Change is constant.
New technologies apply to your professional life as well as your personal life. As a result, there is a need to upgrade your skills these days, for one simple reason: technology is constantly evolving at a very fast pace.
There are many topics shaking up the tech and digital industry in 2022.
There are trends that are constantly developing, such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence, or the more recent but much talked about one: the metaverse.
IA Development
To understand the impact of new technologies on our everyday lives, we will start with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
In 2020, the AI market was worth more than 22 billion dollars. By 2025, its value is expected to reach 110 billion dollars.
AI is a technology that’s so vast and complex that it is tough to define it precisely. However, we know that this concept was created by the mathematician and cryptologist, Alan Turing. In 1950, he wondered if machines could think. This simple question ended up shaking up the world.
AI aims to understand the way human perception works, and then to try to reproduce it. To do so, it is necessary to use technologies based on algorithms. Those technologies have countless variants.
In the end, we can consider that it is about implementing different techniques to endow machines with a certain form of intelligence.
Its quick development made it possible to be integrated in diverse domains such as health, education, transportation, finance or even security. AI development pursues different and numerous goals. Such as the enhancement of living conditions, innovation and productivity, the adaptation of changes (climate wise)…
A lot of companies already trust AI.
Indeed, this intelligence enables a clear enhancement of performance and productivity in companies. By automating processes which used to need human activity for instance.
Artificial intelligence also allows the exploitation of data at a level inaccessible to humans. This skill can generate important advantages. For example, Netflix uses a recommendation AI to personalize its service. In fact, 95% of the titles featured on your account are suggested based on your reading habits. This has allowed Netflix to increase its customer base.
Other advantages of using AI in a company:
- Increase productivity
- Reduce errors
- More precision and details
- Better understanding of the market
- No break and repetitive work
- Autonomy, safety, innovation
The development of artificial intelligence has a number of advantages. It provides solutions to complex problems and relieves us of certain tasks. Although its investment cost can be high, it allows us to save time and optimize other resources.
The (real) beginning of VR
We cannot talk about new technologies without talking about virtual reality!
Virtual reality (VR) as we know it today started to be seriously developing in 1990. Indeed, it is at this moment that virtual reality became popular. We could hear about it in all the media. But this principle of virtual reality was still vast and not everyone could afford to test it. Nowadays, virtual reality is much more accessible.
Virtual reality is a powerful technology that enables people to immerse themselves in an artificial world created digitally. It could change our lives!
Depending on the technology being used, it allows the user to feel a virtual universe through different senses: sight, touch, hearing, smell. To ensure a total immersion, the person uses a virtual reality helmet, which uses the principle of 3D display.
In a way, VR is like a waking dream that takes place in a magical cartoon-like world, or transporting us to another part of the universe. We can even interact with people, real or fictional, within new worlds.
Virtual reality is still a young technology, but its numbers are impressive. The annual growth rate of its market should reach 21,6% by 2027. And by 2030, it could even outperform the TV market by generating at least 110 billion dollars. This is quite obvious, given the popularity of this technology on the market.
Currently, the general public is not very interested in this technology since the demand is focused on video games. In fact, those who prefer virtual reality are companies. They use it everywhere, whether it is for the development of their business, to help their consumers make their choice, or even to train their employees. Businesses are becoming more and more enthusiastic about this technology because they want to constantly innovate.
It’s impossible to talk about VR without mentioning the Metaverse: the turning point of virtual reality. Lately, Metaverse has become one of the most talked about words, especially in the tech and video game fields.
Imagine a digital world where you could live a parallel life without leaving your couch. Welcome to the Metaverse, a concept developed in 1992 by Neal Stephenson in a sci-fi novel which will become the future of the internet.
It is therefore a virtual and immersive world where one could eventually interact, via 3D interaction, with other people. This world is created thanks to the convergence of an augmented reality and a sustainable virtual space, which includes the sum of all virtual worlds.
Outside the world of video games, the Metaverse seems to be deeply rooted in society. Moreover, it seems that the confinements, following Covid-19, have accelerated the digitization process in everyday life, but also in companies.
Indeed, many large companies like Carrefour or Ubisoft have recently announced the acquisition of land in the Metaverse. Facebook has even decided to rename itself “Meta” and has invested billions of dollars in the Metaverse. Nike, Adidas and Disney have also invested in this future-oriented project.
But for now, Metaverse is just a concept, a projection into the future. If there were already immersive virtual worlds, like Minecraft or Fortnite, there is still no guarantee that the concept will be a success.
However, the stakes are so high that it is important to address the issue now, even if it will probably be several years before the concept becomes a reality.
A market in transformation
The challenges of the GAFAM
In 2022, major US technology companies (GAFAM) will be confronted with many challenges.
Those past few years, they have dominated the international market of information and communication technologies, but their position has become more and more contested.
New players are emerging, especially in China, and are implementing different business models. Moreover, GAFAM will continue to be challenged by many authorities. In particular, because they denounce their dominant positions on the collection and processing of data collected on their users. GAFAMs will have to adapt to remain competitive.
Amazon on the rise
Even though Amazon is still new to the advertising market, their results are already astonishing with 31,160M$ for the past year.
According to some estimations, in 2021, Amazon doubled its advertising revenues. Indeed, the growth of the e-commerce giant would be +50% compared to 2020.
Amazon’s advertising scope includes selling space to sellers/publishers through sponsored ads, display and video offerings.
It is mainly thanks to their size, resources and knowledge of data that GAFAM can perform so well in this sector. Moreover, they share the majority of the market share with Google and Facebook (more than 70%).
Financial trends
The end of 2021 marked the beginning of the fourth industrial revolution, characterized by a transition towards a digital economy. This transition will have a deep impact on international financial markets, and the 2022 adtech trends reflect those changes.
Financial institutions are expected to streamline their processes and reduce costs with these technologies. Banking and insurance are sectors that are expected to benefit from these advances, but they are not the only ones. Financial technology is changing the way business is done around the world, and the trends of 2022 are expected to contribute to this transformation.
Financial trends are constantly changing, so it’s important to keep up with the latest innovations and their impact on the markets. An increase in investments is expected in financial technologies, online baking services and mobile payments.
This is because they allow financial institutions to streamline their processes and reduce costs, but also because they offer financial institutions increased efficiency and reduced costs. Key trends for 2022 include the continued digitalization of financial services and the increasing automation of their processes.
In addition, new financial technologies such as blockchain and crypto-currencies have the potential to completely disrupt existing financial markets.
What’s in store for the future of adtech? We can only guess. But one thing is sure: as technology advances and our understanding of how the human brain works develops, we will continue to see more and more innovative adtech solutions that help companies connect with their customers in new ways. So, how do you imagine tomorrow’s world? Tell us in the comments!