Technologies to transform the world

 IHS analysts reveal their list of technologies they see that could transform the world in the next five year.

The Internet of Everything, cloud computing/big data, and 3D printing are the three technologies most likely to transform the world during the next five years, according to IHS Technology.

Cloud computing/big data brings metamorphosis to computing and consumer markets
The cloud has become a ubiquitous description for on-demand provisioning of data, storage, computing power and services that are touching nearly every consumer and enterprise across the globe. Together with data analytics and mobile broadband, the cloud and big data are poised to reshape almost every facet of the consumer digital lifestyle experience and dramatically impact enterprise information technology (IT) strategies, while creating new opportunities and challenges for the various nodes in the entire information, communications and technology (ICT) value chain.

The cloud is transformational in the business landscape, changing the way enterprises interact with their suppliers, customers, and developers. 

The big data and data analytics segment is a separate but related transformational technology that harnesses the power of the cloud to analyze data for disparate sources to uncover hidden patterns, enable predictive analysis, and achieve huge efficiencies in performance.  

IHS forecasts that global enterprise IT spending on cloud-based architectures will double to approximately $230 billion in 2017, up from about $115 billion in 2012.

The Internet of Things becomes the Internet of Everything
The world is in the early stages of the Internet of Things (IoT) – a technological evolution that is based on the way that Internet-connected devices can be used to enhance communication, automate complex industrial processes and generate a wealth of information. To provide some context on the magnitude of this evolution, more than 80 billion Internet-connected devices are projected to be in use in 2024, up from less than 20 billion in 2014, as presented in the attached figure.

While the IoT concept is still relatively new, it is already transforming into a broader model: the Internet of Everything (IoE). The metamorphosis covers not just the number of devices but envisages a complete departure from the way these devices have used the Internet in the past.

Most of the connected devices in place today largely require direct human interaction and are used for the consumption of content and entertainment. The majority of the more than 80 billion future connections will be employed to monitor and control systems, machines, and objects – including lights, thermostats, window locks and under-the-hood automotive electronics.

Read more: IHS