Each year, Gartner Research compiles a list of the top technology trends that have the potential to affect individuals, businesses and IT organizations during the next three years. For the second consecutive year, the Nexus of Forces — mobile, social, cloud and information — permeates most of Gartner’s Top 10 list as it continues to drive change and create new opportunities.
Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2020 – In a nutshell: Strategic technologies have the power to create and to disrupt. I was not aware of the Gartner Review, so as an Instructional Designer and an eLearning Developer, I am particularly happy I came across this resource. The report begins by stating that technology trends have the power to both ‘create’ and ‘disrupt’—a powerful message for all those in the field of learning. The report is full of key buzzwords that have become the norm: Artificial Intelligence, privacy, digital ethics, security, ambient spaces, etc. The report divides the Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2020 into two categories: People-Centric and Smart Spaces. In the context of this report, ‘Smart Spaces’ refers to physical environments such as: factories, offices and even cities where people will interact through multiple checkpoints and sensory channels. I have provided a brief synopsis below: People-Centric: 1. Hyperautomation: Application of technologies such as AI 2. Multiexperience: Accessing the world through a variety of devices 3. Democratization: Enabling people to consume the technologies beyond their skills 4. Human Experience: How does technology affect humans cognitively and physically? 5. Transparency and Traceability: Data privacy and digital ethics Smart Spaces: 1. Empowered Edge: The spaces around us are more connected digitally 2. Distributed Cloud: Shift in data distribution model from central location to delivering it to the point of need 3. Autonomous Things: Physical things have greater ability to interact, move and perceive 4. Practical Blockchain: Practical application of the blockchain technology (to read more on the Blockchain Technology, visit: https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-blockchain-technology/ 5. AI Security: Securing AI-backed systems The report makes a particular point about placing people at the centre of all key innovations, which also aligns with this week’s reading: Who is your customer? It further talks about ‘People-Centric Smart Spaces’ where human and technological elements can connect and work seamlessly to create an intelligent ecosystem. In my opinion, the above report is definitely useful to educators, learning technologist specialists and venturers as the focus is not only on technology and innovation, but also on people. Immersive learning environments, cloud-based learning and educational platforms using AI tools are on the rise. Along with this, educators also have to face the challenge of dealing with aspects such as cyber bullying, data privacy among others—therefore, there is all the more need for educators to know about digital ethics and security in an increasingly connected world that offers both opportunities and challenges while aligning the physical and digital worlds.
Why did I select to analyze Gartner Report? My previous experience has been primarily in organizations whose directions embraced the newer technologies like SaaS, PaaS, IIoT, among others. And being an employee of these organizations the Gartner’s Report have always had a special significance for me. So when I saw this report in the context of Learning, I am intrigued as to how much it is applicable, is it insightful? Will it provide directions for educators seeking innovation? A brief description of the Report The report begins with how organizations have shifted their focus on being digitized. From municipal authorities monitoring garbage bins to be emptied to patients taking appropriate medicine dosage, there is a growing trend of digitization. This is essentially Big Data. But to make this data effective there are organizations focusing on real-time analytics to obtain value in Big data or Big answers. All these is changing the face of ay business and rewriting rules of doing Business. Thus, the main feature of Gartner’s strategic technology trends are Algorithms that promote “Big Answers” using real-time analytics. I am listing the trends as mentioned in the report. Trend 1: The device mesh. Trend 2: Ambient user experience. Trend 3: 3D-printing Trend 4: Information of everything. Trend 5: Advanced machine learning. Trend 6: Autonomous agents and things. Trend 7: Adaptive security architecture. Trend 8: Advanced system architecture. Trend 9: Mesh app and service architecture. Trend 10: IoT architecture and platforms. Gartner 2016 and The Learning Domain A direct relationship is not present between the technological trends and the Learning domain. The trends do not feature anything specific on how to improve and spread Learning/education using the listed trends. However, it does bring into mind the need for an evolution in Learning sphere as well. Like every