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As Covid-19 vaccinations increase globally, life is getting back to normal. However, it's no longer the world we experienced before the pandemic. The long-term nature of this global crisis has changed customer needs and daily lifestyles. This will, in turn, change what I expect the world to look like in 2022 and beyond. Let's review the top 10 technology and business trends that we'll likely encounter in the coming year.

Momentum in Life Science Technologies

The life science industry is comprised of pharmaceuticals,biotechnology, environmental sciences, biomedicine, nutraceuticals, neuroscience, cell biology, and biophysics. Partially due to increased investments in mRNA vaccine technology and high-performance Covid-19 testing, 2021 has driven great innovation in life science technologies.

Examples of this innovation include the mRNA-based vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and by Moderna. Recent Covid drug developments by Merck have also pushed the life science industry forward rapidly.

Looking ahead, I expect we'll see strong movement in the several life-science sectors including advanced research; application of robotics technology; artificial intelligence (AI) tools; use of cloud technology; the improvement of drug testing speed; integration of genetic information; and usage of gene technology. I also foresee the development of personalized medicine through advancements in genetics technology. The startup 23andMe, for example, helps people access, understand, and benefit from the human genome.

Networking and Interconnectivity: Expansion of 5G-6G and Satellite-Based Internet Usage

As remote working becomes commonplace, Internet reliability has become more vital than ever. The Internet of Things (IoT) makes the Internet a more integral part of our lives, and developments at all network levels will continue to drive research and push the Internet economy forward.

According to Cisco's Visual Networking Indexforecast update for 2018, there will be 1.4 billion more people using the Internet by 2022, compared to 3.4 billion users in 2017. This equates to almost 60% of the global population, assuming a population of 8 billion by 2022. By then, Internet users are expected to consume 4.8 zettabytes of data per year, 11 times the amount of IP traffic generated in 2012, with 437 exabytes.

While 5G may be in its infancy, we'll see an increased focus on 6G in 2022. China started research into 6G in 2018. By late 2020, the country launched a satellite to test terahertz signal transmission. Huawei and ZTE were involved. The U.S. also started 6G research in 2018 with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) opening higher frequency spectrum for experimental use. A Next G Alliance was started in 2020, with companies on board including Apple, AT&T and Google. Korea, Japan, and some European countries have started looking into 6G seriously and we expect to see more announcements in 2022.

High-Performance Computing Becomes Mainstream

Given the recent growth of big data-based research and analysis and cloud-based computing, I expect high-performance computing usage to surge in 2022. From drug discovery to cancer research to space exploration, high-performance computing will become increasingly important and quantum computing technology needs to keep up with business demand.

We've already seen massive development in quantum computing space by players including Google, IBM, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alibaba. Startups such as Rigetti Computing, D-Wave Systems, ColdQuanta,1Qbit, Zapata Computing, and QC Ware have exceeded the industry expectations in their technology and their growth.

I expect rapid progress in quantum computing during 2022, due to the high demand for larger machine power is going to accelerate development in this sector.We'll likely see announcements of large qubit developments in the new year. Commercial quantum computing will soon be within our reach and new breakthroughs will occur at an accelerated pace.

Continued Growth in Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Analytics, and Cloud Computing

AI has become an integral part of our life. From the improvement of better personalization, ranking search results, recommending products, understating, and controlling of devices, building better models of the environment to the automation of industry, we see the application of artificial intelligence everywhere as we look toward 2022.

Organizations are using predictive analytics to forecast potential future trends. According to a report published by Facts & Factors, the global predictive analytics market is growing at a compound average growth rate of around 24.5% and is expected to reach US$22.1 billion by the end of 2026.

We will also see massive growth in cloud computing. By 2022, cloud will be more entrenched and more computing workloads run on the cloud. Internet of Things will push this space in a bigger way for sure. According to predictions from Gartner, global spending on cloud services is expected to reach over US$482 billion in 2022, up from US$314 billion in 2020.

Internet Security and Privacy Dominate

As the world becomes more digital, we're seeing increased number of personal and organizational cyber-attacks around the world. Several corporations have been the target of major cyberattacks in recent days and businesses have become more vulnerable to destructive attacks, in part due to increased remote work because of the pandemic.

