The past year was a significant one in shaping the global technology trajectory. It witnessed the emergence of a number of technology solutions, driven by the need to provide innovative ways to deliver faster, cheaper and better services to customers. While internet of things (IoT) and cloud computing became more pervasive, the uptake of relatively new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) also gained momentum. Meanwhile, cybersecurity remained a key focus area as the year was marked by an inordinate number of cyberattacks.
tele.net takes a look at some of the key technologies that shaped 2017 and the trends to watch out for in 2018…
IoT
IoT continued to grow in 2017, moving from popular segments like home to areas such as manufacturing, healthcare, retail, consulting, distribution and logistics. Location intelligence, streaming data analysis and cognitive business intelligence emerged as the top three most valuable IoT use cases during the year. Moreover, cross-industry IoT use cases and deployments increased considerably, with estimated investments of $86 billion at the end of 2017.
Most businesses today are either starting on their IoT journey or are considering IoT deployment. A key factor driving IoT adoption is the increasing realisation of the value that IoT adds in improving business efficiency and enhancing the customer experience. Going forward, while IoT adoption will continue to grow, regulatory uncertainties are likely to give rise to new security and privacy challenges around IoT devices.
Cloud
In the past couple of years, cloud computing has helped many enterprises transform their IT practices. However, experts believe that the market is entering the second wave of public, private and hybrid cloud services as vendors succeed in alleviating the security concerns around cloud adoption.
In 2018, software-as-a-service is expected to account for the majority (around 60 per cent) of the cloud-based deployments, a 12 per cent increase over 2017, as per equipment vendor Cisco. Platform-as-a-service is expected to register a growth rate of 5 per cent, while infrastructure-as-a-service deployments are also set to increase. Some technology experts, however, believe that cloud computing will be challenged by edge computing in 2018. Edge computing is described as a computing topology wherein information processing, and content collection and delivery are placed closer to the source of information. The main advantage of edge computing over cloud computing is reduced latency, a factor that is set to become increasingly important for sophisticated IoT devices that demand real-time processing and instantaneous decision making. Some of the biggest software majors such as Microsoft have already come out with edge computing solutions.
5G
During 2017, several telecom operators and vendors initiated 5G trials globally with the aim of setting up the desired ecosystem prior to commercial launch of the technology. Two major factors are driving the telecom industry to move swiftly towards 5G networks – the huge increase in demand for data services requiring faster and higher capacity networks that can deliver video and other content-rich services, and the proliferation of IoT, which is fuelling the need for massive connectivity of devices and ultra-reliable and ultra-low-latency networks that can only be provided through 5G. Moreover, 5G, with its high bandwidth, delivery and performance guarantees, energy efficiency and real-time capabilities, has the potential to address some of the key ICT needs of smart cities.
Significant activity has also started around the development of 5G standards, with the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, the global organisation that makes cellular standards for carriers and equipment vendors, recently ratifying the non-stand-alone 5G new radio (NR) specification. The specifications cover a wide range of spectrum bands, from the 600 MHz and 700 MHz bands to the millimetre wave portion of the spectrum at 50 GHz. The release of NR specifications gives the industry the green signal to accelerate the design and implementation of commercial 5G products. The technology, however, is unlikely to achieve commercial deployment until 2020.
In India, the government in September 2017 formed a high-level committee comprising officials of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and the Department of Science and Technology along with representatives from the industry and academia to evaluate and approve roadmaps for the large-scale roll-out of 5G in the country by 2020 as well as for the development of relevant 5G use cases. Meanwhile, DoT is also planning to set up a test bed for testing 5G technologies in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. To this end, DoT has sought Rs 350 million in the second batch of supplementary demands for grants for 2017-18. The test bed is expected to be operational within the next six months.
Cybersecurity
Cybercriminals caused major service disruptions around the world in 2017 using their increasing technical proficiency to break through safeguard mechanisms. Cyberattacks such as the WannaCry ransomware attack and Equifax data breach led to large-scale data losses, denial of service (DoS), breach of privacy, phishing, etc., thereby causing significant financial losses to business units and distress to users. India, too, witnessed a number of cyberattacks on its critical information infrastructure in 2017. There were 18 instances of data breaches during the year, compromising 203.7 million records. According to the “Breach Level Index” released by digital security firm Gemalto, identity theft comprised about 61 per cent of the data breach incidents.
Going forward, as cyber complexity increases, so will the incidence of ransomware, web compromises and spear phishing along with attacks by more destructive worms and wipers. According to US-based software vendor Symantec, cyberattacks will become more pronounced in 2018 with cybercriminals attempting to use machine learning and AI to conduct even more potent attacks. The past year saw massive distributed DoS attacks that were performed by compromising people’s home and workplace IoT. This, as per Symantec, is not expected to change with cybercriminals looking to further exploit the poor security settings and management of IoT devices. Symantec expects cybercriminals to work towards hijacking the sensors of IoT devices in 2018 by feeding audio, visual or other fake inputs to make these devices do what they want rather than what users expect them to do. Besides, cybercriminals are likely to make an attempt to gain persistent access to a victim’s network, which will imply that no matter how many times a victim cleans the machine, the attacker will always succeed in gaining a backdoor entry into the victim’s networks and the systems that these networks connect to.
Given these challenges, the coming year is poised to witness the emergence of advanced cybersecurity solutions. These will include the use of AI and behavioural analytics to monitor system and user activity, with the aim of detecting abnormalities in real time. Another likely trend will be the use of deception technologies to trick hackers by planting fake access details and other traps.
