2021 Is The Digital Era: The Rise of Technology

Technology today is evolving at an unprecedented pace, bringing with it fast-moving developments and progress that lead to exceptional alterations in every aspect of human life.

The rise of technology is not per se unanticipated because we have been gradually adapting to the changes. However, no one could have predicted the ongoings of 2020 and how things took a turn due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The quarantine situations and intense lockdown worldwide gave birth to a heavily transformed digital era.

The expansion of the digital world in the last year is more than it was in the last two decades. For 2021, we could only expect economic sectors to reap the most benefits from technological advancements and benefit from them to the fullest.

Today, people are more likely to readily accept technical adjustments because it is the need of the hour. They understand that at the speed at which the human race is advancing, there is a hundred percent chance of mind-blowing technology inventions that leave behind masterworks like AI and Robots. As a result, people are considering career options in this field and expanding their knowledge. It is, after all, one of the only business industries which managed to make the most out of the pandemic. As a result, there has been a rise in students’ number of MBA technology management online. With such education, they’ll help corporates and governmental institutions maximize their productivity through innovations.

Let’s have a look at some of the advancing technological innovations that people have to prepare themselves for.

Remote Working

For a long time, workers and labor unions have been insisting bigger firms consider work flexibility and allow remote working when possible. But, this year, due to the pandemic and lockdown following it, the only option organizations were left with was to accommodate their workers to work-from-home. This newfound regulation allowed them to benefit from this flexible operational option, which coerced many huge firms like Facebook and Google to extend their remote working policies. All of this was because of the eager acceptance of technological deployment – communication became easier through programs like Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, etc.; employees learned to benefit from cloud computing and VPNs; companies saved administration costs as workers used their own devices, and much more.

Virtual Reality

The use of virtual reality has now proceeded far beyond the confines of gaming and entertainment. The technology which allows you to see digital reality virtually has progressed as an aid in the many economic sectors, including healthcare, military, education, and sports. For example, the US and the UK military use VR to enable different simulations for their trainees in their training programs. It transports them in various situations, placing them under different environments and locations, allowing them to use it for flight simulation, medic training, virtual boot camp, and much more. Similarly, for medical training, with the use of VR, dental students can perform surgeries and procedures virtually, learning in a risk-free environment.

Machine Learning and AI

Artificial Intelligence is not a new phenomenon and has already received much attention in the past decade. We use AI daily for speech and image recognition, maps and navigation, personal assistants, and much more. But it is still amazing how AI has been advancing and bringing progressive technological trends to this digital era. The use of AI is expanding in several new departments, like hospitals. It can give insights into the probable number of patients coming in and prepare authorities to make better decisions.

It also enables businesses to understand their customer’s buying behavior, which helps them segment their market and target relevant audiences. Machine learning is a useful branch of AI conducive to automating analytical structures, making computers easier for people, businesses, and the government.

Robot Process Automation

Automation has been the keyword behind technological advancements in the past decade, but coming years have the best use of Robot Process Automation (RPA) in-store. RPA uses software that automates business operations like processing transactions, structuring data, replying to emails, incorporating chatbots, translating applications, and much more. When the workload from these repetitive tasks is moved from humans to machines, the human brain is free to develop new and innovative ideas. Thus, it is an effective use of technology to buy time and use human capital more efficiently and strategically.

In today’s era where cut-throat industrial rivalry demands differentiation in the product, services, and organizational activities, it is essential to think outside the box. Some may think that it threatens the manual jobs of many skilled individuals, but it is also creating new opportunities. Particularly, education in IT is a professional outlet for upcoming talents, and the incorporation of technologies like RPA offers plenty of new careers to these trained individuals.

Blockchain

As the use of technology becomes more common, the concerns regarding associated risks increase. The independence of using the internet has allowed many hackers and cybercriminals to become more enhanced. However, newer developments like blockchain technology have created a system of storing information, making it almost impossible for unauthorized people to access or alter. It allows the accumulated data to form a chain of boxes that are difficult to interpret and break or cheat through.

It also doesn’t require a third party to validate your transactions, giving no control to a single entity. It is also relevant to the growing trend of cryptocurrency, being the core encryption technology behind bitcoin. It works as a digital ledger, recording and retaining each transaction from the user, which makes it conducive for many other uses, too, like insurance payments, voting, and lotteries. Those interested in pursuing a career and education in this field have various options open to them.

The emerging technologies around us require humans to prepare themselves for the beginning of a revolutionary era. Be ready to work alongside robots and learn from them because the way AI progresses will soon surpass the capacities of a normal human brain. Therefore, companies would need to train their workers to be professionally skilled and flexible for any upcoming changes in the foreseeable future.