Top 10 tech trends to watch out for in 2022
Global spending on digital transformation is predicted to jump 20 per cent annually to $1.8 trillion next year, according to Statista.
Covid-induced market disruptions and widespread adoption of hybrid work models have accelerated the process. Many businesses are more inclined towards developing in-house technologies to reduce their dependence on third-party service providers and ensure they are less affected in case of future supply chain disruptions, industry experts said.
“Digital tech initiatives remain a top strategic business priority for companies as they continue to reinvent the future of work … focusing spending on making their infrastructure bulletproof and accommodating increasingly complex hybrid work for employees going into 2022,” said Jon-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner.
Amid the increasing digital transformation budgets and emergence of latest innovations, The National looks at the 10 top technology trends for the year ahead.
Generative artificial intelligence
One of the most powerful artificial intelligence techniques coming to market is generative AI. It involves a set of machine learning methods that learn about content or objects from their data and use the knowledge to produce totally new and more realistic products.
Connecticut-based technology research and consulting company Gartner expects generative AI to account for nearly 10 per cent of all data produced, up from less than 1 per cent today.
This technology can be used for a range of activities such as creating software code, accelerating new drug development and targeted marketing. However, industry analysts cautioned it can also be misused for scams, spreading political disinformation and creating forged identities.
Digital finance to become mainstream
Digital finance innovations, such as cryptocurrencies and central bank-backed digital currencies (CBDCs), will boost financial inclusion and improve cross-border payments.
In October, the International Monetary Fund said it was looking at both the risks and opportunities that digital currencies pose.
Central banks across the world are increasingly assessing the potential of digital currencies amid a growing interest in cryptocurrencies and other online payment channels.
The number of countries developing CBDCs has dramatically increased as consumers shifted to digital payments during the coronavirus pandemic, a report by Moody’s Investors Service said.
“For many consumers and businesses that made the switch to digital payments, there is probably no going back, even if the pandemic-related concerns about the tactile nature of cash were to recede,” Eswar Prasad, a professor of economics at Cornell University and author of the book, The Future of Money: How the Digital Revolution is Transforming Currencies and Finance, told CNBC.
