Computing Technology Trends for 2016
Cloud needs network functional virtualization, 5G requires cloud, containers can’t thrive without advances in security, and everything depends on data science,
and so on. It’s an exciting time for technology and IEEE Computer Society is on the leading edge of the most important and potentially disruptive technology trends.”
The nine technology
trends to watch in 2016 are:
1.5G: Promising speeds unimaginable by today’s standards — 7.5 Gbps
according to Samsung’s latest tests — 5G is the real-time promise of the
future. Enabling everything from interactive automobiles and super gaming to
the industrial Internet of Things, 5G will take wireless to the future and
beyond, preparing for the rapidly approaching day when everything, including
the kitchen sink, might be connected to a network, both local and the Internet.
2.Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality: After many years in which
the “reality” of virtual reality (VR) has been questioned by both technologists
and the public, 2016 promises to be the tipping point, as VR technologies reach
a critical mass of functionality, reliability, ease of use, affordability and
availability. Movie studios are partnering with VR vendors to bring content to
market. News organizations are similarly working with VR companies to bring
immersive experiences of news directly into the home, including live events.
And the stage is set for broad adoption of VR beyond entertainment and gaming —
to the day when VR will help change the physical interface between man and
machine, propelling a world so far only envisioned in science fiction. At the
same time, the use of augmented reality (AR) is expanding. Whereas VR replaces
the actual physical world, AR is a live direct or indirect view of a physical,
real-world environment whose elements are augmented (or supplemented) by
computer-generated sensory input, such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data.
With the help of advanced AR technology (e.g., adding computer vision and
object recognition), the information about the surrounding real world of the
user becomes interactive and can be manipulated digitally.
3. Nonvolatile Memory: While nonvolatile memory sounds like a topic
only of interest to tech geeks, it is actually huge for every person in the world
who uses technology of any kind. As we become exponentially more connected,
people need and use more and more memory. Nonvolatile memory, which is computer
memory that retrieves information even after being turned off and back on, has
been used for secondary storage due to issues of cost, performance and write
endurance, as compared to volatile RAM memory that has been used as primary
storage. In 2016, huge strides will be made in the development of new forms of
nonvolatile memory, which promise to let a hungry world store more data at less
cost, using significantly less power. This will literally change the landscape
of computing, allowing smaller devices to store more data and large devices to
store huge amounts of information.
4. Cyber Physical Systems (CPS): Also used as the Internet of Things
(IoT), CPS are smart systems that have cyber technologies, both hardware and
software, deeply embedded in and interacting with physical components, and
sensing and changing the state of the real world. These systems have to operate
with high levels of reliability, safety, security and usability since they must
meet the rapidly growing demand for applications such as the smart grid, the
next generation air transportation system, intelligent transportation systems,
smart medical technologies, smart buildings and smart manufacturing. 2016 will
be another milestone year in the development of these critical systems, which
while currently being employed on a modest scale, don’t come close to meeting
the demand.
5. Data Science: A few years ago, Harvard Business Review called data
scientist the “sexiest job of the 21st century.” That definition goes double in
2016. Technically, data science is an interdisciplinary field about processes
and systems to extract knowledge or insights from data in various forms, either
structured or unstructured, which is a continuation of some of the data
analysis fields such as statistics, data mining and predictive analytics. In
less technical terms, a data scientist is an individual with the curiosity and
training to extract meaning from big data, determining trends, buying insights,
connections, patterns and more. Frequently, data scientists are mathematics and
statistics experts. Sometimes, they’re more generalists; other times, they are
software engineers. Regardless, people looking for assured employment in 2016
and way beyond should seek out these opportunities, since the world can’t begin
to get all the data scientists it needs to extract meaning from the massive
amounts of data available that will make our world safer, more efficient and
more enjoyable.
6. Capability-based Security: The greatest single problem of every
company and virtually every individual in this cyber world is security. The
number of hacks rises exponentially every year, and no one’s data is safe.
Finding a “better way” in the security world is golden. Hardware
capability-based security, while hardly a household name, may be a significant
weapon in the security arsenal of programmers, providing more data security for
everyone. Capability-based security will provide a finer grain protection and
defend against many of the attacks that today are successful.
7. Advanced Machine Learning: Impacting everything from game playing
and online advertising to brain/machine interfaces and medical diagnosis,
machine learning explores the construction of algorithms that can learn from
and make predictions on data. Rather than following strict program guidelines,
machine learning systems build a model based on examples and then make predictions
and decisions based on data. They “learn.”
8. Network Function Virtualization (NFV): More and more, the world
depends on cloud services. Due to limitations in technology security, these
services have not been widely provided by telecommunications companies — which
is a loss for the consumer. NFV is an emerging technology which provides a
virtualized infrastructure on which next-generation cloud services depend. With
NFV, cloud services will be provided to users at a greatly reduced price, with
greater convenience and reliability by telecommunications companies with their
standard communication services. NFV will make great strides in 2016.
9. Containers: For companies moving applications to the cloud,
containers represent a smarter and more economical way to make this move.
Containers allow companies to develop and deliver applications faster and more
efficiently. This is a boon to consumers, who want their apps fast. Containers
provide the necessary computing resources to run an application as if it is the
only application running in the operating system — in other words, with a
guarantee of no conflicts with other application containers running on the same
machine. While containers can deliver many benefits, the gating item is
security, which must be improved to make the promise of containers a reality.
We expect containers to become enterprise-ready in 2016.
About
IEEE Computer Society
IEEE Computer Society
is a membership organization for professionals in all aspects of modern
computing — from cloud to big data, security to mobile, robotics to software
defined systems, wearable’s to IoT. A true community for technology leaders,
Computer Society provides resources to keep its members current in technology
and moving forward in their professions — publications, a renowned digital
library, a vast program of conferences, technical committees, and much more.
The Computer Society also serves the profession at large through establishment
of standards, professional qualifications and certifications, training and
education programs, events on leading-edge technologies, conference publishing,
and a wealth of other services and programs focused on advancing the science
and art of computing.
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