Technology
today is evolving at such a rapid pace, enabling faster change and progress,
causing an acceleration of the rate of change, until eventually, it will become
exponential. However, it is not only technology trends and top technologies
that are evolving, a lot more has changed this year due to the outbreak of
COVID-19 making IT professionals realize that their role will not stay the same
in the contactless world tomorrow. And an IT professional in 2020-21 will
constantly be learning, unlearning, and relearning (out of necessity if not
desire).
What does
this mean for you? It means staying current with new technology trends. And it
means keeping your eyes on the future to know which skills you’ll need to know
to secure a safe job tomorrow and even learn how to get there. All bows to the
worldwide pandemic, most of the global IT population is sitting back, working
from home. And if you wish to make the most of your time at home, here are the
top 9 new technology trends you should watch for and make an attempt at in
2021, and possibly secure one of the jobs that will be created by these new
technology trends.
Here is the
list of the top 9 new and trending technologies:
Artificial
Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning
Robotic
Process Automation (RPA)
Edge
Computing
Quantum
Computing
Virtual
Reality and Augmented Reality
Blockchain
Internet of
Things (IoT)
5G
Cyber
Security
1. Artificial
Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning
Artificial
Intelligence, or AI, has already received a lot of buzz in the past decade, but
it continues to be one of the new technology trends because its notable effects
on how we live, work and play are only in the early stages. AI is already known
for its superiority in image and speech recognition, navigation apps,
smartphone personal assistants, ride-sharing apps and so much more.
Other than
that AI will be used further to analyze interactions to determine underlying
connections and insights, to help predict demand for services like hospitals
enabling authorities to make better decisions about resource utilization, and
to detect the changing patterns of customer behaviour by analyzing data in near
real-time, driving revenues and enhancing personalized experiences.
The AI market
will grow to a $190 billion industry by 2025 with global spending on cognitive
and AI systems reaching over $57 billion in 2021. With AI spreading its wings across sectors,
new jobs will be created in development, programming, testing, support and
maintenance, to name a few. On the other hand AI also offers some of the
highest salaries today ranging from over $1,25,000 per year (machine learning
engineer) to $145,000 per year (AI architect) - making it the top new
technology trend you must watch out for!
Machine
Learning the subset of AI, is also being deployed in all kinds of industries,
creating a huge demand for skilled professionals. Forrester predicts AI,
machine learning, and automation will create 9 percent of new U.S. jobs by
2025, jobs including robot monitoring professionals, data scientists,
automation specialists, and content curators, making it another new technology
trend you must keep in mind too!
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Learning Engineer
AI Architect
2. Robotic
Process Automation (RPA)
Like AI and
Machine Learning, Robotic Process Automation, or RPA, is another technology
that is automating jobs. RPA is the use of software to automate business
processes such as interpreting applications, processing transactions, dealing
with data, and even replying to emails. RPA automates repetitive tasks that
people used to do.
Although
Forrester Research estimates RPA automation will threaten the livelihood of 230
million or more knowledge workers or approximately 9 percent of the global
workforce, RPA is also creating new jobs while altering existing jobs. McKinsey
finds that less than 5 percent of occupations can be totally automated, but
about 60 percent can be partially automated.
For you as an
IT professional looking to the future and trying to understand new technology
trends, RPA offers plenty of career opportunities, including developer, project
manager, business analyst, solution architect, and consultant. And these jobs
pay well. An RPA developer can earn over ₹534K per year - making it the next
technology trend you must keep a watch on!
Mastering RPA
will help you secure high paying jobs like:
RPA Developer
RPA Analyst
RPA Architect
3. Edge
Computing
Formerly a
new technology trend to watch, cloud computing has become mainstream, with
major players AWS (Amazon Web Services), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud
Platform dominating the market. The adoption of cloud computing is still
growing, as more and more businesses migrate to a cloud solution. But it’s no
longer the emerging technology trend. Edge is.
As the
quantity of data organizations are dealing with continues to increase, they
have realized the shortcomings of cloud computing in some situations. Edge
computing is designed to help solve some of those problems as a way to bypass
the latency caused by cloud computing and getting data to a datacenter for
processing. It can exist “on the edge,” if you will, closer to where computing
needs to happen. For this reason, edge computing can be used to process
time-sensitive data in remote locations with limited or no connectivity to a
centralized location. In those situations, edge computing can act like mini
datacenters.
Edge
computing will increase as use of the Internet of Things (IoT) devices
increases. By 2022, the global edge computing market is expected to reach $6.72
billion. And this new technology trend is only meant to grow and nothing less,
creating various jobs, primarily for software engineers.
Keeping in
line with cloud computing (including new-age edge and quantum computing) will
help you grab amazing jobs like:
Cloud
Reliability Engineer
Cloud
Infrastructure Engineer
Cloud
Architect and Security Architect
DevOps Cloud
Engineer
4. Quantum
Computing
Next
remarkable technology trend is quantum computing, which is a form of computing
that takes advantage of quantum phenomena like superposition and quantum
entanglement. This amazing technology trend is also involved in preventing the
spread of the coronavirus, and to develop potential vaccines, thanks to its
ability to easily query, monitor, analyze and act on data, regardless of the
source. Another field where quantum computing is finding applications in
banking and finance, to manage credit risk, for high-frequency trading and
fraud detection.
Quantum
computers are now a multitude times faster than regular computers and huge
brands like Splunk, Honeywell, Microsoft, AWS, Google and many others are now
involved in making innovations in the field of Quantum Computing. The revenues
for the global quantum computing market are projected to surpass $2.5 billion
by 2029. And to make a mark in this new trending technology, you need to have
experience with quantum mechanics, linear algebra, probability, information
theory, and machine learning.
