Dr Nishant A.Irudayadason
Professor of Philosophy and Ethics, Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune.

Each year, Gartner publishes a whole collection of thematic “Hype Cycle” curves. For the analytics firm, all technology is in fact experiencing five phases of life: the triggering (technological breakthrough), a peak of hype (where the technological potential is oversold especially by the media), a phase of disillusionment (following the first implementation failures and a some disinterested opinion), enlightened development (with early successes linked to a better understanding of the real potential and commitment to “early adopters”) and finally the era of maturity (with widespread adoption). What we should never lose sight of is that not all technologies travel the curve at the same speed.
Of the various “Hype Cycle” curves proposed by Gartner, the one on emerging technologies is perhaps the most interesting and the most forward-looking. It brings together information from more than 1,700 emerging technologies grouped into 30 technology packages. From the 2020 curve, Gartner analysts have drawn five strong trends that they believe will have a disruptive impact over the next ten years. Here are these five trends.
The first trend is the “digital me”. Based on the realization that digital technologies are increasingly “integrated” into people and their daily lives, digital representations of ourselves will multiply and play increasingly crucial roles. Digital passports, social distance aids, digital life coaches are all examples that come to realize the notion of “digital twins” that represent us in different virtual worlds. Voice, vision and gestures take over (on the keyboard-mouse duo) in human-machine interactions with the emergence of even more amazing technologies such as the perception of human thought and the management of machines through thought. For Gartner, “health passports”, social distancing technologies, digital twins of the person (digital twin),and BMI (Brain Machine Interface) interfaces connected to our brains in both reading mode (reading thought) and writing mode (influence thought, disseminating external thinking) are the great innovations to look out for.
The second trend is composite architectures. From IT infrastructure to process organization, it is time for agility and “Lego” approaches based on open platforms. The “composite architecture” is assembled from multiple solutions serving the different business. Integrated intelligence is decentralized and extends to the periphery (Edge Computing) and the end user. To become even more agile companies, CIOs and managers must closely monitor innovations in “composable enterprise,” packaged business capabilities, data fabric, private 5G, embedded artificial intelligence or single-board computer (complete computer built from a single circuit board like Raspberry Pi, Banana Pi or pcDuino) cheap in the Edge.
The third trend is the “Formative AI”. Behind this term lies a set of new artificial intelligence technologies that can change dynamically to adapt to variable situations. These technologies rely on AI models that can evolve dynamically to adapt over time or even generate entirely new models to solve specific problems. Technologies to watch in this area include AI-assisted design, AI-enhanced development, Adaptive Machine Learning, generative AI and GAN (Generative Adversarial Networks).
The fourth trend is “Algorithmic Confidence”. Trusted models based on third-party authorities are being replaced by algorithmic trust models, which allow us to do without intermediaries to ensure the confidentiality and security of data and identities. This trend is at the heart of SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) technologies, differential privacy, BYOID (Bring Your Own Identity), and responsible and explicable AI. The fifth trend goes beyond silicon. For four decades, Moore’s Law has guided the IT industry. But it must now be reinvented in a world that favours “Green IT” and mobility (and thus ultra-low energy consumption) but which also sees the emergence of new materials and new concepts.
For Gartner, the key technologies of this trend are called DNA storage, DNA Computing, carbon-based transistors and biodegradable sensors. In the end, these five major trends represent emerging technologies and future innovations that we need to keep a close eye on if we don’t want to miss out on new opportunities.