Lesson 2: Current Trends and Emerging Technologies

Overview
Information technology is an industry on the rise, and business structure, job growth,
and emerging technology will all shift in the coming years. Current trends are improving and
presenting new functions in fields like medicine, entertainment, business, education,
marketing, law enforcement, and more. Still, other much-anticipated technology is only now
coming on the scene.

Innovations in IT change internal company processes, but they are also altering the way
customers experience purchasing and support — not to mention basic practices in life, like
locking up your home, visiting the doctor, and storing files. The following trends in information
technology are crucial areas to watch in 2019 and viable considerations that could influence
your future career choices.

Current Trends in Information Technology

The latest technology methods and best practices of 2019 will primarily stem from
current trends in information technology. Advancements in IT systems relate to what the
industry is leaning toward or disregarding now. Information technology is advancing so rapidly
that new developments are quickly replacing current projections.

a. Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is a network of resources a company can access, and this method
of using a digital drive increases the efficiency of organizations. Instead of local storage on
computer hard drives, companies will be freeing their space and conserving funds.
According to Forbes, 83 percent of enterprise workloads will be in the cloud by 2020, which
means 2019 will show an increasing trend closing in on this statistic.

Cloud storage and sharing is a popular trend many companies have adopted and
even implemented for employee interaction. A company-wide network will help businesses
save on information technology infrastructure. Cloud services will also extend internal
functions to gain revenue. Organizations that offer cloud services will market these for
external products and continue their momentum.

Organizations will transfer their stored files across multiple sources using
virtualization. Companies are already using this level of virtualization, but will further
embrace it in the year to come. Less installation across company computers is another
positive result of cloud computing because the Internet allows direct access to shared
technology and information. The freedom of new products and services makes cloud
computing a growing trend.

b. Mobile Computing and Applications

Mobile phones, tablets, and other devices have taken both the business world and
the personal realm by storm. Mobile usage and the number of applications generated have
both skyrocketed in recent years. Now, according to Forbes, 77 percent of Americans own
smartphones — a 35 percent increase since 2011. Pew Research Center also shows using
phones for online use has increased and fewer individuals use traditional Internet services
like broadband. Experts project mobile traffic to increase even further in 2019, and mobile
applications, consumer capabilities, and payment options will be necessary for businesses.
The fastest-growing companies have already established their mobile websites, marketing,
and apps for maximized security and user-friendliness. Cloud apps are also available for
companies to use for on-the-go capabilities.
c. Big Data Analytics
 Big data is a trend that allows businesses to analyze extensive sets of information
to achieve variety in increasing volumes and growth of velocity. Big data has a high
return on investment that boosts the productivity of marketing campaigns, due to its
ability to enable high-functioning processing. Data mining is a way companies can
predict growth opportunities and achieve future success. Examination of data to
understand markets and strategies is becoming more manageable with advances in data
analytic programs.

This practice in information technology can be observed for its potential in data
management positions for optimal organizations. Database maintenance is a growing
sector of technology careers. To convert various leads into paying customers, big data is
an essential trend to continue following in 2019.

d. Automation
Another current trend in the IT industry is automated processes. Automated
processes can collect information from vendors, customers, and other documentation.
Automated processes that check invoices and other accounts-payable aspects expedite
customer interactions. Machine processes can automate repetitive manual tasks, rather
than assigning them to employees. This increases organization-wide productivity, allowing
employees to use their valuable time wisely, rather than wasting it on tedious work.

Automation can even produce more job opportunities for IT professionals trained in
supporting, programming, and developing automated processes. Machine learning can
enhance these automated processes for a continually developing system. Automated
processes for the future will extend to groceries and other automatic payment methods to
streamline the consumer experience.

Emerging Trends in Information Technology

Trends in information technology emerging in 2019 are new and innovative ways for the
industry to grow. These movements in information technology are the areas expected to
generate revenue and increase demand for IT jobs. Pay attention to these technological
changes and unique products that enhance business operations.

a. Artificial Intelligence and Smart Machines

What is Artificial Intelligence?
According to Encyclopedia, Artificial intelligence (AI), is the ability of a digital
computer or computer-controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with
intelligent beings. The term is frequently applied to the project of developing
systems endowed with the intellectual processes characteristic of humans, such as
the ability to reason, discover meaning, generalize, or learn from past experience.

Figure 1.1 Artificial Intelligence

 Artificial Intelligence, or AI, has already received a lot of buzz in recent years, but
it continues to be a trend to watch because its effects on how we live, work, and play
are only in the early stages. In addition, other branches of AI have developed, including
Machine Learning, which we will go into below. AI refers to computer systems built to
mimic human intelligence and perform tasks such as recognition of images, speech or
patterns, and decision making. AI can do these tasks faster and more accurately than
humans.

