Smart cities, IoT seen to lead technology trends next year

MANILA,Philippines — Global technology services firm NTT Ltd. expects wider adoption of disruptive technologies next year, with the fusing of data, automation and internet of things (IoT) technologies to create connected cities and societies.

At the launch of its “Future Disrupted” forecasts which look at technology trends for the next 12 months and beyond, NTT said 2020 will finally see all the hype words of the past decade come together to create completely connected environments that are capable of running themselves autonomously to build more intelligent cities, workplaces and businesses – and on a secure basis.

Formed from key insights from its technology experts, the company outlines the trends that will shape the business technology landscape throughout 2020 across six key areas: Disruptive Technologies, Cybersecurity, Workplace, Infrastructure, Business and Technology Services.

NTT Ltd. chief technology officer Ettienne Reinecke said data, AI and secure by design would be at the heart of this movement, empowering devices to talk to one another and act on that information without human intervention.

“Smart cities and IoT will become the norm as they improve productivity, growth and innovation across entire regions,” he said.

“The industry has been talking about different technologies, including the cloud, data, AI and security in different siloes. But 2020 is the year that will change. Next year, we’ll see complete end-to-end computing come to the fore, bringing to life fully intelligent environments that are completely connected and will have a big impact on the world we live in.”

“We will see most cities and societies starting to follow in the footsteps of Las Vegas City, which has become intelligent in the way it shares data across the region, improving situational awareness through video and sound data. With IoT technology on a secure infrastructure, it’s created a safer environment to live in, improving living conditions and, ultimately, saving lives. Projects like these need a variety of different technology capabilities to come together in order to achieve great things, so building fully connected environments will be the key focus point next year,”  he added. 

NTT Ltd. is the newly formed company bringing together 40,000 people from across 31 brands – including NTT Communications, Dimension Data and NTT Security – to serve 10,000 clients from around the world. Using the insights gathered from its global client base, NTT Ltd. is able to better understand the future and shape the most effective intelligent technology solutions for its customers.