This technology matters
because lighter structural materials would be more energy-efficient and
versatile.
Car-to-Car Communication - More than a million people are killed on roads
worldwide each year. This technology will be a big help. A simple wireless
technology promises to make driving much safer. Cars can talk to each other to
avoid crashes. This technology will warn impending collision. It lets cars broadcast
their position, speed, steering-wheel position, brake status, and other data to
other vehicles within a few hundred meters.
Brain-computer Interfaces
Project Loon - A Google project that aims to provide internet services to
those places that cannot be reached by network providers. Google will
send helium balloons that will provide a reliable and cost-effective way to
beam Internet service from the sky to places lacking it. According to
Google these balloons can deliver widespread economic and social
benefits by bringing internet access to the 60 percent of the world’s
people who do not have it.
Supercharged Photosynthesis - The supercharged process, called C4 photosynthesis,
boosts plants’ growth by capturing carbon dioxide and concentrating it in a
specialized cell in the leaves. That allows the photosynthetic process to operate much
more efficiently.
Brain-computer Interfaces
Internet of DNA - Your medical treatment could benefit from
the experiences of millions of others. This breakthrough will
set technical standards that let DNA databases communicate.
This system is called MatchMaker Exchange; it will automate
the comparison of DNA from sick people around the world.
