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In the past 10 years, tech titans wracked their brains to produce disruptive new apps, devices, and innovations that changed the way we live our lives. In the decade before last, some of the tech innovations that turned our lives around sounded futuristic; unattainable in our lifetime.
Whereas it is almost impossible to encapsulate all the changes wrought by technology, one thing is certain: The changes are so widespread and so deep-rooted that we can’t live without them.
In the first half of the just-ended decade, Google and Apple started testing fully autonomous cars.
Many of the major car manufacturers, plus ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft, have since followed suit.
Today, you can hail driverless cabs being tested in some cities in the US.
The driverless technology is projected to make the roads safer, resulting in an estimated 90 per cent reduction in traffic-caused casualties.
Combined with the rise of smartphones, 4G created a fertile ground for insanely popular apps like Spotify, Google Maps, Twitter, Snapchat, and hundreds of thousands more to flourish.
Today, many companies have adopted Slack as their internal communication app of choice.
Slack’s intuitive interface, custom channels, and emoji have changed how we interact with co-workers and those with whom we connect and collaborate.
Businesses realise that everyone needs to stay connected. It’s hard to imagine a time when public places had no Wi-Fi.
Wi-Fi is now almost a standard in nearly all public areas, just as toilets and drinking water.
The last decade has popularised online shopping and banking. Nearly all types of purchases can be done in your pyjamas and on your smartphone. E-commerce has soared, creating a palette of business opportunities.
The pervasive mobile money service, M-Pesa, celebrated its 10th anniversary two years ago.
Although it seems like it has been around forever, it's only 12 years old.
M-Pesa has revolutionised how people do business — irrespective of their economic class.
The media is arguably the most disrupted industry.
There was a time when the day's news was available "hot off the press" via a print publication and on prime-time news. Not so anymore.
Content providers have scrambled to get online and distribute content in real-time.
Anyone with a phone can spark a ripple of fast-flowing information, its authenticity notwithstanding.
Every time tech pundits and purists attempt to make predictions; soon, they realise how wrong they were.
Whereas the last decade may not be a precise predictor of the future, innovators and their troops are in the trenches forging new tech wonders.
One thing is predictable: Thanks to the Internet of Things, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and big data, technology will wipe out many jobs and create new ones.
These five areas will continue to dominate the headlines and boardroom talks. The question is, how are you prepping for these changes?
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