1. Blockchain
Blockchain has positively enabled anything digital to be used as a tangible and ownable asset. Using blockchain any online asset can be given a unique and trackable identity. This enables these assets to be collected, traded or sold. 2018 is predicted to be the year to see the growth of blockchain in digital music, gaming and movie industry. In 2018, blockchain will remain to move into the mainstream, and people will further need to comprehend what is happening. That will lead to more well-informed people, and also to more people who are prepared to start new blockchain developments. Part of this procedure would be educating new crypto buffs on how to invest.
2. Software as a Service (SaaS)
In 2018, we assume more organizations to benefit from the effortlessness and high-performance facilities that the cloud promises. Software as a Service (SaaS) provides a flexible and financially attractive door for businesses and consumers. Hence, 2018 will see SaaS solutions responsible for the most deployed cloud service in various industries. Most of the effective SaaS providers will be those who would put in technological advancements to revamp the customer experience with better speech assistance, better search options, and better references.
3. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The year 2018 is expected to witness more prolific usage of AI. Artificial Intelligence will become more thoroughly inspected and scrutinized. Most of the businesses will look for opportunities to expand their infrastructural set-up and processes for handling their machine learning and Artificial Intelligence efforts.
4. Chat bots
Whether we realize it or not, bots have become so prevalent that they have become a part of our daily lives. Businesses are installing bots at a faster rate than ever before to achieve their occupational goals more proficiently and quickly. 2018 is expected to be a year when chatbot companies will take the benefit of cryptocurrencies to reinforce their value proposition.
5. Ecommerce
2018 is considered to be the year when data-driven verdicts will become a must for eCommerce businesses to flourish. According to Mark Hall (E-commerce Strategist), “2018 will be an exciting time for eCommerce marketing. Customers have awesome devices (i.e. smartphones) in their hands, and marketers have a lot of wide set of marketing technology available. The key in 2018 will be bringing these two things together in order to both make shopping more efficient and your virtual cash register ring more often.”
6. Internet of Things (IoT)
The internet of things (IoT) is expected to breakout in 2018, with companies ramping up deployments and integrating IoT technologies into their products, procedures, and workflows. Gartner forecasts that by the year 2020, roughly 20 billion devices will get linked to the IoT, and IoT product and service providers will yield more than $300 billion in profits. As per Rich Rogers, senior vice president of IoT product and engineering at Hitachi Vantara, “2018 will be the year that IoT technologies rapidly accelerate the transformation of industrial factories into software-defined factories”.
7. Cryptocurrency
The crypto space is emerging at a fast pace, and there are some innovative research projects coming up this year. While some economic consultants remain cynical about this field, it’s hard to disregard the enormous amount of currency invested in the field. According to futurist and author Thomas Frey, “Cryptocurrency is very much here to stay.” The year 2018 would see a number of people investing in this field.
8. Augmented Reality
2018 is the year that AR will bounce into new directions, bringing a lot more people into the AR game. New AR technologies are expected to change industries — from construction to retail — and alter the way we network with the digital world in our everyday lives. 2018 is expected to witness a mainstream tipping point for augmented reality (AR) technology.
9. Virtual Reality
Virtual reality (VR) is expected to become more mainstream this year. The growth trajectory of the VR industry has shown an exponential in the recent path. The virtual reality software industry is expected to grow from $129 million industry in 2015 to a foreseeable $2.57 billion industry in 2018. 2018 will be a big year for the Virtual Reality industry, and one of the reasons will be 2018 FIFA World Cup. The future of VR is knotted to the development of AR, and AR will influence all facets of human-life.
10. Enterprise Mobility Management
Rather than just being a technical invention chased by only hi-tech businesses, Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) is projected to achieve another level and become one of the principal forces of development for enterprises in the year 2018. Enterprise mobility can improve the production and efficacy of workforces and drive a larger ROI. Enterprise mobility has been one of the key focuses of IT investments in 2016 and 2017, and this trend is expected to remain this year too.
