By Brian T. Horowitz, Editor and Contributing Writer
What will the remote future look like in 2020? We’ll see innovation in every industry, from health care to education.
Companies will use big data algorithms to make industries more personalized, and machine learning will help companies act on all types of data.
“We believe that data is the oil of the 21st century,” Dr. Jai Menon (below), vice president and chief research officer for Dell Research, told Power More. “It’s the thing that is going to run our enterprises.”
By 2020, data created and copied each year will reach 44 zettabytes, or 44 trillion gigabytes, of data, IDC reported.
Along with access to all this data, businesses in industries such as retail and health care will need to have safeguards in place now and in the future to protect consumers.
“We’re going to be more likely to do business with companies who are more predictive of our needs, but also those who guard our privacy and earn our trust,” Bob Egan, chief research officer and founder of executive advisory firm the Sepharim Group, told Power More. “Whether you’re in retail, health care, the automobile business, hospitality or transportation, there are 3 billion people walking around with supercomputers, and you have to ask yourself, how do I earn their trust, how do I inspire people to do business with me and how do I calculate the value of those relationships?”
Businesses such as retailers will continue to innovate with big data to understand the traffic patterns of customers and understand what individuals buy in a store versus elsewhere.
Telemedicine, AI and the Internet of Things
In the future we’ll also see innovation in artificial intelligence and further development of sensors as part of the Internet of Things.
“It’s a digital universe, and it’s the next trillion dollar opportunity for growth and productivity,” Dell CEO Michael Dell said.
Also look for innovation in mood-sensing computing, in which sensor data involving bio-signals, heart rate, ECG and perspiration will help determine a user’s emotional state. Mood sensing could be used in gaming, the workplace, educational environments and professional disciplines.
The health care industry will see further developments in telemedicine, and doctors will be able to use remote data to treat patients more efficiently.
“I think telemedicine is going to explode,” Nick van Terheyden, chief medical officer for Dell, told Power More. “Why would you not get your laptop with telemedicine enabled so that you can access your physician and start to engage immediately if you need support.”
Sensors and big data will allow doctors to monitor patients who just had open-heart surgery, Egan noted.
With innovation in areas such as big data, sensors, wearables, holography and virtual reality and the miniaturization of semiconductors, companies will have lots of opportunities to shape our world in the remote future.
“Technology has never been anything but an enabler of human potential,” van Terheyden said.
Check out the video below to learn all about the innovations we’ll see in the remote future.