Can you please add to this list?
TECHNOLOGY RELEASES FOR 2021
In 2021, a number of technology breakthroughs and trends will become available to the public, for example:
- China achieves its aim of producing 40 percent of the semiconductors it uses in its manufactured electronics by 2020 and 70 percent by 2025. Likelihood: 80% [removed]
- Singapore rolls out an Intelligent Driving Circuit this year; it allows people to take driving tests without having an examiner in the car with them. This new circuit — the first in Southeast Asia — is trialed at the Singapore Safety Driving Centre. Likelihood: 70% [removed]
- The world’s first air taxi service is launched in Singapore this year, with the goal of eventually making it a fully autonomous and affordable means of transport for the masses. Likelihood: 60% [removed]
- America’s first exascale supercomputer, called Aurora, is now operational and will be used to accelerate data analysis for a variety of scientific disciplines. Likelihood: 100% [removed]
- Canada to contribute AI and robotics technology (and possibly astronauts) to the US moon mission starting this year. Likelihood: 70% [removed]
- 5G spectrum auctions to be sold between 2020 to 2021 to accelerate the build-out of a national 5G network. Likelihood: 100% [removed]
- 5G internet connectivity to be introduced into major Canadian cities between 2020 to 2022. Likelihood: 80% [removed]
- Ethereum's Casper and Sharding protocols are fully implemented. [removed]
- Cost of solar panels, per watt, equals 1.1 US dollars [removed]
- World sales of electric vehicles reaches 7,226,667 [removed]
- Predicted global mobile web traffic equals 36 exabytes [removed]
- Global Internet traffic grows to 222 exabytes [removed]
The 5 Biggest Technology Trends In 2021 Everyone Must Get Ready For Now
Another thing that is clear is that today’s most important tech trends will play a big part in helping us cope with and adapt to the many challenges facing us. From the shift to working from home to new rules about how we meet and interact in public spaces, tech trends will be the driving force in managing the change.
In many ways, Covid-19 will act as a catalyst for a whole host of changes that were already on the cards anyway, thanks to our increasingly online and digital lives. Things will just happen more quickly now, with necessity (long acknowledged as the mother of invention) as the driving force. And should it be the case that – as certain US presidents have predicted – Covid-19 “magically disappears” – the changes it has brought about will not, as we will have learned to do a lot of things more efficiently and safely.
Here’s my overview of how the major tech trend that I identified in my most recent book [removed] , are likely to play out during the next year. Some will play their part in helping us to recover "normality" (whatever that means), while some of them will make it easier for us to understand and navigate a changed reality.
Robotics, Drones, and Vehicle Automation
As the volume of passengers using public transport fluctuates from week to week, depending on local conditions, initiatives around self-driving vehicles will continue at an increasing pace. Driving efficiency across public transport networks will be a priority for service providers as well as civic authorities, where reducing human labor costs will help balance the uncertainty around customer demand.
In recent years we have seen the emergence of robots in the care and assisted living sectors, and these will become increasingly important, particularly when it comes to interacting with members of society who are most vulnerable to infection, such as the elderly. Rather than entirely replacing the human interaction with caregivers that is so important to many, we can expect robotic devices to be used to provide new channels of communication, such as access to 24/7 in-home help, as well as to simply provide companionship at times when it may not be safe to be sending nursing staff into homes. Additionally, companies finding themselves with premises that, while empty, still require maintenance and upkeep, will turn to robotics providers for services such as cleaning and security. This activity has already led to [removed] for enterprises involved in supplying robots.
Drones will be used to deliver vital medicine and, equipped with computer vision algorithms, used to monitor footfall in public areas in order to [removed] where there is an increased risk of viral transmission.
The As-A-Service Revolution
“As-a-service” – the provision of services that we need to live and work through cloud-based, on-demand platforms – is the key that has put the other tech trends we talk about today in reach of anybody. It’s the reason why AI and robotics are a possibility for just about any business or organization, regardless of their size or budget. Thanks to cloud offerings from companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and an ever-growing horde of startups and spinoffs, innovators in all fields can deploy cutting-edge tech with little upfront investment in tools, equipment or specialized people.
As the ongoing pandemic rages around the world, we have clearly seen that companies that rely on the cloud to provide scalable solutions as-a-service are prospering. Take Zoom, for example, which has [removed] thanks to the speed with which it was able to add servers and increase its coverage and quality of service. This was due to its cloud-based nature and its partnerships with its own service providers, that were able to quickly increase capacity to meet demand. In 2021 and beyond, this is going to become increasingly important and more possibilities will open up for everyone.
5G and enhanced connectivity
Faster and more reliable internet doesn't just mean we can load webpages more quickly and spend less time waiting for videos to launch on Youtube. Each successive advance in mobile connectivity from 3G onwards has unlocked new use cases for the internet. 3G made web browsing and data-driven services useful on mobile devices, 4G led to the growth of streaming video and music platforms as bandwidths increased, and 5G, likewise, will open more doors in terms of what is possible.
5G means that services relying on advanced technologies such as augmented reality and virtual reality (discussed below) as well as cloud-based gaming platforms like Google's Stadia or NVidia's GeForce Now become a viable proposition, anywhere at any time. They also threaten to make cable and fiber-based networks redundant, with their need for us to be tethered to a particular location.
In short, 5G and other advanced, high-speed networks make all of the other trends we discuss here available anywhere, any time. Complex machine learning applications relying on real-time access to Big Data sources can be conducted in the field, via automation. A great example is Norwegian fishery operator Salmar that uses a 5G network to [removed] . Image recognition algorithms are used to detect which fish are over or under-feeding, and automatically dispense food and medicine needed to keep them healthy. Initiatives like this will become increasingly important during 2021, where businesses look to increase automation across their workforces.
Extended Reality (XR) – Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/MR).
These terms cover technology that uses glasses or headsets to project computer-generated imagery directly into the user's field of vision. When it is superimposed over what the user is viewing in the real world, it is AR. And when it is used to place the user into an entirely computer-generated environment, it is VR.
Do you have any additions to the tech issues for 2021?