According to Forbes, Five out of six Americans use AI services in one form or
another every day, including navigation apps, streaming services, smartphone personal
assistants, ride-sharing apps, home personal assistants, and smart home devices. In
addition to consumer use, AI is used to schedule trains, assess business risk, predict
maintenance, and improve energy efficiency, among many other money-saving tasks.

In fact, Artificial intelligence are already being used in different organization to

help solve problems such as AI face recognition is beginning to help with missing people
reports, and it even helps identify individuals for criminal investigations when cameras
have captured their images. According to the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, face recognition is most effective when AI systems and forensic facial
recognition experts’ team up. AI will continue to promote safety for citizens in the
future as software improvements shape these applications.

Medical AI is another trend that reflects surprising success. Given patient

information and risk factors, AI systems can anticipate the outcome of treatment and
even estimate the length of a hospital visit. Deep learning is one-way AI technology gets
applied to health records to find the likelihood of a patient’s recovery and even
mortality. Experts evaluate data to discover patterns in the patient’s age, condition,
records, and more.

Home AI systems are also increasingly popular to expedite daily tasks like
listening to tunes, asking for restaurant hours, getting directions, and even sending
messages. Many problem-solving AI tools also help in the workplace, and the
helpfulness of this technology will continue to progress in 2020.

Figure 1.2 AI Systems: Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, Bixby

b. Virtual Reality
Virtual reality (VR), the use of computer modeling and simulation that enables a
person to interact with an artificial three-dimensional (3-D) visual or another sensory
environment. VR applications immerse the user in a computer-generated environment
that simulates reality through the use of interactive devices, which send and receive
information and are worn as goggles, headsets, gloves, or body suits. In a typical VR
format, a user wearing a helmet with a stereoscopic screen views animated images of a
simulated environment. The illusion of “being there” (telepresence) is affected by
motion sensors that pick up the user’s movements and adjust the view on the screen
accordingly, usually in real time (the instant the user’s movement takes place). Thus, a
user can tour a simulated suite of rooms, experiencing changing viewpoints and
perspectives that are convincingly related to his own head turnings and steps. Wearing
data gloves equipped with force-feedback devices that provide the sensation of touch,
the user can even pick up and manipulate objects that he sees in the virtual
environment.

Virtual Reality’s most immediately-recognizable component is the head-

mounted display (HMD). Human beings are visual creatures, and display technology is
often the single biggest difference between immersive Virtual Reality systems and
traditional user interfaces.

Figure 1.3 CAVE automatic virtual environment

For instance, CAVE automatic virtual environments actively display virtual

content onto room-sized screens. While they are fun for people in universities and big
labs, consumer and industrial wearables are the wild west.

With a multiplicity of emerging hardware and software options, the future of

wearables is unfolding but yet unknown. Concepts such as the HTC Vive Pro Eye, Oculus
Quest and Playstation VR are leading the way, but there are also players like Google,
Apple, Samsung, Lenovo and others who may surprise the industry with new levels of
immersion and usability. Whomever comes out ahead, the simplicity of buying a helmet-
sized device that can work in a living-room, office, or factory floor has made HMDs
center stage when it comes to Virtual Reality technologies.
 Figure 1.4 Oculus Rift

Whilst VR is known for transforming the gaming and entertainment industry in

particular, with consoles and handhelds adapting their games for VR the gaming
experience has been utterly transformed and improved all around. The connection
between game and player becomes far closer as gamers are completely immersed into
their own gaming world.
VR is also beginning to revolutionize other industries such as healthcare, retail
and education, which is already aiding tasks in the sectors, from helping patients with
anxiety relax, and helping students learn more by experiencing what they are being
educated on.

c. Augmented Reality
Augmented reality is a more versatile and practical version of virtual reality, as it
does not fully immerse individuals in an experience. Augmented reality features
interactive scenarios that enhance the real world with images and sounds that create an
altered experience. The most common current applications of this overlay of digital
images on the surrounding environment include the recent Pokémon Go fad.

Figure 1.5 Pokémon Go

As it happens, phones and tablets are the way augmented reality gets into most
people's lives. One of the most popular ways AR has infiltrated everyday life is through
mobile games. In 2016, the AR game "Pokémon Go" became a sensation worldwide,
with over 100 million estimated users at its peak, according to CNET. It ended up making
more than $2 billion and counting, according to Forbes. The game allowed users to see
Pokémon characters bouncing around in their own town. The goal was to capture these
pocket monsters using your smartphone camera, and then use them to battle others,
locally, in AR gyms.
 Another app called Layar uses the smartphone's GPS and its camera to collect
information about the user's surroundings. It then displays information about nearby
restaurants, stores and points of interest.

