Carmi Levy of Info-Tech Research Group knows that examining technology isn’t about predicting the future—it’s about understanding the trends that are driving the changes in our global society.

As Director of Content Marketing for the world’s fastest growing information technology and advisory company, Levy is no stranger to the technological shifts that have come to influence the ways we live and work. 

As a tech analyst, his commentaries on our technological evolution guide us to understanding how we can prepare for the next iteration of our business landscape.

As we project forward to 2030, the world is becoming increasingly interconnected. “Connectivity,” Levy indicates, “is the basic underpinning of digital literacy.” With this in mind, we asked him to unpack the other megatrends that will shape the next decade in tech.

5G: More than just a speed boost

The key words here are ‘lag’ and ‘latency’.

Waiting for your apps to download or start up—while mildly inconvenient—isn’t what we’re getting at. As we gear up for the arrival of connected and automated vehicles, 5G is expected to be the technology that supports network-reliant objects that need to communicate lightning-fast.

So, what can you expect from 5G? 

The key differentiator here is the capability to connect one resource with any other, regardless of the power requirement for certain classes of devices as we know them. “Ubiquitous, all-the-time connectivity,” as Levy calls it, “with way better power usage.”

That changes the game. Suddenly, everything can be connected. And when that happens, services can be built on them.

And that’s when we get into the Internet of Things.

Items that were once dumb, are now smart

According to Levy, the Internet of Things (IoT) means that more and more everyday objects will assume new properties and capabilities.

“Onboard computing power, onboard connectivity, and sensors. They’re aware of the world around them, they can process that awareness and come up with intelligence.” Being able to communicate with other devices, in turn, will create the need for higher-order services, and an intensified need for innovation.

Home devices become plugged in to the network around them to share information. That’s billions of connected devices, smarter cities. Levy’s hope and prediction is that technology is going to allow more efficient deployment of services.

IoT, in that case, allows for companies to maximize their business value with innovative products and services that communicate with one another to conduct business functions with efficiency backed by real-time information through consistent connectivity.

The AI revolution is already here

This increased connectivity will continue to power artificial intelligence. Coupled with improved processing power and a lower barrier to entry, AI adoption is likely to increase and become more accessible in modern business.

We tend to think of AI as a future-state phenomenon, but its applications are more common in our present day than we may recognize.

“If you’ve checked your social media today, then you’ve already been influenced by AI. AI is determining how we live digitally,” says Levy. “It’s the latest technological revolution, allowing us to automate decision-making and replace intuition in business with information.”

It’s time to embrace a new wave of industry

With increasing clarity, our modern business landscape is preparing for a shift in in-demand skills and proficiencies.

The implications and emerging realities of Industry 4.0 suggest better productivity, reduced costs, and smarter processes. In an era of digitization, the hope is that we use technology to augment human jobs and move toward a collective culture of learning, along with a commitment to re-skill employees.

Levy urges us to set aside the tired trope that human labour will be replaced with our machine counterparts, in favour of a hopeful acceptance of the proactive measures we can take to fill new needs in the future of work. It’s up to us to figure out how, as a society, we’ll get past fear and learn to embrace these changes.

More than anything, he urges us that now is the time to start educating ourselves, regardless of expertise.