Forbes Technology Council quotes Dr Morey in most recent article "15 Upcoming Business-Changing Tech Trends (And How To Prepare For Them)"

“15 Upcoming Business-Changing Tech Trends (And How To Prepare For Them)”

POST WRITTEN BY

Expert Panel, Forbes Technology Council

The professional world has changed a lot in the last decades. Now, many workers are remote or freelance contractors that get hired and paid on a per-project basis. A lot of them eschew the traditional office space for more popular locations like communal coffee shops or park benches.

Thanks to the nomadic nature of the digital workforce, the technology that these employees use is entirely different from the last generation's -- and the evolution of this technology does not seem to be slowing down any time soon.

Below, 15 members of Forbes Technology Council explore some of the cutting-edge technology trends that already are or will soon be transforming the workplace, and how companies can adapt to make the most of these changes.

1. Remote Work Setups

Embracing a "remote-first" culture at workplaces will be a key factor in companies' success in the coming decade. While there are many advantageous to remote work, getting it right and setting up the right culture and tools is a challenge and needs proactive investments. Removing location out of the equation is going to be a game-changer by enabling time zone autonomy for teams in distributed geographies. - Shweta Saraf, Digitalocean

2. Collaborative Workplaces

From cloud computing to live dynamic documents to Zoom meetings, we have moved toward creating collaborative workplaces where redundancy is being removed, communications are improving and efficiencies are created. The future workforce will have to become accustomed to using the tools that create and support a collaborative workplace. - Afshin Doust, Advanced Intelligent Systems Inc.

3. The 'Human Cloud'

With the global tech talent gap estimated at millions of vacancies across the U.S., Europe and China, gaining access to the right mix of skills will be key. To close the gap companies will have to leverage human cloud, a fast emerging trend in HR tech. Platforms like Talent Alpha, Upwork and TopTal will provide tech talent on demand. To prepare for this, procurement and HR strategies will have to be adopted. - Przemek Berendt, Talent Alpha

4. Systems That Make Accountability More Visible

As we pile our tech stack higher and higher, it's become easy to bury responsibilities in one platform or another. We've learned to claim the defense of lack of visibility. As more work management and strategy execution management tools fill the market gap, reporting connects results to actions, highlighting accountability. Businesses can prepare by creating a culture of true transparency. - Christy Johnson, AchieveIt

5. SMBs Moving To The Digital Desktop

Remote desktop technology has been in the workplace for well over a decade, but has been a tool of convenience or last resort for most small and medium-size businesses. With remote desktop technology fully matured and public clouds being more affordable, SMBs will increasingly turn to remote desktop solutions to replace on-premise servers and desktops. This will enable more home and remote worker capabilities. - Micheal Goodwin, Server@Work

6. Process Automation

The key to properly leveraging enterprise technologies is the extent to which they help automate manual processes to improve productivity. For instance, IT leaders simply aren't data scientists and don't have the time or resources to analyze the massive volumes of data running over corporate networks. AI-based data analytics is ideally suited to help solve this problem. - Abe Ankumah, Nyansa

7. Augmented Reality

Augmented reality (AR) could generate the largest gain in productivity since the internet. Decades from now, we will look back at workplaces without AR. They will be akin to bookkeepers slowly scrawling entries in a musty ledger. The ability for software to arbitrarily interface with our eyes and ears has unbounded potential. While in the early stages, this is something to look to leverage. - Matthew Wallace, Faction, Inc.

8. Growing Influence Of Gaming

From the increasing use of gaming scenarios in the hiring process to help test aptitudes alongside AI, to our everyday networked ways of working, the influence of gaming is growing. This trend will draw on learning from the real-time collaboration practices and behavioral norms embedded today in coding, game and distributed communities. Addressing digital skills gaps is an imperative to prepare. - Sally Eaves, MindFit Limited

9. AI And ML Changing The Focus Of Work

Artificial intelligence and machine learning will increase the accuracy and reduce the cost of prediction. As that happens, the focus of work will change from analysis and prediction to judgment and action, and this will be a massive shift for enterprises. Industrializing the "human-in-the-loop" model to train and tune AI models and combine "man and machine" is the key to success. - Sanjay Srivastava, Genpact

10. Internal Chatbots For The Intranet

Company intranets have a great track record for maximizing productivity and employee engagement. One trend we should expect to see is more organizations using internal chatbots to allow their teams hassle-free access to internal data and policies. Chatbots are quick at answering questions and retrieving data, and with a touch of automation and persona, can provide a heightened user experience. - Dawson Whitfield, Looka (formerly Logojoy)

11. Blockchain-Based Shared Computational Power

Running complex computational tasks (CGI rendering, ML algorithms training) requires investments in extraordinary computational resources, which even by the cloud standards can accumulate to substantial amounts of capital. The alternative will come from blockchain-based shared computational resources where different entities can jointly share collective computational power at much lower rates. - Pawel Rzeszucinski, Codewise

12. Self-Service Data Analytics For More Accessibility

The best business decisions are based on data, and without the right information, decision-making becomes difficult, if not impossible. In most cases, data is siloed within a company and requires going through the proper channels (and the waiting period) to get the information people need to do their job. Companies that adopt self-service data analytics tools remove these obstacles. - Christian Ofori-Boateng, ChristianSteven Software

13. Digital Health Solutions For Employees

Employers are realizing that preventing health problems and burnouts among their employees is more beneficial than paying their hospital bills. It's not just about corporate perks, but about increasing productivity in the team. The next big trend is digital health solutions -- health and fitness apps subscriptions, guided meditation programs and wearables for employees as a part of a better workplace policy. - Victoria Repa, BetterMe

14. Education Becoming More Democratized

As education becomes more digital and more democratized, it's going to have a major impact on the workplace. From changing the way we hire to changing the way we evaluate and promote, everything is going to be impacted. Resume-based hiring is going to become obsolete, since where you went to school says nothing about your current skill level and potential. - Tigran Sloyan, CodeSignal

15. Crowdsourcing And Gig Economy

More and more professionals at all levels, from C-Suite to foundation workers, will be leveraging remote work from home or while at their main source of employment. This can be leveraged to both keep your team innovative with challenges outside of the day-to-day and to seek out talent that otherwise would be inaccessible to your company. - Jose Morey, Liberty BioSecurity