Prepare to capitalise on impending tech-tonic shifts in the New Year

The fast pace of digitisation that got an uplift from the pandemic is expected to continue apace in 2022. The volume of data gathered or aided by all these tech gadgets will continue to wow all those whose lives are data-dependent.

Thankfully, the cost of internet access will continue to plummet, its speed will ramp up, while the price of hardware such as phones and computers will keep dropping. But that will only happen if the current chips shortage, the most important raw material for these devices, is resolved.

Artificial intelligence is going to be a good thing in the coming year – that is, devices assuming a life of their own with little guidance form humans. They will have a “brain” that will be able to make decisions or suggest different options akin to the way Google map is able to sense traffic in different routes and suggest the shorter or less busy route.

By this I mean that technology will personalise our services, improve ranking web search results, recommend products based on previous online buys or search behaviour. We will see the application of artificial intelligence everywhere as we head into 2022.

For example, it will not be unthinkable to have toilets equipped with ability to test and raise a red flag if someone has a disease that can be diagnosed through urine or stool. Your TV will learn to ask you whether to change to your favourite news channel during prime-time news. Your watch will tell when you are under pressure and when your energy is low and offering ways to pump up your energy. AI, as it is commonly called, will permeate many areas of our lives. A majority of us will be playing catch-up.

While 5G may be in its infancy, we’ll see an increased focus on 6G in 2022. China started research into 6G in 2018. By late 2020, the country launched a satellite to test signal transmission. Korea, Japan and some European countries are also in the race to crack open fastest internet connections, which will cope with the stupendously expanding tech field. So, brace yourself for announcements in 2022.

With rising volumes of data, faster internet speeds and ubiquitous gadgets, cybersecurity will remain a headache for many people. Identity theft and online fraud will continue to haunt many people especially those ignorant or cavalier about online security and protection.

Defending cyber-attacks will include educating individuals so they can identify and avoid network assaults, thereby safeguarding their company’s image.

In 2022, we will become increasingly familiar with the concept of a “metaverse”. The metaverse is a digital reality combining social media, online gaming, augmented reality, virtual reality and cryptocurrencies to allow virtual user interaction. Prepare your ears to hear more of this in the coming months and years.

It will be digitally focused and potentially involving entertainment, social connection, work productivity and behaviour modification at scale, thereby spawning a world of opportunities.

Semiconductors form the backbone of technology progress and we expect demand for them to stay strong, which should benefit world-leading semiconductor companies in South Korea and Taiwan. These changes will continue to increase the demand for finely tuned technology experts to maintains these systems.

The demand for tailored online training programs, partly buoyed by better and cheaper internet, cumbersome transport to classes and exorbitant fees for in-person classes. These online programs have the potential to transform the higher-education landscape, siphoning students from traditional universities and altering faculty and student roles.

Governments will be, as usual, trying to play catch-up. They will try to institute some rules and regulations, many of which will be challenged in courts of law – because they will be viewed as an affront to certain freedoms that people have becomes so much used to.

These technologies will also shore up the demand for electricity, which will be a downer as the less developed countries are unable to meet the current demands. Innovators will have to think of alternative means of generating power to quench the growing demand.

And these are only a sliver of illustrative examples. It’s hard to wrap our heads around what lies in the horizon but if the past is a prologue of the future, prepare for an interesting tech-interrupted year. I see a prime opportunity for smart startups, corporations, and investors to capitalize on these emerging technology and business trends to become more successful than ever.