Technology development trends to 2020

We live in an era of increasing use of diverse technologies in all aspects of life, from ingestible radio transmitters and fluorescent quantum dots for medical diagnosis and  treatment, to multifunctional cell phones that take digital photographs and receive and transmit electronic mail.

The top twenty business trends in 2020 might be

1) Robots taking our jobs

Probably the biggest change that is affecting our businesses is how machines are taking over tasks ranging from window cleaning to inventory management. Anyone with a transaction based job or business will be having a forced career change before the end of the decade.

2) The Internet of machines

Those robots and computers are talking to each other which speeds up business decisions and will strip layers of management from organisations.

3) Flatter organisations

A consequence of those faster decisions is the need for less management. Organisations need to be flatter in order to process information faster unless they want to risk nimble competitors seizing business opportunities.

4) 3D printing

One of the most exciting, and business changing, technologies is 3D printing which allows you to print a coffee cup at your desk, help robots construct new buildings and a give a little boy a set of fingers.

5) Nano-technology

The 3D printing is happening alongside biological engineering. By the end of the decade, we’ll be able to print our own skin. By 2030, we’ll be printing replacement body parts like heart valves.

6) Mobile apps redefining service industries

The mobile phone app is currently booming but the real effects of these mobile services will be felt on industries as diverse as the taxi industry to the mining and agricultural sectors.

7) The fight for control of the mobile payments system

An upshot of the app economy is the question of who processes, and makes money, from online payments. The battle between banks, credit card companies, telcos and software companies is going to be a major business story of the decade.

8) Reinventing entertainment

Apps and connected machines are going to change consumer behaviour and nowhere is this more notable in the entertainment industries which are being revolutionised by tools like Google Glasses and social media.

9) The fall and rise of social media

Like many innovations social media was greatly hyped and now we’re seeing the backlash of it being oversold. Over the rest of the decade organisations are going to figure out how to use social media services effectively and profitably without hype.

10) Newspapers cease to exist

One of the effects of social media, mobile phone apps and the pervasive internet is the end of newspapers by 2020 as futurist Ross Dawson has predicted.

The world is undergoing a global technology revolution that is integrating developments in biotechnology , nanotechnology , materials and information technology at an accelerating pace. Based on several parallel analyses of the state of globally important technology trends and how are being constructed into specific  applications we conclude that technology of 2020 will continue to integrate developments from multiple scientific disciplines in a convergence that will profound effects on society , this include:

• ·         Personalized medicine and therapies
• ·         Genetic  modifications of insect to control pests and disease vectors
• ·         Computational (or in silico ) drug discovery and testing
• ·         Targete drug delivery  through molecular recognition
• ·         Biomimetic and function –restoring implants
• ·         Rapid bioassays using bionanotechnologies
• ·         Embedded sensors and computational devices in commercial goods
• ·         Nanostructured materials with enhanced properties
• ·         Small and efficient portable power systems
• ·         Mass producible organic electronics , including solar cells
• ·         Smart fabric and textiles
• ·         Pervarsive undetectable cameas and sophisticated sensor networks
• ·         Large searchable databases containing detaile personal and medial data
• ·         Radio frequency identification (RFID)tracking of commercial products and individuals
• ·         Widespred bundled information and communication technologies , including wireless Internet connectivity
• ·         Quantum based cryptographic systems for secure information transfer 

To evaluate the potential impact of TAs on society , a rough net assessment index composed of the sum of the number of societal sectors  that could affect an measures of technical feasibility ,, implementation , an global diffusion,

Based on net assessment index , formed  representative group that allowed evaluation of worldwide variation in technology implementation an its relevanc e to significant societal problems and issues :

• Cheap solar energy
• Rural wireless communications
• Communication devics for ubiquitous information access anywhere , anytime
• Geneticlly modifies (GM) crops
• Rapid Bioassays
• Filter and ctalysts for water purification and decontamination
• Targeted drug delivery
• Cheap autonomous housing
• Green manufacturing
• Hybrid vehicles
• Pervasive sensors
• Tssue engineering
• Improved diagnostic an surgical methds
• Wearable computers
• Quantum crptography

Implementation feasibility is the net of all nontechnical barriers an enables , such as market demand, cost , infrastrastructure policies and regulationliic, Size of the market ,significant public policy issues. In parentheses re the number of sectors that the technology can influence and the designation indicates of whether the application will be diffused globally in 2020 or will be moderate in its diffusion (restricted by market , business sector , country or region).