other ‘industry’ (I am using the term loosely here), Learning industry cannot be discrete anymore. IT has to be a connected space. I must admit, the current vision is pointing to that direction, but maybe it needs a much greater push. And Gartner’s report definitely points out the useful trends to utilize. Relationship to Learning Let me try to get into a little more detail about few of the trends listed and their relationship with Learning industry: Device Mesh: “The emphasis will move from discrete mobile devices to mobile people, surrounded by a shifting array of devices connected to each other and to cloud services. Enterprise architects and IT leaders must secure, manage and exploit this device mesh to drive digital business strategies.” A Continuum of Learning- whether the student is at home, school, or in vacation – s/he has access to learning anywhere. Learning can happen anytime, anywhere. The performances are tracked, the content updated across devices. Current Situation: A lot of it is already possible with the availability of Learning Management Systems (LMS). Modern LMS like Adobe Captivate Prime enables learning in various platforms. And to my knowledge, it is one of the smartest LMS that supports a variety of platforms. However, it still has a long way to go. Seamless transition of content, integration of video/audio elements in web-based courses, and performance issues remain a key concern. And I am talking about learning in corporate, whose scale is lesser compared to learning in schools. To inculcate this trend in school learning it requires a deeper analysis of the current infrastructure, needs, and solutions. Ambient User Experience: “Competitive advantage hinges on exceptional user experience. As part of a series of the most significant technologies for 2016, we describe how enterprise architects must extend their strategies to include UX architecture that brings digital humanism to the expanding endpoints in the digital mesh.” This follows the Digital Mesh. Like I stated earlier, the user experience is essential in web-based learning. Learning portals need to be intuitive, easy to maneuver, and user-friendly. Seemingly these requirements sound fairly simple, but in practical it is far from that. Most Learning Management Systems are clumsy and not portable. They are suited for specific scenarios, specific devices, operating systems etc. This area also has a huge potential for research and development in Learning. Information of everything: “Leading organizations exploit the information-of-everything trend by using enterprise architecture leaders to spot opportunities to fuel their algorithmic business strategies. This enables them to disrupt markets, drive new humanistic customer experiences and monetize the new flood of information.” With such huge amount of information getting generated, how does it impact learning? Can we also generate information of student behaviors, response patterns, interests, acumen, etc. by studying learning environments? Will this unnecessarily complicate an otherwise stable learning environment? Or is that the need of the hour. These are the questions that arise. Conclusion In conclusion, I feel that Gartner’s report can be highly utilized by the researchers and ventures in Learning domain. They need to form pertinent questions and look for proper answers. I will highly recommend this to any innovator in the learning field. REFERENCE: 1.The Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2016. Retrieved from http://www.gartner.com/technology/research/top-10-technology-trends/
I have been a Gartner reader/follower for many years and they have never disappointed me in their insight into the world of technology. What I absolutely liked about this site was they actually had a video- which means it promoted a better way for you to remember what they had to say. Dr. Ruth Clark promotes visuals as a great learning tool and we as educators know and understand that putting a full page of text will likely make little impact on your cognition. The report stated 3 very important trends-1-shift to digital business; 2-intelligence everywhere and; 3-IT implications of creating new models so called "Cloud centric ones". Although the report did not site "real world" examples or go into any great details about these 3 trends, it was good to know where we are going. It is very important as an educator to align yourself with IT trends and not just eLearning or learning trends. I see that the 2 are merging and have dendritical symbiotic behaviour. Kudos to you Gartner et al, Many studies are showing that teachers need to become more accepting of technology and embrace those possibilities. Gartner et al always make me embrace what's new and upcoming and it's like Christmas in July so to speak when I read those reports. For all you classmates, please bookmark this page and make it a must read every year. In terms of the other links, unless you have a subscription, you are not able to find out the information in detail, but i think the video does provide a good resource of information of what is around the corner.
