Top technology trends advanced by disruptive challenges or deployed in new ways
In 2020, the world experienced several years of digital transformation in just the span of the first three months of the global pandemic. This created massive behavioural shifts in the adoption of digital technology that are expected to persist even past the pandemic.
Let’s take a look at the top technology trends that have advanced by disruptive challenges of past months. Each of these technologies continue to support the business trends in important ways.
IoT sensors and biometrics
Key to advances in this area are the rapid development and deployment of contactless systems enabled by rapid shifts in business needs during the pandemic. Industries have leveraged everything from temperature sensors to people counting systems to biometric sensors to quickly innovate around contact tracing systems and identification of people and places. In the supply chain, IoT-enabled cold chain monitoring systems are gaining in interest to meet increased online consumer shopping of perishable goods.
Artificial intelligence (A.I)
A.I. and machine learning continue to be powerful smart computing tools that help enable new systems and capabilities, from autonomous robotics to biometrics and computer vision.
Autonomous logistics
Autonomous logistics solutions are optimising aspects of logistics automation in ways that are particularly relevant to the recent pandemic. From drone delivery to self-driving trucks, there are a surge of technologies that are taking advantage of autonomous systems for logistics optimisation, as well as safety enhancements and operational efficiencies.
Verifiable credentials and decentralised identity
Verifiable credentials and decentralised identifiers (DIDs) provide key features that can benefit an increasingly globally distributed supply chain. Verifiable credentials allow for any number of claims to be declared to by any number of data sources. DIDs provide for a decentralised method of cryptographic trust in those claims by enabling proof that the entity providing the data is the trusted source of that data (in the same way that a web browser can verify that a website destination is the one that the user is seeking). These technology enablers help unlock a future where “trust moves with data.”.
Read more in the new Trend Research 2020-2021: navigating the next normal
Authored by the GS1 Innovation Board, this 2nd edition report: Trend Research 2020-2021 Navigating the next normal, analyses the top business trends and enabling technologies in the context of the disruptions of the past year and offers recommendations to industry and GS1 on how to navigate the new reality and the future. New features added from the 1st edition of the report is a focus on trends in the Healthcare sector and a new quickly emerging enabling technology area: Verifiable credentials and decentralised identity.
Download the Trend Research 2020 - 2021
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Questions? Contact innovation@gs1.org