5 Technologies that will change your business forever

We live in an era where our lives are driven and shaped by technology and its developments. Technology has transformed our conventional way of doing things beyond any one’s imagination. The advancement in technology has changed the way of communication from landlines to video calling, watching movies in cinema halls to movies online, physical shopping to virtual shopping, going  banks to online payments and more.

Godfrey Reggio words “we are not only making use of technology, but also living with it” are more true than ever.

Technology has also transformed the way businesses  across the world how they conduct their operations. The advancements in technology are the primary reason for significant growth of the business in the last few decades. Though there are hundreds of new technologies out there, few are going to re-define, if not already, how we work and operate.

Check out these top 5 technologies that will change your business forever.

1. Artificial Intelligence
2. Blockchain
3. Edge Computing
4. 5G
5. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality

(1) Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the technical trend that continue to stay on top of technological developments every year. AI generally refers to computer systems that are built to replicate human intelligence and perform tasks such as recognition of images, speech or patterns and decision making. Your business life without AI is harder nowadays. Some of the most common examples of AI that we use every day includes: smart phones features, personal assistants like Alexa, Siri, ride sharing Apps like Uber, smart cars, drones etc. This influence of AI technology in daily life has increased the interest among companies, business, researchers etc. in further exploration about it.

In the recent years, AI has influenced various industries/business in such as healthcare, cybersecurity, banking, smart homes, personal care, manufacturing etc. This year, the rise of AI is expected to address the challenges in industries such as media, government, resource, education and customer services.

A buzz word for many industries, this technology can make wonders for any business. Blockchain is simply described as data you can only add but you can neither take away nor do changes. The term “chain” is used as you are making a chain of data. So, we can understand that the data in the previous blocks cannot be changed and this makes your data secure. The blockchain is consensus-driven and no particular entity can take control of the data. This avoids the involvement of a third party. Most people relate blockchain technology only to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and narrow down its application to financial sector. But blockchain can be used across various industries. For example, many healthcare industries in recent days have started to employ blockchain technology for securing data relating to patient health records.

Blockchain technology is expected to experience a massive growth this year and generate considerable revenue for various industries such as ecommerce, finance, healthcare, government administration, education, agriculture, manufacturing units, etc.

(3) Edge Computing

Edge computing is an emerging technology that is expected to witness its growth over next few years. The edge computing technology involves having computer infrastructure closer to source of data. This technology allows visitors and processing neighbourhood to decrease latency, exploit the capacities of a border and enable increased liberty in the border. One of the areas where edge computing is implemented in recent days is autonomous vehicles. The vehicle industry has made use of this technology to process and analyse large amounts of data, make critical decisions quickly and efficiently. This technology enable vehicles to exchange real-time sensory data, corroborate and improve decisions with less onboard-resources.

Edge computing technology will have an influence in telecom companies, software platform providers, data centres, public cloud providers, content delivery agencies/networks etc. in next few years.

Even before the reach of 4G technology, 5G has started to emerge across the world. Some of the countries like US and China have already started to implement 5G network into their infrastructures. The 5G technology provides a uniform, consistent and uninterrupted connectivity across the world. This has made this technology to be employable across various industries.

This year 5G technology will have an influence in device-device communication, smart home & smart city, self-driving car, etc.

(5) Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality

AR/VR is influencing various industries in the recent years. They are expected to witness revival in their implementation this year. Virtual Reality (VR) immerses the user in an environment whereas Augmented Reality (AR) enhances the user’s environment. Although VR is primarily used for gaming so far, it has also been used in other industries. Specifically, VR has good benefits in education. Visualizing and learning anything will influence you for a longer time than simply using books/videos/other traditional methods. Hence, using VR in an educational institution has proved to have a positive impact on students as it provides opportunity to visualize things.

Nowadays and also in future, AR/VR will be used in various areas such as retail to real estate, manufacturing to training etc. across the world. All these technologies yields perfect results and make everyone to do the work in a fast and efficient manner. I am sure, these developed technologies and developing technologies will drastically changes the life of everyone in both personal and professional environments.

“We’re changing the world with technology”. – Bill Gates