The year 2020 has been a challenging year, to say the least. The global COVID-19 Pandemic shook the foundations of the economic systems all over the world. Amidst the chaos, it was reassuring to see technology come to the rescue. As starters, more than half of the global workforce resorted to the work-from-home model in a bid to keep the economies running. Dependence on technology in a matter of a few days suddenly scaled up due to the Pandemic.  A few technological trends dominated the scene this year.

Here is a quick list of technology that proved to be most essential in the year 2020. These technological trends are on-course to shape up the next decade as well: ( Intro)

The AI Intervention

The increasing ability of machines to learn and perform tasks intelligently has been the driving force behind many businesses this year. For instance, online sales have ramped up this year as people are skeptical about going out and traditionally buying products, fearing they might catch the virus. Online stores are deploying AI to prepare customers’ orders, track order changes, and even resolve some of the basic customer queries using chatbots. Although such trends had been present for quite some time now, it saw a monumental rise with the Pandemic outbreak. This trend is likely to scale up even faster as new AI and ML innovations are coming thick and fast.

A lot of pharmaceutical and medical companies are leveraging AI-based technologies for numerous use cases. Johnson and Johnson’s Sedasys system was one such attempt that delivered anesthesia for standard procedures like a colonoscopy – a medical procedure that has a severe dearth of experts. Similarly, the manufacturing sector has also witnessed a significant rise in the deployment of Cobots to complete the production process.

The Cloud is being adopted Everywhere.

Enterprises are continuously adopting cloud technology from across many industry verticals. Industries like the Telecom sector, BSFI, retail, education, and healthcare are bending towards the clouds to save up their data. With the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, even SMBs and the public Cloud has seen a spurt in demand.

With the Cloud, all business applications can be made available on-premises. The two biggest advantage of Cloud technologies is that it significantly reduces speed and IT expenditure.

Virtualization Technology to the rescue

Virtualization technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are also some of the most essential techs shaping the world of business. It is AR tech that has proved to be incredibly helpful during the Pandemic-induced lockdowns. This is true in the Real Estate sector, which has been worst hit by the Pandemic. However, Virtualization technologies have turned the adversity into an opportunity. Virtual tours of properties are gaining a lot of popularity as it enables consumers to get a detailed view of the properties without even moving an inch from the comforts of their couch.

The same holds true for online sales/stores as well. Amazon, IKEA, and FIAT are some of the many global corporations that have facilitated virtual tryouts in their online stores.

Brace for the 5G and IoT Revolution

According to one Gartner research, the number of connected devices by the end of 2020 will be around 20+ Billion. The ever-growing number of “smart” devices and objects connected to the internet are continually gathering and transmitting data, further fueling the growth in Big Data and AI.

While 5G is yet to be adopted on a mass scale globally, operators in the USA have already deployed 5G this year, alongside some of the early adopters that include Korea, Japan, and China.

5G is much more than the previous radio bandwidth technologies. Unlike the earlier 3G and 4G networks, 5G will also be a network for low power devices/sensors that are classified under the Internet of Things.