10 Technology Trends for 2020

Technology trends have the potential both to create opportunities and to generate significant revolutions. Business and innovation leaders will need to evaluate them to determine how they can drive their business strategies.

We share “Top 10 strategic technology trends for 2020” detected by Gartner, where they highlighted some technologies such as hyper-automation, blockchain, AI security, distributed cloud, Internet of Autonomous Things (IoTA,) among others, which will create opportunities for the market.

Trend #1 | Artificial Intelligence

In 2020, IT security, the use of biometrics or virtual assistance will be key scenarios for the development and implementation of Artificial Intelligence.

AI makes it possible to analyze large volumes of data, detect intrusive behavior patterns, identify vulnerabilities and generate alerts that will serve as a preventive method against possible cyber-attacks.

Facial recognition where, for example, in China, citizens will have to scan their face in order to access the internet or voice assistants such as Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant or Cortana, which will represent 50% of all internet searches, are a clear example of the evolution of this technology.

Or like ‘chatbots’, they are improving customer service to the point where a user can receive advice anytime, anywhere thanks to AI.

Trend #2 | Practical Blockchain

Despite blockchain’s great potential to provide transparency, reduce costs and intermediation, track assets and protect the most critical transactions carried out in the cloud, very few organizations have chosen to invest in this technology in a comprehensive manner. Because of this, the practical blockchain has emerged, a smaller version that combines specific elements of this technology with other more traditional control models.

In this way, companies can benefit from specific components of the blockchain without the need to implement the entire technology as a whole.

For this reason, practical blockchain is one of the technology trends in 2020, and the number of companies that will implement it will be increasing.

Trend #3: Autonomous objects

Robots, drones, autonomous vehicles and other artificial intelligence-based devices can perform tasks that were previously limited to humans. As technological capability improves, regulation permits and social acceptance grows, autonomous things will increasingly be applied in uncontrolled public spaces.

Trend #4 | Hyper-automation

Automation consists of a set of technologies designed to perform tasks that were previously performed by humans. In a more advanced version we have hyper-automation, which in addition to carrying out human tasks through RPA (Robotic Process Automation) mechanisms, is also capable of supporting decision making through the combination of different artificial intelligence techniques.

For example, in the transportation sector, hyper-automation is possible through solutions such as FIELDEAS Track and Trace, solutions that generate end-to-end visibility of transportation operations. Thus, these technologies support logistics managers to optimize their decision making in real time, and are therefore considered part of the technology trends of 2020.

Trend #5 | Transparency and traceability

Due to the increasing amount of personal information that companies handle, it is important to give users confidence that their data is being handled responsibly. For this reason, one of the technological trends in 2020 will be to invest in data management processes and technologies that guarantee ethics and integrity in the handling of the personal information collected.

In this sense, to avoid situations of poor data management as in the case of Facebook and to regain the trust of users, organizations must go beyond the mere application of the GDPR. Thus, the technological trend in 2020 is to prioritize transparent and traceable data management through technology.

Trend #6 | Multi-experience

Multi-experience focuses on immersive experiences using augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality, multichannel human-machine interfaces and sensing technologies. The combination of these technologies gives the ability to communicate through human senses creating a richer environment.

Trend #7 | Democratization

The democratization of data and data analysis, the democratization of development (with the emergence of artificial intelligence tools to leverage custom applications), the democratization of design and the democratization of knowledge (access to technical tools and systems by non-technical users).

Trend #8 | Super-humans

Human augmentation is a term for technologies that improve human productivity through physical and cognitive enhancements.

Trend #9 | Empowered Edge

Edge computing will become a dominant factor in all industries and use cases. Complex devices based on this technology (including robots, drones, autonomous vehicles and operating systems) will accelerate this change.

Trend #10 | The distributed cloud

The distributed cloud allows data centers to be located anywhere, which solves regulatory challenges such as data sovereignty. At the same time it has the benefits of both a public and a private cloud service. The cloud provider is responsible for issues such as service architecture or updates. This system provides higher performance and compatibility between platforms and infrastructures.