Technology trends outlook

Which technology trends are the most important for companies during the past year? A new analysis highlights the development, potential uses and industrial effects of advanced technologies.

Technology remains the world’s leading catalyst for change. Technological advances give businesses, governments and social sector institutions more opportunities to increase their productivity, invent and reinvent offerings, and contribute to the well-being of humanity. And while it remains difficult to predict how technology trends will develop, executives can better plan for the future by tracking the development of new technologies, anticipating how companies might use them, and understanding the factors that affect innovation and adoption.

Here are some of the most important technology trends, in our view, so you can better understand them and consider how they relate to your organization.

Applied AI

Models trained on machine learning can be used to solve classification, prediction and control problems to automate activities, add or augment capabilities and offerings, and make better decisions.

Clean energy

Clean energy solutions help achieve net greenhouse gas emissions across the entire energy value chain, from power generation to storage and distribution.

Sustainable consumption

Sustainable consumption involves transforming industrial and individual consumption through technologies such as monitoring to address environmental risks, including climate change.

Industrialized machine learning

Industrialized machine learning uses software and hardware solutions to accelerate ML development and deployment and to support performance monitoring, stability and continuous improvement.

Cloud and edge computing

Cloud and edge computing involves distributing compute workloads across remote data centers and local nodes to improve data sovereignty, autonomy, resource productivity, latency and security.

Next-generation software development

Next-generation tools aid software application development, improving processes and software quality; tools include AI-enabled development and testing.

Source: McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook 2022

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