Top Ten ICT trends in 2021

  • Wed, 02/03/2021 - 15:56 by mujahid

Nowadays, technology is evolving quickly and swiftly, allowing for faster change and advancement, causing the rate of change to accelerate, until it will eventually become exponential. Even so, not only are technology trends and top technologies evolving, much more has changed this year because of the outbreak of COVID-19, allowing IT professionals to realize that tomorrow their role in the contactless world will not remain the same. And an IT expert in 2020-21 will steadily be learning, unlearning, and relearning (out of essential if not need).

What is this supposed to mean to you? It means keeping updated with new developments in technology. And it means to retain your eyes on the future destiny to realize what expertise you're going to need to know tomorrow to guarantee a safe job and even learn how to get there. Innovation is being accelerated by businesses as they aim to be more competitive and better prepared for incredible times. The next few years will be full of surprises and disruptions in technology. In this piece, in 2021, we will examine some emerging trends in technology that can set the course for the next few years.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

The components of computer science that are linked to each other are artificial intelligence and machine learning. These two technologies seem to be the most common technologies that are used for building smart systems. While these are two closely related technologies, and occasionally people use them as a synonym for each other, in various cases both terms are still the same. We can distinguish both AI and ML from a wide-ranging point.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is a scope of computer science that causes a computer system that can copy human intelligence. It is consists of two words Artificial and intelligence, which means a human-made intelligent device. therefore we can identify it as,

Artificial intelligence is a technology that allows us to produce smart systems that can work as human intelligence

Rather than using algorithms that can operate with their own intelligence, the Artificial Intelligence System does not require pre-programming. Machine learning algorithms such as the Deep Learning Model and neural networks for deep learning are involved. AI is even used in various places such as Siri, Google, and Chess playing, etc.

Machine Learning

Machine learning is all about information extraction from the information. It may be described as,

Machine learning is a subarea of artificial intelligence that allows machines, without being directly programmed, to learn from past data or knowledge.

Machine learning allows a computer system, without being explicitly programmed, to make predictions or make some decisions using historical data. Machine learning uses a huge amount of formalized and semi-formalized data to produce precise results or provide assumptions based on those facts in a machine learning model.
Does machine learning work on algorithms that learn through it? Using available information of our own. It only works for particular domains, such as if we create a machine learning system that can detect dog images, it will only give dog image results, but if we provide new data such as cat image, it will become unresponsive. Machine learning is used in different spots, such as the online recommendation system, Google search techniques, email spam filters, suggestions for Facebook Auto friend tagging, etc.

Unified Communications as a Service

A Unified Communications (UC) system is a VoIP telephone process that combines into a single platform, or unifies, a range of communication technologies and techniques. Many companies communicate in a number of distinct ways, such as voice, video, IM, email, etc. A UC scheme brings them all together in one solution to work seamlessly. An implementation process for providing UC via the Cloud to organizations is Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS). UCaaS acts like a subscription service with decreased or no startup costs, unlike traditional on-premise UC technologies.
As cloud computing is becoming more commonplace in the business world, the global market for UCaaS has already surged, but now there is an even higher need for UCaaS service providers.UCaaS is a technology that uses cloud-based services to automate communications for businesses. Unified communications refer to the large number of channels used by companies to exchange data, such as:

  • Messages
  • Email
  • Voice Mail
  • Telephone
  • SMS

The as a service section denotes the specific system that reduces the need for full IT staff or complicated IT facilities by enabling companies to run their businesses at all times from anywhere in the world. But UCaaS is like information sharing.
It's a way to boost productivity, among other things, by raising your capabilities to use instant communication in your business operations. It improves mobility across offices and satellite locations and helps to smoothly and consistently integrate external software. And that's just the start of what UCaaS can support your organization to achieve.

