What fields of new technology are you most excited about and how do you think they can help increase the quality of life?
21 year old NPower student from Harlem. #technology #software #programming
9 answers
Divya’s Answer
The trending technologies or the ones i am excited about is
- Machine learning and Artificial intelligent.
- Cloud based services
In this technological era where everything is being automated, how AI is evolving intrigues me. it does improve quality of life : self drive cars, access to meaningful education,smart data analytics and much more.
Cloud based services : Everything these days is moving to cloud. No one wants to even carry a hard disk these days. Having data on clud makes it easily accessible. For personal use : Google cloud, icloud.
Even big companies for their use have started shifting to cloud based services like AWS ( amazon web services)
you can read about them here : https://denversouthedp.org/how-artificial-intelligence-can-improve-our-quality-of-life/
But again these are the ones that i feel are most eveolving as of now. For you it can be something else depending on your intereste
Bhavna’s Answer
2. Automation & Robotics: Automation and robotics are also transforming many industries, such as manufacturing. By reducing the need for human labor, companies can increase efficiency and productivity while still maintaining a high standard of quality. This can lead to a better quality of life for workers as they can focus on higher value tasks that only humans can perform.
3. Big Data & Analytics: The use of Big Data & Analytics is transforming how people are able to make decisions. By combining, analyzing and visualizing large amounts of data, it’s possible to gain valuable insights in almost any area imaginable, from disease diagnosis to predicting consumer trends. This can lead to a higher quality of life, by providing better decision-making abilities and allowing for more informed choices.
4. Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality: Augmented and virtual reality technologies have the potential to revolutionize many aspects of life. They can allow for immersive learning experiences, and help in the treatment of psychological illnesses such as PTSD. Augmented reality's potential applications include improving workplace efficiency and providing assistance in medical and research fields, creating a higher quality of life for those who use them.
Reeja’s Answer
IOT is a field where you can expect a lot of areas for implementation. In short, IOT is Internet of Things where in you have sensors installed in devices. They are connected to the internet and that makes the data accessible to a program which can process it and help in taking an action. The action again can be using IOT.
You can refer the below link:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/insights-inteliot/2018/10/24/living-smart-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-smart-city-resident/657b4a12b652
Nalin’s Answer
Shyam’s Answer
Hi Melanie,
In order to provide a holistic answer to your question, we need to look at the technology areas that are
a. Upcoming / Emerging trends in global technology market
b. Are fueled by increasing consumer demand for technology aspects in everyday life
c. At the cusp of innovation in the field of technology.
With that in mind and in addition to the areas mentioned above (i.e. Machine Learning and AI, Cloud based services) I believe the following areas of technology are going to have the most research and development and also are the most relatable (in my opinion) in directly influencing job satisfaction and thereby quality of life (Although this aspect is highly subjective and I don't profess to be an expert on human resource management).
Sources : International Commune on Digital Transformation held at Davos in January 2019. Excerpt from World Economic Forum. (Link below)
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/a-brief-guide-to-the-technologies-changing-world/
- Big Data, Data analytics and Business Intelligence : This area has hugely expanded since its early days in 2011 and more and more automation opportunity and increasingly insightful analytics based dashboards are in huge demand in mid-management tier of most Organizations in technology.
- Digital Health : With increasing demand for remote medical opinion and ability to leverage the knowledge base of multiple medical experts and associated personnel, this is another area that promises huge potential in the coming decade. Digitization is empowering people to look after their own health. Think of apps that track how much you eat, sleep and exercise, and being able to ask a doctor a question by simply tapping it into your smartphone.
- Internet of things and Wearable internet : It is estimated that within the next decade we will have at least a trillion sensor connected to the internet and sharing and parsing data across them. This area has had and continues to have tremendous automation prospects. If almost everything is connected, it will transform how we do business and help us manage resources more efficiently and sustainably. Connected sensors will be able to share information from their environment and organize themselves to make our lives easier and safer. From self-driving cars to Digitized crop farms and agricultural automation are revolutionizing the transportation and food production industry massively. Wearable internet is another growing field as the demand for smart watches, goggles and wearable paraphernalia has gone through the roof. By 2025, 10% of people are expected to be wearing clothes connected to the internet and the first implantable mobile phone is expected to be sold.
