Top 5 emerging tech trends in 2017 you should know

Every day is an opportunity for innovation. Just when you think that you have seen it all, something new in the technology sector emerges and everyone is left in awe—as well as scrambling to keep up.

These days, if you’re a savvy business leader, you have a responsibility to identify upcoming trends and leverage them in a way that is certain to improve the quality of your own products and consequently improve sales. 

2016 was met with a variety of new tech on the shelves. Some might have thought that the saturation point had been reached—well, this could not be further from the truth.

Below is a list of technology trends that every perceptive innovator should seek to employ this year:

1. Automation 

Previously human-exclusive tasks are continuously being automated. This is important for businesses as it cuts down the cost of production, as well as increases overall productivity in terms of quality and quantity.

2. Machine learning 

Machine learning has made some very remarkable strides over the past few years to the extent that it was used to enhance search engines like Google. This year, it is expected to have even more updates and integration with almost all types of applications. 

Google has benefited from the use of machine learning. (Source)

3. Augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR) 

There are a lot of apps now that simulate AR and VR. They are more than positively received by the market, with some of them raking in a hundred million downloads like Pokemon Go. Consumers might be ready now to experience iterations of AR and VR beyond games—perhaps even be receptive to various marketing opportunities. 

4. Sales dependent on content marketing 

There is an increase in the possibility of getting everything that you want on demand via a phone app. Nevertheless, for the consumer to be able to know how good your product is, they have to do some research about it. Most information about a product—including pros and cons, guides and reviews—can be provided to them via content marketing.  

5. Blockchains and distributed ledgers 

The big Bitcoin phenomenon made people focus more on the currency than on the technology behind it. But the times are changing. Blockchain is a way of distributing data, which is accessible from many wide-ranging computers. It can be employed to keep a record of a large number of things, and not only Bitcoins. For this reason, there has been a rise of blockchain apps for various industries. It is said that blockchain technology will grow to $2.3 billion in 2017 from $210 million in the previous year. 

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DISCLAIMER: This article expresses my own ideas and opinions. Any information I have shared are from sources that I believe to be reliable and accurate. I did not receive any financial compensation in writing this post, nor do I own any shares in any company I’ve mentioned. I encourage any reader to do their own diligent research first before making any investment decisions.