Unified Mobile Communications

Mobile Unified Communications Mobile UC is a method that enables operators of mobile networks MNOs to provide a highly contextual and immersive telephony service that increased the reliability and connectivity of a user. Mobile UC functionality extends the value of the mobile offering of an MNO, improving customer satisfaction and thus loyalty.
Mobile UC offers are easily deployed in VoLTE and IMS networks and use cloud-native, carrier-grade mobile communications platforms that combine a smartphone's native dialer experience with network-based voice services, group communications, and integrations in a special way. For families, sole proprietorships, or independent advisors (prosumers), and small to medium-sized companies, mobile UC services are ideal. Each subset of customers has a separate set of problems that a fully customizable Mobile UC offering can address. Complete unified communications and collaboration services comprising presence, chat, and video conferencing also include solutions. A Mobile UC application usually also includes a simple management interface, using the native dialer, from which a user can set up and control the whole communications environment.

Mobile Unified Communications (UC) features a list

  • A highly configurable single line on end devices with different appearances.
  • Local calling and texting based on inter or community, including multi-way calls.
  • Dual identity, combined with the native dialer with two or more numbers.
  • Temporary eBay or Craigslist numbers or for companies with temporary staff.
  • Regulation and permissions, including incoming granular call control and delivery of calls.
  • The partnership of intuitive classes, like video conferencing and screen sharing.
  • Detailed involvement, instant messaging from a simple UI, and file sharing.

Reality Technologies and Difference

The gap between the virtual and the real world begins to break down, critical experiences of struggles that could only be found a short time ago in the fantasies of science fiction developers.
Augmented reality and virtual reality are two ways that the way you view the world can be changed by software. It can be confusing the definitions. Sometimes people think that the same thing is true of AR and VR.
In technology, augmented reality and virtual reality are commonly used, There are more incredible reality technologies,

  • Virtual Reality (VR)
  • Augmented Reality (AR)
  • Mixed Reality (MR)
  • Extended Reality (XR)

Let's break down all of the above-mentioned reality technologies

Virtual Reality

To give you the feeling that you're elsewhere, VR headsets completely take over your vision. When you wear them, these headsets are completely dark and blocking out your environment. You might think you're motionless if you put them on when they're turned off.

However, when the headsets switch to ON, the lenses refract the LCD or OLED panels inside to completely fill your visuals with whatever is showing. It can be a game, a 360-degree video, or simply the operating systems of the platforms' virtual space. You're graphically taken to wherever the headset wants you to go, replacing the outer world with a virtual one.

Thanks to external sensors or cameras (for the Rift, Vive, and PS VR) or outward-facing cameras, most tethered VR headsets such as the Rift, Vive, PlayStation VR, and Windows Mixed Reality headsets use six-degree-of-freedom (6DOF) motion tracking (for WMR). This implies that the headsets not only detect the orientation you are facing but any motion you are making in those directions. This allows you to move around in a virtual space, with virtual hands, paired with 6DOF gesture controls. Usually, this room is limited to a few square meters across, but it's a lot more enjoyable than just standing still and staring in multiple directions. The downside is you'd have to be careful not to communicate the headset to your device or game module via any wire.

Augmented Reality

Right now, Augmented Reality (AR) is one of the biggest technology trends, and as AR-ready mobile phones and other gadgets become more advanced, it will only get bigger. AR let us see straight in front of us the real-life environment-trees moving in the park, dogs running balls, kids playing soccer-with a digital increase covered on it. For example, a pterosaur could be seen landing in the trees, the dogs could mix with their counterparts in the cartoon, and the kids could be seen kicking past an alien spaceship on their way to a goal.
Such examples are not that different from what might already be accessible for your mobile phone, with advances in AR technology. In fact, Augmented Reality is widely available and used in a variety of ways, including Snapchat lenses, in applications that help you find your car in a crowded parking lot, and in a wide range of shopping applications that help you to try on clothes without even leaving home.
The mobile app Pokemon Go, which was released in 2016 and quickly became an unavoidable sensory experience, is perhaps the most famous example of AR technology. Players locate and capture Pokemon characters in the game that pops up on your sidewalk, in a fountain, even in your own bathroom, in the physical world.
So although your vision is replaced by virtual reality, augmented reality needs to add to it. AR devices such as Microsoft HoloLens and different smart glasses at the enterprise level are transparent, allowing you to see everything around you as if you were wearing a weak pair of glasses. AR view can provide something as easy as a time-showing data overlay, to something as complex as holograms hovering in the center of a room.
For applications, augmented reality has almost unlimited possibilities. For years now, phone-based AR software has been identifying environments and offering extra details about what it sees, providing live text translation or cafe pop-up reviews as you look at them. Dedicated AR headsets such as the HoloLens can do much more, allowing you to virtual location various applications around you as hovering windows, essentially giving you immediately customizable multi-monitor computing settings.

