First, let’s take a look at some of the developments in the IT industry in the past years:
Artificial Intelligence – AI
Artificial Intelligence is bringing major changes in business operations by reshaping all industries with the power of advanced technologies and software. Many companies today recognize the value of implementing AI strategies to get things done more efficiently and healthily, and a big leap towards AI is on the way. Although large companies with more than 50-100 thousand employees seem to be more likely to implement AI strategies than other companies, this process is not without its difficulties for such large companies. The past 2 years have been a time when leading companies have begun to incorporate AI applications into their strategic and organizational development. In addition to all these, artificial intelligence solutions developed by engineers or companies have created a significant potential for services and applications that institutions can offer to end users.
The continuous evolution of machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies ensures that almost every job performed is data-driven and industries are smarter. After years of R&D work on prototypes and ideas, the new products will be even more breathtaking. Virtual assistance for patients, computational drug discovery and genetics research heralds incredible advances in medicine. Many AI applications will evolve, and these significant changes will reshape every single industry line.
Blockchain
Last year, everyone talked about blockchain, a revolutionary technology that stores and exchanges data for cryptocurrencies. Blockchain saw significant developments in digital transactions in 2018, which created new business opportunities. Due to the increasing role of social responsibility and security on the internet, blockchain technologies have become more and more important. Thanks to blockchain, many companies that have worked offline until today have been able to completely digitize their business processes. In addition, businesses need to take into account the risks and opportunities of blockchain and analyze in depth how this technology can affect customer behavior. Blockchain infrastructure in the financial services sector has survived the first cycle and entered the stabilization process. We will soon see more potential uses emerge for the public, healthcare, manufacturing and other sectors in the coming period. For example, blockchain also has the infrastructure to manage intellectual property management and can also be used for protection against copyright infringement. Some websites such as Blockai, Pixsy, and Mediachain have already implemented blockchain technology for this purpose.
Internet of Things – IOT
Smart objects are described as everyday devices that can interact effectively with people and the environment. They can operate semi-autonomously or autonomously in uncontrolled real-world conditions without the need for any human intervention. Smart objects have been in an incredible development and spread over the past few years. As a result, the days when 4-5 smart objects per person will be in active use are not far away. In the near future, we will witness multiple devices working together to reach their full potential and offer much more end-to-end solutions. These devices will jointly form a network of smart objects and, when combined with global networked wired and wireless communication channels, will turn into a large integrated system that will cause a major shift in human-machine interaction. The meeting of artificial intelligence with the internet and increasing its power will bring technologies that we cannot even imagine today to create smart homes and cities.
Big Data, Cyber Security – Privacy
Technological developments increase the importance of data day by day, so hacking techniques and cyber attacks are becoming more and more sophisticated. The increase in the number of devices connected to the Internet creates more data, while also making applications more vulnerable and less protected. 90% of the data available in the world today has been produced in the last two years. Smartphones and IoT devices play a big role in this extreme increase. IoT products have become more popular and widely used in recent years, but they remain extremely insecure in terms of data privacy.
Machine learning is poised to become the top security trend, creating a probabilistic, predictive approach to securing data. Implementation techniques such as behavioral analysis allow to detect and stop an attack that can bypass static protective systems. Although there are areas where we are still vulnerable in terms of security, it is now a reality that there are promising solutions that can bring more effective privacy to our lives.
So what will be the new trends in technology in the coming period?
5G
This technology has been occupying our agenda for a while. And if you’re a traveler enough, or if you’re in the service network of a particular global operator, you know that it’s still possible to switch back to 2G/3G zones from time to time without realizing it. So, what will change with 5G now? If you follow technological developments, you also know that 5G has been implemented in many locations for testing purposes, with companies such as Qualcomm, Intel, Nokia, Ericcson, Samsung and Huawei. In a short time, we will see the days when internet speed will no longer be a barrier.
Chatbots and NLP
It is a fact that we have had sometimes funny and sometimes frustrating chatbot experiences in the past years. But the good news is that great strides continue to be made in natural language processing (NLP) and sentiment analysis. The technological advances we will experience in this area in the very near future will evolve service industries in ways we could never have imagined. Quickly think of all the services that can be provided without humans – banking, job search apps, e-commerce platforms, food ordering, visa application and more! Beyond that, with NLP, companies will be able to gather a wide variety of insights and improve their services based on these insights. About 40% of large service providers have started to implement developments based on chatbot and NLP technologies.
AR/VR
Virtual reality (VR) is both a very cool technology and a disappointment for many people. In today’s market, we have not been able to see much of a striking aspect beyond gaming and highly specialized applications. Instead, augmented reality (AR)—VR’s less technological and younger brother—will continue to be the name of the game in digital transformation trends. AR finds a very serious usage area especially in corporate workforce trainings; which means it’s not only cool, it works. Although many experts believe that the developments in this field will take a long time, there are many who think that the development of AR will make a difference very soon.
In addition, there are some improvements you can expect in the area of software quality:
In order for the technological developments we mentioned to enter our lives and to be used in a healthy way, it is extremely critical that they undergo quality and testing processes. Today, technology companies have to devote an equivalent focus to the quality of these products and services, while making the calculations of bringing new products and services to the market as quickly as possible. The software testing market has already exceeded 50 billion dollars in the world. Technological developments in the product and service market trigger the emergence of new technologies to test these products and services. Today, artificial intelligence algorithms, test automation, data management, static and dynamic code analysis tools are widely used in the software testing industry. The software testing area is so important for companies that when companies decide to develop a new technology, they act according to the fact that this technology is an easily testable technology.