During 2022, I expect that we'll see cyber-attacks across sectors, and we will see the industry take a variety of counteractive measures. Defending cyber-attacks will include educating individuals so they can identify and avoid network assaults, thereby safeguarding their company's image.

Applying AI will make the creation of robust cybersecurity protocols easier, less expensive, and more effective than ever. Use of AI can enable cybersecurity to spot risks and learn the behaviors of cybercriminals, thus preventing prevent future attacks. It can also help cut down on the time it takes cybersecurity specialists to do their daily tasks.

The Metaverse will Shine in 2022

The metaverse is a digital reality combining social media, online gaming, augmented reality, virtual reality, and cryptocurrencies to allow virtual user interaction. The metaverse may refer to anything on the Internet, including all of AR's offerings. Virtual space of the future describes the metaverse, providing access to all kinds of entertainment and projects, including the opportunity to work.

We expect the metaverse to be immersive, ubiquitous, and free to access. It will be digitally focused and potentially involves entertainment, social connection, work productivity and behavior modification at scale. It will create an entire ecosystem for developers, apps, ads, and new digital innovations. The metaverse will facilitate convenience, consumption, and a frictionless access to services.

Only a few companies today have a real stake in the metaverse. They include ByteDance, Tencent, Facebook, Spotify, Zoom, Amazon (Twitch), Alibaba, Roblox, Bilibili, Snapchat, Kuaishou, and Huawei. Apple's wearables also point to the metaverse with AR glasses coming soon. Microsoft with Microsoft Teams and gaming is perhaps the most advanced company in the world regarding the Metaverse. WeChat's ability to facilitate payments and access to a variety of services is the start of the metaverse, super-apps.

As the metaverse ecosystem grows in 2022, I expect it will have a direct impact on the future of many technology sectors. These include gaming, wearables, VR and AR, collaborative productivity (Canva, Slack), consumer tech products (including AR glasses or smart speakers), social networks, educational technology, health technology, communication technology (Zoom), digital currencies, and convenience mobilization and on-demand consumption (Amazon, Meituan, Alibaba, JD.com, Shopify).

NFT Platforms will Boom

A non-fungible token (NFT) is a digital object: Computer code and data thatconveys ownership of something. The property may be online, for example, virtual real estate in the digital world or special equipment in a video game. Or it could be real: Real estate, a painting, or a place at the concert. An NFT can also be a hybrid, for example, the right to decide who can rent a room in a cooperative living space. A baseball card, Ronaldo's first ball, a vintage car, or a piece of land in central London: All are one-of-a-kind and can be transferred to the NFT.

In 2022, we are likely to see NFTs everywhere; this includes in movies, TV shows, books, and more. NFTs are part of the digital economy and are becoming mainstream because they allow people to own something that represents a part of something bigger than themselves - a piece of art or a character, for example. The digital economy is made up of a variety of online markets - including game economies, virtual real estate, and even social media platforms like Facebook.Our society has changed rapidly over the past decade, especially since the 2008-2009 economic crisis and the more recent pandemic. These trends are coming together to shape a world where NFTs will beat traditional collectibles, making 2022 a tremendous year.

Robotics Sector will Become More Prevalent

We expect to see an increased use of robotics in everyday life during 2022. Usage will include the healthcare, agriculture, automotive, warehousing, and supply chain management sectors, and we will see more robotics-based automation that will continue to progress.

The Covid-19 pandemic presents both problems and opportunities forroboticscompanies in the logistics and supermarket industries. Unexpected strains on supply systems and product shortages have highlighted the need for better supply chain efficiency. It also became obvious thatrobotsand automation provided a safe means for manufacturers to keep employees socially separated yet allow the business to continue operating.

The use of robotics process automation (RPA) helps automate activities that are performed repeatedly; we expect RPA to grow in 2022 and become a standard technology for business. CIO reports that chief information officers are using RPA to free workers from boring, repetitive tasks and allow them to do more fulfilling work. Finally, we're seeing a rise in nanorobotics, tiny sensors with limited processing power. The first useful applications of these nano-machines may be in nanomedicine. Biological machines, for example, are used to identify and destroy cancer cells or deliver drugs.

