In the coming years, cloud technologies will redefine every facet of the global sports arena, and rapid technological developments will improve the way electricity is produced, stored and consumed.
These are among the key technology predictions forecast by Dr Werner Vogels, CTO and VP of Amazon.com, in charge of driving technology innovation within the company. Vogels gave a keynote presentation at the AWS re:Invent 2022 event this week, in Las Vegas.
Vogels showed how customers and AWS are using novel architectural patterns to build scalable, resilient and fault-tolerant applications. He also highlighted innovations and emerging technologies that enable developers to create systems that would have been previously unimaginable.
He explained how the cloud is expected to shape several industries in 2023 and beyond.
With several global crises occupying our daily lives, he emphasised the importance of identifying where technology can be leveraged to solve these challenging human problems.
The next wave of innovators and inventors, he added, are already building solutions to reforest the planet, keep youth active and re-imagine the supply chain industries from the warehouse to delivery.
“As access to advanced technology becomes even more ubiquitous − as every facet of life becomes data that can be analysed − we will start to see a torrent of innovation, and this will proliferate in 2023,” he noted.
Cloud tech will redefine sports
Like music and video, sports will become data streams that can be analysed to make decisions in real-time − such as player hydration, ball movement, field saturation − with cloud technologies being at the centre of this change, according to Vogels.
“Sports is part of the human fabric. It transcends time, cultures and physical borders. Until now, broadcast television has had the biggest impact on the evolution of professional sports, paving the way for what is today a $500 billion industry.
“In the coming years, every facet of every sport will undergo a digital transformation, and this will happen at every level of play, from youth basketball to professional cricket.
“Imagine a scenario where a coach can use computer vision and biometric data that is analysed in the cloud, in real-time, to pull a player before they cramp or concede a goal, replacing them with the most well-rested teammate, something now quantifiable.”
Vogels referenced companies like Veo, which are leading this charge, making use of cloud technologies like machine learning, computer vision and stream processing, to narrow the digital divide between amateur and professional athletes.
Veo has created a broadcast-like experience for viewers of amateur sports, and it has built a deep neural network that allows it to automatically create highlights from video streams.
Surge of innovation in smart energy
In 2023, we will see rapid development on a global scale that improves the way we produce, store and consume energy. This includes energy-storing surface materials, decentralised grids and smart consumption technologies, Vogels pointed out.
“We are in the midst of another energy crisis. Rising costs and reliable access to energy are global problems − they impact everyone. While this isn’t the first time that we have faced an energy crisis, there are several maturing technologies that are beginning to converge, and together, they will enable us to address this like never before.
“The environment around us produces more than enough renewable energy. The challenge is actually with storage and on-demand delivery to the systems that need to consume that energy. The cloud is enabling materials research science for novel use cases, such as integrating energy storage into the structure of the objects they aim to power.”
Amazon is doing work in this space, through several initiatives, such as the 150MW battery storage system in Arizona that is providing clean, reliable energy to the company’s facilities in that region.
Another area is the decentralisation of energy, he continued, with some communities turning to micro grids used as community gardens (but for energy), to sustain themselves, reducing their reliance on traditional energy companies and their aging infrastructure.
Simulated worlds to reinvent how firms experiment
Technologies such as spatial computing, simulation and digital twins have been slowly maturing for years, but their everyday impact has been limited.
This is quickly changing, and in 2023, the cloud will make these technologies more accessible, and in turn, enabling a new class of use cases that will be unbound by physical constraints.
“Simulations are used to build better race cars, predict weather and model the stock market. While the problems that simulations can solve are significant, the difficulty of building and running simulations is a barrier for everyday use cases. Companies are constrained by the need for high-powered hardware and a specialised workforce.”
However, he noted this is quickly changing, with technologies like the recently launched AWS SimSpace Weaver – the first of many simulation technologies to come – that will pave the way for a future where nearly anything in our world can, and eventually will, be simulated.
“Another area where I’m seeing a rapid uptick in innovation is spatial computing. Companies are already building specialised hardware and using cloud technologies to capture and create 3D models of nearly any environment. Doing this with just a mobile device will soon be a reality,” he stated.
Supply chain transformation
In 2023, adoption of technologies such as computer vision and deep learning, will propel the supply chain forward.
Driverless fleets, autonomous warehouse management and simulation are just a few of the optimisations that will lead to a new era in smart logistics and global supply chain.
“This will start with the manufacturing of goods themselves. IOT [internet of things] sensors in factories will proliferate, and machine learning will be used to not only predict machine failures, but prevent them. Less downtime means consistent production.
“Shipping those products across the globe is a whole other challenge. Digital freight networks powered by the cloud will traverse countries, even oceans, providing real-time data that allows carriers to optimise with the most efficient shipping routes and change course in response to inevitable events, such as equipment failures and weather disruptions.”
Custom silicon goes mainstream
Usage of purpose-built chips will rapidly increase in 2023. As a result, the pace of innovation will accelerate, as workloads take advantage of hardware optimisations that maximise performance, while lowering energy consumption and reducing cost.
Custom silicon and specialised hardware have been quickly gaining traction in the consumer technology industry.
Everything from laptops, to cellphones, to wearable devices are seeing significant leaps in performance with the fabrication and adoption of custom silicon, he noted.
“While adoption has been quick in the consumer space, the same hasn’t been true for business applications and systems, where software and hardware traditionally have longer refresh cycles.
“However, this will quickly change in the coming years as the accessibility and adoption of custom silicon takes hold.
“Cost savings and performance benefits will lead to more experimentation, more innovation, more adoption, and eventually, more custom silicon for other specific workloads,” stated Vogels.
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