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Predictions for the next decade of IT

Nov 23, 2020
We’ve seen many changes in IT over the past 10 years. There has been the move to cloud computing, hard drives with magnets and spinning disks have been replaced by SSD’s and it wasn’t long ago that the idea of all your staff attending a video call from their own homes would have felt like science fiction. 

Global research firm Gartner have released their top predictions for IT organisation and users in 2021 and beyond. 

Traditional computing will fail to deliver 

New technologies like artificial intelligence and computer vision are going to require more processing power than current general-purpose processors can provide. 
Traditional Silicon processors will become a bottleneck for these technologies and thus business growth. 
New technologies like neuromorphic computing will see computers that think and act more like the human brain. These will take the place of traditional computing as the technology matures and become more affordable for businesses. 

DNA data storage will be used by 30% of digital businesses 

As well as processor technology changing there will be big advances in data storage. DNA storage trials are expected to increase over the coming years.   
We are storing more information than ever before. The current technology has limitations on how long data can be stored and remain uncorrupted. 30 years is the limit with existing technology. 
DNA will become an ideal data storage and computing platform as it is very resilient, capable of error checking and self-repair. A single gram of synthetic DNA would be able to store a years’ worth of human knowledge for thousands of years. 
It is predicted that 30% of digital business will mandate DNA storage trials by 2024. 

Digital twins will make AR/AV experiences ubiquitous 

Covid-19 has transformed attitudes about physical versus virtual. With events being cancelled people round the world have been paying to take part in virtual bike and running races. Conferences are looking to deliver hybrid AR-integrated events in the near future. 
Gartner predicts by 2025, 40% of physical experience-based businesses will improve financial results by extending into paid virtual experiences. Being able to do virtual rock climbing or rafting experience when weather conditions make the real thing unsafe will provide an additional income stream.  

Farms and factories will leverage hyper-automation 

In five years time the first human to touch more than 20% of products produced in the world will be the end customer. 
Technology is being used to automate an increased number of human tasks. This automation will increase in both manufactured and agricultural produce. 
This hyper-automation should be viewed as a way to change how a business operates rather than just improving standalone tasks. 

Recording work conversations to drive change 

Smart speakers, virtual meetings and messaging platforms are just a few of the technologies capable of actively recording conversations. As this technology becomes more mainstream organisations will have to think about how they collect and analyse the data. They will have to find ways of using the data to improve both the employee and customer experience. 
One important thing to consider with this type of technology is how to respect people's privacy by complying with privacy act. 

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