It is difficult to predict which of all the emerging technologies will prevail in the future. First, because many of them are complementary to or a consequence of other existing technologies and, second, their rapid evolution. The only thing that can be said is where things seem to be going at the moment and some business opportunities around them.
1. 5G and total connectivity
Essential to undertake the transformation of Industry 4.0. as well as for the evolution of emerging technologies, such as Virtual and Augmented Reality or the IoT of intelligent cities. None of this makes much sense without the massive implementation of the fifth generation of wireless communication technologies and standards. The new mobile technology will expand bandwidth by increasing the speed of connections and exponentially multiplying the number of connected devices.
Another of its advantages is that it will reduce latency to a minimum, which is essential for an optimal connection and for the machine to respond almost in real-time from when you issue an order remotely until it is carried out.
2. Cybersecurity
As the total connection increases, cybersecurity solutions will gain weight. Here we are not talking about a trend but about a real growing need, which is why, at the moment, it represents one of the fastest-growing markets in the world, given that it is one of the natural consequences of digitization.
3. Artificial intelligence
Also very transversal and applicable, practically, to all industries. In reality, more companies talk about introducing artificial intelligence in their solutions than those developing it. There are honourable exceptions, such as IBM, Pay Thunder, or Sherpa Ai, that, at the same time that they investigate in this field, enable the necessary security measures in terms of data or compliance with the protocols of all regulated industries.
But the reality is that its implementation in Spanish SMEs continues below. However, according to the consulting firm Gartner, in 2025, the use of AI will be widespread, leading to technological investment by companies.
4. The data centres
For technologies such as Artificial Intelligence or Big Data to develop in all their splendour, data and its storage are, of course, necessary. The more these are fed into the machines, the more their intelligence grows. So, to the same extent that technology in the cloud or 5G, among others, advances, the need for Data Centres is increasing as the necessary infrastructure to host all the information poured. The problem is the high energy consumption involved in the maintenance of these centres and their location in places far from the production centres, which hinders latency.
This is how the success of solutions such as Summer is understood, where they advocate for smaller and closer data centres and, in addition, with a new immersion cooling system for equipment that is much cheaper, more sustainable, and more efficient. They also allow companies to have their turnkey solution for a fully integrated plug-and-play data centre.
5. El cloud computing
The pandemic and remote work encouraged many companies to increase spending on the cloud to host all digital content in it instead of having it scattered across different servers and devices. Forecasts suggest that this trend will continue to rise in any sector, even considering the return to work in the office. For the consulting firm Gartner, the big boost will come from the distributed cloud, that is, the distribution of public cloud services in different physical locations, also following the path that the data centres referred to above are taking.
6. Goodbye to the keyboard, welcome to the voice
It is already becoming a reality. We type less and less and talk more about the success of virtual assistants, chatbots, smart speakers, or voice identification systems, among others. Some say that the voice revolution, voice tech, has only just begun with expectations that funds allocated to the voice business will triple by 2025.
7. Invisible payments
The world of fintech says goodbye to money, at least the one that is touched. Today it isn’t easy to find a young man with 5 euros in his wallet. They opt for electronic payment via mobile. Solutions as successful as Stripe or the new model of physical stores created by Amazon have found their business opportunity in this trend.
8. All monitored
The behaviour of the elderly who reside at home, the irrigation of the crops, the evolution of a patient, the factory’s productivity, the performance of a soccer player… today, practically everything can be monitored in real-time and by remote control. Several technologies facilitate monitoring, from installing sensors within the IoT to cameras, Bluetooth, or the cloud.
