The future is digital, connected and (quite literally) on the edge. As 2020 rushes closer, the rate at which technology advances is increasing exponentially. For businesses to remain relevant going forward, they need to be aware of the technological trends and be ready to adopt and adapt. Here are some of the trends that will continue to shape how business is done:
The Internet of Things is by no means new but is certainly a phenomenon to keep firmly on the radar. While many still associate IOT devices with smart speakers like Alexa and Google Home or smart fridges, the technology has now permeated into most aspects of life. Thanks to RFID tags and the adoption of IPv6, just about anything can be, and is, now being connected to the Internet. Having previously inaccessible data enables businesses to transform their offerings to benefit both their customers and their bottom line, as Beam Dental demonstrates.
Collecting data from consumers is now easier than ever, but having facts and figures means nothing if they don’t lead to insights. AI-powered analytics is similar to big data analytics in that it can find and uncover patterns in consumer behaviour. But AI-powered analytics doesn’t stop there. Thanks to innovations such as natural language processing, AI-powered analytics are also able to extract and make sense of unstructured data such as e-mails and audio files. This additional layer of analytics further enables businesses to provide better service, increase efficiency and lower operational costs.
Posterchild Bitcoin is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to blockchain technology. Because blockchain provides security through decentralisation, immutability and transparency, it is very well suited to financial and contractual applications. This technology opens a multitude of opportunities, especially in the sharing economy. Statista forecasts that more than 81 million adults in the United States will use sharing economy services by 2020.
Over the past few years, cloud computing has revolutionised how business is conducted. The cloud enables people to store and access their data from anywhere in the world, giving rise to the digital nomad trend, without adding more hardware to their devices. However, as more people and devices connect to the Internet, more bandwidth and more servers are needed to keep it all going. Enter edge computing. Edge computing addresses latency by “bringing the cloud to you”; by bringing the processing of data as geographically close to the device as possible.
Advancements in technology will continue to shape the world and the world of business. Until 15 September Domains.co.za is selling .tech domains at the reduced price of only R30. Domains.co.za offers customers one convenient platform from which to register a domain, host a Web site, build a Web site and secure it.
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