Mixed Reality (MR)

Interactive technologies are both considered Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR), but they are not the same. Mixed reality is an extended version of augmented reality that makes it possible to interact in an environment with real and virtual elements. Mixed reality allows real and virtual components to communicate with each other and the user to communicate with virtual components as if they would in the real world. It is not considered a completely immersive experience, since mixed reality keeps a connection to the real world. Wherever you go and look when wearing MR technology in a mixed reality environment, the 3D content you experience in space will respond to you the same as it would in the real world. An entity, for example, will stay close to you and you move closer to it and you can communicate with it.

How Mixed Reality work

While reflecting images on whatever you wear, the technology is designed for absolutely free movement. The view extends to smartphones with AR games and apps such as Pokemon Go, which use the camera of your phone to monitor your environment on the screen and overlay extra details on top of it. On your display, on top of whatever the camera is looking at, Pokemon Go projects a Pokemon. Smart glasses like the mysterious Magic Leap and HoloLens will let you virtually location hovering apps, windows, and 3D decorations around you.

To produce the experience, there has to be an MR device, either a headset or translucent glasses. Using so much processing power than either virtual or augmented reality, with the help of gesture/voice identification systems via a headset or a pair of motion controllers, mixed reality technology joins the virtual and real worlds into one connected experience.

Extended Reality (XR)

Extended Reality (XR) is an abstract concept that includes all the different technologies that improve our senses, whether they give us additional knowledge about the real world or create us to enter truly unreal, virtual worlds.
This includes technologies for Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR). Is it time for us to start learning about this new technology a little more? Well, by now you might have heard. Ok, what does it mean in terms/disclaimers if I say this stuff has been around since 2005: on August 11, 2013, Oculus Rift® developer kit 2 was released by Facebook, the first virtual reality headset for consumers.

Internet of Things (IoT)

The IoT is also another successful new trend in technology innovation. With WiFi connectivity, many things are now being created, meaning they can be connected to the Internet one another. This is the Internet of Things or IoT. The Internet of Things is the future and has already made it possible to connect and share data with devices over the internet, home gadgets, cars, and more.
As customers, we are now using IoT and advantage from it. When we head to work and preheat our ovens on our way home from work, while still monitoring our health on our Fitness trackers, we can lock our doors remotely if we forget to. Even so, now and in the coming days, companies also have much to achieve. As information is processed, IoT can allow improved safety, reliability, and making decisions for businesses. It can allow for process automation, speed up medical treatment, enhance customer service, and provide advantages that we have not even imagined yet.
And we are mostly in the initial stages of such a new technology trend: projections indicate that almost 50 billion certain IoT devices will be used worldwide by 2030, creating a large web of connected things ranging from smartphones to home appliances. In 2022, Internet of Things (IoT) spending is projected to reach 1.1 trillion U.S. dollars. It is believed that future technologies such as 5G will drive industry growth over the coming years.
And you will have to know and understand cybersecurity, AI and machine learning fundamental principles, networking, hardware connecting, data analytics, automation, understanding of embedded devices, and you need to have awareness of devices and design if you want to step foot in this digital revolution.

VoIP support for IoT

Beyond transferring voice and video packets, VoIP technologies are evolving. So, by maintaining that all its nodes, such as cameras and speakers, work to link with many other devices, we can assume VoIP to stay viable. This is how it all meets IoT and VoIP. All Web devices are interconnected by IoT to optimize data sharing. VoIP will play an important role in the data capture and transmission levels of IoT as this technology becomes more advanced.
VoIP and IoT can revolutionize the way companies operate when used hand-in-hand. Companies can set up smart office space, for instance. These work environments can be as easy as knowing a system that collects all the relevant data from your office equipment so that wherever they are, workers and employees can get all the data they want.
So when you start using this for your work environment, of course, you must first analyze how other enterprises do it.

