Trends Identified

Automated voice spam (robocall) prevention
Spam phone calls are an ongoing problem of increasing sophistication, such as spoofing the caller ID number of the victim’s family and business associates. This is leading people to regularly ignore phone calls, creating risks such as true emergency calls going unanswered. However, emerging technology can now block spoofed caller ID and intercept questionable calls so the computer can ask questions of the caller to assess whether he or she is legitimate.
2018
IEEE Computer Society Predicts the Future of Tech: Top 10 Technology Trends for 2019
IEEE Computer Society
Technology for humanity (specifically machine learning).
We are approaching the point where technology can help resolve societal issues. We predict that large-scale use of machine learning, robots, and drones will help improve agriculture, ease drought, ensure supply of food, and improve health in remote areas. Some of these activities have already started, but we predict an increase in adoption rate and the reporting of success stories in the next year. “Sensors everywhere” and advances in IoT and edge computing are major factors contributing to the adoption of this technology. Recent events, such as major fires and bridge collapses, are further accelerating the urgency to adopt monitoring technologies in fields like forests and smart roads.
2018
IEEE Computer Society Predicts the Future of Tech: Top 10 Technology Trends for 2019
IEEE Computer Society
#twinning: Farming's digital doubles will help feed a growing population using less resources.
Imagine a planet where instant access to critical data on the world’s farmland could be provided to anyone that needs it. In the next five years, this will become reality when a digital twin of the world’s agricultural resources is readily available.
2019
5 in 5 - Research predicts five innovations that will change our lives within five years.
IBM Research
Spoiler alert: Blockchain will prevent more food from going to waste.
Within five years, we’ll eliminate many of the costly unknowns in the food supply chain. From farmers to grocery suppliers, each participant in the food ecosystem will know exactly how much to plant, order, and ship. Food loss will diminish greatly and the produce that ends up in our carts will be fresher—when blockchain technology, IoT devices, and AI algorithms join forces.
2019
5 in 5 - Research predicts five innovations that will change our lives within five years.
IBM Research
Mapping the microbiome will protect us from bad bacteria.
Within five years, food safety inspectors around the world will gain a new superpower: the ability to understand how millions of microbes coexist within the food supply chain. These microbes—some healthy for human consumption, others not—are everywhere –in foods at farms, factories, and grocery stores. The ability to constantly and cheaply monitor the behaviors of microbes at every stage of the supply chain represents a huge leap in food safety.
2019
5 in 5 - Research predicts five innovations that will change our lives within five years.
IBM Research
Dinner plate detectives: AI sensors will detect foodborne pathogens at home.
Within five years, the world’s farmers, food processors, and grocers—along with its billions of home cooks—will be able to detect dangerous contaminants effortlessly in their food. All they’ll need is a cell phone or a countertop with AI sensors.
2019
5 in 5 - Research predicts five innovations that will change our lives within five years.
IBM Research
A radical new recycling process will breathe new life into old plastic.
In five years, the disposal of trash and the creation of new plastics will be completely transformed. Everything from milk cartons and cookie containers to grocery bags and clothing will be recyclable, and polyester manufacturing companies will be able to take in refuse and turn it into something useful again.
2019
5 in 5 - Research predicts five innovations that will change our lives within five years.
IBM Research
Rebuilding trust
2018 represented a crisis year for trust on social media. In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal1 and a Congressional hearing,2 Facebook faced unprecedented pressure from users and regulators to improve security, transparency, and accuracy. Twitter, meanwhile, wrestled with controversies over the unfettered proliferation of bots on its platform, purging millions of fake accounts.3
2019
Social media trends 2019
Hootsuit
Storifying social
Will the news feed one day be an endangered species? According to consulting firm Block Party, Stories—the vertical, ephemeral slideshows pioneered by Snapchat—are now growing 15 times faster than feed-based sharing.
2019
Social media trends 2019
Hootsuit
Closing the ads gap
By now, everyone knows we’re in the pay-to-play era on social. Accordingly, marketers are increasing social ad budgets (up 32 percent in 2018 alone) and producing more ads than ever before.29One of every four Facebook Pages now use paid media,30 and Facebook already accounts for 23 percent of total U.S. digital ad spending.
2019
Social media trends 2019
Hootsuit