Increased Urgency in the Renewable Energy Technology Sector

Climate change and dramatic news headlines are driving rapid growth in sustainable energy adoption. During the pandemic, this was the only energy sector that grew. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), 40% more green energy was generated and used in 2020; the agency expects continued growth in 2022. The falling costs of generating sustainable energy also helps ensure that mass adoption is likely. While newer energy technologies like nuclear fusion, biofuel, and liquid hydrogen might take longer to come full circle, we look forward to serious advancements in 2022.

I also expect to see massive growth in the production and usage of solar and wind technology. Storage (battery) technologies are playing a larger role, since there will be an increased need to store renewable energy.

Blockchain Technology Prevails

Blockchain, an innovative breed of distributed ledger, enables companies to track a transaction and do business with unverified parties - even without the assistance of financial institutions. This new capability significantly lessens business conflicts; it also adds other benefits like append-only data structure, transparency, security, immutability, and decentralization.

Blockchain technology has enjoyed massive adoption and continues to disrupt many industries, from gaming and governance to finance. According to the International Data Corporation, companies will spend almost US$6.6 billion on blockchain solutions in 2021, a 50% growth from the previous year. This number is expected to grow beyond US$15 billion in 2024. With the new rise of NFT and metaverse, blockchain will become more important in 2022.

Businesses are encouraged to start studying blockchain technology, since it is expected to generate significant business opportunities; Statista reports that global blockchain technology is predicted to grow to more than US$23.3 billion by 2023. A notable existing blockchain deployment is that of Walmart supply chain database application, allowing the monitoring of individual products directly to their very source, effectively elevating food supply standards. Amazon is rolling out its blockchain initiatives for 2019, which allow its Amazon Web Services clients to benefit from distributed ledger solutions.

Looking Ahead

There's little doubt that 2022 will see rapid progress in these and other technologies, as the world emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic. I see a prime opportunity for smart startups, corporations, and investors to capitalize on these emerging technology and business trends to become more successful than ever. Let's hope that the resulting innovation makes the world better for people and businesses around the globe.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

Read the original here:
The Top 10 Technology and Business Trends of 2022 - Inc.

Social media as a digital platform has had a tremendous impact on how we communicate and maintain dialogue with friends, family, and colleagues. It has also become a rudimentary practice for every organisation to have a social media presence for marketing as it forms a key part of business strategies.

Twitter is playing a fundamental part in recruitment, especially for young professionals and graduates. Hashtags relating to job searching such as #JobseekersSA are receiving large amounts of traffic, with #JobseekersSA being the biggest hashtag used, with over 160,000 interactions in the first year of its creation. The culture of hashtags and tag-a-friend has created communities that assist each other by making recommendations to their friends on job posts that are most relevant to their skill sets. Encouraging users to #TagAFriend is a great way to tap into this culture and get followers to amplify tweets to their network of friends.

TikTok is the ideal place to connect with Gen Z and Millennials. With technology at their fingertips and a regular tool in their growing hands Gen Zs have been able to connect to faraway cultures, issues, and news earlier and more often than any generation before them. Creators on TikTok are redefining entertainment; from film to sports, to fashion, music, lifestyle, and the workplace. With the rise of career and job-related creative content, TikTok believes there's an opportunity to bring more value to people's experience with TikTok by enhancing the utility of the platform as a channel for recruitment. With the launch of TikTok Resumes, users can now create short, creative videos, combined with TikTok's easy-to-use, built-in creation tools to organically create new ways to discover talented candidates and career opportunities. Popular hashtags on the topics include #careerdevelopment, #careeradvice, #leadership, #hr, #training, #nowhiring and #jobsearch. #NowHiring has over 65m views.

Communicating with jobseekers: According to a recent study, 94% of recruiters are active on LinkedIn and with good reason. Millions of people have already opted to post their career profiles and interests on the professional networking site, and more profiles are being created every day. For recruiters looking to reach out to experienced but perhaps passive candidates, social media can be a tremendous resource.

This means that, in addition to leveraging their own social media to impress candidates with corporate culture, HR professionals should also be monitoring social media for mentions by current and former employees.

