The Top 9 Tech Trends for 2016
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The Top 9 Tech Trends for 2016
These nine tech trends represent the innovations that have the greatest potential to make a profound impact on enterprises—and society—for this year and beyond. -
5G
With previously unimaginable speeds of up to 7.5 Gbps, 5G will empower everything from interactive automobiles, "super gaming" and the industrial Internet of things (IoT). -
Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality
Virtual reality will reach critical mass of functionality, reliability, ease of use, affordability and availability. Augmented reality (which digitally supplements a real-world environment) will enhance users' understanding of their world. -
Nonvolatile Memory
Defined as computer memory that retrieves information even after being turned off and back on, nonvolatile memory promises to allow organizations to store more data at less cost, while using less power. -
Cyber-Physical Systems
An offshoot of IoT, these systems are deeply embedded in physical components to sense and even change the state of the real world. Expect them to play a greater role in air transportation, smart manufacturing and medical technology. -
Data Science
The data scientist arguably has the most secure job in the world, as organizations will continue striving to maximize the value of insights from statistics, data mining and predictive analytics. -
Capability-Based Security
By attaching files, apps and other networked objects to specific access rights, IT hopes to establish finer-grain protection against the rising number of hackers. -
Advanced Machine Learning
When machines can explore the construction of algorithms to make predictions on data, they "learn" in a manner that can make a game-changing impact on future brain/machine interfaces. -
Network Function Virtualization
By virtualizing what is now supported by dedicated hardware, tech departments can deploy network functions that are cheaper, more convenient and more reliable than ever. -
Containers
Containers run an app as if it's the only app in an operating system, avoiding conflict with app containers running in the same machine. They can allow companies to deliver apps faster and more economically. But security issues must be addressed before they can become a top enterprise option in 2016.
Collectively, they represent the innovations that have the greatest potential to make a profound impact on enterprises—and society—for this year and beyond. They are the "Top Nine Technology Trends for 2016," presented annually by the IEEE Computer Society. The trends are all about speed (as in 5G mobile networks) and power (the Internet of things [IoT]} and artificial intelligence-based advancements. With respect to the latter, the "next big thing" will go far beyond machines that can process information with stunning velocity: Companies are now creating computers that can essentially "teach" themselves about data and then make predictions based on their newly acquired knowledge. To support such efforts, another top trend called "nonvolatile memory" will enable enterprises to store more data at a lower price. And if all of this seems interconnected, well, that's because it is. "Some of these trends will come to fruition in 2016, while others will reach critical points in development during this year," said Dejan Milojicic, a past president of the IEEE Computer Society. "You'll notice that all of the trends interlock, many of them depending on the advancement of other technologies in order to move forward. Cloud needs network functional virtualization, 5G requires cloud, containers can't thrive without advances in security, everything depends on data science, and so on. It's an exciting time for technology."