Review of: Top 10 Strategic Technology Trend for 2015 Report Overview: Usefulness: Yes, this report of the topic “Strategic Trends” is useful for learning technology specialists and businesses as they can be considered to be at the forefront in new and upcoming technology visions and infrastructure. This report would be useful for technology opportunists as it give indications of the top technology trends for the next 3 years. This site includes trends in mobile computing, information security, and cloud management. Valuable: It is valuable to those ventures seeking leading edge technology, specifically those who are looking to expand their product or company. Gartner offers an extensive list of different types of support to move forward with any specific need or challenge that is required. They offer support at events, in consultations, and briefings. For business ventures needing some assistance Gartner offers help in risk management and cost optimization. The latter is something that I see as great value because of the growth rate of technology, efficiency is extremely important and being able to continue to integrate new systems is vital for a company to be successful. The company also gives a complete list of all their analysts with documentation of their credentials and links to their research work. However, you do need to sign up for an e-mail to gain access to the full scope of information from the analyst’s’ research endeavors. As for educators like myself, we are often slow to change and uptake of new technologies due to lack of support and training in addition to our limitations of the infrastructure already put in place so it is not that useful. For myself, being aware of the future trends in technology for my own knowledge and teaching practice offering a vision of what’s to come influencing my teaching practice and professional development so I would invest time in revisiting this site. In addition, the company certainly prepares their information well as I found the future for upcoming trends were easy to read, detailed, and offered links to further sources.
When I prepared to post, my review was laid out in neat and tidy paragraphs. After posting it was all condensed. I would love to know how to avoid this in the future, if anyone has any helpful hints! Thank you!
REVIEW OF: Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2015 REPORT OVERVIEW: While this report is labeled the “Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2015”, David W. Cearly, the vice-president of Gartner, summarizes the trends into three categories in his video introduction. The first major identified trend category is Digital Business; the merging of the digital and real worlds, technology allowing for increased mobility, and advances in 3-D printing. The second trend grouping is Analytics; apps analyzing data and then using this data for the creation of smart machines such as drones, robots, and smart cars. Afterall, the entire world is a computer and intelligence is all around us. The final trend category is the implications of the realities of this new IT. This area includes the cloud client model and the reality that current defenses for security may not be adequate. USEFULNESS: The provided link only gave me limited access to the information from this analysis report. However, it was enough to tweak my interest and I continued to explore. I quickly discovered that another summary of this report in the October 2014 edition of Forbes / Tech. Forbes provided an excellent summary and overview, complete with visuals. This helped me to better understand the analysis report. From the perspective of an educator whose district is already scrambling to keep up I found this report particularly interesting. Specific to this report I found the analysis of the future of cloud computing rather compelling. In Canada, we are not allowed to save student work in a cloud based format as this violates the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act for students under the age of 13. Therefore, cloud saving is not an option. Yet, we must also look at the reality of the future. Computers remove physical borders. This market analysis forces us to also consider that it may also be time to review the FOIPPA restrictions. In regards to the analysis report in general, I found it to be very easy to read, enlightening, and well presented. Yet, as an educated adult, I must also keep in mind that this report is based on the reviews of one company. I do not have any insight as to possible motivations for this company to be identifying any particular trends. Therefore, I would recommend taking this, and all market analysis studies, into consideration with an open mind. This is a terrific springboard, excellent for opening dialogue. However, it is important to compare this with other, similar reports. Would this report be useful to the broader community of educators? Absolutely! Advances in technology are slow and expensive. It is imperative that IT manages and senior administration look to the future when planning. FUTURE VERSIONS: Depending upon my future paths as an educator, I would certainly revisit the Gartner site. As an active member of our District Technology Planning Committee, I have bookmarked Gartner to share with those in charge of decision making and also for personal future visitation. However, I would not recommend making decisions based solely on the predicted trends from this, or any site, yet the Gartner trends list would be an excellent springboard for the discussion of future planning. RECOMMENDATIONS: For those people involved in a long term planning committee, and also for anyone interested in possible future trends in technology, I would definitely recommend this site. REFERENCES: Cearly, D.W. (2014, Feb. 19). The Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2014. Retrieved from http://www.gartner.com/doc/2667526?refval=&pcp=mpe#a-14327807
From the Marketplace Projections Forums, I have chosen to provide a critical analysis of The Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2014 as provided by D.W. Cearly of Gartner Inc. The critique mainly focuses on the issue of report bias and marketing vs information value.