Work from Home and Video Technologies will Grow

More and more companies are motivated by the recent spread of COVID-19 to ask employees to work from home. But have they made their staff ready to do so? Advanced offices are packed with resources and knowledge that make work possible, but an amount of that support is not available to most homes.
You'll need to ramp up the technologies you're using if you're hoping to maintain productivity levels at home. Lagging behind co-workers or other businesses could completely ruin your output.
It might not be easy to know where to begin for those not used to working from home. Technologies that remote workers should consider to keep on top of their job are here:

Adaptive WiFi

While your commute can generally be handled by a car, bike, or public transportation, Wi-Fi allows you to travel to your digital workplace safely and effectively. You need an internet connection to remain connected with your co-workers that communicates adaptively to your desires. Specify Adaptive WiFi.
Adaptive WiFi uses advanced technology to map where and when your home and equipment use Wi-Fi the most, unlike yesterday's mesh Wi-Fi. It then wisely distributes the suitable bandwidth. Think of it for your connected home, as air traffic control. This system ensures that everything in your house not only gets the Wi-Fi it requires but also that the most strong and secure service is provided by heavily used devices. Adaptive Wi-Fi provider Plume offers its products which not only react to your necessities adaptively but also provide online policies to ensure security while in use.

Video Calling Services

As workers head home, this quick switch to remote work across the country could also be called the Boom Zoom, among the most popular video calling platforms in the world, is set to make big returns.
Face-to-face conferences are the backbone of several companies, it is not an option to remove them entirely. Technologies such as Zoom, Skype, and Google Chat make it easy to keep in touch with colleagues or customers from a distance. Even if video calling may not have had the same feeling as in-person meetings, in this time periods like these, they provide an efficient replacement.

Instant Communication Tools

As effective as video calls are, face-to-face resolution is not needed for every issue. You'll need to chat textually with your co-workers when working from home. While email could be the go-to, it can be a boring time waste for continuously refreshing your inbox and punctuation your messages. 28% of the average work shift is spent on email solely.
You can simulate the simplicity of in-office communication over the Web with instant chat tools such as Slack, Telegram, and Quip. You can make sure that anyone who wants to see your message will do so instantly, with the ability to interact privately or in groups.

Digital Assistants

You can make calls, send emails, take notes while doing so much more with digital assistants. While it may usually be disruptive to use one in the office, using one at home can allow you to continue working as you cook, clean, or execute other essential domestic chores. Without the difficult coordination they typically require, some digital assistants can also allow you to hold conference calls.
For more and more employees, as working from home becomes a required reality, some may suffer to adapt to a new environment. Although the transformation could be far from simple, it can make settling in a bit easy by using technology wisely.

Wider use of 5G technology

There is no reason to think that the innovation of 5G-6G internet technology has been driven by the demand for higher-speed internet and a change to well-connected homes, new technologies, and autonomous mobility. New housing and utility or application development updates from both big companies and start-ups will be seen in 2021.
Several telecommunications companies are on way to achieving 5G, before Covid-19, with Australia having rolled it out. In October 2020, Verizon declared a big increase of its 5G network, which will meet over 200 million individuals. In China, the deployment of 5G took place quickly. But worldwide, Ericsson is leading the way. At present, there are over 380 companies investing in 5G.
Start-ups such as Movandi are working hard to help 5G transfer data at long distances; beginning such as Novalume are assisting municipalities with sensor management of their public lighting network and smart-city data. Drones are being used by Nido Robotics to discover the ocean surface.
Such drones help to explore better via 5G networks and use IoT to help communicate with devices on board. Start-ups like South Korea's Seadronix use 5G to help supply ships. The 5G networks allow devices to work in real-time together and allow ships to travel autonomously.
Smart city projects will be driven worldwide by the implementation of 5G and 6G technologies and will support the autonomous mobility industry in 2021.

