Technology trends for 2021
Each day, technology helps companies improve their performance, supporting them in a more sustainable kind of growth, while reducing the environmental impact of their business. The latest inventions offer cost-effective and advantageous opportunities in every sector.
The five biggest trends requested by companies and clients for 2021 are photonic networks, high speed connections, digital twin, RPA and quantum and edge computing. These represent the latest generation of innovation, ready to feed the contemporary market’s insatiable hunger for progress.
A detailed look at 2021 trends
The biggest trend for the coming year will be the adoption of ‘all photonics networks’ (APNs). As soon as these new infrastructures come into global use, there will be a significant enhancement of communication quality and performance. As well as technical improvements, APNs also enable significantly reduced energy consumption. This ensures a more environmentally-friendly communications environment which can provide extremely fast end-to-end connections between client and server.
The second big trend for 2021 is Cognitive Foundation: technology which will almost certainly be embraced by many companies. Its potential lies in being able to connect and control almost any object at an advanced level. Being based on the centralised control and remote allocation of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) resources, allows it to offer new modes of interaction with IoT technologies by exploiting different input sources such as sensors, voice commands, video etc. in order to improve the user experience.
Another important trend for the new year is digital twin computing (DTC). This unique technology allows the user to create a digital version of people and ‘things’, in order to extrapolate their behavioural patterns and build a predictive model. Possessing such information becomes extremely useful when it is entered into specific programs, such as those designed to monitor traffic congestion or control the spread of disease.
Another trend for 2021 is the move towards giving users the opportunity to create their own business apps directly. Low code and no code development platforms are gradually gaining popularity and are growing side by side with users’ skills. This enables less expert programmers to create applications which meet their own particular requirements. Robotic process automation is another factor in this trend, as it relieves employees from repetitive tasks and helps them use their time more constructively.
The final trend for this year is related to quantum and edge computing. Adopting these calculation systems means achieving previously unimaginable calculation capacities which, once applied locally, eliminate the need to use cloud services.
A good example of this could be computerised vision systems in the latest cars. With in loco calculations, they are able to process and recognise information gathered directly, rather than having to send it via cloud to check its accuracy.
2020 trends which will continue in 2021
In addition to new technology trends predicted for 2021, it is important to remember that the trends of 2020 will continue to evolve. Companies are currently leading the drive towards digital transformation and focusing on creating a positive experience for employees and clients alike.
The improvement of systems linked to company IT security continues in parallel with other trends, with 83.2% of organisations declaring that they have reviewed their IT security procedures over the last year. Despite the progress being made, further staff training in this area remains a priority.
Translated by Joanne Beckwith