Augmented reality can impact many industries in useful ways. Airports are
implementing augmented-reality guides to help people get through their checks and
terminals as quickly and efficiently as possible. Retail and cosmetics are also using
augmented reality to let customers test products, and furniture stores are using this
mode to lay out new interior design options.

This doesn't mean that phones and tablets will be the only venue for AR.
Research continues apace on including AR functionality in contact lenses, and other
wearable devices. The ultimate goal of augmented reality is to create a convenient and
natural immersion, so there's a sense that phones and tablets will get replaced, though
it isn't clear what those replacements will be. Even glasses might take on a new form, as
"smart glasses" are developed for blind people. Like any new technology, AR has a lot of
political and ethical issues. Google Glass, for example, raised privacy concerns. Some
worried that conversations might be surreptitiously recorded or pictures snapped, or
thought that they might be identified by face recognition software. AR glasses, contacts
and more, like the Glass - X and Google Lens, though, are moving ahead in production
and sales.

The possibilities for augmented reality in the future revolve around mobile
applications and health care solutions. Careers in mobile app development and design
will be abundant, and information technology professionals can put their expertise to
use in these interactive experiences.

d. Blockchain Data
Blockchain data, like the new cryptocurrency Bitcoin, is a secure method that will
continue to grow in popularity and use in 2019. This system allows you to input
additional data without changing, replacing, or deleting anything. In the influx of shared
data systems like cloud storage and resources, protecting original data without losing
important information is crucial.

Blockchain in simple terms is a system of recording information in a way that

makes it difficult or impossible to change, hack, or cheat the system. A blockchain is
essentially a digital ledger of transactions that is duplicated and distributed across the
entire network of computer systems on the blockchain.

The authority of many parties keeps the data accounted for without turning over
too much responsibility to certain employees or management staff. For transaction
purposes, blockchain data offers a safe and straightforward way to do business with
suppliers and customers. Private data is particularly secure with blockchain systems, and
the medical and information technology industries can benefit equally from added
protection.

e. Internet of Things
The Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerging movement of products with
integrated Wi-Fi and network connectivity abilities. Cars, homes, appliances, and other
products can now connect to the Internet, making activities around the home and on
the road an enhanced experience. Use of IoT allows people to turn on music hands-free
with a simple command, or lock and unlock their doors even from a distance.
 Many of these functions are helping organizations in customer interaction,
responses, confirmations, and payments. Remote collection of data assists companies
the most. IoT almost acts like a digital personal assistant. The intelligent features of
some of these IoT products can aid in many company procedures. Voice recognition and
command responses will allow you to access stored data on cloud services.

IoT enriches the IT industry, especially in job creation. Within the next few years,
IoT-related careers will increase, and there will be a need for 200,000 additional IT
workers, according to IT Pro Today. Design, troubleshooting, and support of IoT
products need extensive training and a specific set of skills.

f. 5G
5G is the 5th generation mobile network. It is a new global wireless standard
after 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G networks. 5G enables a new kind of network that is designed to
connect virtually everyone and
everything together including machines, objects, and devices.

5G wireless technology is meant to deliver higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds,

ultra-low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and
a more uniform user experience to more users. Higher performance and improved
efficiency empower new user experiences and connects new industries.

5G is a unified, more capable air interface. It has been designed with an

extended capacity to enable next-generation user experiences, empower new
deployment models and deliver new services. With high speeds, superior reliability and
negligible latency, 5G will expand the mobile ecosystem into new realms. 5G will impact
every industry, making safer transportation, remote healthcare, precision agriculture,
digitized logistics — and more — a reality.

Broadly speaking, 5G is used across three main types of connected services,

including enhanced mobile broadband, mission-critical communications, and the
massive IoT. A defining capability of 5G is that it is designed for forward compatibility—
the ability to flexibly support future services that are unknown today.

In addition to making our smartphones better, 5G mobile technology can usher

in new immersive experiences such as VR and AR with faster, more uniform data rates,
lower latency, and lower cost-per-bit.

5G can enable new services that can transform industries with ultra-reliable,
available, low-latency links like remote control of critical infrastructure, vehicles, and
medical procedures.

5G is meant to seamlessly connect a massive number of embedded sensors in virtually

everything through the ability to scale down in data rates, power, and mobility—providing
extremely lean and low-cost connectivity solutions.