- Blockchain : I have limited knowledge on blockchains and the secure shared banking database technologies. However a public shared ledger will decentralize the existing financial / Banking sector. The results will show in terms of lightning fast inter bank transactions (which earlier used to take hours or even days to get processed through the Banks internal processes will not be done in seconds or sometimes even a fraction of a second). Financial fraud will be significantly reduced, as every transaction will be recorded and distributed on a public ledger, which will be accessible by anyone who has an internet connection. There are already umpteen number of crypto currencies based off the block chain. However block chain as a technology is far beyond just crypto currencies or alternate currencies and is a requirement of the integration and unified communication channels employed in most international banks today. Currently only a tiny fraction of the world’s GDP (around 0.025%) is currently held on blockchain, the shared database technology where transactions in digital currencies such as the Bitcoin are made. However this is already changing as more and more financial institutions explore the blockchain technology to cut costs and reduce processing times.
- Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality : With the advent of AR and VR, the digital content market has been swooped by a variety of offerings from the Tech Giants in the segment which include Amazon and Google. Solutions which allowing humans to explore fully immersive computer-generated worlds (in VR), and overlay computer graphics onto our view of our immediate environment (AR) are both increasingly being adopted in both entertainment and industry. To be honest this is still a niche segment which means it holds both tremendous potential to the discerning enthusiast as well as huge growth prospects to explore multi-platform AR / VR deployments. A solution centric approach is still new to this field (which in all honesty is still very much in its infancy) and so one can expect a huge spurt of learning opportunities if one were to delve deep into this domain.
Useful link on AR/VR prospects : https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/01/14/5-important-augmented-and-virtual-reality-trends-for-2019-everyone-should-read/5cb986f22e7e
Kelly’s Answer
Jenny’s Answer
When I think about technology that actually excites me, I think about how we're still discovering new ways to tackle climate change. Countries in Europe and Asia are developing faster trains to carry more people across the country, cutting down on carbon emissions and making travel more accessible for more people. Alternative energy sources like solar energy are becoming more and more efficient. Some nations like Germany are now producing more electricity than they can use on some days. New farming technology is looking to produce food for our population while being more ethical and humane than our current practices.
Researchers and scientists are working hard to tackle diseases and develop new treatments and medicine for those in need. A major challenge they face is receiving enough funding to fuel their research. We also are struggling with big pharmaceutical companies exploiting this research and raising the prices of drugs so that fewer people can use them.
At every step, we are seeing creative and passionate people genuinely trying to fix major problems that our world faces, including in the tech industry. Things become dodgy when the wrong people in power are trying to exploit what we make to do the opposite of what we want. The biggest takeaway here is that while any technology can be used for good, we also need to fix societal issues with social change as well. Technology alone will not solve everything. We also need policy changes and social movements to go with it.
John’s Answer
- Wireless Technology, whether in the form of IoT or 4G/5G. This is where we can reduce the reliability on cables, which has limitations & also inconveniences of road digging & other construction works. It becomes a real help in the unfortunate events of a natural disaster, when wireless tech can be set up quickly & restoring much-needed communications. Won't you love to bring communications to the unconnected?
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Oliver’s Answer
Hi Melanie,
I think a new technology that is exciting is quantum computing, something you can find out more about here: https://youtu.be/OWJCfOvochA. A quantum computer allows you to solve problems and do things that conventional computers just cannot.
How do I think this can help increase quality of life?
Here are some possible thoughts
- Help with drug discovery and design to help people and medicine research and creation be better.
- Genomics so could help with identifying, preventing or curing complex diseases like cancer.
- Aerospace physics, to better improve flight on this plant and possible in space, just in case we need to leave the plant one day
- Cyber security and cryptography - making computers/networks etc. secure in a way they can never be broken/insecure like they can today.
Hope this helps!
Oliver recommends the following next steps: