What’s happening in Tech?
The Evolution of IT Industry
The Past
During the first generation, computer systems used vacuum tubes. These computers relied on machine language and could only solve one problem at a time. Punched cards and paper tape were used for input and printouts were used to display output.
In the second generation, vacuum tubes were replaced with transistors. They were also becoming more accessible since high-level programming languages were being developed such as COBOL and FORTRAN. Magnetic tape and disks took the place of punched cards.
By the time the third generation arrived. Programming languages were developed that made programming easier to do. BASIC was one of those languages. For the first time in history, society as a whole had access to computers.
1971: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak meet and eventually collaborate on what would become Apple computers.
1973: The Ethernet is born from a memo written by Xerox researcher Bob Metcalfe.
1975: BASIC, introduced by Bill Gates becomes very popular and Microsoft is born.
Fourth-generation computers upscaled to microprocessors contained memory, logic, and control circuits (central processing unit) on a single chip. Networks, handheld devices, and finally the internet were developed.
1989: Tim Berners-Lee writes and releases a proposal on information management with a complete outline for the concept of a global hypertext system. The Internet is born.
1993: The World Wide Web is made available free of charge.
1997: IBM gives birth to Watson, a smart computer.
The Present
- Digital Revolution
Widespread digitization and focus on data-driven tasks have manifested. Organizations, customers, employees, and constituents engage and carry out transactions on digital platforms. A good Internet presence became a must for every business. Apps have become sought after commodities with various frameworks being introduced for mobile and web application: Angular, ReactJs, VueJs for front-end development, NodeJs, Django, PHP for backend development, NoSql and SQL databases, Native Android/IOS, Flutter, React Native for app development and many more.
Information Technology has become an indispensable part of every business; Apps have been introduced for all forms of businesses, be it restaurants, retail, etc.
- Data Analytics
The amount of data available for processing and analysis has increased exponentially. The task of data analysis for business modeling has shown immense potential for the future of the IT industries. Furthermore, leveraging biometric, audio, video data; even sentiment data from social media has become possible, supplementing the variety of solutions that can be accomplished with data-driven approaches.
The use of data is not restricted to traditional analysis; data can be harnessed to predict and prescribe future trends and opportunities for the growth market.
Data has been termed the “oil” of the new economy, with IT industries undoubtedly at the forefront.
- Cloud Computing
No single technology is dominating the present IT sector as much as the cloud. This adoption has been fueled mainly by the ever-increasing number of smartphones and mobile devices that can access the internet. Cloud computing is not just for organizations and businesses; it’s also useful for the average person as well. It enables us to run software programs without installing them on our computers; it enables us to store and access our multimedia content via the internet, it enables us to develop and test programs without necessarily having servers and so on. Cloud provides a medium for the optimization of delivery models aiding in agile software development.
While we aggressively avail ourselves of Cloud to build products rapidly, the massive computing capabilities of the cloud have not yet been explored. Apart from the IaaS or SaaS platform it is used as, Cloud stores potential for cutting edge AI, Blockchain, quantum computing development.
The Future
- Cognitive Technologies
Encompasses technologies like Machine Learning, Neural Networks, Robotics Process Automation, Natural Language Processing, and the broader domain of Artificial Intelligence which has taken the technology sector by storm. An enormous number of young people foraying into the technology sector have made Data Science their pick.
The “Wow Factor” being attached to the marvelous applications of Artificial Intelligence aside, their contribution to the IT and business sector is immense and cannot be ignored.
Handling enormous amount of data with complexity that traditional analysis techniques cannot fathom, algorithms that can replace queries, increasingly unsupervised and self-learning (through re-enforcement learning, GANs, and other techniques) and making apps “smart” in a way they were never before, Cognitive Technologies hold the key to a massive overhaul of the typical IT industry. Apps running on ML/AI, Services tailored to the user’s behavior, research fuelled by cognitive algorithms, the extent of incorporation of AI/ML into the IT sector is staggering
- Digital Reality
Digital Reality is the umbrella term for Augmented Reality(AR), Virtual Reality(VR), Mixed Reality(MR), and IoT. One of the big market trends for the last 5–6 years has been a focus on VR, AR, and Mixed Reality devices and applications.
In a collision of Artificial Intelligence and AR/VR, AR and VR developers will increasingly build smart, cognitive functionality into their apps.
It has thoroughly redefined how humans interact with data, technology, and each other. It shows promise in revolutionizing the teaching and training industry, the media and social media industry, and even the medical industry.
- Blockchain
Yet to be adopted widely, Blockchain’s transformational value needs further understanding. It has come a long way from just being associated with cryptocurrencies. Blockchain is a distributed, decentralized, public ledger.
Large industries are deploying enterprise-grade blockchain solutions avoiding complexities of traversing multiple databases and utilize the innovative security it provides for transactions and more.
Because of its application to ledger technologies, blockchain has generated interest from the financial sector. Owing to its application in creating resilient, tamper-proof distributed records, a number of initiatives have been proposed in the public sector for government-maintained registries to be implemented as blockchains. The future looks bright for blockchain.
References
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314897315_Evolution_of_Global_IT_Services_Industry_Impact_of_Technological_advancements_and_Business_needs
- https://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol20/iss9/14/
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09537287.2017.1336787
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1071581918306712
- https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/2/636
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0278612520301424
