The top technologies that will shape the world in the next 3 to 5 years

What is the tech scene going to look like in a few years with all its improvements? Statista came up with literally a picture of the future, with the technologies that top tech heads in over 70 countries put together as their best predictions.

Cloud computing and services take first place because we are moving towards an era of big data, which has to be shared with others remotely or protected by encryption technologies. More and more businesses and individuals are backing up everythig to cloud servers, which have unlimited space compared to devices, and which have increasing security protocols being enabled everyday.

Mobile services come in second place as more applications for almost everything we need to do are being built for phones. Smartphone penetration is steadily increasing thanks to more low-budget phones penetrating emerging markets as well, making it easier for companies to have a virtual presence in a region and cutting costs of establishment. The phone will be a branch in its own way, allowing anyone to access anything they need from a particular business without having to physically go there. We’ll also see more applications in mHealth, mCommerce/ePayments, and eDucation using mobile devices.

The Internet of Things is what the first two technologies will ride on. Everything is getting connected, from clothing to homes to cars, we will be able to control our environments with mobile devices.

Cognitive computing is based on sensory applications such as heart rate monitors, fingerprint scanners, eye scanners, basically appliactions that deal with how humans interact with computers. Artificial Intelligence is one of the areas that will develop, embedding human thought processes into machinery, improving how we work together with intelligent systems.

Other technologies that will be improved on are:

– advanced manufacturing technologies that focus on machine-to-machine interaction and it has such a low percentage amongst top technologies because much work has already been done on this.

– new energy sources and solutions, seeing as the electricity grid in some areas is not sufficient for all the energy needs of a region. We shall see a shift to alternatives like solar and biogas solutions to provide power.

– bioengineering, which will be a mix of enginnering applications in biology, chemistry and physics. The University of California (Berkely) states that ‘the practice of bioengineering has expanded beyond large-scale efforts like prosthetics and hospital equipment to include engineering at the molecular and cellular level – with applications in energy and the environment as well as healthcare’.

– man-machine hybrids. Yes, the robots are coming! 😉 We expect to see them being developed to carry out human tasks more efficiently without having to worry about cigarette breaks!

What technology are you most excited about?