Digital and technological trends of 2019
Among the major technological trends of 2019, are innovative developments such as the 5G connection. In Italy, this is due to be up and running by 2022, with the inclusion of smartphones. The current year will see the launch of the first 5G compatible devices.
The main characteristic of these devices is their potential download speed of 10 – 50 gigabits, which is crucial to support apps for gaming, smart living and video. 5G connection will also play an extremely important role in the management of self-driving cars.
In 2019, extensive development of Big Data is expected, a fundamental step if we consider that, by 2020, over 40% of businesses in the data science sector will be automated. Another important technological trend of 2019 is the improvement of customer service thanks to natural language processing systems (chat bots). All this will be based on Machine Learning algorithms, which will be able to recognise not only images, but also words and people.
Other trends
During 2019, companies will take on a more and more responsible role as regards privacy, with high fines for those who do not respect the rules set out by the relative authorities. Technological trends of 2019 will also include the continuing advancement of augmented reality. Forecasts indicate that by 2022, around 70% of businesses will be experimenting with this technology. This focus will lead to the market launch of AR visors able to recognise shapes and detect a person’s position, thereby optimising their interaction with the environment around them.
Also worthy of note are agricultural and industrial robots and drones. These instruments will become more and more efficient at operating with a high level of autonomy, intelligence and coordination.
The Blockchain will also have a key role. With the increase in value of the Bitcoin in 2017, the world started to get to know this technology, useful for cryptocurrencies but also in sectors such as food, retail and healthcare. By 2030, the Blockchain paradigm could give rise to the development of a market worth 3.1 trillion dollars.
Up and coming technological developments will also feature quantitistic IT, based on subatomic particles which represent information in the form of quantitistic bits. This approach will allow users to work on millions of computational operations contemporarily.
The role of quantitistic IT will be crucial in sectors such as medicine. By 2023, one in five companies will allocate a budget to international projects, linked to the world of quantum computing. In order to illustrate the size of this growth, consider that currently, only 1% of companies take into serious consideration the use of quantum computers.
It will also be interesting to see the evolution of the Empowered Edge trend, which involves endpoint devices people use integrated into the reality that surrounds them. Thanks to Edge Computing and the above-mentioned 5G connection, it will be possible to achieve reduced latency, a greater bandwidth and consequently a rise in the number of endpoints.
The folding smartphone: on the horizon?
The folding smartphone is also one of the key technological trends of 2019, with however several serious issues relating to its cost and battery. As for the former, the estimated price is approximately 2,500 euros for the first prototype, manufactured by Samsung.
A flexible screen device was presented last November, a device which acts as both a smartphone and a tablet, tested to resist cycles involving it being folded over 200,000 times.
Translated by Joanne Beckwith