AI
AI continued to be at the forefront of technology discussions in 2017, given its potential to change how businesses evolve and interact with customers. Among the most talked about artificial machines in 2017 was Sophia, a humanoid robot designed by a company in Hong Kong that was granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, a recent survey conducted by research firm Gartner showed that 59 per cent of the organisations are gathering information to build their AI strategies, while the others have already made progress in piloting or adopting AI solutions.
The key AI applications that have gained prominence are machine learning, voice recognition, image recognition as well as natural language processing. Further, virtual assistants of some of the biggest software companies such as Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant and Microsoft’s Cortana use AI tools as their backbone.
Till now, the most compelling use cases around AI have been confined to controlled and experimental environments. However, 2018 is likely to witness the development of more powerful AI tools that may significantly alter the way people live and businesses function. A key trend will be the shift from running AI models on the cloud to smartphones. Google, Facebook and Apple have already launched mobile versions of their AI frameworks.
AR and VR
Immersive tools such as AR and VR have emerged as powerful tools that can be used for showcasing a virtual tour of businesses or providing a preview of products and services.
Although in the past two years AR- and VR-enabled equipment recorded disappointing sales, the technologies are now witnessing increased adoption with prices coming down, more applications making use of the technologies and specifications for running AR and VR applications becoming less complex. According to consultancy firm Deloitte, there will be around 1 billion AR apps on smartphones in 2018 and more than 800 million smartphones will have both an operating system with dedicated AR support and sufficiently powerful hardware to power AR applications. Further, discrete application revenues for AR content and devices will be around $100 million globally in 2018.
SDN and NFV
The launch of 4G/long term evolution services, increasing smartphone adoption, and the growing consumption of video and multimedia services are driving the migration of operators’ networks to software-defined networking (SDN)/network function virtualisation (NFV). Meanwhile, software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN), an application of SDN, is now increasingly being used by enterprises to reduce the costs and complexities of their WAN connections, which are used to connect enterprise networks such as branch offices and data centres over large geographic distances. SD-WAN uses a software approach to migrate a large part of the network control to the cloud, thereby providing centralised and real-time network management over multiple links. In 2018, SD-WAN is expected to provide enhanced support for IoT networks, better wireless integration among technologies such as Wi-Fi and 5G, and broader branch network functionality.
Wireless technologies – Li-Fi, HaLow and LPWAN
With the concept of specialised urban agglomerations termed as “smart cities” gaining prominence across the world, there has been an increased focus on the development of wireless communications standards that are most suitable for meeting the objectives of a smart city. For instance, while ubiquitous Wi-Fi networks will act as important connectivity channels for smart cities, traditional Wi-Fi systems are not ideal for outdoor connected devices as they lack adequate range and are energy intensive. To overcome this challenge, a Wi-Fi HaLow (802.11ah standard) system has been developed to increase the range of connected devices and allow low power sensors to transmit small data packages over a low bandwidth link. Another alternative wireless technology that is suitable for smart cities is low power WAN (LPWAN), which offers a multi-mile range and multi-year battery life. In addition, LPWAN wireless networks have unprecedented reach, enabling communications in deep water and up to 50 metres underground. This makes it suitable to be used inside buildings. The LPWAN ecosystem is experiencing exponential growth with the development of technical standards and nationwide network roll-outs. According to industry estimates, by 2025, there will be 152 million connected LPWAN devices, up from less than 4 million in 2015. In India, Tata Communications has rolled out the country’s first LPWAN based on LoRa (long range) technology, a wireless communication technology dedicated to IoT and machine-to-machine networks.
Another wireless technology that has the potential to replace Wi-Fi networks is light fidelity (Li-Fi). Unlike Wi-Fi that uses radio frequency spectrum, Li-Fi makes use of visible light spectrum to transmit data at terabit per second speeds – more than hundred times the speed of wireless fidelity or Wi-Fi. The use of light spectrum for Li-Fi overcomes the issues in traditional wireless communications such as spectrum shortage and network disruption on account of interference. According to various industry estimates, the potential market for Li-Fi solutions is expected to be around $100 billion by 2022.
Blockchain
The past year witnessed a significant increase in the adoption of blockchain, an electronic decentralised ledger with information listed sequentially in blocks. Blockchain creates a digital record across hundreds or thousands of computers, vastly reducing the risk of hacking. While the technology has been predominantly used for fund transfer, digital identity and payments infrastructure, it has managed to create waves in several other industries as well, including cloud storage, real estate and brokerage. The technology is poised to proliferate further in 2018 as more and more industries start to analyse its benefits.
Blockchain, moreover, has the potential to make IoT devices even more useful. Combining IoT with blockchain, known as BIoT, ushers in a whole host of new services and businesses. For example, BIoT can be used to track shipments of pharmaceuticals and to create smart cities in which connected heating systems better optimise energy use and connected traffic lights better manage rush hours. With BIoT, companies and consumers can ensure that their most valuable data on the blockchain is not hacked.
Conclusion
Industry experts believe that blockchain, together with AI, machine learning, robotics, VR and AR has the potential to deliver disruptive outcomes and reshape digital businesses in 2018. Further, some innovative applications of blockchain and IoT could emerge, especially in the area of cybersecurity. The pace of technological advancements can, however, be disrupted by a host of issues, including security concerns, government regulations, and consumers’ ability to adapt and accept frequent changes in technology.
Puneet Kumar Arora