Telehealth and Telemedicine

Nowadays, several modern treatment technology terms are being used that may not be familiar to the average patient. A popular misconception, for instance, is that telemedicine and telehealth terms are synonymous. The reality is that each of these terms relates to a different way of managing medical services through existing technologies or through a different medical technology field. We have provided a detailed definition of each to clarify the subtle differences between these three terms.

Telehealth

The word telehealth is an all-encompassing one, referring in a general sense to medical information services, medical care education, and health care services. In reality, within the wider scope of the term telehealth and telemedicine are normally treated. Health studies, a remote inspection of vital signs, ECG or blood pressure, and remote doctor-patient meetings are examples of telehealth. In addition to the expertise to remotely detect fluctuations in the medical patient's condition at home, telehealth technology allows remote diagnosis and assessment of patients so that the treatments or specific therapy can be changed wisely. It also makes it possible for e-prescribe treatments and remotely prescribed treatments.

Telemedicine

There is a tighter possibility for this term than telehealth. More accurately, it relates to distance education and the availability of health care services through the use of telecommunications technologies. Telemedicine relates to the use of electronic communications and information technologies to provide patients with remote clinical services. Examples of telemedicine are the digital transmission of medical imaging, remote medical diagnosis and evaluations, and video consultations with professionals.

Online education will be the Future of our Educational System

In the last couple of years, the concept of the typical educational system has evolved drastically. Especially, the e-learning and online educational system were quick-tracked by Covid-19. At some point, 190 countries imposed nationwide school closures during this pandemic, impacting almost 1.6 billion people worldwide.
With schools, colleges, and even training centers undertaking classes via streaming video, there is a significant opportunity. Even after everything gets back to normal, many organizations have actually been advised to pursue a part of their classes online.
The optimism around education via the Internet does not need to be discounted. The concept of leaving the traditional classroom behind, particularly if it is to face this huge expanse called the Internet, is hard to understand. Continue reading to find out more reasons why you should take part in online education!

Adaptable and Flexible

Online education allows the teacher and the student to scheduled their own learning tasks, and there is the extra adaptability of making a schedule that aligns the ideology of anyone. As a matter of fact, it makes for a greater equilibrium of work and studies by using an online education system, so there is no need to abandon anything. Studying online teaches you vital skills in time management, which helps to find good work-study stability. Provides a clear action plan between the teacher and the student can also encourage both sides to recognize new responsibilities and have more freedom.

Provides a Broad Selection of Programs

There are limitless skills and subjects to learn in a space as vast and broad as the internet. For different levels and subjects, an increasing number of higher education institutions, schools are offering online editions of their systems. There are many choices for every type of student, from music composition to quantum physics. Researching your program online is indeed a fantastic choice without physically having stepped on a university campus to get an official certificate, diploma, or degree.

Approachable for Everyone

The online education system allows you to study from anywhere in the world or to teach. This means that there is no need to travel or follow a strict routine from one place to another. In addition to that, you not only save time but also save funds, that can be planned to spend on other priorities. Anyplace there is an internet service, online education is also accessible and a good way to take advantage of this than to commute. e.g.
Online education is a great choice if you're studying abroad and want to get a job. When exploring new and strange places, there is no reason to give up on working or studying.

Cost-effective

Online education tends to be more cost-effective, except for in-person classroom instruction. There is also a huge variety of payment options that allow you to pay in installments or per class. This enables better management of budgets. Many of you may also be subject to scholarships or special offers, so the price is hardly high. You can also save money from the substances for commutes and classes, that are often available for free. In other words, there is less financial investment, but the results may be better than other choices.

Artificial Intelligence integration in VoIP Technologies

As we have briefly discussed above AI artificial intelligence, here is how VOIP use AI technology in telecommunication.
So it's no wonder AI is also heading to VoIP services as well. AI allows operations the opportunity to evaluate the relationships between agents and consumers to predict possible behavior. It also offers a deeper understanding of the problem users ask about most, as well as statistics such as call time, performance reviews, and more, solutions and customer satisfaction. Once all of this information is refined into a usable format, it can be used by agents to predict what consumers need most in a shorter amount of time to solve their problems.