It’s no longer just a bonus for businesses to use the latest in internet technologies. It’s become a necessity in order to keep up with the competition in the 21st century.
Isaac Junior Salvant says that embracing emerging technologies in IT means being on the cutting edge of the global economy while keeping up with customer demand — not just chasing it.
It’s no wonder, then, that 90% of organizations around the world are likely to invest in newer and more advanced digital tools this year, according to the International Data Corporation which specializes in IT market data and services. Investment in digital transformation tools is estimated to make up 55% of all communications and information technology investments through 2024.
Three technologies emerging across these industries include blockchain, quantum computing, and edge computing. Here’s the outlook for each as all three are poised to make an exponential difference for years to come.
Blockchain
Blockchain technology is commonly associated with cryptocurrency, but it is actually being used for so much more. An increasingly wide array of industries are adopting blockchain technology to process and store massive amounts of data in a decentralized way.
Especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the outlook for blockchain technology is stronger than ever before. Within supply chain management, using blockchain technology has the protentional to increase transparency and improve accountability as it tracks goods.
With blockchain technology, patient data can be managed and stored securely throughout the healthcare industry. Overall, it’s blockchain technology that’s expected to fuel the future of internet applications and digital information.
Quantum Computing
Experts estimate that the world market for quantum computing will be over $2.5 billion by 2029. When computers running on old technology are not longer able to process data and solve problems efficiently, quantum computing will be using quantum mechanics to do the job.
Like blockchain technology, there are numerous ways that quantum computing is expected to be commonly used in the future. For medical research, quantum computing has the potential to accurately simulate protein folds and chemical reactions, both of which are essential for safe and expedited drug development.
Financial instructions can use quantum computing to perform detailed risk assessments for customer investments. Machine learning is also expected to benefit from quantum computing, as it can be used to acutely refine learning models.
Edge Computing
Edge computing takes the concept cloud computing and then kicks it up a notch. Since so many businesses have shifted to cloud storage and share solutions, the cloud is quickly becoming stale technology.
As organizations cope with huge amounts of data that increase every day, cloud computing often struggles to keep up. With edge computing, though, these problems are effectively solved by avoiding cloud computing’s latency in the way of processing data.
Edge computing has proven to be particularly helpful when data is time sensitive and processed remotely, away from a centralized space. It has become especially desirable to companies who regularly need to process and share information across multiple locations.
In 2023, it’s estimated that edge computing will become a $6.72 billion global market, used in such industries as transportation, manufacturing, and telecommunications.