Discussions about digitization and digital transformation are so omnipresent these days, that we run the risk of overlooking their real effects on our business and personal lives. In this article, we will highlight recent developments and the biggest trends shaping the digital industries in 2022.
- Artificial Intelligence becomes human-centric, reliable and regulated.
This year alone, businesses are investing 40.74$bn into AI development and applications. Common examples are voice assistants taking over first-level helpdesk and customer service requests and powerful AI analytics capabilities delivering businesses real-time insights and action recommendations from big data streams.
Meanwhile, innovative jurisdictions like Malta are developing ethical and legal frameworks to ensure trustworthy, human-centric AI. The EU, OECD and other industrial nations have joined forces in the newly-formed Global Partnership on AI.
- IoT devices move from industrial applications into smart homes.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is growing at a rapid pace and increasingly extends beyond industrial applications into smart homes. More than 31 billion connected devices exchange data and allow automation of simple and complex tasks.
- 5G adoption brings 200-1000% increases in bandwidth.
An important enabler of all digital advances is the increasing worldwide adoption of 5G, allowing for bandwidth increases of 200-1000 % over the current LTE standard. While businesses are already starting to reap its benefits, other analysts argue that real broad 5G adoption will only take off in 2021.
- Blockchain technology approaches mass adoption through BaaS-models.
Blockchain is much more than just Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. In 2020, applications of blockchain technology reach beyond the financial industry to cover such topics as digital rights management/IP, providing food safety, supply chain management and many more. Amazon, Microsoft and IBM are offering subscription-based blockchain-as-a-service plans for corporate usage.
The Digital Frontier Is Broader Than Ever Before
The biggest technologies shaping digitization in 2020 are smart devices and the IoT, artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, blockchain technology and 5G networks.
The coming months will bring bigger investment in and an approaching mass adoption of these technologies. We are also likely to witness companies seeking to explore potential synergies and a combined usage of all these drivers of digital transformation.
As individuals, we are faced with evaluating the challenges and opportunities these shifts entail for our personal and business lives. An open, curious mind is probably the biggest asset in this process of discovery.
What’s next in digitization? Be sure to stay tuned for more updates and insights on the latest technology and digitization trends!