79% of job applicants use social media in their job search and according to a study done by CareerProfiles, 73% of Millennials found their last position through a social media platform.

To keep up with this demand, companies must broaden their reach and increase accessibility by utilising social media to attract and hire.

Go here to see the original:
The role of social media in recruitment - Bizcommunity.com

Updated: 10/11/2021 by Computer Hope

Alternatively known as a virtual community or profile site, a social network is a website that brings people together to talk, share ideas and interests, or make new friends. This type of collaboration and sharing is known as social media. Unlike traditional media that is created by no more than ten people, social media sites contain content created by hundreds or even millions of different people. Below is a small list of some of the biggest social networks used today.

Due to their increased popularity amongst children and teenagers, some social networking sites have become a popular location for online predators. Parents should always be active with their children and aware of what they are doing while online.

Social networks help people keep connected with their friends and family and are an easy way to find what everyone is doing. Social networks can also be used to find interesting things on the Internet as your friends and family likely share many of your interests.

The Bolt.com social networking website was created in 1996, by Jane Mount and Dan Pelson. Although it is not considered the first true social media website, it technically was the first to be created. It was officially shut down in October 2008.

The first true social media website is considered to be SixDegrees.com, created in 1997 by Andrew Weinreich. SixDegrees.com is still in operation today, and is available at http://sixdegrees.com.

Today, Facebook is still the largest and the most popular social network with over one billion users.

The process to create a new account for a social network differs for each social network. In general, visit the social network website of where you want an account and look for a "Sign Up," or "Create New Account," link.

Follow the account creation steps to create your new account. You will likely need to provide your name, age range, and e-mail address at a minimum. Additional information may be required, depending on the requirements of the social network.

We try to be as active as possible on the following social network pages.

Blog, Classmates, Cloud computing, Copypasta, FOMO, Forum, GroupMe, Internet terms, Klout, Profile, SEO terms, Vlog, Web design terms

Excerpt from:
What is a Social Network? - Computer Hope

There have been countless studies about the damaging effects of social media on mental health, particularly on teens.

And yet, most of us just cant quit social networking. Even if it makes us feel bad about ourselves.

The constant comparisons of our lives to the highlight reels that people post on Facebook and Instagram is ridiculously lopsided since the majority of those platforms users dont post unflattering photos of themselves, or share their sad or bad news with others.

Enter Inpathy, a new kind of social network a healthy one. Ziarekenya Smith founded the company in 2015 with a mission to revolutionize how people use social media by making it more transparent, normalizing moods, and recreating the human experience. The end goal is to bring more wellness to the social network world.

Smith started his career in digital art and design. Despite early success, he didnt feel the work was as personally fulfilling as hed hoped. He began to feel symptoms of anxiety and depression and found himself wanting to express those feelings on social media. But he stopped himself.

The unwritten rules of social are that if life isnt perfect, you dont talk about it, Smith recalls. So I kept my feelings to myself. But I asked myself why was that the case?

The concept for Detroit-based Inpathy was born from the pain and struggle he felt. It was also born out of Smiths belief that the current social media structure is not sustainable in the long term.

Its great for making money but not great for true human well-being, Smith told TechCrunch. In my eyes, we have to fix the core.

Inpathy strives to offer a more balanced life experience, not just perfection. It aims to give people room to share their raw feelings, the good, not so good and the bad.

Everyones going to have ups and downs, and you can appreciate someones rise more if you see the timeline of their up and down, Smith says. We all love the underdog story.

In a twist, Inpathys users share their stories or content not through pictures or the written word, but via audio or video, providing what Smith hopes is an immersive experience.

Inpathy will ask a user how they are feeling and that mood scale is visible to other users, who can even filter by mood, including angry, sad and happy.

We want to normalize emotion and create a transparent system, Smith said. It has to be transparent for us all to be on the same playing field. So people can realize, Its not just me. This is normal.

There are no follow or add buttons. Inpathy allows for two-way communication leading to users becoming friends.

Were not robots. Whether you are rich or poor, you feel happiness and pain no matter your status, Smith said. This is what human is. Inpathy is showing people its ok to be human.

