- Improvement in data warehousing and decentralization
Large scale data warehousing has improved significantly over the years both in-cloud and on-premise to the extent that it now provides the ability to store multiple petabytes of data using sophisticated architectures. This has somehow inconvenienced big data as we knew it before leaving the data lake. Going forward this year, decentralization will emerge as a leading area of interest as companies begin positioning themselves to control consumer and end-user data.
- Use of blockchain against ransomware
Although most people are still unaware of the endless potential of blockchain in the financial markets or other industries, its real-world potential will come out strong in the prevention of ransomware that is now a leading threat to many industries globally. Some companies are now showing interest in implementing a blockchain-based file system to avert issues associated with ransomware attacks. Due to the potential that this technology has exhibited in the past, we should fully anticipate scramble among various companies that manage data and those that offer data management solutions to adopt this technology. Industry players will be seeking to benefit from multiple advantages that include immutable file systems that cannot be altered in distributed environments.
- Companies will study how blockchain can help create new business models
Blockchain will continue changing different aspects of organizations, including networks and file systems. However, companies will seek new ways where this technology can help them in their business models. There will be a specific interest in blockchain in relation to interoperability and scalability. The main barrier to the adoption of blockchain will not be the technology but will instead be its complex nature, legal and regulatory frameworks and their impacts.
- Natural language processing
Natural language processing has improved substantially over the past few years. However, voice-based NLP has not performed well, considering the challenges associated with different accents and different voices and their respective intonations. Going by the occurrences of the past year, I foresee a year of improvement in natural language recognition, mechanics and processing of different accents ahead. This development will be crucial in different sectors such as logistics and others who would want to have data using voice commands from different devices.
- Augmented and predictive analytics
Analytics is showing its importance in the current era, and this has seen different approaches being developed and integrated to make it even better. As artificial intelligence and machine learning continue showing potential, the possibility of augmenting data generated by queries in AI and ML systems is being explored. Since AI and ML learn from data analytics repositories, augmentation will help humans in repetitive patterns that will increase the delivery of business insights. Similarly, 2020 is a year where there will be a shift in predictive analytics. This trend will see an increase in the assessment of economic conditions, climate patterns and investments, all of that are critical areas.
