The year 2016 is drawing to a close. We have been seeing technology predictions by various companies and research firms in the last few days. Juniper Research has shared top 10 technology trends for 2017.
eSports hits the mainstream
eSports, or the competitive playing of video games at a professional level, is set to hit the mainstream in 2017.
Juniper forecasts that there will be over 190 million unique viewers next year on mobile and online channels.
With the rise in the viewing figures, ad spend on the sector is expected to rise sharply next year.
Advent of PSD2 heralds banking disruption
Second prediction is that the implementation of PSD2 (Directive on Payment Services 2) legislation will be a key disruptor in banking by reducing the barrier of entry to new digital players.
Juniper predicts a host of third party players – including retailers, telecoms and vendors – will seek to deepen their existing relationships with consumers through the addition of an array of financial products.
Mass expansion of VR content creation
Third prediction is mass expansion of virtual reality content creation. In 2016 the latest PC and console-powered VR headset were released and mobile VR was expanded.
In 2017, however, will be the year when most content creators come to the VR platform. To date we’ve only seen a few AAA developers release for the platform. The coming year will change that for both console and PC-based VR.
Media and tourism companies will also get onboard in the course of the coming year. The former are expected to focus on creating experiences across all platforms, while the latter will aim to build interactive experiences for smartphone VR to add extra dimensions to tourists’ visits.
Blockchain deployments extend beyond financial industry
Juniper’s fourth prediction says blockchain deployments will extend beyond financial industry.
To date, most blockchain deployments have been limited to the financial sector, with exchanges and banks trialling the technology as a means of increasing the speed, transparency and security in areas such as transaction settlement.
However, in 2017 a raft of proof of concepts will be developed to integrate the technology into a much wider array of applications, with logistics and identity management to the fore.
Juniper also envisage that a number of national governments will instigate trials incorporating blockchain technology in a bid to automate manual processes which are time-consuming and expensive.
Challenger banks M&A (Merger & Acquisition)
It further predicts that the financial sector will witness increased disruption from technology-first players. Consequently, given the failure of many traditional banks to innovate and keep pace with pureplay providers and technology banks, this will lead to a number of high profile acquisitions and consolidation within the sector, alongside continued direct investments. This will also be driven by the inability of challenger banks and payment banks to rapidly scale and maintain profitability compared to the incumbent players.
Also, technology giants such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon Group are competing to invest in emerging financial technology markets such as payments — contactless and mobile.
Juniper believes that alongside banks, they could, and will, buy out start-ups to expand across other payment verticals, such as money transfer and remittances, to become more fintech-relevant.
Insurtech disrupts traditional insurance industry
Technology is enabling insurance to become much more personalised. The word ‘insurtech’ has been coined, to encapsulate the fintech providers’ offerings in this segment.
New entrants have a more nuanced approach to insurance than traditional providers, often having products that enable customers to tailor the cover to their specific requirements.
Through the adoption of machine learning, fintech providers are confident they can accurately calculate their risk exposure.
ALSO READ: Technology predictions for CIOs by Forrester
Battle of the voice assistants
With Google Assistant coming to multiple devices and Alexa, Cortana and Siri already available on several platforms, 2017 will be the year when these assistants start to become sufficiently mainstream for the device ecosystem to become a key battleground.
While many homes will initially be served by multiple voice assistants, each company is focusing on bringing consumers into their own services’ ecosystem. This means that single-branded homes will start to become the norm, with lock-in becoming more obvious. The companies concerned will endeavour to win over customers by introducing exclusive features or brand discounts, such as inclusive subscriptions to content channels for a given period.
Autonomous driving legislation commences
As development of autonomous vehicles progresses, we expect pressure from those in the market on policy makers to fast track legislation relating to their public use. The charge is likely to be lead by bodies such as Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets, a lobby group setup in 2016 to push Washington to begin preparations for the inevitable influx of these vehicles. The group currently includes development leaders Google, alongside Ford, Uber, Lyft and Volvo.
With Google alone racking up over 1 million miles testing autonomous vehicles, focus will inevitably shift to bringing the necessary regulation to the forefront of policymakers’ agendas as they look to start the long process of designing and implementing the new legislation. Whilst this is unlikely to be the year that we see a marketable autonomous vehicle, expect the ball to begin rolling in preparation.
Consoles reinvent themselves
The concept of the console lifecycle is consigned to history as 2017 is the year of the Xbox ‘Scorpio’, due for release in December next year. The launch will mark the end of the current 6-8 year cycle, as producers try to keep pace with new technology standards and formats.
Multiple stakeholders want to kill off the generational cycle for consoles and integrate new technology in to their devices in an attempt to engineer the market’s reinvigoration. In 2016, the launch of new content standards such as 4K and HDR (High Dynamic Range), as well as the emergence of VR hardware, saw the initial crop of 8th generation consoles fall behind PC devices in their delivery capabilities; attempts have already been made to rectify this with the Xbox One S and the PlayStation 4 Pro.
Bots are hot
Chatbots, virtual agents which operate via social networks and messaging platforms, will grow in presence and popularity, streamlining eCommerce activities such as enabling users to book flights and hotels, or to order items directly by speaking with a bot through an app. Additionally there is the opportunity to personalise these services to provide offers and tailored incentives to consumers using social media analytics.
Whilst some messaging bots are in place via applications such as Facebook Messenger, these have not seen significant uptake in Western markets yet, due to their basic features and the technology not being fully-developed.
In contrast, platforms in the Far East & China such as WeChat have established chatbots to aid in daily tasks. Facebook is just beginning to drive integration through the use of adverts which link to chatbots, as well as sponsored adverts in Facebook Messenger.
