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Tech Trends For 2016

At this time of year it is customary to look ahead and speculate about some the key issues we believe will affect us in the coming year. This week we’ll be giving a quick overview of a few tech trends that we believe may become the most talked about developments of 2016.

Blockchain

Bitcoin enjoys a lot of buzz, but in certain circles Bitcoin is starting to be upstaged by its own code, Blockchain, which promises to give a unique code to each financial transaction and could revolutionize the whole financial services industry. Anything that requires authentification or a signature could be disrupted by Blockchain in coming months and years. This could be one of the most important financial innovations since double entry book-keeping.

Cybersecurity

It’s becoming clearer and clearer that there simply isn’t the manpower to tackle the the size of the threats to our cybersecurity. Additionally, the NSA suggest that advances in quantum computing may present real challenges to our current cryptography. The BBC reports that ransomware may also become a real worry for businesses in 2016.

Virtual Reality

This is the year when virtual reality threatens to break through into the business world. Hand in had with augmented reality, there is the possibility for headsets to improve a person’s ability to complete real world tasks, for example by interposing a map over their surrounding environment.

3D Printing

OK, people have been talking about 3D printing for some time now, but market research firm Gartner suggest that there is a real opportunity here for designers to build profitable businesses by licensing their intellectual property like pop artists. Could this be the year that the designer becomes a rock star?

Mobile

Mobile? Yes, mobile still has real room to innovate and become an even larger part of our lives in 2016. For example, there is enormous potential for businesses to increase their localized advertising and leverage the power of location-marketing. Apple Money recently rolled out and is just the thin end of the wedge when it comes to mobile payments. Mobile payments could be especially powerful in the developing world.

Wearables

There is a lot of chatter about the large part wearables will play in tech trends in 2016. The value they offer is undoubted, with benefits from healthcare to the workplace. But it remains to be seen how many people take to wearing these devices every day.

What tech trends do you foresee over the next 12 months? Let us know your thoughts via Twitter