Madrid, 10th January 2023 – The new year is here and with it the inevitable compilation lists and highlights of the major technology trends that have marked 2022. Probably nothing you read below will sound totally new to you, since last year saw the consolidation and development of trends that were already a reality in 2021. However, it is worth taking a look at what 2022 has left us in terms of technology and what the near future could bring.
1 – Artificial intelligence (AI)
The big player in the technology world and the subject of huge investments in the sector that have given rise to numerous start-ups. Artificial intelligence has been democratized and is becoming increasingly integrated into all aspects of everyday life, from chatbots that serve consumers on websites, to machine translation engines and famous virtual assistants such as Alexa or Siri.
The challenge for the new year is to reduce market fragmentation and, in the process, reduce consumer confusion. Companies must address three fronts to take full advantage of the potential of AI:
- They have to make a strategic prioritization and define in which use cases they want to apply it first.
- Then they must plan,screen suppliers, and implement one or several packaged AI solutions
- They must transform their operating and business models, including the organization, processes, and culture.
They will face five hurdles along the way. They will need to attract, acquire, and develop the necessary talent, define investment priorities, address security concerns raised by AI, combat workforce resistance, and develop their technology and data capabilities.
2 – The cloud
Last year, the number of companies migrating their data and documents to the cloud continued to increase, and they are doing so for several very good reasons: to reduce the total cost of maintenance and access to the infrastructure, to guarantee the security and confidentiality of the information, to ensure ease of access, and to facilitate backups.
3 – Hyperscale
Perhaps a somewhat newer term derived from the mass migration to the cloud mentioned above. The technological capabilities to perform massive-scale computing, typically carried out in the cloud and handling big data, already exist.
This is the origin of the so-called hyperscalers, companies that provide infrastructure, platform and hosted private cloud services, and manage hundreds of thousands or even millions of servers. You may have guessed by now that we are referring to the “Three Wise Men” of the cloud: Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. Although they were initially more differentiated because they used to introduce products at different times, they are now converging and expanding their product offerings.
4 – Machine learning (ML)
Machine learning uses algorithms to parse data, learn from it and make decisions based on what is learned. These algorithms have been standardized and made more accessible to developers and business analysts. They have also made it easier to operationalize and deploy AI use cases at scale in enterprises.
These algorithms are typically applied to structured data and are used in product and service recommendation systems, churn prediction and customer segmentation.
5 – Deep learning (DL) and computer vision
Deep learning goes one step beyond machine learning and structures algorithms to create a kind of artificial neural network that can learn and make intelligent decisions on its own. This applies to computer vision, which integrates advanced solutions that process, analyze, and generate image and video data.
They are especially applied in autonomous cars, image-based diagnostics, natural resource exploration, and facial recognition and quality inspection systems.
6 – Natural language programming (NLP)
Natural language programming includes cognitive systems that can process, analyze, and generate textual data and cognitive interactions, and are currently used in home assistants, chatbots, fraud detection systems, and analysis of contracts and customer perceptions.
7 – Hyper-automation
Beyond the well-known robotic process automation (RPA), Gartner is already talking about hyper-automation. This is an approach that companies apply to quickly identify, analyze, and automate as many IT and business processes as possible.
This involves the coordination of different technologies, tools, and platforms. To those already listed above, hyper-automation adds event-driven software architectures, business process management (BPM), integration Platforms as a Service (iPaaS), packaged software, as well as other tools for automating decisions, processes, and tasks.
8 – Smart devices
The devices we use in our daily lives are getting smarter and smarter, which also makes us more dependent on them. We all carry our entire lives inside our cell phones and can’t imagine a day without them. That is already a reality. When was the last time you memorized a phone number? But as time goes on, more devices are emerging, some wearable, that make our lives easier and even take care of us, for example, smart watches and wristbands, and liquid crystal glasses such as Google Glasses.
9 – Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)
They are consolidated trends and even essential in future immersive worlds such as the metaverse, which will require, for example, special glasses for interaction. These technologies have already been widely developed in markets such as video games, but the time has come to take the leap and enter the world of work and social relations.
10 – Green IT
Green ITintegrates a series of sustainable practices and initiatives. The aim is to make technological innovations and the use of IT resources more responsible and contribute to environmental protection. More and more companies are concerned about their environmental footprint and choose to act in several dimensions. They develop environmentally friendly products using fewer natural resources and properly disposing of waste; reduce their CO2 emissions by using clean energy and limiting electricity consumption; properly manage solid waste, including used paper and electronic waste, collect recyclable materials and reuse production waste; and, finally, reduce water consumption in their day-to-day operations.
All these major trends are connected and are part of the same technological ecosystem, which is becoming richer and more complex, and will continue to surprise us this year with its advances.
Although not widely considered as “megatrends”, there are some technologies that help make the life of impaired people easier…
Document technology
New document management advances and products have also marked the year that has just ended. In line with the concepts of diversity and accessibility, software companies are creating solutions so that people with reading difficulties can understand documents also in digital format. For example, some programs make it possible to establish logical structures so that any PDF reader with integrated voice or screen readers can interpret documents. They also incorporate the use of tags to indicate the sequence of the various parts of a document. In short, it is all about breaking down barriers and software can help us a great deal on the road to a more inclusive and integrating society.
About DocPath
DocPath is a leading enterprise document software company that offers its international customers the technology that allows them to complement their ERP and implement advanced Document Output Management, Customer Communications Management and document software pooling processes.
Founded in 1993, DocPath is based in Europe, USA and Latin America and is present with its Solutions in companies around the world. Among its customers there are prestigious banks and top-tier corporations, facilitating the difficult and complex task of designing, generating and distributing their business-critical documents. DocPath keeps a strong commitment to R+D+i, an area to which it allocates a large part of its revenues, and in which lies one of the keys to its success.
For more information, visit: www.docpath.com.
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