From 2022 to 2040(ish)

I wrote an article titled “I Compiled a List of Tech’s “Next Big Things” So You Wouldn’t Have to” in 2018. It has since been read over 50,000 times and shared more than 1,000 times on social media. As anyone reading it in the 2020s will notice, a lot of what was written then is now obsolete. It is thus necessary to write an update, highlighting the key technologies emerging today that will be all the rage in in 2022, 2025 and 2030s.

Obviously, these dates should be taken with a grain of salt : predictions are wrong more often than not (check my 2020 tech predictions if you don’t believe me). They are often wrong because we tend to use history, which is at heart the study of surprises and changes, as a guide to the future. This should however not stop us from aiming to better understand the future of technology : the knowledge gained through planning is crucial to the selection of appropriate actions as future events unfold. We don’t know the answer, but we can at least ask useful questions and catalyse the conversation.

The boring, expected stuff (2022 technologies)

1. Blockchain

By now, we’ve all heard about blockchain revolutionising just about every industry imaginable. Banking, politics, healthcare… all could **technically **benefit from the creation of a decentralised digital ledger which tracks and stores information in various places, thus making forgery impossible. Identification is provided through complex calculations, making identity theft virtually impossible, too.

There is however one word which stands out in the description above. Decentralised. Banks, governments, hospitals… these institutions don’t want to see their power curtailed (unless on their own terms). As such, it is likely that we will see some advances in the blockchain space, but it will remain on the fringes of technology, missing the revolution predicted by its (many) fans.

#future of work #inventions #technology #big data