Regardless of the industry you’re in, you have no doubt seen technology have considerable effects over the last decade. Via digital transformation, changes have been made to how businesses operate day-to-day and provide customer service;design, build, market and sell products and services; recruit, develop and lead teams and more.
Technology continues to have an impact, of course. There are constant changes in technological processes and products, in new business applications and in customer expectations.It is vital, then, for all entrepreneurs to stay up to date on the latest developments in technology if they want to grow their business, be more productive, make more money and stay ahead of the competition. To help you do this, read on for some of the top tech trends you need to keep a watchful eye on.
Big Data
One of the most important trends you should learn about and utilize is Big Data. Today, entrepreneurs have access to more helpful information than ever, which they can use in many ways in their organizations for a very low cost. To take advantage of this development, it pays to get some training in this area, whether you complete a short course or enroll in a more comprehensive online master’s degree in business analytics or the like.
Big Data can be used to help you make better business decisions across various areas of operation. For instance, you can analyze data to work out which customers you should be targeting and what it is they’re looking for,as well as to determine when and how these people shop and require customer service. Data is also useful in cutting costs, increasing productivity, streamlining processes, managing inventory and so on.
Speech and Voice Recognition
Over recent years we’ve seen a lot of growth in speech and voice recognition. When you consider that tech firms like Google, Apple and Microsoft are spending a lot of money in this area right now, looking for innovative ways to incorporate the tech into their products, it’s easy to see how this is a trend to watch.
Speech and voice recognition are used in all sorts of industries and in many different ways. For instance, in healthcare, doctors are starting to save time when taking notes in patient appointments by using the tech to record conversations; meanwhile there is growth in the use of patient data being secured and accessed via speech recognition software.In the marketing arena, voice-activation programs are utilized for mobile search processing and advertising services. Government agencies are using voice-related tech to improve precision and productivity; and in banking, more and more mobile applications are being secured with biometric voice-recognition software.
VR/AR
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) gives us another trend that doesn’t show any signs of slowing down yet. The popularity of this tech was recently proven with the huge, billion-dollar success of Pokémon Go, where the brand’s augmented reality gaming program earned millions of dollars per day and caused a sensation around the globe. Now, increasing numbers of businesses are looking to include AR and VR in their own campaigns, through formats such as games, apps, advertisements and other platforms.
Something to note when it comes to virtual reality is that, while up until now most VR has been utilized in an individual way, leading users into worlds they inhabit singularly, it seems that in the future VR will be more communal. It’s likely that people will be able to explore alternate worlds and realities in groups, whether for leisure or work activities.
Artificial Intelligence
Of course, artificial intelligence has to make this list too, as the topic of AI hits the news most days now. AI has improved by leaps and bounds recently. Machines are better than ever at learning about their environments and then adapting their processes and results in turn.
Artificial intelligence is leading to advances in the functionality of internet-enabled devices like smartphones and smart-home gadgets, which are able to learn the behavior patterns and preferences of users. There is a lot of growth in the use of AIs working collaboratively with humans to design innovative solutions to complex problems.Computers are also becoming much better at making predictions. Chatbots are now popular too, as they help businesses and consumers to connect better digitally. AI is also being increasingly used to handle tasks such as scheduling, document creation, and reporting.
