Technology is a world that never stands still, always broaching new horizons, and new trends emerge all the time. These trends come with the promise of revolutionising industries, changing the way that businesses operate forever, and making simple what once was impossible.
While innovation brings with it immense potential, it also offers the possibility of a crash, as embracing a new development too firmly can backfire should that innovation become obsolete – which can happen dizzyingly quickly. In this article, we will take a look at some emerging tech trends and underscore the importance of strategic planning around them.
AI and Machine Learning
AI and ML continue to have their place at the forefront of technological innovation, but with the added wrinkle of having become much more accessible in recent times. AI allows businesses to automate mundane tasks that previously soaked up worker hours and left little time for new angles on real money-making work. It is also useful in predicting consumer behaviour and untying the knots that often arise on the coding side of business automation.
With that said, AI and ML are a little like a flamethrower: extremely powerful and good at what they do, but dangerous in the wrong hands. Without clear understanding and strategising, artificial intelligence can become an expensive toy.
It’s of fundamental importance that anyone working with these technologies understands what they are doing with them. You need to know what the apps you are working with can do, and just as importantly what they can’t. The risk inherent in just picking them up blindly is that you could end up misallocating resources, wasting money, and gaining an unfairly negative impression of a technology that could be immensely useful if used properly.
Blockchain technology
Cryptocurrency divides opinion, and for the moment it would probably be wise for any business not involved in it to remain uninvolved. At some stage it will find its level, and then it may be worth investing more time and money in it, but right now there are better ways to use blockchain technology for businesses keen to have as many arrows in the quiver as possible.
While strongly associated with cryptocurrency, blockchains have many more uses than a lot of people realise. Again, the key is to arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible. Currently, it’s not uncommon to hear people referring to this technology as “the blockchain”, which misunderstands the technology entirely.
There are countless different blockchains, and knowing which of them works best for you, as you record transactions in industries as varied as finance, health and property, is the first step in understanding the intricacies of this tech.
The bare minimum is to know your Ethereum from your Ripple. Learn about the main blockchains, and go from there.
IoT
The Internet of Things is one of those concepts that people like to think they understand, but which is tricky to explain in so many words. So for clarity, IoT is a network of interconnected devices that can communicate and exchange data with one another.
Said devices are embedded with sensors, software and various other technologies and can range from smart household devices like thermostats and fridges, to industrial machinery and wearable tech.
At its core, the Internet of Things is about creating a new ecosystem where devices “talk” to one another, sharing useful insights to trigger actions. A smart thermostat can automatically turn up the heating when the ambient temperature falls below a certain point, for example, while wearable tech can give insights into health metrics and provide information in real time. But what can it do for businesses?
The potential benefits of IoT for businesses are unsurprisingly considerable. They include:
- Operational efficiency: Industries, especially those that use heavy machinery, can use IoT by means of sensors to monitor the performance of equipment and schedule maintenance, reducing and signalling downtime to all who need to know.
- Data-driven insights: With so many devices capable of collecting information, businesses can have them in customers’ homes and offices gaining insights into customer behaviour, optimising supply chains and making informed decisions on how to target advertising.
- Enhancement of customer experience: Retailers can make use of IoT in order to personalise shopping experiences for their customers. Smart shelves in stores are one example of this, automatically detecting when products are running out and reordering without the need for human hands.
- Safety and security: Healthcare can make use of IoT technology to remotely monitor their patients’ vitals and make decisions without the need for multiple professionals to be in place. For an industry like logistics, meanwhile, they can track the safety of goods in transit.
While IoT naturally brings many benefits, tech management consultants including 460degrees would agree that it brings challenges – “Data security needs to be taken very seriously given the amount of data collected by IoT devices. Integration across devices needs to be handled intelligently too, recognizing the possibility for failures of infrastructure and compatibility. For businesses keen on integrating IoT, it’s about a lot more than adopting the tech; it’s also important to understand all of its implications, both risks and rewards.”
Among other innovations affecting the business world, it’s also worth looking into how VR and AR could be of use in your own business. These methods are most noted for their benefits in gaming, but they have implications for education and healthcare, and could be essential for your business as long as you inform yourself on how to integrate them before you invest.
The tech landscape is certainly a dynamic, ever-shifting ground on which to operate. It has many thrilling implications, as seen above, but for businesses it is also essential to move beyond the exciting bright lights and the hype, and figure out how innovations can be harnessed now and in the future.
This isn’t a warning for businesses that are interested in the tech of the future; it’s an encouragement to get excited, because if used properly, the latest innovations can be indispensable for your business.
