7 Innovation Trends Gaining Speed in 2022
Looking back, during 2021, many things happened around the pandemic that we could not predict. We also couldn’t have guessed to what extent people and companies would rise to the occasion with innovative ideas.
Now that spring has arrived, there are hopeful signs of the “beginning of the end” of the pandemic. We can also better examine technology and industry trends that are on track to accelerate. We see this on the horizon for the coming months as we take the first steps towards a post-pandemic world.
Health Technology Goes Mainstream
We are all in awe of the incredible speed at which scientists and researchers have developed safe and effective vaccines to combat Covid-19. We see the likelihood that both public and private researchers will step up DNA sequencing. This will help them avoid other health problems like diabetes and Cancer. In healthcare, imaging, genome sequencing, and drug discovery have created an explosion of structured and unstructured data. There is also an opportunity to revolutionize the way we practice medicine.
DNA sequencing places high demands on data storage. As noted in a study from the University of California-Berkeley, a single sample of a person’s DNA has approximately 300GB of raw data. DNA sequencing research projects can involve between 50,000 and 100,000 participants. Calling this “big data” doesn’t even cover it: it’s out-of-the-ordinary numbers of data.
The Cold Chain Gets Bigger and Stronger
The cold chain is a temperature-controlled supply chain. It has become essential for the distribution of most Covid-19 vaccines. As a globally distributed cold chain is built, it will allow newer goods and services to be distributed en masse. This means a greater variety of foods and drugs and an even faster analysis of crime-related DNA.
The Remote Collaboration Will Evolve
At the moment, we cannot live without video conferencing services. We will see more immersive experiences for collaborative coding, education, and research. And this trend is expected to go beyond the workplace.
The insights we gain from enhanced digital experiences will influence how we integrate AI-driven computer vision into future collaboration tools. The cameras will be able to classify and identify objects and their attributes and react to what they “see.” We’re not too far from cameras to accurately detect emotions and understand meeting participants based on biometric cues.
Data is the lifeblood of artificial intelligence systems, which require high-performance solutions that can process massive amounts of data.
We will have Greater Visibility in the Agricultural Supply Chain
The early days of the pandemic highlighted weaknesses in the farm supply chain worldwide. The World Bank has reported that supply chain disruptions have caused food prices to rise by as much as 20%.
According to McKinsey, the devilishly complex agricultural supply chain captures more data than ever about everything, from the weather to price fluctuations. It drives increased demand for data storage capacity, computational power, and analytics.
AI-assisted Driving Will Become a Reality
This ties in with the demand for greater visibility of supply chains – if efficient transportation can help improve supply chain performance, autonomous vehicles will be part of this effort. Such Technology is likely to be used first in supply chains and the delivery of food and goods.
Putting autonomous vehicles on the market requires new data collection, management, and processing models. Data is everywhere in AI-assisted driving systems.
It is in the vehicles themselves, the cloud, and the platforms that drive their operation. Edge computing, where cloud resources are moved closer to where they are needed, will be critical. Delays of just a few dozen milliseconds can seriously affect the reliability of autonomous vehicles.
Remote Education Becomes a Better Option
Years ago, Khan Academy championed the idea of broader access to learning. In the early days of the pandemic, he created distance learning guides for kids and parents. We can expect organizations like Khan Academy to use what they’ve learned during the pandemic to put remote collaboration tools and AI into more learning environments. The same goes for adults: we will see an education adapted to people instead of classrooms.
Technology Will Support Sustainability Rather Than Harm It
As climate change action plans gather pace, there will be an increased focus on carbon neutrality and sustainability at all levels of an organization.
IoT devices and sensors will likely have emissions metrics that can measure devices at micro-levels. The push for sustainability also increases the pressure to build sustainable data centers. All-flash data centers, for example, use less power and cooling and reduce carbon footprints.
A year ago, companies had to put their visions of the future on hold and focus on keeping services and their workforce safe and healthy. Now that there is a breather to look forward to, our mindset can change in the long run.
