Scientists and technology analysts at Telenor Research are predicting that 2018 will see many of budding technologies like AI, Big Data, Crypto-currencies and automated vehicles to start hitting the markets around the world. As Bangladesh is continuing its journey towards Digital Bangladesh, it too will face some of these new trends.
“When big changes happen it is often because regulation, user preference, and technology converge – mobile telephony is one example, the car is another. 2018 will see key developments in all three dimensions. We have picked the trends that we think are both illuminating and important to stay on top of ahead of the New Year,” says Bjørn Taale Sandberg, Head of Telenor Research.
Telenor Group’s research arm, Telenor Research, see seven tech trends coming in 2018 which include changes in social media behavior, broader use of Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning in businesses, AI and IoT-based financial services, and advancement in Augmented Reality.
According to Telenor Research, Facebook users are posting less and the amount of relevant information on the Facebook newsfeed is dropping, giving way to an increasing amount of professional and paid content – of varying relevance. Users are also likely becoming more critical as awareness rises around “fake news” seeping into their feeds.
“Perhaps discouraged by a lack of relevance, users could start turning to other platforms for news, to curate their ‘digital presence’ and get updates on friends and family,” says Bjørn Taale Sandberg. All the while, Facebook will develop further into a communication platform – both through the ever-popular Messenger app and in Facebook Groups for micro-coordination.
Telenor Research believes that 2018 will be the year when deep learning moves beyond the hype and will find new markets outside of the Internet giants. The research indicates that technology will take on a wide range of industries, including health, energy, transport, and telecommunication. There will be more business failures due to misunderstood use, mismanaged expectations on deep learning’s capabilities, immature data handling, and not least – from those that think deep learning is a magical tool that can be bought off the shelf and not grown from within.
Further, it is predicted that in 2018 a growing number of our everyday devices could become payment devices in itself – car keys, vending machines, smartphones, connected cars, sports watches etc – could all evolve to make payments for the products and services we enjoy.
Moreover, going forward Artificial Intelligence and IoT will generate intelligent and personalized context-aware customer services that will enable more tailored solutions and help customers and companies alike make sound financial decisions, manage risk and reduce costs. In 2018 several new device payment systems will be introduced globally.
Finally, 2018 may also see a new momentum in Augmented Reality. “Though no mass market re-launch of Google’s AR glasses are on the immediate horizon, we should see a surge in the number of apps with AR in 2018,” says Sandberg.
With its latest version of the iPhone operating system, Apple has built-in support for augmenting whatever the phone’s camera captures with additional information. This means that much of the complexity is removed for programmers and AR is suddenly within reach for hundreds of thousands of iOS app developers. Over the next years, we can expect to see navigation apps use the camera and superimpose a route on the image and games that go beyond Pokémon Go appear in an app store.
The other trends envisioned by Telenor research in the technology field are the possible introduction of 5G in Winter Olympics at South Korea, an update of data protection regulation in Europe which is expected to build more awareness among the users regarding terms and conditions of digital services, and increasing debate regarding Blockchain and its possible uses.
