Heralding a latest era of digital transformation, technologies akin to artificial intelligence (AI) are being introduced exponentially into the world around us. Today’s advanced technologies go far beyond short-term growth and industrial profits and achieve the far-sighted and responsible goals of using technology to resolve society’s most pressing problems. Most importantly, the groundbreaking development and rapid global distribution of mRNA vaccines has highlighted the speed and scale of technological advances that may outwit humanity’s most serious threats.
According to the World Economic Forum, over the last two years: 90% data in the world has been created; Artificial intelligence can now detect greater than 50 eye diseases higher than a doctor; first civilian spaceflight has successfully traveled beyond the Earth’s atmosphere and 5G is not a potential future, but a reality in over 13 countries.
As we glance to 2022, we are on the cusp of real progress in the face of some of the world’s most difficult challenges, including climate change, poverty, access to health care, hunger and disease. Here are five technology trends that can drive progress in the coming yr and beyond.
Consumerization and accessibility of technology
Technological advances began at the enterprise level and slowly trickled all the way down to the consumer technology market. When the first microwave oven hit the market in 1955, its today’s cost was about $12,000; you may buy one for $64 on Amazon today.
Fast forward to 2021: six out of 10 people worldwide now use the Internet, in 2021, 332 million people went online for the first time and 4.66 billion actively use the Internet worldwide, which is 59.5 % of world population. More than 5.22 billion people currently use mobile phones, which is 66.6% of the world’s population. Global access to digital solutions, enabled by inexpensive advanced technologies akin to cloud computing, has never been greater, and we are only now realizing the power of connectivity to assist us cope with change.
During the pandemic 42% of the U.S. workforce moved online almost immediately, working from home full-time – mitigating the complete shutdown of the economy. Today, corporations like Zoom have 300 million day by day meeting participants.
Another example is the rapid emergence and widespread acceptance of digital healthcare solutions. In 2021, we witnessed a huge paradigm shift with the development of telehealth, telemedicine, digital medicine/therapeutics. Telemedicine has been a lifesaver for tens of millions of individuals needing care during the pandemic. As it turned out, patients liked the latest format because it helped in the event of unexpected situations related to move, absence from work and child care. First and foremost, it provided access to underserved communities, rural and inner-city areas, all of which have long struggled with a lack of health services that contributes to health inequalities. Next yr, advanced technologies will proceed to make sure access and affordability, reducing the gap between outcomes in urban and rural areas.
Finally, inequality in access to banking has long been a barrier to entry for entrepreneurs. Leveling the playing field, corporations like Uvik, a digital payments startup in India, are providing access and affordability to on a regular basis entrepreneurs from every corner of the world to pursue their dreams. By providing a contactless mobile payment interface, tens of millions of unbanked customers can accept payments using NFC technology. Uvik systems reimagine the way forward for bill payments, restaurants, transportation, entertainment stores and stores.
Using Big Data for good
The evolution of cloud computing has enabled public and private enterprises to trace, analyze and adapt processes faster than ever before. According to research by Beroe, Inc., a leading procurement analytics provider, the global business analytics market is expected to succeed in $30.9 billion by 2022. However, data analytics will go beyond capital gains and shall be used to create smarter policies for those in need, as noted in Gartner Group’s “Top 10 Data and Analytics Trends for 2021.”
Data evaluation and storage are two important challenges facing organizations large and small. In 2020, the total amount of information created, captured, copied and used in the world was 44 zettabytes (ZB), similar to 44 trillion gigabytes. For this reason, Big Data has accelerated tremendously and will proceed to do so for the foreseeable future.
An example of excellent use of information evaluation and storage is an onco-tech company called 4baseCare. They are building a unified and patient-centric ecosystem to look at evidence generated in real-world settings to raised understand cancer treatments, speed up cancer research, and improve clinical outcomes. They envision achieving this through collaborative and applied research using advanced technologies akin to artificial intelligence, machine learning and genomics.
Artificial intelligence and data science
Artificial intelligence guarantees to assist organizations make optimized decisions based on collected data. Companies like Warehouse Now have developed AI-powered digital platforms to assist warehousing and supply chain corporations streamline capital-intensive (capex) and largely underutilized warehousing assets for operational expense-driven, highly efficient just- in-time chain management assets. Serving the critical needs of 21 industries, including pharmaceutical, food and beverage, manufacturing, retail and logistics, Warehouse Now serves tens of millions of consumers in hundreds of locations. In just ten months, Warehouse Now has grown 400% yr over yr.
Enhanced cybersecurity defense
In late 2020, the scale of the Solarwinds hack was revealed, with huge consequences for government agencies and (mockingly) cybersecurity provider FireEye. In 2021, we saw the public and private sectors collide when a ransomware attack shut down the Colonial Pipeline, one of the nation’s most important oil arteries, sending roughly 2.5 million barrels a day of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from Houston to New York . It was the first cyberattack to disclose threats to America’s energy infrastructure. In 2022, we are going to urgently address systems hardening, including security tools, techniques and best practices that discover and address vulnerabilities in utilities and other critical infrastructure.
Global workforce
As the global workforce becomes more mobile, more and more employers are sourcing talent from around the world. The barriers between the individual and the workplace are slowly disappearing; the pandemic has accelerated this transition many times over. Gartner predicts that 51 percent By the end of 2021, global knowledge employees shall be distant.
The U.S. continues to experience unprecedented labor shortages, including: 10.1 million vacant and unfilled job positions in all industries. Companies with the least flexibility and job positions have the biggest difficulties in filling job positions. Industries akin to cybersecurity and technology are struggling to sustain the level of innovation mandatory to proceed unprecedented growth because of constraints in attracting local talent. By leveraging a global workforce, corporations can expand their talent pool and increase the potential to search out the right candidate with the right skills, providing a competitive advantage.
Digital transformation has made great strides in 2021, partly out of necessity, but now that the world has experienced what might be achieved, the journey has only just begun. These five forces should ensure further acceleration towards innovation driven by technological progress.
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Sajan Pillai is CEO and Managing Partner of Season Two Ventures, an early-stage enterprise capital fund based in Southern California. He is also the CEO of SP Life Care, a senior care and healthcare platform in India. McLaren Strategic Ventures, the Sajan Pillai-led business acceleration platform, offers end-to-end business solutions to take small and medium-sized enterprises to a global scale, and McLaren Strategic Capital has made several key deep tech acquisitions in the US and India. McLaren Technology Acquisition Corp, a fintech-focused SPAC, recently closed a $201 million IPO on NASDAQ. Sajan spent most of his profession as CEO of UST Global and currently stays a member of its board of directors. Sajan was responsible for company development and acquisitions. He led the company’s global business operations through its centers in the US, UK, Spain, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Mexico, Australia, Poland and Israel. Under his leadership, UST Global has grown significantly as the company now grows from 20 employees to over 25,000 employees.
Sajan has held several senior management positions in the software industry. He also architected and managed large software systems for MCI Telecommunications, USA. Sajan also holds patents in the field of information processing and web systems. Sajan’s industry recognition includes being chosen by STEMConnector as one of the Elite 100 CEO Leaders in STEM. As chair of the Commission on Diversity in STEM, Sajan introduced the Step IT Up America program to coach and employ 5,000 technologists, a program endorsed by political and industry leaders. His articles have appeared in Reuters, The Washington Post, Knowledge@Wharton, and Silicon Review. He was also chosen by Glassdoor’s Top 100 CEOs.