Vasupradha Ramachandran
The field of technology is something that never stops developing. When it comes to technology, there is always room for improvement and new opportunities. Over the past decade, we were able to experience technologies entering our lives to being a major part of our day-to-day lives. This article focuses on highlighting 6 major technologies that are more expected to dominate in 2022.
Blockchain
Blockchain can be considered as a specific type of database. The difference between a typical database and blockchain is the way in how the data will be stored. In a normal database, the data are stored in a way that is categorized into well-defined rows and columns. Whilst in a blockchain, the data are stored in the form of blocks. Each of the blocks is connected to its predecessor and successor, which forms a chain-like pattern. Hence the name ‘blockchain’.
The data in the blockchain are encrypted and stored in a hash format. All of the blocks in the blockchain networks are interconnected. Hence to access a single block, the entire network has to be accessed. Without the right keys, it is impossible to decrypt the data in a blockchain network. This makes blockchain very effective against cyberattacks and data leakages.
Of late, huge financial corporations such as JP Morgan and other multi-national corporations have started adopting blockchain technology. In the upcoming years, the truly decentralized characteristics of blockchain will create so many opportunities across various industries. For example, the healthcare industry is often subjected to cyberattacks as it contains a lot of sensitive information about an individual. Adopting blockchain technology to store records could prevent any sort of cyberattacks in the healthcare industry. The total revenue spent globally on blockchain solutions is expected to be 6.6 billion by 2024.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is an advanced branch of computer science. The main objective of AI is to have decision-making capabilities like human beings. Though we are not technically in that state now, AI offers so many benefits to industries and individuals. Many companies have started to adopt automation to increase their efficiency and productivity to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors.
AI has been playing a major part in almost every industrial sector. AI-powered wearable devices help in analyze patients and provide tailored treatments. In the software development field, AI-based low-code / no-code platforms save a lot of time by developing the application from scratch rather than writing thousands of lines of codes. The development of self-driving vehicles is one of the phenomenal achievements in the field of technology.
Machine learning and Natural Language Processing are a branch of artificial intelligence. Both ML and NLP, in essence, are used to train the machine to understand human languages and make decisions based on the given input. The best examples of AI are virtual assistants like Google Assistant, Siri and Alexa. In the future, AI could be combined with other technologies to provide much more powerful capabilities and potentially change the way things work at present. By 2022, the majority of the companies are expected to widely adopt AI for their business operations.
Cloud services
Cloud services are becoming an integral part of businesses these days. Cloud services save a lot of time and effort in maintaining and managing local databases. Moreover, maintaining a local database needs experienced personnel to manage the database and conduct frequent maintenance checks. This will prevent any data leakages or cyberattacks. With cloud service, the data becomes more flexible as it could be accessed from anywhere. All of these processes of maintenance and management will be done by the cloud service provider.
Cloud providers can also offer disaster recovery management to protect the data in case of any disaster. The maintenance downtime will also be very less when compared to the downtime of locally managed data centers. According to Gartner’s prediction, the public cloud service market is expected to reach about $397.4 billion.
5G
5G is the next generation of cellular connectivity. 5G can provide greater connectivity speeds with the help of high-frequency radio waves. The deployment of 5G has already started in some parts of the world. 5G spectrum’s radio frequency has a very short wavelength and lies between the range of 24GHz to 100 GHz. This range of spectrum can transfer data at high speeds.
Since the 5G spectrum has a shorter wavelength, the transfer distance is also short. Hence it is important to adopt the necessary infrastructure such as small towers within buildings. One of the best characteristics of 5G is MIMO (Massive Input Massive Output). It simply means that 5G can receive and transmit data from a wide variety of sources. Moreover, with 5G, reception and transmission of data can happen simultaneously on the same wavelength.
Quantum computing
Quantum computers are the next generation of supercomputers. Here, the bits (0s and 1s) are replaced by qubits or quantum bits with super impossible states, where the state can be 0 and 1 at the same time. A quantum computer can do a heavy task that requires 10,000 years for a supercomputer to perform in about three minutes. The massive computational capabilities of quantum computers can easily decrypt encrypted data.
This exceptional computation speed is achieved by creating multidimensional spaces to represent a large problem. The algorithm that employs quantum waves into this space, will then find the solution to the problem in this space and translate it back to forms that can be understood by humans. Many huge corporations like IBM, Honeywell, Microsoft, Google, etc are already in the early stages of deploying quantum computers.
CRISPR
CRISPR stands for Clustered Regulatory Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. This technology can be considered a major breakthrough in the field of genetic engineering. CRISPR allows researchers to alter DNA sequences and modify gene function. The changes made to the DNA using CRISPR can be absolutely precise.
This technology can bring about greater advancements in the field of medical sciences. CRISPR could potentially cure diseases with its capabilities to alter the DNA structure. It can also play a major role in preventing upcoming diseases and genetic defects in human beings.
Although the above-mentioned technologies are already present today, in the upcoming year, we could explore more into what they have to offer to us. We have to wait and find how they could alter our ways of living by providing technical assistance and sophistication.
style=”display:none;”>
Thanks for submitting your comment!