Gartner defines its list as “Strategic Trends” and the projections that are discussed are intended to be beneficial to ventures at the forefront of technical innovation. The list briefly explains its ten trends and even offers a few tips. When discussing the growing diversity of ways that employees can access private networks from personal devices, it suggests to “set policies to define clear expectations around what they can and can't do. Balance flexibility with confidentiality and privacy requirements”. Gartner’s predictions could be very useful in helping education venturers strategize for their future providing that they are offering services, content and infrastructure to buyers who also benefit from being at the forefront. “Smart Machines” and autonomous vehicles may be beyond the reach of many education markets. Specialists and venturers could benefit greatly from Gartner when dealing in the higher education, corporate training, or well funded k-12 market, but several strategic trends are too advanced or too expensive for much of publicly funded k-12 market. Apart from the projects which may only apply to well funded ventures, and those with potential privacy issues, the Gartner list does explain some very useful and encouragingly low cost trends which could impact the broader community of educators. The predicted growth of private/public cloud hybrids could be an opening for educators to tackle issues around the lack of available network space which is often an issue in public school districts. The expanding variety of technology predicted to access the internet may help educators prepare BYOT programs to create easier and wider access in to online learning environments. Coming from a public education background, my rating of the Gartner list maybe lower than it deserves. Even though some of the trends discussed may only apply to larger budget venturers and buyers, most of the list offers strategies that can potentially be useful to everyone involved with education technology and a few of the strategies may be exactly what aging slow networks need. I fully expect to seek out future versions of the Gartner list even if only a few of the trends apply to my situation, they are concise and valuable.
Gartner highlights 10 technologies and trends that they believe will be the most strategic for 2014. Then they present their findings at their annual expo, the Gartner Sympusoum/ITxpo. Gartner attempts to seek out strategic technologies that will have a significant potential impact for the next 3 years. They factor in the potential for a high disruption to IT and the need for a significant investment. I believe that the Gartner top ten list is more useful and valuable to businesses and companies but not so much for educators because overall, the world of education is slower to adopt new technology than the business sector. In addition, due to the highly politicized nature of public education and funding, the latest bleeding edge technology is often far out of reach of most who work in public education. Being a technology enthusiast, and an early adopter of new technology, I would seek out future versions of this report professionally, and I would recommend it others, especially administrators who are in a position to make these kinds of capital decisions.
It is a very interesting information about the company Gartner. This company was founded in 1979. Now it has become world's top leading IT research and advisory company. They are expert in analyzing and researching global vendors in business intelligence and analytical market. This company severs more than 13,000 client organizations, from small and midsize businesses to Fortune 25 enterprises. They claim to study all the aspects of technology by their team of global experts. According to their website the company has 6,100 associates, including more than 1,460 research analysts and consultants, and clients in 85 countries. This makes this company more versatile and diverse. Their research has particular significance because it often identifies the innovations that drive the market. As part of that report, Gartner also releases the Annual Gartner Magic Quadrant Reports. These reports rank each company in every product or sub-industry within the IT business community. Since many companies, especially enterprise companies, rely on these reports when selecting vendors and making technology decisions, the reports serve as a “Who’s Who” in the industry. Following is a graph of Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation report. This report reflects market dynamics. Taken from; http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/analyst-coverage-awards.aspx
