Innovating IT: What to Watch in 2016

Recently, a list of the top 10 strategic technology trends of 2016 was released as a result of the Gartner Symposium, the world’s most significant gathering of CIO’s and senior IT executives. These trends could have a significant impact on organizations around the globe.

1. The Device Mesh

The Device Mesh incorporates all devices: mobile phones, home electronics, wearable gadgets and more. This year will see expanding connection models, allowing further communication between all these devices that are used daily. These networks will allow organizations to connect in various ways that can benefit the strength of communication within a company.

2. Ambient User Experience

As a device user moves from one device to another, their experience will seamlessly shift from each. This synchronization between devices will provide a level of organization that has previously never been achieved. The future of application design for such collaboration is a challenge, but if accomplished, will provide countless opportunities to organizations and individuals.

3. 3D-Printing Materials

3D-Printing has already reached a high level of popularity over the last couple of years, but the prediction for these next few years is the expansion of options and possibilities available through this printing method. The quality and speed of production will advance greatly, and organizations have already begun to take advantage of this by using 3D printing to print mechanical parts or other similar devices.

4. Information of Everything

According to Gartner, by 2020, 25 billion devices will be generating data about almost every topic imaginable. This abundance of information presents a challenge, but if approached correctly, it can become a major opportunity. The challenge is to accumulate and connect all of this data so that it is not isolated or incomplete, but instead fully accessible, even if the information is coming from several different sources. Organizations that can pull together this mass of resources will pull ahead by gaining access to a great supply of information.

5. Advanced Machine Learning

With the advancement of Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), machines will not only be able to gather information, but also learn from it. Manual analysis and classification will become redundant and unnecessary as DNNs will gradually be able to do this work on their own. This advancement would save organizations a great amount of time that would normally be spent on the manual labor that will someday be performed by machines.

6. Autonomous Agents and Things

The rise of machine learning leads to advances in subjects such as robots, autonomous vehicles, virtual personal assistants, and other intelligent designs. This involves the growth of autonomous agents such as Apple’s Siri, and the development of such features can provide organizations with dynamic interfaces that can interact with humans. The capabilities of such agents will allow workers more time to do work that only humans can do.

7. Adaptive Security Architecture

The digital mesh and advanced machines are great advantages to organizations, but they also present a potential security threat. Apps and agents that can learn by gathering information must also know how to defend themselves from potential threats, in order to safeguard the information of the organization. The advances in security architecture will assist organizations in detecting and disposing of security threats.

8. Advanced System Architecture

In order to develop machines to learn and act intelligently, advances will be made to mimic the human brain within such devices. The neurobiological systems will provide a blueprint for how these devices should be designed and maintained.

9. Mesh App and Service Architecture

In light of the digital mesh, application makers must take into consideration the new flexibility their apps must contain. This involves multiple apps working together across systems to provide a valuable combination to device users. The opportunities for organizations are endless, as multiple application providers can find ways to work together to provide the best possible experience for the users.

10. Internet of Things Platforms

The Internet of Things (IoT) platform pulls together the ideas discussed above and presents a possible reality where all devices work together to provide the user with a seamless experience. Advancements on this are predicted to continue for the next couple of years, so organizations embracing this change will need to develop strategies for their IoT platform.
The year of 2016 promises many innovative changes in technology, and this list of top 10 strategies released by Gartner is something organizations should pay attention to as it provides the most accurate predictions of the future of technology. These advancements can greatly benefit organizations that take advantage of them early on and incorporate them into their businesses.