The site has a low tolerance for trolls and bullies, banning them for life. The thought of someone building up the courage to share something on Inpathy and then get trolled to the point they are scared to open up again prompted the policy.

Image Credits: Inpathy

For now, Smith is raising money through crowdfunding and essentially bootstrapping until he finds the right investor.

We dont want to be in the position of feeling like we have to add features just to impress investors, he said. Vision is very important.

Right now if we look at the social media landscape, we use YouTube for TV, TikTok for shorts, Instagram for photos, Twitter for news and trends, Facebook for entertainment, LinkedIn for business, Headspace for meditation, Tinder for dating, Smith adds. But where do you go for the raw experience, and to just be yourself?

Hopefully Inpathy, if Smith has his way.

More here:
Inpathy aims to be a social network that mirrors real human experience - TechCrunch

Researchers at the University of South Florida, in partnership with Cyber Florida at USF, have released results from a nationwide survey to better understand patterns of social media usage. Subjects consist of common uses of social media including e-commerce and political engagement as well as some effects of usage on social and mental well-being.

Among the key findings:

Social media is increasingly used for e-commerce. Over half of Americans (54%) report having clicked on a link to an advertisement in their feed during the past month, and nearly half (47%) report having shopped for a product or service on social media in the same time period.

Americans have relied heavily on social media to stay connected during the pandemic. More than two-thirds of respondents (68%) say that they have relied on social media to stay connected with friends and family during the COVID-19 pandemic. A similar majority (63%) say that theyve used social media more frequently during the pandemic, while nearly half (49%) say that social media has been good for their mental health during this time.

Most adult social media users pay close attention to the amount of time they spend on social media. Nearly six in 10 (59%) Americans say that they spend four or more hours on social media each week, but over half of the survey respondents (53%) say that they closely monitor the amount of time they spend on social media sites.

Most Americans say that keeping up with social media can be stressful. Over half of the survey respondents (57%) report that keeping up with social media can be stressful. However, nearly three-quarters (74%) say that they dont feel pressured to post interesting content on their own accounts.

Facebook users say that they encounter diverse points of view on the platform. According to data collected by the Pew Research Center, Facebook remains the most widely used social networking platform in the United States, and users increasingly rely on the platform for political news and information. Despite concerns that social media may limit exposure to alternative viewpoints, our results show that nearly eight in 10 Facebook users (79%) feel that they often encounter political views on the platform that are different than their own.

Despite relying on social media for news and information, most Americans dont trust the information they encounter there. While over half of the survey respondents (58%) say that they rely on Facebook at least a little to stay informed about news and politics, three-quarters (75%) are not confident in the accuracy of the political information that they encounter on the platform.

Most Americans also say that they dont trust social media companies when it comes to keeping their personal information secure. A majority of Americans (62%) say that they are either not very confident or not at all confident in the ability of social media companies (such as Facebook and Twitter) to keep their personal information secure.

Political incivility and misinformation lead to unfriending on Facebook. Nearly a quarter of respondents (24%) report having unfriended or unfollowed someone on Facebook due to their political posts. The most commonly unfriended accounts are acquaintances (17%) and strangers (9%). When asked to cite their reasons for unfriending, respondents emphasized political posts that they found morally objectionable (18%) or untruthful (18%).

Despite concerns over the security of their personal information, many social media users continue to engage in risky online behaviors. Just under a third of respondents (29%) report having held an ongoing conversation with a stranger on social media over the past 30 days. During the same time period, roughly a quarter also report having engaged in behaviors that could inadvertently share the information in their user profiles, such as completing surveys (23%) and quizzes/games (28%) that appear in their feeds.

Teenagers arent the only ones whose body image and self-esteem are negatively affected by social media. Nearly one-third of respondents (32%) reported sometimes feeling bad about the way they look when they see what others post on social media. Female respondents were slightly more likely than male respondents to agree (36% compared to 27%).

The survey included a representative sample of 1,000 adult social media users, fielded Nov. 2-8, 2021. Results are reported with a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error +/-3 %.

A second round of results, which examines social medias influence on public discourse, is set to be released next week.

The complete survey results can be found here.

See original here:
University of South Florida researchers release findings from nationwide social media opinion survey - University of South Florida