Techstorm Forecast 2018 edition
Nicklas Bergman
Ok, it’s that time of the year when we look back as well as forward. Media is filled with top 10 lists for best anything in 2017 and the top 10 of something in 2018. But remember that predictions about the future are useless, no one knows exactly what will happen.
That said, let’s fast forward to the Techstorm Forecast, winter 2018 edition. This is a guide to where you should focus your attention in the coming year. No predictions, but instead a compilation of technologies that are on the rise and will sooner or later transform you, your business as well as society. Remember that digitalization is only the warm up and ignorance is NOT bliss!
We have some interesting movement (or interesting lack thereof) in the chart, most notably:
AI, autonomous vehicles and augmented reality are still in the top 3, mostly because of hype but we also start to see some real applications, customer trials as well as long-awaited [product launches].
Blockchain on #4 is a totally separate chapter with the Bitcoin craze, the equivalent to the Dutch tulip mania. That aside, blockchain technology is leaving the lab and real applications are emerging.
New on the list are neurotechnology, fueled by a rapid increased understanding of the human brain, and space technologies with far-reaching (pun intended) wild ideas as well as more down-to-earth (pun intended again) ventures that are taking off (pun again, I’ll stop here) and showing great promise.
Leaving the list are quantum computing and food technologies, not because they’re outdated, but because other technologies have been more on the radar of investors, media and startups lately. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them back on the list soon.
Last but not least, I have to get something off my chest (again): We’re in a tech bubble and it’s 1999 all over again. People have blind faith in technology and thinks that science, innovation, entrepreneurship and startups will solve everything. I’m an optimist, and I believe that we have a great momentum going on, but we also need to be a bit sceptic. There’s going to be less low-hanging fruit in the venture capital, startup and tech world in the coming ten years than in the past ten, and we need to be prepared for that.
Hoping to fuel your curiosity, let me know what you think, have a great start of 2018 and stay tuned for more updates…
Läs mer om Nicklas Bergman och hur han kan inspirera och utbilda er verksamhet. Nicklas föreläser både på svenska och engelska.