5. Virtual
Reality and Augmented Reality
The next
exceptional technology trend - Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR),
and Extended Reality (ER). VR immerses the user in an environment while AR
enhances their environment. Although this technology trend has primarily been
used for gaming thus far, it has also been used for training, as with
VirtualShip, a simulation software used to train U.S. Navy, Army and Coast
Guard ship captains.
In 2021, we
can expect these forms of technologies being further integrated into our lives.
Usually working in tandem with some of the other new technologies we’ve
mentioned in this list, AR and VR have enormous potential in training,
entertainment, education, marketing, and even rehabilitation after an injury.
Either could be used to train doctors to do surgery, offer museum-goers a
deeper experience, enhance theme parks, or even enhance marketing, as with this
Pepsi Max bus shelter.
Fun fact: 14
million AR and VR devices were sold in 2019. The global AR and VR market is
expected to grow to $209.2 billion by 2022, only creating more opportunities in
the trending technology, and welcoming more professionals ready for this
game-changing field.
While some
employers might look for optics as a skill-set, note that getting started in VR
doesn’t require a lot of specialized knowledge - basic programming skills and a
forward-thinking mindset can land a job; another reason why this new technology
trend should make up to your list of lookouts!
6. Blockchain
Although most
people think of blockchain technology in relation to cryptocurrencies such as
Bitcoin, blockchain offers security that is useful in many other ways. In the
simplest of terms, blockchain can be described as data you can only add to, not
take away from or change. Hence the term “chain” because you’re making a chain
of data. Not being able to change the previous blocks is what makes it so
secure. In addition, blockchains are consensus-driven, so no one entity can
take control of the data. With blockchain, you don’t need a trusted third-party
to oversee or validate transactions.
Several
industries are involving and implementing blockchain, and as the use of
blockchain technology increases, so too does the demand for skilled
professionals. From a birds eye view, a blockchain developer specializes in
developing and implementing architecture and solutions using blockchain
technology. The average yearly salary of a blockchain developer is ₹469K.
If you are
intrigued by Blockchain and its applications and want to make your career in
this trending technology, then this is the right time to start. To get into
Blockchain, you need to have hands-on experience of programming languages, the
fundamentals of OOPS, flat and relational databases, data structures, web app
development, and networking.
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7. Internet
of Things (IoT)
Another
promising new technology trend is IoT. Many “things” are now being built with
WiFi connectivity, meaning they can be connected to the Internet—and to each
other. Hence, the Internet of Things, or IoT. The Internet of Things is the
future, and has already enabled devices, home appliances, cars and much more to
be connected to and exchange data over the Internet.
As consumers,
we’re already using and benefitting from IoT. We can lock our doors remotely if
we forget to when we leave for work and preheat our ovens on our way home from
work, all while tracking our fitness on our Fitbits. However, businesses also
have much to gain now and in the near future. The IoT can enable better safety,
efficiency and decision-making for businesses as data is collected and
analyzed. It can enable predictive maintenance, speed up medical care, improve
customer service, and offer benefits we haven’t even imagined yet.
And we’re
only in the beginning stages of this new technology trend: Forecasts suggest
that by 2030 around 50 billion of these IoT devices will be in use around the
world, creating a massive web of interconnected devices spanning everything
from smartphones to kitchen appliances. The global spending on the Internet of
Things (IoT) is forecast to reach 1.1 trillion U.S. dollars in 2022. New
technologies such as 5G is expected to drive market growth in the coming years.
And if you
wish to step foot in this trending technology, you will have to learn about
Information security, AI and machine learning fundamentals, networking,
hardware interfacing, data analytics, automation, understanding of embedded
systems, and must have device and design knowledge.
8. 5G
The next
technology trend that follows the IoT is 5G. Where 3G and 4G technologies have
enabled us to browse the internet, use data driven services, increased
bandwidths for streaming on Spotify or YouTube and so much more, 5G services
are expected to revolutionize our lives. by enabling services that rely on
advanced technologies like AR and VR, alongside cloud based gaming services
like Google Stadia, NVidia GeForce Now and much more. It is expected to be used
in factories, HD cameras that help improve safety and traffic management, smart
grid control and smart retail too.
Just about
every telecom company like Verizon, Tmobile, Apple, Nokia Corp, QualComm, are
now working on creating 5G applications. 5G services are expected to launch
worldwide in 2021 with more than 50 operators offering services in about 30
countries by the end of 2021, making it a new technology trend you must watch
out for, and also save a spot in.
9. Cyber
Security
Cyber
security might not seem like trending technology, given that it has been around
for a while, but it is evolving just as other technologies are. That’s in part
because threats are constantly new. The malevolent hackers who are trying to
illegally access data are not going to give up any time soon, and they will
continue to find ways to get through even the toughest security measures. It’s
also in part because new technology is being adapted to enhance security. As
long as we have hackers, cybersecurity will remain a trending technology
because it will constantly evolve to defend against those hackers.
As proof of
the strong need for cybersecurity professionals, the number of cybersecurity
jobs is growing three times faster than other tech jobs. Also, the need for
proper cybersecurity is so high that by 2021, $6 trillion will be spent
globally on cybersecurity.
You must note
that however challenging the field is it also offers lucrative six-figure
incomes, and roles can range from
Ethical
Hacker
Malware
Analyst
Security
Engineer
Chief
Security Officer
offering a
promising career path for someone who wants to get into and stick with this
evergreen trending technology.
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9 New
Technology Trends and 1 Solution to Succeed in Them
Although
technologies are emerging and evolving all around us, these top 9 new
technology trends offer promising career potential now and for the foreseeable
future. And most of these trending technologies are welcoming skilled
professionals, meaning the time is right for you to choose one, get trained, and
get on board at the early stages of these trending technologies, positioning
you for success now and in the future.