Technology is evolving at a rapid pace, enabling fast change and progress. It is not only emerging technologies that are evolving, a lot more has changed due to the outbreak of COVID-19 making IT professionals realize that their role will not stay the same. An IT professional in 2021-22 will constantly be learning, unlearning, and relearning.
What does this generally mean for you? It means staying current with emerging technologies and the latest technology trends. And it means keeping your eyes on the future to know which skills you’ll need to know to secure a safe job tomorrow and even learn how to get there. And if you wish to work from home and make the most of your time, here are some of the emerging technology trends you should watch for and make an attempt at in 2022, and possibly secure one of the jobs that will be created by these new technology trends.
- Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
- Edge Computing
- Blockchain
- Internet of Things (IoT)
- Cyber Security
1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence, or AI, has already received a lot of buzz in the past decade, but it continues to be one of the new technology trends because its remarkable effects on how we live, work, and play are only in the early stages. Artificial intelligence is already recognized for its predominance in image and speech recognition, navigation apps, personal smartphone helpers, ride-sharing apps, etc.
The AI market will grow to a $190 billion industry by 2025 with global spending on analytic and AI systems reaching over $57 billion in 2022. As AI spreads its wings across sectors, new jobs will be created in development, testing, programming, support, and maintenance, to mention a few. On the other hand, AI also offers some of the highest salaries today, which makes it the new cutting-edge trend you should watch out for!
Machine Learning, the subdivision of AI, is also being utilized in all kinds of industries, creating a huge demand for trained professionals. Forrester predicts AI, machine learning, and automation will create 9 percent of new U.S. jobs by 2025, jobs including robot monitoring professionals, data scientists, automation specialists, and content curators, making it another technology trend you should keep in mind.
2. Edge Computing
Formerly a new technology trend to watch, cloud computing has become mainstream, with major players AWS (Amazon Web Services), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform dominating the market. The acquisition of cloud computing is still growing, as more businesses migrate to a cloud solution.
As the number of data organizations are dealing with continues to increase, they have realized the shortcomings of cloud computing in some situations. Edge computing is programmed to help solve some of those problems as a way to bypass the suspense caused by cloud computing. It can exist “on the edge,” if you will, closer to where computing needs to happen. Edge computing can be used to process time-sensitive data in remote locations with limited or no connectivity to a centralized site.
Edge computing will rise as the use of the Internet of Things (IoT) devices increases. By 2022, the global edge computing market is expected to reach $6.72 billion. And this new technology trend is only meant to grow and nothing less, creating various jobs, primarily for software engineers.
3. Blockchain
Most people think of blockchain technology in relation to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, blockchain offers security that is useful in many other ways. Blockchain can be described as data you can only add to, not take away from, or change. Hence the term “chain” that’s because you’re making a chain of data. Not being able to change the previous blocks is what makes it so secure. In addition, blockchains are consensus-driven, so no one entity can take charge of the data. With blockchain, you don’t need a third party to supervise or validate transactions.
Several industries are involving and applying blockchain, and as the use of blockchain technology increases, so too does the demand for skilled professionals. From an aerial view, a blockchain developer niche in developing and implementing architecture and solutions using blockchain technology. The average yearly salary of a blockchain developer is ₹469K.
If you are fascinated by Blockchain and its applications and want to build your career in this trending technology, then this is the right time to begin.
4. Internet of Things (IoT)
Another promising new technology trend is IoT. Many “things” are now being built with WiFi connectivity, meaning they can be connected to the Internet—and to each other. The Internet of Things is the future and has already allowed devices, home appliances, cars and much more to be connected to and exchange data over the Internet.
As consumers, we are already using and benefitting from IoT. We can lock our doors remotely if we forget to when we leave for work and preheat our ovens on our way home from work, all while tracking our fitness on our Fitbits. However, businesses also have much to gain now and in the near future. The IoT can enable better safety, efficiency, and decision-making for businesses as data is collected and analyzed. It can allow predictive maintenance, hasten medical care, improve customer service, and offer benefits we haven’t even envisioned yet.
And we’re only in the beginning stages of this new technology trend: Forecasts suggest that by 2030 around 50 billion of these IoT devices will be in use around the world, creating a massive web of interconnected devices spanning everything from smartphones to kitchen appliances. The global spending on the Internet of Things (IoT) is forecast to reach 1.1 trillion U.S. dollars in 2022. New technologies such as 5G is expected to drive market growth in the coming years.
And if you wish to step foot in this trending technology, you will have to learn about Information security, AI and machine learning fundamentals, networking, hardware interfacing, data analytics, automation, understanding of embedded systems, and must-have device and design knowledge
5. Cyber Security
Cyber security might not seem like emerging technology, given that it has been around for a while, but it is evolving just as other technologies are. That’s in part because threats are constantly new. The malevolent hackers who are trying to illegally access data are not going to give up any time soon, and they will continue to find ways to get through even the toughest security measures. It’s also in part because new technology is being adapted to enhance security. As long as we have hackers, cybersecurity will remain a trending technology because it will constantly evolve to defend against those hackers.
As proof of the strong need for cybersecurity professionals, the number of cybersecurity jobs is growing three times faster than other tech jobs. According to Gartner, by 2025, 60% of organizations will use cybersecurity risk as a primary determinant in conducting third-party transactions and business engagements.
You must remember that however challenging the field is it also offers lucrative six-figure incomes, and roles can range from
Ethical Hacker
Malware Analyst
Security Engineer
Chief Security Officer etc.
