11 March 2022

TO WATCH IN 2022

In an increasingly connected world, there are top tech trends to watch. Technology can create new and exciting innovations that change the world. As we prepare for a post-pandemic future, we’re confident the latest tech trends can help address some of the challenges businesses face — and build a more fair, durable society.

Here are some of the top tech trends that we think businesses need to keep an eye on:

Metaverse

The announcement by Mark Zuckerberg on October 28, 2021, that Facebook would become an entity called “meta”. This has triggered an immediate interest in the possibilities of how this will change businesses and the way they work.

The Metaverse is a virtual world that has been created by combining different technologies, including VR and AR. Once completed, the Metaverse will provide a place where people can meet, work, play, study, and shop. This new reality is predicted to be the next evolution of the internet. Additionally, the lines between physical and digital life blur, how will this affect businesses? 

The Metaverse will change how businesses communicate and interact with their employees, clients, and customers. Nike, for example, has already set up its virtual world, or Metaverse – called Nikeland – within a platform called Roblox. According to Nike, the buildings and fields inside Nikeland are inspired by its real-life headquarters. They also have areas for the Roblox community to test their skills competing in various mini-games. A digital showroom also allows players to deck out their avatar with special Nike products. “In the longer term, the idea is that you could walk from one brand’s metaverse into another,” explained Tom Harding, partner at Osborne Clarke. “We will have this digital interconnected world. Where you will have an avatar and you will go into Nike’s metaverse, for example, to buy something and it will be delivered to your door.”

On top of this, the Metaverse could become a highly beneficial space for businesses to create a store in the Metaverse and sell unique virtual items to collectors. This, to later becoming a commercial marketplace with much further reach. 

Zero trust

Over the last 2 years, security strategies evolved to transition to remote working models. Businesses needed to look at their protection and reassess their security needs while their companies transformed rapidly. 

As mentioned by Microsoft, Zero Trust is a dynamic security model that continues to evolve to meet current threats and business realities. As we advance, we will see deeper integration of Zero Trust across pillars, made up of productivity, cloud migration & cloud mitigation.—Leading to simplified policy automation, more advanced and intelligent threat detection, and more comprehensive attack mitigation. We predict a wider adoption of the principles behind Zero Trust—verify explicitly, enforce least privilege access, and assume breach. This includes the tools and processes used to develop applications, the hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. These run, as well as the application themselves.

Cryptocurrencies

According to Thomson Reuters Foundation, the global news and information services company, cryptocurrency is moving from the “fringes of finance to the mainstream”. However, many banks and businesses are looking at allowing cryptocurrencies as payment. The first few weeks of 2022 have not been good for bitcoin. By January 22, 2022, bitcoin had lost more than 50% from its record high in November. This month, while adding further momentum to the meltdown in cryptocurrencies.

Analysts closely watching crypto said the Federal Reserve’s hint at raising interest rates sooner than expected caused many investors to sell off their bitcoin holdings and turn toward safer investments. Other digital coins, including Ethereum and Ripple, also plunged this week, down 13.5% and 9%, respectively. That’s par for the course in the ultra-volatile crypto market, with investors expecting the big swings to continue in 2022.

Hybrid workplaces

Covid-19 has changed the expectations of employees on how they wish to work and where they want to work. The word flexibility has become one of the most important options that employees now look for and it is a major reason an employee may leave a company. As businesses evolve from remote enabled to work from anywhere.

Companies involved in any of the trends above should get in touch with out team to find out how they can benefit from R&D tax credits, contact us now to find out more.

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